Cringe worthy? Definitely!
Currently I am spending my hours dedicated to writing, reading over the first draft of my manuscript. Wow, is it ever a mammoth job?!
My method also involves a bit of less structured writing. As I'm reading over the chapters of my manuscript I have another document open writing down the summary of the chapter as well as anything I think deems changing.
Before this I had done a similar version of reading over the draft with my lovely mother who has taken the time out of her busy days to read my manuscript. Printing off each chapter once a week or so, Mum would go through it and then I would read any of her comments - generally grammar and spelling errors - and then add in my own. The majority of the time I found that whilst there might be a whole page free of her edits, I would usually find a whole host of things wrong with that page.
Two things I learnt from this: 1) I thought that once I had written my novel from front to back that I was ready for another reader and 2) Although it is handy to have Mum read it as she loves reading and can tell me if its boring or not, its not the same as having a Beta Reader.
Now that I'm heading back to read over the chapters again the notes I'm writing would possibly be very offensive if this was someone else's work. The chapter that I'm working on, Nine, when I wrote it for some reason I seemed to loath writing anything descriptive. Therefore I've written myself many annoyed notes telling me that no matter how much I wanted to write this part quickly it doesn't excuse having sections with only dialogue.
This exercise has made me learn that I will probably have many drafts before I think my work is even ready enough for a Beta Reader, then they'll probably strip it down again, and I won't even go into what an editor or agent or publisher will say when the time comes for them.
Writing is definitely a journey, and its no easy one. Sort of like Frodo's journey in The Fellowship Of the Ring. At Rivendell everyone acknowledged that something had to be done, but only few attempted it, and of those who attempted it some got lead astray, some perished and some, not matter how much they wanted it got left behind.
To me, the feeling I'm getting, after finishing this draft and then reading it over it only to realise just how much there is left to go, is that this is the moment when you find out whether you want to really be a writer. Each time you finish the massive task of writing a draft and then recognising that in a few weeks after you've let it sit you'll have to take up that pen and do it all again, hopefully for the better, I think it takes passion and willpower to keep going.
Therefore I'm going to take the end of this post to commend and applaud everyone who has kept going, whether they are published or not.
"You need only take one step at a time, but the main thing is to keep going."
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Writing with a Day Job
It's amusing that I picked a career as a writer because I don't think I have enough dedication to become a veterinarian as it involves 6+ years of schooling and you are forever having to update your knowledge to keep up with the latest research. And yet to become a writer you need to spend at least two years on a novel - generally a lot more, it took Tolkien more than twelve years - including lots of rewriting, editing, self disclipine and many writers don't even making enough off their published workers let alone whilst they are writing them!
Which bring me to the topic of this post: Writing with a day job. The majority of writers have these, as you need to be very successful or have another source of income like a spouse or some sort of Government income.
This of course can make it very difficult to write depending on what type of job you have. A mind numbing job which bores you to tears can be very determental to the progress of your novel. Your creativety just isn't following and all you want to do when you get home is zone out watching re-runs of Friends or reading an easy book.
Then of course you have those wonderful jobs that are stimulating and challenging and ensure you are use your creative juices. As soon as you get home you launched into your latest project and get done a decent amount of work no matter how little time you have to do it.
And of course the DREAM JOB. The one where you work enough and get paid enough to pay the bills & feed the family, where you have to be there for some specific purpose like answering the phone so you're getting paid, but have enough free time to work on your novel, and a wonderful boss who allows you to write.
However the DJ isn't readily available to everyone, does it even exhist? So below I've put together a list of jobs which would be an ideal job for a writer - and hope that after my traineeship I can find a similar job to support my writing, but also not go broke!
1. Part time working in retail - You could work 15, 20, 30 hours a week leaving at least two maybe three or four days to write. Just after finishing school I worked in a clothing store for 15 hours a week. Sure the pay wasn't great for the small amount of hours I worked, but living at home I didn't feel the loss of money, got to write heaps whilst my parents and siblings were away and got a quick kiss off my boyfriend once a day when he was doing deliveries ;) Win, win.
2. Night time door staff at a club - Sure on busy nights this wouldn't be helpful to write, you'd have to make sure everyone has signed in and keep away drunken people. However on quiet nights, especially in winter when the place is nearly dead, but you must be there in case someone comes in there would be a wonderful amount of time to write. Being nighttime the manager may have gone home already, or be in the club socialising with the patrons and you may have a slightly more relaxed superviser who doesn't care if you are writing because you have nothing else to do. And once you head home for the night at 12am, sometimes as early as 9pm on quiet nights, you'd wake up 10am refreshed from sleep and have hours to write before starting at 5pm.
3. Receptionist - Slightly similar to number 2. There is not always phone calls to answer or customers to see and when all your jobs are done you can surf the net for research, email yourself a copy of your latest draft from home to re over and re-work or email yourself the next chapter you've written.
4. Shift working in a Cattery - I recently found a job vacany for a part time worker or part time manager. You work in the morning starting a 8ish for a few hours, then come back at 3 till 5. You'd have time in the middle of the day to write and get to play with cute kittens!
5. Be a housewife of a millionaire who has a maid and cook! haha
Which bring me to the topic of this post: Writing with a day job. The majority of writers have these, as you need to be very successful or have another source of income like a spouse or some sort of Government income.
This of course can make it very difficult to write depending on what type of job you have. A mind numbing job which bores you to tears can be very determental to the progress of your novel. Your creativety just isn't following and all you want to do when you get home is zone out watching re-runs of Friends or reading an easy book.
Then of course you have those wonderful jobs that are stimulating and challenging and ensure you are use your creative juices. As soon as you get home you launched into your latest project and get done a decent amount of work no matter how little time you have to do it.
And of course the DREAM JOB. The one where you work enough and get paid enough to pay the bills & feed the family, where you have to be there for some specific purpose like answering the phone so you're getting paid, but have enough free time to work on your novel, and a wonderful boss who allows you to write.
However the DJ isn't readily available to everyone, does it even exhist? So below I've put together a list of jobs which would be an ideal job for a writer - and hope that after my traineeship I can find a similar job to support my writing, but also not go broke!
1. Part time working in retail - You could work 15, 20, 30 hours a week leaving at least two maybe three or four days to write. Just after finishing school I worked in a clothing store for 15 hours a week. Sure the pay wasn't great for the small amount of hours I worked, but living at home I didn't feel the loss of money, got to write heaps whilst my parents and siblings were away and got a quick kiss off my boyfriend once a day when he was doing deliveries ;) Win, win.
2. Night time door staff at a club - Sure on busy nights this wouldn't be helpful to write, you'd have to make sure everyone has signed in and keep away drunken people. However on quiet nights, especially in winter when the place is nearly dead, but you must be there in case someone comes in there would be a wonderful amount of time to write. Being nighttime the manager may have gone home already, or be in the club socialising with the patrons and you may have a slightly more relaxed superviser who doesn't care if you are writing because you have nothing else to do. And once you head home for the night at 12am, sometimes as early as 9pm on quiet nights, you'd wake up 10am refreshed from sleep and have hours to write before starting at 5pm.
3. Receptionist - Slightly similar to number 2. There is not always phone calls to answer or customers to see and when all your jobs are done you can surf the net for research, email yourself a copy of your latest draft from home to re over and re-work or email yourself the next chapter you've written.
4. Shift working in a Cattery - I recently found a job vacany for a part time worker or part time manager. You work in the morning starting a 8ish for a few hours, then come back at 3 till 5. You'd have time in the middle of the day to write and get to play with cute kittens!
5. Be a housewife of a millionaire who has a maid and cook! haha
Sunday, August 25, 2013
My Impression of the Writing Course So Far...
I am enjoying my writing course. Wooooo! The excitment I felt about finally doing something "real" for my career as a writer is still with me. This course I feel is helping already. As it's Monday our assignments are being marked at the moment and module four is up for reading and learning. Two weeks to go!
Throughout the course I have wondered if I should have taken the next level up. I wanted to start at the beginning in case I missed anything important I would need for the next level. I'm fairly confident I could have taken the second one and succeeded even if I was a little behind for some of it.
In the course it touches on a lot of the basics which as I've been writing for four years can seem a little trival. I admit to groaning a few times as the audio began to talk about things like tenses and POV which I already thought I knew much about. Hint, the key word is "thought". Sure the topics seem like baby steps, but really the course delves deeply into each of these seemingly basic things to create a better understanding and more importantly cause myself to ask major questions about my novel.
I'm finding myself wondering whether to write my novel in third person as opposed to first. My plan of action at the moment is to finish this second draft in first person and then if I feel something is missing write my third draft in third person.
I'm finding that whilst doing the course the most beneficial part is the feedback we get on our assignments. The three assignments I have done so far whilst are nothing more than a few paragraphs have given me fantastic insight and a professional look at my writing. I'm a little miffed that this weeks assignment is about another book's structure as instead to my own novel's as the previous weeks were. I feel that since I wasn't so fond of English at school I'm not looking forward to this, but its all for the Greater Good of my writing, meaning it must be worthwhile.
Throughout the course I have wondered if I should have taken the next level up. I wanted to start at the beginning in case I missed anything important I would need for the next level. I'm fairly confident I could have taken the second one and succeeded even if I was a little behind for some of it.
In the course it touches on a lot of the basics which as I've been writing for four years can seem a little trival. I admit to groaning a few times as the audio began to talk about things like tenses and POV which I already thought I knew much about. Hint, the key word is "thought". Sure the topics seem like baby steps, but really the course delves deeply into each of these seemingly basic things to create a better understanding and more importantly cause myself to ask major questions about my novel.
I'm finding myself wondering whether to write my novel in third person as opposed to first. My plan of action at the moment is to finish this second draft in first person and then if I feel something is missing write my third draft in third person.
I'm finding that whilst doing the course the most beneficial part is the feedback we get on our assignments. The three assignments I have done so far whilst are nothing more than a few paragraphs have given me fantastic insight and a professional look at my writing. I'm a little miffed that this weeks assignment is about another book's structure as instead to my own novel's as the previous weeks were. I feel that since I wasn't so fond of English at school I'm not looking forward to this, but its all for the Greater Good of my writing, meaning it must be worthwhile.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
First Hours
Hey guys!
I got my details last night and logged in for the first time. Downloaded course materials and listened to the majority of my first audio.
I'm liking it so far. Since I haven't even completed the first module I can't be sure how it will turn out. However I do know it is posing good questions which some of them I'm happy to say I already have answers and others that will have me thinking.
More posts later :) x
I got my details last night and logged in for the first time. Downloaded course materials and listened to the majority of my first audio.
I'm liking it so far. Since I haven't even completed the first module I can't be sure how it will turn out. However I do know it is posing good questions which some of them I'm happy to say I already have answers and others that will have me thinking.
More posts later :) x
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Class Starts Tonight!
Hey guys!
As long as everything goes to plan I'm super duper excited to sign up for the online writing course tonight.
After finally ordering a grille off eBay for my poor car that has had a hole in it for months since I ran into that kangaroo I've decided to actually get my butt into gear about this course I'm wanting to take, instead of spending my hard earned money on things I don't need yet like T.V. series and books when I already have so many to watch and read.
Considering I work a zillion hours a week - I've worked out its actually 40+ instead of just 30 - and especially since its the Hospitality industry I wouldn't have time to go to real classes, this is extremely helpful.
They recommend you spend about two to three hours on their course which I will be able to achieve. I'm hoping this will majorly benefit my novel writing even if its just to inspire me to write more on a regular basis.
If all goes well I shall be signing up tonight and beginning my course. I'll let you all know how it goes! :)
How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
By Meg Rosoff
Rating: ***1/2
My sister recommended this as an amazing book, however sadly I didn't like it as much as she raved on about.
I enjoyed reading about Daisy. The writing was refreshing and the storyline was unique. Admittedly I was slightly worried about her relationship with Edmond to begin with, not wanting another horrible Flowers In The Attic gross out. Wonderfully I discovered it wasn't like that.
I can't quite put my finger on why I didn't love this book. I wasn't bored when reading it, but it didn't capitvate my attention. Daisy told her story in a plain, statement, this-is-my-life kind of way. I guess that is the problem. Daisy as a narrator didn't exactly employ me to tug on my heart strings.
It wasn't until when she returned to an emotionally unsound Edmond that I wanted to know what happened faster than I could read. I would recommend this to a friend. It is an interesting read, just not a completely captivating one.
I found myself turning the last page and thinking "Is that it?" More out of surprise as it was a book my sister highly praised and usually I love what she recommends I read.