Wooded Secrets: Can you find a story?

After spending a lot of time wondering if I should continue writing, or if I should give it all up as a bad lot, the characters that have been dozing about for quite some time shouted – KEEP GOING. So although I have had many issues recently, I have decided to write through them in the hope that things will come good in the end. Use the issues to grow my writing. That is the plan.

I was looking for something recently in my image folder and came across this picture. 

I can see many things in this, I wonder if you can too? The more closely I looked into the image the more I saw. Your task for today is to use the image to inspire a piece of writing. What genre you choose is up to you, but for me I would select fantasy or non-fiction like an article.

Enlarge the picture and look really closely. What can you see? How does it make you feel? Think about how you will structure your work to make best use of its imagery. The closer you look, does the image seem darker, more threatening or not as freaky? Is it calling out to you for help, about to attack or is it just a piece of wood with an interesting history?

What you do with it is up to you, so go on, get writing. 

Starting point prompts and a lesson in how not to do it!

Where has the week gone? I was so pleased with myself last week when the blog went up early, but this week it is late, but not too late. My day job has been frantic for various reasons and I have to admit I was relieved when Friday’s working day was over.

On the writing front I have been editing as I reread something I had sent off and realised it was riddled with errors that I hadn't noticed. Not desperately bad, but NOT good enough. I let myself down.  A learning curve for me - check things more thoroughly. I did however realise that the version I had submitted was not the correct one either! It was a bad week. I think I have burnt my bridge there, but I have learnt so much about how much more I need to focus on the details and to ensure that I don’t attach the wrong version when submitting. Onward and upward as they say. The upshot of my error has given me a good kick and I am working hard on making corrections and improving the three chapters of my WIP. Never take your eye off your goal and make sure you don’t get complacent and submit before you are 100% happy with your sample. I have lost out, by my own sloppy approach, something I hope not to repeat.

My suggestion is to check, check, re check and check again. Please don’t make silly mistakes because you think you are up against it. Instead make contact and let people know you need a little more time.

So for this week’s writing challenge. Take a look at the prompts below, select one or all if you want more of a challenge. Set aside thirty minutes in which you will not be disturbed. To help you have a timer at hand. You are going to attempt to write without stopping for the whole thirty minutes. No editing as you go, just allow your thoughts to run free. Follow the stream of thinking and write whatever comes to mind. You might find this brings some interesting results. When you first selected one of the starting points you may have thought you knew where the story might take you. However, doing this exercise allows your mind to direct you, rather than you to direct it. Can you do it? It is similar to walking down a path and finding doors that are open and ones that are closed. Do you take the easy option or open a door. Will the easy option be a trap? 

You must use the prompts as your starting point and run on from there.
1. Dusk weaved through the trees like…
2. She took three steps downward and…
3. Relief flooded through the aching feet when they meet the icy flagstone floor.
4. At the top of the tree he looked down before edging forward.

So there you are, four openings for you to work with. Remember you are writing for thirty minutes, without editing or thinking – just write. I suggest that you write the openings down on separate pieces of paper, fold them and then pick one. Open it, set your timer and write. This way you don’t have time to think about how the writing might turn out, you just write.

Hope you enjoy this challenge. So go on, get writing.  

Write an image.

This week has been busy, both with my day job and the writing. I have spent many hours trying to get the first three sample chapters of my WIP in shape for sending for comment by an agent, who had previously suggested how my work could be improved. With this in mind I have rethought, reworked and rewritten the first three chapters. The whole story now starts in a different place, has a slower pace, but I hope it has a better balance as it had been rushing on without allowing my reader to breath. My only concern now it that is too slow. I guess I will only know when I get the feedback. I found this very difficult, but the process has been illuminating, I'm just hoping it isn't over written.

I hope you are still doing your ten minutes of writing each night and seeing progress with the amount of work and the quality for the material written. Keep at it, you will really see the benefit before long.

This week I have selected for images to inspire you.

1.       Unsuccessful fruit cake.

2.       A Bear trying to be cool.

3.       A cat in the box.

4.       The Fire Sunset.

Select one of these items, decide what genre you want to write in and using all your writing skills create a piece of writing that will engage your reader from beginning to the end.

So go on, get writing. 

2014 Keep on Writing

2014 a year to keep on writing.

I do hope you have started doing your ten minute daily writing challenge. It doesn't matter what time of day you do this, but you need to make sure you pick up the pen or computer and write for ten minutes, without stopping preferably, from start to finish. What do you write about? Anything and everything. Sit on a train and describe the person sitting in front of you or at home and an object on the side or look up and see a spider and describe the room from its point of view.  You see, I doesn't really matter what you write about, you just have to do it.

To add to this daily task I'm giving you this week’s writing prompt. Use the opening words below to write a short story. Think about where you might market the work before starting.

The glass shattered into shards and began to fall…

Once you've finished, edit, and re-written I want you to submit your work. Make sure you follow the writers’ guidelines, each publication has its own rules whether it be on-line or a paper publication.

I’ve been working hard on my own writing and will let you know as I go on how things are going. I will also keep you up dated on conferences you might be interested in and please let me know of writing activities, workshops or conferences etc. in your area that I may not have heard about.

So until next week, go on, get writing.

And into the NEW YEAR.

I hope you've all had a fantastic Christmas whether that be quite and studious or outlandishly boisterous. Whichever you have had, I hope you have found time to sit and think, to enjoy and share with one or many. And during this time I hope you have taken stock of your writing and are now in a position to move forward with new projects and can see how your writing has improved over the last year. With the New Year just around the corner, I hope you have the time you need to achieve your goals for 2014 and make good progress with all your writing projects this coming year.

To help you keep your writing fresh I want you to ensure that you write for at least ten minutes every day. That may seem a very small amount of time, but as some of you are new to writing and others of you are either published and just like to visit to take a break from your current WIP this is an easy way to improve your speed and get the work flowing. You can simple write about objects, things you've heard or simply write away the foibles of the day. I find it works quiet well to keep the brain thinking fast especially if I've worked myself in to a corner or am on the way to a dead end. Try it and see. Just ten minutes can make a difference.

I am going to try very hard in 2014 to make sure my blog is posted every Friday, but please forgive me if I'm late, it will be because I am writing and time has run away with me again! I will continue to keep you updated on what is happening with my own writing and I hope you will continue to share your experiences with me. Do feel free to post your thoughts and questions on here and if you have a novel to advertise and share I would be happy to post an article on here for you. Just let me know and we’ll sort something out.

I wish you all a happy New Year and I hope 2014 will be kind to you all. 

The emotion of friendship.

So many things going on this week, and so little time to achieve it all. I had a big disappointment this week, but it wasn't meant to be, so I will find another way. I have to. I've started to think of new ways around things, which I hope will eventually be fruitful. It will involve a lot of hard work, but I've got some time coming up that I can put to good use. Wish me luck, as I will need much of it.

My father is getting frailer as each few days pass, he has a look in his eyes that is beyond sorrow. A place I can’t find him and can’t help.  I hope in some small way he will find enjoyment this Christmas.

This weekend we had our first Christmas dinner, which was really good fun. This Christmas is all mixed up with family and wonderful friends. Life would be so dull without you all. We have a lot of food left over which will feed us for the rest of the week. I’ll be making lots of experimental dinners!

One of the great parts of this time of year is the getting together of old friends and making new friends or acquaintances in unexpected places. The one that springs to mind for me was the encounter I had with an elderly gentleman I sat next to on a bench three years ago in Watford. I was waiting for my son and Stanley and I got talking. He told me all about his wife and her ills and the wonderful life they have led.  I don’t suppose I could really class him as a friend, more of an acquaintance, but it felt I had known him all my life. We would always stop for a few minutes to chew the fat! He had a wonderful outlook on life which I've tried to emulate in all things I do now. I haven’t seen him around for quite a while now, but have fond memories of his kind heart and generosity of spirit.

This week we are going to use our own experience to draw pictures of relationships, friendships and how those friendships affect us. Think back to three separate situation’s you have found yourself in and use your creativity to change the outcome. For this you will need to work with emotion. Try writing from all points of view and then decide on the POV you feel is best for the piece. Remember to write for the reader and drag them into the picture with you.

So go on, get writing. 

Christmas on a budget.

It seems to me that December has dashed in like those reindeer flashing above on Christmas night. I blinked and it is already the seventh! On the upside, I have managed to get a few gifts, but there is still so much to do and if the days keep shooting through as quickly I'm not sure I’ll be ready by the thirtieth let alone the twenty-fourth.

It has been interesting to find, whilst waiting in queues, that so many people are really cutting back this year. Likewise I am doing the same. Christmas on a minimal budget is a challenge and I hope I'm winning. Like many others. I've looked in the shops and on-line for some ideas and then re-looked and made lists and remade lists until the gifts worked within the budget, well almost!

So this week’s challenge is to write a short story intended for publication. It will be set in the build up to Christmas – Christmas on a budget. For this you are going to create characters, use all the techniques you have at your disposal and craft an amazing Christmas. Think about how your characters interact with each other and how their individual problems may be linked. It is your job to weave their issues to produce the perfect Christmas. That may not be the traditional Christmas, but it needs to be perfect for them.

So if you want snow, reindeer or hot sun and a suntanned Santa it is up to you to make it real. So go on, get writing.