Free Post Thursday – Painless Edits and a Visitor

I am keeping this short today as I am very tired!

We had writing group this evening and it went very well.  I took some poems for improvement and it was remarkably painless: a few lines to tidy was about it. I am planning to read Cicero at the open mic, which is a little political: I still think it needs improvement but none of us could decide what! So I will read it and see how it feels as a performed piece.

When I got home, I had a most unexpected visitor: a lizard on my doorstep.  How marvellous – it’s the first one I have seen since living here in the countryside, and I hope he made it home to a cosy corner somewhere.  I love seeing the wildlife here – from rabbits to foxes, badgers to bats, hedgehogs to bees and beyond, it’s an absolute pleasure.

I can see why so many writers make worlds for them, they positively demand a storyline!

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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Week 250 – New month, new targets

This is my first weekly round-up since before my holiday, which makes sense I guess – you knew what I was up to!

This week was sadly a case of too many germs spoil the writing, because I was not really feeling good at all. As a plus point, yesterday and today I am definitely much better which is good because we had two of my nieces staying to help turn the patch of weeds and brambles behind my house back into my garden!

But all this means I haven’t really got a writing update for you. I can tell you about finding a toad in my garden, about the bumble bee nest under the shed, about the millions of spiders everywhere – and about my plans for keeping my garden both useful for humans and wildlife-friendly going forward – but that’s not really what this blog is all about!

So instead I’m going to use this opportunity to set some targets for June:

This month I will
1. Blog 5 days per week – my usual three plus two about my writing progress
2. Write every day
3. Get the crime novel up to 25,000 words (minimum)
4. Approach 8 more agents with the family tree novel (minimum)

Nothing unrealistic there… I am a little concerned how I will cope with the next three days at work, which will be exhausting; but on the other hand I can write during my breaks and prepare blogs on the train, neither of which is normally possible, so it’s all to the good!

I am leaving it there for now, as I have to get up about an hour and a quarter earlier than normal tomorrow and I need to hit the hay!

Happy writing,
EJ
🙂

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Free Post Thursday – Hi, Haiku!

I’ve just got in from writing group, where we have decided to set ourselves a little winter challenge – to each produce something for our local newsletter for publishing between December and January.

To get us all in the mood we spent some writing time on a few seasonally appropriate haiku. Now, as I’ve said before, I love this form of writing as it’s so accessible to writers who are new to poetry or who lack confidence in writing poetry.

I thought I’d share one I wrote today, just for fun:

An eiderdown fall:
The world is feathery white –
Our noses are numb.

Happy writing

EJ

🙂

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Week 215 – Moonward

Tonight is the night of the Blood Moon, and despite Nasa saying there’s nothing to worry about, it has caused some consternation…

Which takes me to this rather fabulous image:

Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Garvin (NASA/GSFC)

This picture is from Hubblesite and is the landing site of Apollo 17, back in 1972.

It also looks, quite literally, like a man in the moon.  He has a severe forehead, with a distinctive browbone.  There is an open eye looking at me from a sunken, shadowy socket.  A nose, broken, with a high bridge.  A mouth frozen at the point of saying something.

I don’t believe in apocalyptic prophecies, as such: I don’t deny the possibility that one may one day be proved true, but I don’t change my life to account for them and I don’t stock up on canned goods and bottles of water just in case.

But sometimes, I look up and I see a face in the moon. And I understand how so many cultures could have seen that, and believed there was someone up there.

So I appreciate why people see portents in the strange and unusual.  Personally  I see these things as quirks of nature that we interpret in our own strange and unusual ways, but people historically invested these quirks with a great deal more meaning, simply so they could be understood.

And that suggests not only that humans have striven to understand the world for a very, very long time – but also that we’ve been a creative and imaginative species for all that time too.

So rather than worry about what the Blood Moon will bring, I’m going to enjoy the fact that tonight the man in the moon will be looking out on a whole load of upturned faces.  Who knows what stories he will imagine of us…

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

 

 

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Free Post Thursday – Sundown

This has been another super-busy day so tonight’s theme is fewer words, more beauty.

I love this one.  It makes me peaceful and although the pink glow from the sun on the flowers wasn’t planned, I think it adds something wonderful and magical to the scene.

Hope you like it,

EJ

🙂

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Free Post Thursday – Location, Location, Location.

It’s the last Thursday of the month so tonight was writing group, and we tried out a new location. The place we usually meet is lovely, convenient and friendly, but a little too noisy as we don’t have a space where we can close the door.

Tonight we tried somewhere with a door. It was quieter, but I did eat more chips… 🙂 It was also a little further away, through some narrow country lanes.

It occurred to me today that everywhere I go, I travel through the English countryside. I travel to work via back routes past fields and farms; or I head to the nearest town by driving through woods. When I go to my trapeze class I get double bubble: countryside and coastline.

It wasn’t a conscious life plan to live in this place, but I am very happy we ended up here.

This evening I read out a poem about walking through the village one day. I have been told before that my best poetry is my nature poetry, and although I don’t know that I agree with that assessment entirely, I do think that the peace and beauty of nature come off the page.

It’s a poem I couldn’t have written ten years ago, when the evening walks were through housing estates, the sounds of twilight were the double-click of a car door locking and the jangle of keys in someone’s hand. I didn’t know what it was like to live in a place where you can hear sheep baaing in a field most evenings, or the clip clop of horses on the road most days.

Towns and cities have their own beauty and joy, and I can explore that too, now I have the tools in my writing arsenal. But I’m not sure I’d look at nature poetry in the same way if I hadn’t seen so much of nature just by looking out my windows.

The right location really does add value; I’m just not sure it’s one an estate agent would recognise.

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Thoughts on a Friday – Moments

I thought I’d do this post a day later than planned too, just to keep a little gap between posts 🙂

As writers, we know the importance of getting the timing right – the perfect moment for a reveal, or the point in a poem where we change or enhance the rhythm.

So when I saw this picture, I thought I’d be writing about picking that moment in work, and how I make decisions.

 

But you know what?  That isn’t what this picture makes me want to write about at all.

Instead, to me it’s a reminder that each moment is fleeting, that every crash of a wave on the sand is unique, never to be repeated.

It’s a reminder that we need to experience life if we want to record it with any authenticity.

So take a moment, or two.  Don’t think about the technicalities of writing, the form or style you want to create in your work.  Just look at the picture, and think about something you’d love to do.  It might be a hobby you’ve always fancied, or learning a new skill.  It might be getting a makeover or booking a holiday.  Whatever it is, try to seize the moment and make it a reality.

It’s amazing how a change of scenery, or meeting a new group of people, can open you eyes as a writer.  It’s pretty good for opening your eyes as a person, too.

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Week 162 – Part two: including an actual update…

After yesterday’s internet failure this blog is a little behind and I’ve forgotten some of the things I was going to discuss, so I’ll work my way backwards and hopefully cover most of it…

Yesterday I spent much of the day in London, celebrating a birthday (not mine!).  There is a definite vibe to the city that engages my senses – the juxtaposition of crowded streets and tree-lined parks, of overwhelming traffic and tame squirrels, that really reminds me how important it is to look beyond the surface of a place for the underlying stories.  I see and hear people from all over the world who are experiencing the same sights and sounds as me, but in an entirely personal and unique way.  I always knew this was the case but only since I’ve been writing have I thought about it so clearly.

I’ve also been working on the poetry for the wedding.  I have to write it all up and spend the next few weeks fixing it all because it’s very rough and ready at the moment – but I hope it’ll be a bit of fun for people at the event as they go round from table to table and see all the different verses set out!

The notebook has been a great help with this, not just because I have it with me all the time so I can quickly grab it and write down my thoughts, but also because it engenders a sense of routine about writing which I need when I have so little time to do it!  Plus if I see or hear anything that I think will spur a few ideas along the way I can refer back to it whenever I like – as long as I write it down!

And finally – We’re up to book 52 on the list – Lolly Willowes, by Sylvia Townsend Warner.  It’s a new one to me but sounds like a book I’d enjoy reading so  I may see if I can find it somewhere!

A short one this week, but I have been, and continue to be, so busy I can hardly think straight; this is the only way to keep any semblance of focus to the post!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Thoughts on a Thursday – Contemplating the Moon

Most people have a time when they are more mentally aware, more awake, more in tune with the world. We’re night owls or early birds, and I am most definitely more comfortable as a night owl!

Night is when you can really see how we fit into the cosmos, and I wonder if my love of all things space comes from my many late nights looking out the windows and seeing the stars come to life.

This is a picture my partner took of the moon at the weekend, as I promised I’d post.  It’s a reminder to me that whatever else is going on, I still have a universe to explore, dreams to dream – and fulfil, an eternity of possibilities to write about.

 

I look at this picture and I know that inspiration will always be with me.

Not a bad thing to remember, hey?

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

 

 

 

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