Free Post Thursday – Just Write

Last week I went to a private viewing at a small gallery.  My friend, the artist, also read some of his poetry during the event.

It’s always interesting to hear work by others but I do come away a little embarrassed that in the time I have known him he’s published 3 books, and I have not!

That’s why this post is titled ‘just write’: it’s a reminder. There’s no point worrying what other people are doing, you have to focus on your own work. You just have to get the words down.

I am working on something now, and I will give all my writing attention to that.  It’s far more constructive!

Give yourselves the time and space to write, it’s the best gift possible.

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Free Post Thursday – Other Matters

This week has been rather unproductive from a writing point of view: a close relative is ill and as a result we have another family member staying with us. Couple that with a busy time and extra hours at work, plus additional rehearsals in the run-up to our performance, and my routine has been negatively affected.  I am not even getting time to do my coursework in lunchbreaks!

I know it’s easy to fall out of the writing habit so I am squirrelling away some time in the next few days to work, but inevitability writing will come second to other responsibilities at times.  What I need are two things: a plan to get back to my routine – and to use my notebook to record what is happening.

My notebook is the place to record those funny moments that otherwise get lost from the memory, or the feelings of worry, frustration, awareness etc that spring up whenever life goes off on a tangent.  I must remember it, sitting in my bag waiting for those snippets that will fuel my imagination.

So other matters have taken over my week a little but I’ll still be able to focus on an area of my work on Sunday if I manage the time I have available more effectively.

That’s part of the writing job that I need to improve and this week will provide an opportunity to practice!

Happy writing,

EJ

:–)

 

 

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Free Post Thursday – Time flies

When I was a little girl I was told that time would pass more quickly when I got older; that it was, in fact, a sign of getting old. I do not think I am particularly old yet, but I definitely think my perception of time has changed.

Which brings me to 10.45pm and not having a blog ready to roll. I still have things to get done before I turn in for the night, and I haven’t even looked at my novel today.

But I went to work, and to the gym. I caught up with a friend, entertained the dog, did some laundry, got the shopping.  I did enough.

I feel I should write every day, but equally I shouldn’t hold myself to a standard that I wouldn’t apply to someone else. It’s ok for some time to be focussed on my writing, and some time to be focussed on other elements of life. It’s ok to accept that sometimes work has been demanding and I am too tired to edit effectively. It’s ok to spend time with friends instead of staying home with a laptop.

The thing about writing is that I can’t do it in a vacuum. Life affects it – my poetry is all about moments in my life, and my prose is shaped by my experience of the world around me. Everything can inspire.

So tonight, I’m going to let all my experiences today be enough. Time has passed to quickly for me to grab any for writing, but tomorrow evening will find me looking though the novel once more.

That’s the other lesson of course: time flies, so a day lost to writing will quickly be supplanted with a fresh 24 hours to bring a story to life.

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

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Thoughts on a Thursday – Break

It’s about a month until my wedding and I am well aware that between the planning, work, blogging and all the other things I do with my time nothing is getting the attention it needs.

Soooooo – I have decided to have a Thursday break, and leave my thoughts posts to one side until I come back from my honeymoon, toward the end of November.

I’m sure I will have plenty of thoughts between now and then but suspect they will focus on flowers, or table plans, or whether or not I have enough table confetti – because let’s be honest here, weddings do make the most bizarre things important enough to wake you up at night!

My dog, also having a break.  It’s a hard life…

I will leave you with a quote I really like, and which I really need to remember!

The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil.

Thank you Cicero, for a quote that covers my reason for stepping back, my writing choices and a little bit of Bloggers for Peace all at once!

Until next time – happy writing

EJ

🙂

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Week 158 – Poetry in Motion!

This week I’ve been using my lunchbreaks to make a lot of notes for poems. I grab myself a soup, sit down, watch the clouds float past and write.

It feels really positive because the poems I am working on are for a special event, and are coming together really well.  I am jumping so swiftly from one to another that it feels like I’m on some sort of perpetual motion generator.  A poetry train (of thought) if you like!

It’s good that the notebook is working for me because with such long days and so many other things to get done, writing really did feel neglected.  In fact, my whole creative life was put on hold once I went back to full-time work.  But a few weeks in I’m getting a little balance back.  Writing during my lunches; I actually finished a whole book already this week and started a second; I am making the most of the long weekend here to get out and see some live music for the first time in ages.

I don’t want to work full-time for long, but if I can keep some sort of equilibrium for now, at least it won’t set me back completely.  My worst case scenario has always been going back to work and not writing any more, and finally I am managing to do both, which gives me a lot of faith in myself.

In other news – This week we’ve reached book 48 on the novels list – A Passage to India by EM Forster.  This is a book I want to read, so I haven’t read the comments yet!  I have seen the film, or at least parts of the film, but I don’t remember much of it except white suits and hats, and a carriage.   And maybe a mountain?  It’s been a loooooonnnnnnng time 🙂

And finally – I saw this article about the way we absorb a story being different on physical format to paper format.  As someone who loves the physicality of a book, and has only come to screen reading since being gifted an e-reader at Christmas, I am not sure I could ever be objective or dispassionate enough to debate the relative merits of each: the smell and feel of books is part of the reading experience for me.  I have read a lot of books on the e-reader now and appreciate its practicality but I think that’s part of its downfall for me.  I don’ want a practical reading experience, I want an immersive one – and I still think I get that best with a hard copy book.

Maybe it’s because I’ve always loved reading that to change it – or my relationship with the words – impacts on the subconscious experience.  Maybe the love of reading is as much about feeling the weight of a world in my hands as it is exploring it – and on an e-reader every world weighs the same…

On that rather philosophical point, I’m going to bow out for today!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

 

 

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Week 148 – Must Do Better!

This is going to be a short post as I have a horrible headache and am feeling a little sorry for myself…

I met my target of finishing section one this week, which was a good feeling, but it did prove how much further ahead I could be if I just plugged away when I got the time.

I must do better – at organising my time, at planning my various activities, at prioritising, and at just sitting down and getting the words out even if they’re not exactly what I want them to be.

I have so many things calling on me at the moment that I have to let some things go – I’ve already stopped doing the courses I’d planned to do over the last few months, but I’m also rearranging some of the other things I take on to balance my time a little more.

I am not indispensable with regard to my various committees and groups and if I have to step back so be it.   It’s important for me to give my new job proper attention and to get to grips with writing again – and there are certain things in my life that I have to focus on now.

All in all, I have to do better about saying no when it needs to be said!

In other news – Book 38 of the list is The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame.  I have read this one, as an adult actually; in fact it’s on the bookcase next to me as I type.  I used to watch the TV show when I was little – voiced by Peter Sallis (Wallace from the  Wallace and Gromit films) and David Jason (Delboy Trotter from Only Fools and Horses, amongst other things); those voices are rather evocative.

That’s all for this week, I’m off to lie down in a darkened room…

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

 

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