Short Blogging Break

On account of a number of time pressures at the moment, I am going to be taking a little break from blogging for the next week or so.

I hope not to be away for too long and will pop back if I get a bit of space to do so, but for now I’ll leave you with this quote:

Time is the most valuable thing that a man can spend

Thanks Diogenes Laertius.  Who doesn’t love an ancient Greek philosopher when looking for a way to explain they are a bit busy!!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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The Right Words, At The Right Time

Firstly, this is where my mind went after I typed this week’s post title:

This song brings such a strong emotional response to me, that it’s actually a really good representation of my task for the next few weeks.

I am now in preparation for not one but two open mic nights.  I decided not to focus on new work for the next one, but to get some neglected work up to the necessary quality.

It’s all about getting the mood and the language in harmony, really – finding the right word at the right time in the poem.

I’ll give you an example I am trying to fix: I wrote a poem about walking in the countryside; it’s a painting-inspired and natural poem in which I used the word crepuscular. Not a good choice: too technical, a little unwieldy and unattractive, and put in to shorten a line rather than because it’s the right word.

In a long poem a single word might not stand out, but this one is so wrong it needs a precision removal and an artistic, fluid word to go in its place. Not sure what but I have a few weeks to find something!

Editing is the hardest part of writing but when I do find the right word it is immeasurably satisfying!

So here’s to being inspired by Tracy Chapman and to making my poems as good as they can be.

Happy writing, and listening!

EJ

🙂

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Season’s Greetings!

To those who celebrate it – Merry Christmas!
For those who don’t – have a happy few days, whatever you are doing.

Here’s a little Mariah to keep you company for a few minutes!

See you in a few days,

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

 

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Where’s the Week Gone?

This week has been a bit of a blogging fail – I was a day late for Tuesday, missed Thursdays altogether and I have about five minutes to pull something into a vaguely post-like form now before heading on to the next thing on my to do list.

So I’m taking the easy option and sharing a song with you.

I try not to think too much about the fact that in another part of the world it’s about to be spring, because here and now it’s started to become very autumnal and it makes my head hurt!

The last of the British summer is slowly fading in the falling of leaves and the harvesting of the crops, and we are settling into a new pattern of longer nights, earlier twilights and later sunrises.

But those warm days are not entirely over yet!  This song has the perfect end-of-summer feel for me – it fits my mood very nicely and I can see it becoming a bit of a favourite to get me towards Halloween 🙂

Hopefully I’ll be a bit better with my time management next week and get some actual writing-related blogs out but until then, enjoy the changing of the seasons whichever you are heading into – it’s a wonderful time to think about where you want the next few months to take you.

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Every Day in May – 23.05.16

And now for a change, here is a musical interlude…

Rachel Platten – Fight Song

I love this song, because it is the story of a million people, all pushing to make their dreams come true and battling to be noticed.  It is my anthem when I think it’s all going badly!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Every Day in May – 16.05.16

Writing has been a long way off today, I am currently mid-packing and getting a little worried it may not all be done in time – oh, for an extra day off work!

So for today’s post I’m going to share something that inspires me to get up and going.  It’s not the kind of thing I can use for writing but it is something which clears my mind and let’s me start again on a positive note:

Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now

I am now off to the 25 May so I will catch up with you then – hopefully brimming with inspiration and positive news about the new story!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Free Post Thursday – Too Busy to Blog :-(

Sorry – writing work on a deadline, out with family this evening, working later than intended, a bout of illness… it’s been a little frenetic this week!

Instead, here is a little ditty for you to enjoy.  It features in lists of happy songs although I don’t know if it’s happy, so much as has a very chirpy tune.  You can decide!

Rusted Root – Send Me On My Way

Whack up the volume and have a little dance 🙂

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Free Post Thursday – Ode to Joy

I felt the need for some rousing music today, to give me a bit of a pep-up because, frankly, my energy is waning this week.  As it has gone midnight as I write this, you may understand why my days feel super-long!

I also realised that yesterday was the anniversary of Beethoven’s birth (thank you Google doodle for that one…)

The two together gave me Ode to Joy, part of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9, with words originally written by Friedrich Schiller – when this music kicks in, it makes me feel completely alive, totally absorbed and energised.  It also seems to reverberate in my chest making me feel both emotionally and physically.  It’s really quite wonderful.

I tried to find a high quality YouTube version and this, although short, is one of the best ones I found – have a dig around the internet because I’m sure there are some great versions which cover the whole symphony.  I love to have the words though; even though I don’t speak German well enough to understand the singing I feel that it’s a loss not to hear them.

I hope you enjoy it!

Happy listening,

EJ

🙂

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Week 226 – Later…!

After a hectic weekend, I have not had time to write a blog post – sorry!

As I am not in any evening this week coming, and working all week, I may well not have a lot of time to catch up either.

So, in lieu of anything else, here’s a Christmas tune by Kylie Minogue.  When  I was small I was a massive Kylie fan – I have the badges to prove it! – so it may have influenced my choice here…:

See you as soon as I get a chance to write a proper post!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Week 209 – Party in a Post!

WordPress tells me this is my 500th blog post.  I feel like I should share something momentous and life-changing but what I really want to do is have a 500th post party.  It’s something to celebrate, after all – and, any excuse for a bit of fun, hey?!

It’s Party in a Post: just add drinks and nibbles!

Let’s start with the small-talk:

‘How’s the writing going?’

‘Not too bad, actually.  I managed to get a good section completed this week, and although I’m still behind where I want to be, I am bringing the timesheet in from Monday so I can make sure I get quality writing time planned.’

‘Great.  Shall we have a dance?’

‘Fabulous idea.’

Now we need the music:

Let’s make it one of my favourites, shall we?

Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon

And, just to finish it off, let’s have a toast:

Cheers everyone!  Thank you for joining me as I’ve blethered and chattered and gabbled through 500 posts.  I hope somewhere in amongst them there’s been something fun, useful or interesting for you – and if not, keep your eyes peeled, as they say, because there’s another 500 on their way!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

 

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