Back to Work and Poetry...

An orderly routine at home has been restored with the academic year beginning, so that means undisturbed writing time.

Well that's the general plan...

I've bought my portable hard drive so I now have an ultimate back-up;  as I retype my Nottinghamshire short novel it's being saved onto it as well as the memory stick.

(Plus anything else I don't want to lose has been saved.)

Three forms of saving must be enough?

As friends on Facebook will have seen, I discovered that not only had I lost the first three chapters of draft 2, I had lost the whole 1st draft too.

The situation could have been horrible, but as mentioned last time, I print out each chapter as I complete it, so there is a copy of the completed first draft to work from.

Surprisingly I didn't panic, that is after the initial moment of horror at discovering the file was gone.

Rather than retyping the 1st draft again- which would take me too long- I decided the most practical solution is to retype the first three chapters from draft 2 (as planned), then once I start chapter four I'll rewrite using my print copy and the notes I'd previously made for draft 2.

The way forward...

Prevents me wasting time and ensures I still make progress despite the set-back.

As I read through and retype I've also started compiling reminder notes on a file card for each chapter. Not something I've tried before, but in the circumstances I thought I'd see if it helps with the rewriting and editing of future drafts.

Being open to new ideas is good. Which now ties into the poetry item...

I attended a short workshop about writing poetry (last night at the writers' club). The aim of the session was to encourage the attendees that even if they didn't think they could write a poem, they could discover methods that would help them do so.

Negativity was not allowed.

Admittedly by the end of the evening I was quite enthusiastic about working on the last poem I wrote, about an old glass bottle with the chemist's name - we were given a selection of objects to choose from and the little glass bottle immediately drew my attention.

Whether I can actually make a decent poem out of it I have no idea, but I said I'd try.






Image courtesy of Stuart Miles & www.freedigitalphotos.net

Lost and Found...

Saving the story...

I've now got my portable hard drive, so I'll be saving my work in progress as I go along, not just on a memory stick and a print copy (you can never have enough back-ups :D ).

There was near disaster when I discovered that one of the memory sticks lost the first three chapters of my second draft of my Nottinghamshire story. It was on the memory stick, then the next time I plugged it in, it was gone.

A writer friend suggested I download a retrieval programme and see if it could find it. Sadly it was gone forever.

Fortunately I print out the completed chapters as I go along, so I haven't lost all that work I did earlier in the year.

But it will mean retyping it into a new document. :(

So I better go and get on with it... :-)

Have you ever lost work due to digital mishaps?

Discoveries...

For those of you who had a Bank Holiday on Monday, I hope you enjoyed it.

I did a little gardening, but spent most of the day sorting through the memory sticks (aka flash drives, thumb drives, USB sticks) to find out what was on the unlabelled ones- not my fault... :-)

There was one stick that would no longer open on my computer, or my OH's laptop. I think I know what was on it- it was the first two chapters of an idea that just didn't work at the time. I do have one stick that has a lot images and files on, so I think that some of the lost items are also on there- and it still works.

There were quite a few duplicates- a few of the photos had three or four copies between the different sized sticks, so I was able to free up a couple of them as a result.

Holding memories and
tales to be told...

Among all these old documents I found a few stories that I'd started and either didn't finish, or the idea didn't appeal at the time. So I'll be looking at them to see if there's anything I can salvage now.

I bought some white strung tags so every stick is now labelled with subject and memory size, so I can easily find the one I want.

If you buy a new computer with Windows 10 on it, as I needed to, it will have the 3.0 USB slots. Though you might have a model with both 2.0 and 3.0 USB slots, so it's worth checking.

Fortunately my computer still opens the 2nd generation sticks I have, but that's not guaranteed on all new computers apparently, as I discovered when I was searching to find out why one of my sticks wouldn't open or be recognised.

Needless to say I will be investing in a good portable hard drive as soon as possible to transfer essential items. That way I don't have to use the one my OH bought for his computer files.

Where technology is concerned I opt for the 'change only when necessary', but sometimes you just have to do it sooner...

Making Lists Again...

Almost at the August Bank Holiday again- where has summer gone?

I'm going to be grabbing writing time here and there for the next few weeks as the new academic year approaches.

My son at university, starts his third and final year, but will also be on the other campus this time, so he'll be in a shared house. This means we'll have to go out with him to buy the additional items he'll need before he moves in early next month.

Son at college goes back for the final year of his computer course mid-September, so that will be full steam ahead with writing on the two full days he's there. He's also waiting for the results of his GCSE Maths- due this coming week.

Still working...

I'm filling up my 2016/2017 diary with appointments and other events, so I'm going to have to be stricter with myself to ensure I have writing and reading time between now and Christmas.

I haven't made as much progress as I'd hoped, but that's been my time management issues this year.

When my children were younger and at school I used to write more in the morning, but now they're older and I don't have the time restraints, it's lunchtime, early afternoon before I settle. So I need to get back some of my mornings to write.

It would probably help if I didn't stay up until midnight too. :D

There are a few deadlines for projects approaching, so they'll be the top of my list- they are writing so that's okay.

As for my 1920's project, it's slow going. Whether I can get the pocket novel tone is quite another issue...

Right, I'm off to consult my diary and see what free time I have this week...







image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

First or Third Person Viewpoint...

I've always preferred third person viewpoint, both writing and reading.

Occasionally I have written a short story from the first person viewpoint, but I hadn't intended it. I started writing and that was how the character and story seemed to fit.

Now I'm in the same situation again with this 1920's story- hopefully a pocket novel.

As I've been writing blocks of dialogue from the ideas in my head, I've been getting inside the mind of my heroine, but I do wonder if that will remain once I start adding description and narrative, or will I find I'm writing in the third person as usual?

Though the idea of using first person would fit this particular plot well I'm really not sure I can carry it off!

I suspect there will be a lot of editing by the time I've finished it-whichever direction it goes...

So what's your thoughts on viewpoint in your writing? Do you prefer a particular viewpoint, or does it depend on the story you're writing?

First or Third?

Image courtesy of jesadaphorn at www.freedigitalphotos.net

Trying a New Method...

At the moment I'm working on a shorter project set in the late 1920's.

1920's Red Cloche Hat
from Shaping The Body Exhibition
Castle Museum, York.

With the school/university holidays there's not as much quiet around me as I need to concentrate on the editing of draft 1 of my Nottinghamshire short novel, so I'm researching and jotting down ideas on this other project.

I've always written sequentially, so start at chapter one and work through to the end, but this shorter project isn't working that way.

I have scenes and dialogue in my mind but not the joining up or narrative pieces.

So I decided to try something different; write the dialogue in the scenes I do have in mind and fit it together later on when I'm clearer on the descriptions and narrative.

Admittedly I was sceptical  that it would work, but surprisingly it has worked well and I'm making progress quicker than I anticipated.

The core prompt has been in my ideas book for years, and despite considering a few possibilities- one set in the early 19th century- it didn't go anywhere, until the couple from the past revealed a brief conversation that made sense of the 1920's plot.

One day I'll write that other story that will tie up the early 19th century to the 1920's...

Meanwhile the disadvantages are that I've got to learn about everyday facts of 1920's life.

For example can my heroine turn on a light? How widespread was electricity in country houses?

It's interesting in another way, because my mother was born in the early 1920's so some of the questions & answers will relate to her childhood too.

At least I'm writing... :-)

Regrets and Serendipity...

Thank you all for all your support and kind words recently, it encouraged and reminded me that sometimes I need to step back and relax and not feel guilty for it.

And of course, when I did stop worrying, my creativity returned.

That was when I regretted not buying that old book last month.

The old book that I picked up, browsed, then put back down on the book stall during the rainy day at Lowdham Book Festival. I'd left it, deciding it wasn't useful. :(

While it's noisy at home at the moment, I decided to do some research for an idea that may be suitable as a pocket novel, as it's buzzing around my brain at the moment.

If you want to know about Steam Locomotives there's lots of information on the internet, and plenty of photographic examples, but interior views of the carriages on the line I am interested in, no. I could find a few pictures for the 1890's.

So I decided that the start would need a rethink and put it aside.

Then today I popped into an Oxfam book shop that I'd never visited before, and a very well-worn cloth bound book caught my attention. The books of the early 20th century were often cloth-bound, so I always look at these when I see them.

I'd found a gem. The Blue Guides to England. They are still going and you can read more here.

There were a few pages loose, but they were there. There were little maps of different regions of the country, information on stations, buses, fares and hotels, as well as the standard tourist information of the time. Everything a visitor to England might need to know in the late 1930's. And no adverts.

From America to England the steamer took 5-10 days, and just like now it cost more to travel in the summer season; off season was 10% less.

The rail route I was interested in described the views as the train travelled from London to Brighton, the classes available and how long the journey could take.

Of course all the fares and hotel charges are in pre-decimal currency, so £-s-d.

I'm old enough to remember those, and many of the coins shown here. My pocket-money as a child was a thruppenny bit (three pence). :-)

It's going to be fun to dip into the pages and learning more about places I've visited, over the years.

But I will be getting on with the writing/editing too.

When You Can't Write...

I need quiet to write.

Reality at the moment is that there's very little quiet available.

So I'm not writing consistently, and the second draft editing is on hold until I have a clear head again.

Lots of stress from assorted sources led to mild depression building, and last week I wasn't functioning at 100%, more like 20%. So I cut back to essential tasks, stopped feeling guilty for all the things I wasn't doing, and concentrated on me rather than everyone else.

I'm probably back up to 75% functioning now.

My mind has unlocked and is starting to formulate story ideas again- thank you Sally Quilford, your comment on Facebook hit the switch I needed rebooting... (Can switches be rebooted? :) )

Meanwhile I've slowly been working my way through my York visit photos, renaming, tagging and where needed cropping. (Windows 10 does not make the tagging as simple as it was in Windows 7.)

I've started some background reading for a future project too, and making notes on a completely different long-term non-fiction item. Both of these don't demand the degree of concentration my work-in-progress needs, and I can do them in short spurts.

Depression can happen to anyone at any time of their life from mild to severe, so if you're not sure if you're experiencing this, there's a useful self-assessment tool on the nhs website, here.

I hope to get back to my blogging routine in the next week...

Meanwhile here's a happy picture to make you smile.

T-shirt of a cat in a garden in a
shop window...
(The Cat Gallery)

Fun and Research in York...

Finally I've had the time to fully gather my thoughts on York, as well as sorting my photos (there wasn't 600, I misread the totals on the screen- that was how many I could have taken with the memory card. I ended up with 131 images and I'm still naming and tagging them).

Plus my husband took a few for me on his smaller digital camera, which I still need to get from him.

Even on a short break there's time for research and inspiration.

I also did a lot of walking, lots and lots of walking...

We stayed at a hotel with the enclosed car park at the rear- our room overlooked it. It was only five minutes walk to Bootham Bar, which has been the entryway into York for centuries, so we were at The Minster within ten minutes, and from there a variety of attractions, shops, and eating places were within easy reach.

Bootham Bar
gateway

(The picture on the right, there's a car in the distance with headlights on; our hotel was about that far away.)

Unfortunately we didn't sleep well the first night as a car alarm, on one of the vehicles in the hotel car park, kept going off every hour- it finally stopped after 3 am. :(

As I'd arranged to meet up with writer friend Maggie Cobbett at Bennett's, by The Minster on the Saturday morning before my first museum visit, there was no time for a lie-in.

Carol and Maggie met for coffee

It was a Facebook post by Maggie, recommending the Shaping the Body exhibition at the Castle Museum, that led me to book the weekend in York.

(As I've got quite a few photos on particular topics, I'll be using some of the photos I took in future blog posts here, and on my Serena Lake site.)

Friends already know that if there's an opportunity to try out historical dress, I will be the first in the queue. Sadly this time there wasn't a large size available, so I went for the underpinnings- panniers.

Panniers tied at the waist

Now I have to admit these were comfortable, but the real things probably wouldn't be, nor as compact as these. Though they do give you an idea of proportions, and how they would give shape to the dresses of the time.

Like later cages, they do change how you move.

By the time we'd finished going through the museum I was hungry and tired, so I decided to visit the shoe exhibition at Fairfax House on the Sunday, rather than rush through it.

If I hadn't been going to Fairfax House we probably would have followed the riverside pathway for a while. There was a rowing competition running between various universities taking place on the Sunday morning...

Riverside path...

Monday morning soon arrived, as did the rain, and time to pack up the car and return to the regular daily routine.

It's been a busy first half of the year, so the trip to York was just what I needed...

Back from York...

On Friday I travelled up to York to visit a couple of exhibitions, as well as take advantage of a short break with my husband, minus the family- who are now all adults and can look after the house and themselves.

I must admit there was a pile of dishes in the sink when we got back today... :D

I took lots of photos in York- some for blog posts now, others for later in the year, and a few for Serena's blog; and more random images that I'm sure I'll find a use for.

Having just checked how many, there's 600+. That's going to take me some time to sort out, choose, and label.

I'm amazed I can actually move, as I did so much walking while I was away. Each evening when I got back to the hotel and finally stopped still, my muscles stiffened up and I just wanted to lie down and watch the TV.

After hearing about Betty's, I actually got to experience the tearoom. We were downstairs, but the service was the same as upstairs, and we didn't have to queue up as long either.

We stayed about five-ten minutes walk from the Minster, so we got to admire the amazing craftsmanship, past and present, several times a day.

More soon.

A View of York Minster...

image from Pixabay.

The Season of Festivals...

Where has the time gone?

I know book festivals take place throughout the year, but the summer months are particularly popular.

For me, June means  it's Lowdham Book Festival, 17th-25th. So I'll be doing my usual stint at the writers' club stall on the 25th.

 I need to dig out the bag with the see-through acrylic stands and leaflet holders ready for this year's display material.

Every year is a learning experience, seeing what works and what is an absolute failure in display terms.

This year 's Lowdham Book Festival is in its 17th year, and I've attended the free Saturday events day for at least eleven of the last twelve years.

Of course events develop and change over time, but I've always found the Saturday a good indicator of how the local and even national economy is affecting people.

 Do people buy one or two new books, or will they buy half a dozen? Modern second-hand books always seem to weather the ups and downs...

Buying books...

The last couple of years have been good, and it's reassuring to all writers to see a healthy trade in books, whether new, very old, or second-hand.

I scour the attending antiquarian type book stalls every year, but set myself a budget, otherwise I'd need a suitcase- and a lottery win... :D

This year's free Saturday events will be taking place the day after the results of the EU referendum have been announced, plus it's also a busy day for assorted events around the immediate region so fingers crossed for sunshine, or at least a dry day.

Besides Lowdham, Derby Book Festival is now running until the 11th June; and hopefully there will be another Books at the Castle in Newark (held for the first time August 2015).

If you're in the area then do look at the Lowdham festival programme; you can download it from The Bookcase website, here.

Do you have a local book festival that you attend? Or do you prefer the bigger festivals like Hay, or

Edinburgh?



image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti & www.freedigitalphotos.net

Character or Plot- Which Arrives First?

Do you have a favourite series that you hate to miss?

Well Saturday night in the my house is NCIS night. Now to be honest across the week NCIS: seasons 10, 11 and 12 are being shown on assorted digital channels (along with the New Orleans and Los Angeles versions), which can be confusing as one night a relative of one character can be dead, and the next week on a different channel the dead character is still alive...

This is where box-sets come in useful.

Anyway, my OH just watches the story and whoever is in that episode- he calls it moving wallpaper; I told him that the characters and what's happening to them is as important as the story. He wasn't convinced...

That is what got me thinking about plot versus character, and which comes first?

Which arrives first?

If you define plot as "a sequence of events" that occur through the story, then I'd have to say no that doesn't come first- at least for me.

In fact whenever I've had a story idea and some of the plot before finding the characters for it, they have never made any progress no matter how much time I've put in. The last time I tried that it was three wasted months.

For me, it runs: initial idea (that is usually the result of two random incidents/thoughts/information) - a vague scene of one or two characters, but enough to start developing them - more ideas - research - basic bios of my characters- chapter outlines - write the first draft and discover more about the characters and plot as I work.

Looking at the process that way it's 50/50.

Every writer has their own way of doing things, so someone else may have the plot and then looks for their characters to fill the story.

Others discover as they go along.

So are you plot first? Characters first? Or somewhere in-between?