Excuse Me....

.....but it's Christmas. Writing has (unfortunately) been placed second to the seasonal commitments I seem to have become involved in. People assume that because you aren't 'working' in the paid employment kind of way, that you have nothing to do. Its my own fault for not have a specific routine as yet, but I have been to a school fair; selling raffle tickets (chaos), a nativity play (blink and you'll miss your child!), and an assortment of Christmas parties where you are expected to part with your cash!! Coming up, we have our annual 'scout' party, the Lincoln Santa Fun Run (I am attending as supporter of partner), the family carol evening, not to mention Christingle and more carols...

And did I mention the cat has been ill (two nights in the Park View Hilton) and my brother gets married in a weeks time?? My mind is too full of organising, planning and spending money!!

On the plus (writing) side, the January edition of Writing Magazine and Writers News kept me busy for a number of days and I did attend my Poison Pens group on Saturday. This was a mixture of highs and lows. I was glad to see everyone and hear what they had all been up to. There had also been a discussion as to whether the group would continue in the new year. I am pleased to say that it was decided it will. Phew! I really like the other members of the group as they are all committed to their writing, and attending the meeting always boosts my determination to get down to writing when I return home.

The downside however, was that I read out the beginning of the novel I started during NaNoWrite. I came away confused as I seemed to get three different perspectives on what I had written. I think this highlights my own confusion with the story, and I certainly need to do more work on the plot. The piece I read out is written in the first person and I had intended to write the whole novel in the first person of three people; each taking over when one finishes their piece; thereby having three sections to the novel. (understand?) It was suggested that this might be too much and I should mix the three up. It was also suggested that I needed dialogue in the narrative. Help!! Too many ideas! I need to go away and really think about what was said. Hopefully, when we meet again in January I will have more structure to the plot and the characters. That's the plan at least!!