Multitasking....

Tell Your Story

Tell your story.  Don't try and tell the stories that other people can tell.  Any starting writer starts out with other people's voices.  But as quickly as you can start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there will always be better writers than you and there will always be smarter writers than you, but you are the only you.

Neil Gaiman, www.neilgaiman.com/ quoted on the Goodreads website and referenced in Writers' News September 2014.

Official Photographer to Will's 6th Birthday Party

Will's mum sent me a text the night before his bowling party, asking if I would take some photos of the morning so she could put together a photo book.  I was rather worried.  I didn't want to ruin the party by taking rubbish.  But I took loads and loads and played with my settings.  

What's weird is that if I am 'going with the flow' this year, something tells me I should be following the photography route as I have been asked to do a number of sessions.  My cousin and his wife asked at Jamie's party if I would take some photos of them as a family.  I have been taking photo's of Dale's new band.  And a couple at Will's party even  asked me if I did weddings!  I will see what they say when they see the photos of the party.....

Bleed a little....

It is only when you open up your veins and bleed onto the page a little that you establish contact with your reader.  If you do not believe in the characters or the story you are doing at that moment with all your mind, strength, and will, if you don't feel joy and excitement while writing it, then you're wasting good white paper, even if it sells, because there are other ways in which a writer can bring in the rent money besides writing bad or phony stories.

Paul Gallico quoted in Writers' News - February 2015
www.writers-online.co.uk

The Worst Thing You Ever Write

The worst thing you ever write is infinitely better than the best thing you never write.

Quote from Nick Ahad in Writing Magazine - July 2014

He also says; You just do it.  You wake up early, you go to be late.  You sacrifice a Saturday night, or a Sunday lie-in.  You remain motivated by lots of things - by the past rejection or by the desire that you know you have stories that need to be told.

www.nickahad.com/ 

Post Karen Maitland....

I can't believe what a lovely night it was.

Going to The Collection in Lincoln and seeing all those writers / readers made me realise what I have been missing.

The stimulation of a good book talk, the anticipation of a good novel (yet to be started) and hearing about the logistics of writing.

I loved it and I realised I missed it.

Karen Maitland at The Collection

Had a fantastic night seeing Karen at The Collection in Lincoln. Her webpage for those not familiar with her work is:   http://www.karenmaitland.co.uk/      

She talked about her new book The Ravens Head but also The Vanishing Witch; of which I bought a copy, as it is set in Lincoln.

Her plots (she says) are character driven.  Who they are, their role and their dilemmas drive the plot.

Usually after she has written the first third of the book, her characters become 'friends' and they take over!  She 'knows' the personality and how they will behave....

She said that she types straight onto the computer in order to get it down as fast as she can, as if recording what she is seeing.  She never edits the same day, but waits a day, and will only edit it once  - as opposed to perfecting each page before moving on - and then she is back into the voice / mood for the next day to start writing again.

Just got to find some time to read it....