Creative Wiritng Club: Week Two

Today in CWC, as well as writing up our poems neatly (in felt tip on coloured paper), we also wrote Haikus.

Normal poetry is one thing, but Haikus? This was a challenge. We had three themes - Nature, Summer, and School. They all had to be positive, so no 'School sucks' Haikus. Here are mine:

Nature

Feathery fingers

Quiet whispers in your ear

Invisible friend

 

Summer

A golden flower

honeyed drops of bright pollen

scatter to the earth

 

 

School

Avid learners

wise teachers, sharing knowledge

A place of worship

Although Haikus really aren't my thing, I was pretty chuffed with how these turned out. Though maybe most people wouldn't consider school as a place of worship!

Creative Writing Club: Week One

I recently started going to the Creative Writing Club at the school I work at. I have started writing again but I thought I needed more inspiration if I was going to keep it up. Not to mention, I want to make myself known in the English department. My aspiration is to work my way up from TA to library assistant or similar, hence why I also did Year 9 Books and Beyond, a reading challenge. I also don't want to let my Creative Writing degree go to waste.

I'm not the only TA at CWC but most of the other attendees are Year 9 or below, a big change from University where I felt like a toddler doodling with crayons while everyone wrote masterpieces. This week, as it was so sunny, we went outside to the grass bank to write about summer.

Our task was to split our page into boxes and write about the five senses in an imaginative way.

Here are some of my lines:

Sight
The sun winks off car windscreens, like light off ocean waves.
Students are scattered across the field amongst sprinklings of daises and clovers.

Touch

The warm breeze brushes through my hair like a lovers caress.

Despite the warmth of the afternoon sun, the damp of the waterlogged earth creeps through the fabric of my dress.

Sound
Children's playful cheers are carried across the valley on the wind, so carefree after the captivity of school.

Smell
The air is warm and thick, bristling with ozone, bringing with it the threat of an early storm.
Fresh cut grass infuses the air as hundreds of people decide, as if connected, to mow their scraggly lawns.

Taste
My mouth is parched and the sheer azure of the sky makes me crave the cool splash of water.

After we wrote our lines we went around and shared them, 'magpie-ing' from each other, which meant nabbing the best lines other people wrote. Lots of the students had some really unique lines; I could never have written like that at their age, so I was thoroughly impressed.

We returned to the classroom and used our lines to write a poem. I baulked at the idea as poetry really isn't my thing, but I gave it a go anyway.

From the sea
over the hills
across the moors
it ruffles the emerald leaves of trees
ripples the delicate glass of ponds
helps the young birds take their first flight
With it follows
cut grass
fresh fields
greasy burgers,
the scents of summer come early.
Warm and demanding
it forces them out of
coats
jumpers
and scarves.
It pulls at skirts
tugs at shirts.
Runs its fingers through hair,
gentle as a lover,
as constant as a mother.
The wind brings the change
yet, he himself, is constant.
Never ending,
never leaving.

I didn't think it was too bad. Next time we'll be writing them up neat to put them on display in the corridor. In conclusion, CWC was enjoyable and I'm looking forward to going again!

Writing Deadline

I've come up with a plan. Sort of.

The first rough draft of my novel, The Stone Men of Raksaka, is complete, and has been for a while. I come back to it from time to time, really getting into it for a couple of hours and then ignoring it again for days, or more accurately weeks. I get distracted easily. Things get in the way. Sure, I want to be on my laptop day in, day out, tapping away at the keyboard. Unfortunately, like so many other people, I have a job. Then, when I get home from said job, I have social obligations. I know, as a truly dedicated writer these things shouldn't be a problem. I could stay up late into the night writing, slurping down coffees and pro-plus, but I don't want to that. Well, I do, but my body could not handle that, I can barely get up in time for work when I go to bed at ten.

Doodles I do at work, that sort of counts right?

Before I nod off to sleep I do think of Emin and his adventures in Minadril and Adruhal. I imagine exciting, and sometimes deadly, scenarios he'll end up in, plan out conversations he'll have with Princess Cailyn, or Prince Percy. I plot out back story, and the lore of Kardenia. I think about which actor would play Emin in the big Hollywood blockbuster that is sure to happen. If only I could just finish the damn thing!

Right, The Plan. It is my intention to have this novel complete in its entirety by July 2015 and ready to sent of to agents and publishers. Why July? That's when my boyfriend's job at the school ends, and when we (hopefully) will be moving in together, away from home, for him to study his PGCE. It's a big moment of change, and growing up, and if he gets to do something worth while in becoming a teacher, I want my dreams to start happening too. So July, that's when everything changes and that's why I need to up my game and start being serious about writing.

This time last year I was serious. I was sitting in my kitchen writing thousands of words a day, utterly focused (apart from carving out the Halloween pumpkins). Now, I look at my laptop and feel that knot in my stomach tighten. Nothing is stopping me really. Work isn't too tiring. Social obligations aren't set in stone; people would understand that I need to write. I'm just being completely lazy. Self-discipline is so hard! It's so much easier when your told by lectures what to do and when, and face failure if you don't do things on time. But, I suppose, this past year I have reached my many other goals. I lost over a stone of weight since February, I passed my driving test a month earlier than I had planned, so finishing my novel shouldn't be too hard right? What's writing a novel compared to a driving test?

So here I am saying, promising, that I will have finished The Stone Men of Raksaka by July 31st 2015, or I'm a total plonker, let-down, failure, terrible excuse for a writer. Any of the above. So, July, I'm ready for you!

Creative Writing Degree

Creative Writing: Is it really worth it? Short answer, yes. Creative answer, this:

When choosing a degree to study at university there are a lot of factors to consider, sometimes so many it makes you want to live in a hole under a rock. I had never really thought about what I wanted to study, or what career I wanted in the future, until I visited a University Fair in my final year at college. I didn't know Creative Writing was even a thing and was looking into universities that taught Journalism; although I was a little apprehensive about that. I didn't think I'd have the confidence to be a journalist, not really; especially after I found out you'd potentially have to a screen test in front of cameras and possibly an exam before you'd even be accepted into a university. No thank you. In that respect finding Creative Writing was a life saver. All the creativity and writing without an emphasis on scary public speaking and exams.

Having studied Art, English Literature and Language, and Media Studies at A-Levels I was used to the comments about 'doss subjects', and my work not being very hard. It's true, I never found it hard, not because it was 'doss' though, but because I was good at it. I didn't mind the comments as I would rather do these creative 'easy' subjects that Science or Maths, which just thinking about makes my toes curl and my body shudder.

Choosing Creative Writing for a degree didn't mean the comments stopped. Out of my home friends I was practically the only one doing a creative subject, while most of my friends did some sort of science or humanity. That was fine by me. My first semester, while hard because I was away from home, was thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring, yet when I came home for the Christmas holidays I was bombarded with the 'doss' comments again but in a slightly more condescending and passive aggressive way. My friends said things like, 'I have lectures from 9 to 5,' and then upon hearing that I had a maximum of 12 hours a week they would reply, 'What could they really teach you anyway?'. Or, 'My tuition pays for the chemistry rooms and all the lab equipment, yours only needs to pay for pencils and paper.' (the sore point being that Arts were getting cuts and my university didn't even supply that).

But while they acted like their courses were far superior to mine, I was never jealous, because I enjoyed my course; I was excited to do the work and it was easy for me. I didn't have gruelling exams which required late night revision sessions; my essays were subjective so there were no wrong or right answers as long as I had the evidence, meaning I could express myself happily without (too much) fear. Not only that, my essay subjects were interesting, too, I got to write an essay about Batman, for goodness sakes! To top it off, my set texts were (mainly) enjoyable fiction, something you would voluntarily read, not hefty books of equations and numbers, which make your head spin. While others sat in the pub and complained about the work load, or going home early to revise, or the stress of their dissertation, I would smile a secret smile to myself and think of all the brilliant short stories, poems, screenplays, comic books, first chapters I had written, and how it had been so perfect for me.


I was sad to leave university, although happy to get away from overly harsh and picky markers my lectures had become. But I definitely believe my degree helped to shape me into the person I am now. I was a bit lost before university, being painfully shy and self-doubting, with no idea where my future was heading. Creative Writing opened a world of possibilities while not restricting me at all. It's amazing where a degree like this can lead you.

Considering the current job - money - housing - life crisis our country is currently facing, I was lucky to get a job only a couple of months after leaving university, and in something relevant to my degree. My employer admitted that it was my degree in Creative Writing that caught his eye, and not a day goes by without him saying something like, 'I'll leave this to you, you're the creative one,' or, 'You probably already know this having studied Creative Writing.' He comes to me for advice on many things regarding the company, Litphonix: a brand new audiobook company, and lets my creative energies flow.

A friend who studied Chemistry is still sending out job applications daily, while
sitting at home bored, watching multiple television shows. Another friend with a degree in Engineering is stuck in an administrative job while he searches for something better in his field. A lot of the others will be going on to do Masters, for lack of job opportunities, or for the security that university offers, allowing them to put off the adult world for a little bit longer.

If you ever doubt whether Creative Writing is a suitable subject, stop doubting it right there! It's more than 'making up stories', and I know I won't be the next J.K. like everyone jokes, but it was incredible in helping me find who I was, what I am, and who I can be.

Look at all my favourite pieces of work: here.

To Do List: BLOG MORE!

Wow. A seriously long time since I last posted and I don't even have an excuse. This summer has flown by in a blur of nothingness (though I got to go on holiday, which was lovely). It's been a strange one. And I'm not even going back to some sort of education this September which is even weirder.

I feel terrible because I haven't done any writing, blog or otherwise, since July. I haven't entered any competitions since May either. But I have written a To Do List, and those are the top things on it.
I guess I've been bogged down with this 'being an adult' business. The stress of finding a job, especially one involving writing, is humongous, mainly because there aren't any. However, I'm coming to accept it as I will hopefully being moving to Bristol next year while my boyfriend does a Masters in Law, and there will be plenty more jobs in Bristol than in the dead-end town of Ivybridge.

However, I have looked into volunteering at my local library, and have a sort of informal interview/chat on Friday the 13th (unlucky for some). If I get this position it will give me opportunities to meet some authors, even if they are just local, and have a good nosey at some interesting books. I'm a very organised person so I think I'll be great at shelving books, I always organise mismatched shelves wherever I go anyway.

One of my goals on my To Do List is to reach 10,000 words of my novel project, the continuation of The Stone Men of Raksaka. I'm on around 4,000 words and have drawn plenty of maps, but I really need to knuckle down. I have a selection of fantasy books to read to get me in the zone (my sister is a fantasy nut and half her room is filled with massive tomes). Plus, reading all these long fantasy series will add to my target of reading 100 books this year.

So I may not have any more assignments to do, but I will keep you updated on the personal writing, the job searching, and the potential competitions.

Now leave me alone so I can write! 

How to Write Description

Here is the post I promised earlier. I still haven't settled in properly at home yet; my boxes still crowd the hallway, and I haven't unpacked my hundreds of flowery summer dresses, but I seriously need to blog more (it's on my To Do list, don't worry).

Anyway, this post is all about description and how to write it creatively. I have a real problem with writing description, or setting the scene. I can see it in my head and so think everyone else can picture it too without going into much detail. Rookie mistake. I also think when writing description that it will distract from the plot; I am very much an action writer and love to get to all the exciting bits straight away. I have to slow myself down and force myself to write about the scene. Or sometimes I write all the action parts and then go back through and add the setting later.

I was thinking about this when I came up with a great idea on how to get the descriptive juices flowing. Stick with me here. This workshop comes in three easy steps.

1. Below is a series of pictures and I want you to write a 200 word description about each one.

You can write it from any Point of View, and in third, second, or first person.

Try to include each of the five senses; sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Obviously, it might be hard to include them all. You might think how can I taste a place? Well, in the desert your character's mouth could be very dry, and that would say something about the setting. Don't go OTT as you only have 200 words.

Remember, the best description works with the action.
Don't write: There was an old wooden chair in the corner.
Do write: Ben eyed the spindly chair warily. It looked like it would collapse under the weight of a feather, let alone his hefty backside.

2. Think about a setting in your own novel, short-story, or flashfiction. Even if you're rubbish at art, I want you to draw out the scene. It can just be stick people, or it could be a masterpiece. Drawing a scene can help you to realise what's important in that setting - what's essential to include in your writing and what you can skim over. Now write another 200 words based on that drawing.

3. Give that drawing to a friend, preferably someone who also writes, or send it to me, and see what they write. They could pick up on something you wouldn't have thought of before, or make you realise something the reader will need to know about that place.

Its only a simple workshop but it should help when finally writing that novel.

Okay, ready? Here come the pictures...

They're quite varied, so have fun! I'll write about them too and draw my scene and post them in a couple of days. I hope this helps! 

Creative Writing at the University of Winchester

Yesterday was the last day of term, but for me my course ended back in April. I can't believe how fast it has gone, I can still remember my enrolment and course talk perfectly, and how my tummy was knotting itself. When you start university everything feels so daunting and big, then you live through it and find it's not all that bad, in fact, it's really fun.

The Student Union -  Many fun times were had here!

Taking Creative Writing was the best choice I ever made. I actually enjoyed doing most of my assignments (not the rationales of course) which is a big deal at university. All the modules were interesting and fun, with only a few dull moments, primarily in Creative Voice, which was a compulsory module. At first the most appealing part of the course was no exams; I get super stressed and freaked out by exams. Whenever I tell someone I don't have exams they're surprised and a little bit jealous, and I secretly laugh at them in my head.
But now I realise that the creative freedom I had for my dissertation was amazing. Others talked of how hard their dissertations was, and how they had to force themselves to write it; but I really loved writing mine, I wanted to write it and I thought about it all the time. It was probably one of the best things I have written (though sometimes I think it was awful - all part of being a writer) and although it was stressful it wasn't nearly as stressful as writing 10,000 words on Shakespeare, Feminism or something as equally mind-numbing.

The Stripe Lecture hall

Creative Writing has, of course, had its highs and lows like anything else. Getting bad marks, not knowing anyone in lectures, having to do presentations, and worst of all 9am starts. Yet there have been many more highs; getting a First on something I worked really hard on, laughing with friends, reading new books I would never have thought of, writing things I would never have dreamt of, and finally getting a degree in something that I enjoy doing. How many people can say they have done that?

Even though I was terrified of workshops and reading my work aloud people were nice about it, will helpful comments and kind smiles. No horrible things were said, well, at least to my face! And, while I may still not be one of the 'popular kids' I made great friends none the less. At university everyone is there because they want to be there and they love the subject, and if they realise it's not for them they drop out pretty early. The people on your course are going through exactly the same things as you are; they find the same lecturers infuriating, the same modules uninspiring, and they probably hate reading Wolf Hall as much as you do. People are right when they say you make some of your best friends at university. For Creative Writing having a group of close friends is even better, because they are willing to read your work and give you constructive criticism  They know all about grammar and sentence structure; they know what your lecturers will like or absolutely hate; and they just love to read anything!

My friends back in first year -  how we've changed! 

Three years seem like a long time, but they're really not. I will remember every minute of my time at university and I'm so sad to leave. I now have to start to writing by myself with no deadlines and no briefs, and that scares me. I don't want to start an adult life where I work 9-5 and then come home too tired to write. I have so many stories in my head and I don't want them to stay there, I want to let them out. So I'm making a promise to myself here, that I shall write, always, and I will never forget my university years. 

Writing with Friends

This is my final week of lectures at the University of Winchester. I don't know where the time has gone. I can still remember my enrolment, my first lectures, and my first (very poor) assignment like they were yesterday.

I hated university at the start and was a nervous wreck when it came to attending lectures; I freaked out about deadlines and the amounts of work we had to do almost instantly; and don't even get me started on workshopping! Yet, now I'm going to miss it all. My lectures are so short, and I only have 3-4 a week that it was hardly worth getting so worked up about them. The assignments were relatively easy and creative, and I never did badly in them (well, mostly). And workshopping is a great invention; ideal for the novice writer and nobody was ever mean about my work.

But the main thing I will always remember from University are the friends I have made. I am not the most social person and I find making friends terribly hard, I'm just so shy! Yet I know these friends will last forever. Kat, Megan and Lauren  have helped me a lot during the last three years; they've kept me positive when I have felt extremely negative, they've encouraged me when I needed it, and they've read nearly all my work and helped to edit it, giving me great advice and tips. My writing wouldn't be the same without them.

Kat, Me, Megan (on her wedding day) and Lauren

Kat is an amazing editor. She picks up on the tiniest of mistakes that I would never even notice. She has a great writing approach and I'm jealous of her literary style, I could never write anything as imaginative or unique as her. Whether she does go on to write professionally, or become an editor, she will be one of the best!

Megan has always been there and is so caring; she always asks if I'm okay and is so positive about my work. Her writing really reflects her personality as it is filled with human emotions and real-life situations. People may look down on chick-lit but with the way she writes it I know she can write a best-seller.

Lauren and I have so much in common, including writing young adult fiction and fantasy (we've also been in all the same modules, except one or two). I admire her ability to mix commercial and literary styles effortlessly and with great success. She may be quiet but her writing expresses so much. I know she isn't planning on being a writer, but she certainly has what it takes.

I'm really sad to be leaving them after three fantastic years. We will all be going our separate ways after University, and I live furthest away in Devon, but we are going to stay in touch, sending out work to each other and possibly starting a blog; we can't decide on a name though! The best bit about our little group is that we will be honest about each other's writing, and won't just say it's lovely, we really get down to the nitty gritty, and that's what friends are for!

Portfolio of my Favourite Works

Yesterday, in one of my final ever lectures at the university of Winchester, we were given a folder and a congratulatory certificate. This folder is intended to be a portfolio of all our work over the three years. I didn't put all my work in it, only my creative pieces, and only the ones I was proud of. It got me thinking about my work, and about which pieces are my favourite. So I thought I'd list what I think is my best work here.

1. The Diary of Lucy Van Helsing
I wrote this piece in one night and it was an instant success in workshops. When marked it received 72% making it my first First. It was after writing this piece that I realised that I loved intervening with texts, and writing for young adults. Recently, it has been longlisted for BBC Radio 4 Extra's Opening Lines competition, making it the most successful piece of writing I have ever done.

2. Royalteen
This was the creative piece for Fiction for Children. While it did not get a First (which I think all my work deserves) it still received a good grade. It was fun to write and I enjoyed inventing a fantasy world and drawing the maps. I also did quite a few Character Profiles too. It was only the first chapter but I have planned out the whole story, so I could finish writing it.

3. Sketches
These are four shorter pieces, The Armani Assassin, The House at the End of the Road, Agricolaphobia, and Your Housemate Hitler. The first two were my favourite, and my lecturer really enjoyed The House at the End of the Road, which I recently sent off for Mslexia's short story competition. It was nice to write some shorter short stories, exploring different aspects of writing, like imagery and character. They're also the perfect length to enter competitions.

4. Margaret Jones and the Weedy Dealer
Margaret Jones has been rattling around in my imagination for years now. I know everything about her, and have planned out her whole life - past, present, and future. She's an eccentric botanist who wants to prove herself to the uptight prigs at the horticulture society. I have written many other little stories about her, Margaret Jones's Childhood Adventure, and Margaret Jones's Rival. I was so happy to finally write the first chapter of this piece, and one of my lecturers said she could see it working in the market place. Yet, when it was marked the comment was 'have Margaret stay at home, and her son Andrew as the protagonist - doing his mother's bidding'. It was at this point that I lost a little faith in my course, and in my lecturer.

5. Mark Desade's Misfortune of Curiosity
This piece was for Textual Intervention II, based on the fairytale of Bluebeard and Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber. It is another YAF with a horror twist. I enjoyed writing it and worked hard over the ending, which my lecturer commented 'OMG...I didn't see that coming!' so it was totally worth it. Have a read and see if you can guess the ending.

6. Surrealhabilitation
This was a parody based on Leonora Carrington's surrealist work. My lecturer loved it and I would have gotten an even better mark if I had known how to write speech properly. I know now and my mistakes seem foolish. It was actually quite fun to be surreal, and this is a piece I want to send of to a competition, as I think it could do well.

7. Toil and Trouble
This was my first attempt at writing Historical Fiction and boy, was it difficult. I chose a period of time that I knew nothing about and would take a long time to research, time I didn't have. It was set in 1612 in Lancaster, England and was about witches. I wrote this at a time when I was questioning my writing ability. Every word felt like a struggle. I also knew my lecturer was extremely fussy, which made me doubt everything I wrote as I knew she would pick up on it. Luckily, she did enjoy it and I regained some of my writing confidence. In the end, I did actually enjoy writing it, once I got into the flow.

8. Obsession
This was my first ever piece of creative writing at university. I remember feeling so chuffed by it. I haven't read it since and I really don't want to, I know it will be cringing, and probably awful. It was heavily based on The Tell-Tale Heart, something that has stuck by me throughout the whole of university. I can't really remember, but I think it took me ages to write, 1,500 words was so much back then. Now, I can barely contain a story - 8,000 words is just too short!

9. Delirium
This short story was similar to Obsession, I was clearly in a dark, depressive stage of writing. I enjoyed writing this piece, and I did a bit of research for it as well, and felt so clever. However,
looking back, there are so many mistakes on the first page. I barely proofread any of my work in the first year, and if I did I could have received much better marks. The magic of hindsight, I suppose. At least I can say my writing has definitely improved!

Obviously my favourite piece of work I have done so far at university is my Extended Creative Project, or dissertation. I put so much time and effort in to it and reworked and edited it so many times. If it gets anything under a 2:1 I shall be shocked (I really want to get a First though! Fingers crossed). Once I get it marked and returned I shall post it on here. I have already posted a few drafts and a synopsis, so check them out.

It is sad to think I only have two more assignments to do and then it's all over. I will have to enter the real world, where I have to have a crummy day job to support my writing. There will be no deadlines or briefs, and that's a scary thought. Over the summer I will be entering so many competitions. This morning I submitted a short story to Starburst Magazine, it had no guidelines so I was at a bit of a loss for what to do, and if I needed a cover letter. But hopefully it will be okay and it will get published...maybe?

Dissertation Handed In

Just a short post to say: I handed my dissertation in. Hurrah! 9 months and 120 pages later and it's done!

Ultimate Frisbee: Fly Hard

Just a short post to brag about a piece of writing I've done. I wrote the description for our Ultimate Frisbee team, and it is currently being used on the student union website! Yay!

http://www.winchesterstudents.co.uk/groups/ultimate-frisbee--4

Check it out!

Winchester's Ultimate Frisbee Team: Fly Hard. (I also came up with the name and logo, I'm creative like that.)

Top 10 Writing Influences

For part of my Creative Voice III module we had to come up with our top ten writing influences in chronological order. They could be any type of media, book, film, music, etc. as long as they inspired us to write. So, as I am avoiding doing dissertation work, here is my Top Ten.

1. Disney Films/ Fairy Tales: Okay, this is a bit generic, but I had to pick just one and I couldn't list all of them. My favourite Disney film is constantly changing. It used to be Sleeping Beauty, then The Little Mermaid, then Hercules, and Mulan, and Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King, and Tangled. Oh, it's just impossible! I love them all! When I was younger I used to read a big fairytale book every night before bed. It used to be my mum's and she had drawn around all the pictures, it is like our only family heirloom, and I hope my kids can read it one day, too. But this book and Disney films inspired me to write my own fairy tales and were responsible for my A* in English for this piece, A Disney Parody.

2. Santa Paws, Come Home by Nicholas Edwards: This is the first book that I read without pictures. I bought it at a book sale at school when I was in year 3, maybe? It's about this amazing dog who gets dog-napped and has to find his way back home. I loved it as a kid and still have it at home on my bookshelf. It inspired me to read, and therefore write later in life. 

Also, who couldn't love this little face?

3. Jacqueline Wilson books: Whenever I used to go shopping with my dad we'd always go to Waterstones and I would always buy the latest Jacqueline Wilson book. I would reread them all the time and still do - check out my post on Lola Rose. My all time favourite was the Girls series, you know Girls in Love, Girls Under Pressure, Girls Out Late, and Girls in Tears. I think I liked them so much because I was probably a bit young to read them and I thought they were a little risqué. I also really related to Ellie, the main character, probably because all her friends were pretty and skinny, and she was more on the piggy side. Others that I liked were The Dustbin Baby, The Illustrated Mum, Tracy Beaker, and Diamond Girls. As I got older the books started to get a bit samey, once you read one, you'd read them all. It seemed like Wilson was churning them out. I soon lost interest. But her books made me realise that stories can help people in need or with their problems, and this is what I wanted to communicate through my writing. 

4. The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling: This is a bit of a give in, and is probably on everyone's list in this generation. This was the first series I had ever read, I wasn't into reading when I was younger and I actually saw the movie first. It's just inspiring, and that's all I can really say. 

5. Meg Cabot books: When I was in secondary school I remember my friend reading the first The Princess Diaries and was quite surprised because she never read anything. I'd seen the movie and really loved it but I had never bothered to read the book myself. My sister had all of the books in the series at the time and said I should read them. I was sceptical. However, this was my first incident of reading a book and it being so different from the film. At first I was put off. Then I realised that the book was so much better. I couldn't put it down. Soon my sister grew bored of the series and I bought the rest of the books. I remember reading the last one on holiday and it was just a fantastic ending. Some endings to series can be disappointing but this was not the case. I've read nearly all her other books and own most of them, too. I love the Missing series, and especially the Mediator series, which is why I'm so happy to hear that she's writing another one. Cabot's books inspired me to write chick-lit and helped me to progress to more adult fiction like Size 12 isn't Fat. She also writes in lots of different styles like dairies, and one series is done entirely in emails and letters. Since coming to University, however, I realise people don't like chick-lit too much, and have changed my style somewhat. This piece Royalteen was heavily inspired by The Princess Diaries, and to some extent so was The Diary of Lucy Van Helsing.

6. Lord of the Rings film trilogy: This series really got me into fantasy. After watching these films I created my own fantasy world with lots of different kingdoms, knights, princess, witches, and even some magical jewellery.  I wrote so many fantasy quest stories...unfortunately, by computer died and I lost them all. Some I have written on paper still and one day I will type them up again. I have all my drawings of maps, weapons, and clothing still. I used to be obsessed by these fantasy stories and spend all my time writing and drawing. I wish I could be in that mindset again. In a way University destroys the creativity because now I'm so worried about editing and publishing that I'm too scared to write anything in case it's crap. When I was younger I wrote whole stories and thought they were amazing! I have recently finished reading Lord of the Rings and I still think it's brilliant, and I really watch the films again. Extended edition, of course. 

7. Doctor Who TV series: I never used to care about Doctor Who much but the Doctor reminded me of a boy I fancied (who loved Doctor Who) so I used to watch it constantly and pretend I was the companion. I also fancied David Tennant a little bit, too. Apart from that though, Doctor Who is a great example of how to write a brilliant sci-fi story; it has everything you could possibly want - space travel, time travel, and a main character who can regenerate so you can keep the series going even if the main actor quits! Over the years I have come up with a few Doctor Who story lines and would love to be a writer for the show. It was because of this programme that I took the Sci-Fi and Fantasy module this term. I've also met two of the Doctors, Matt Smith and David Tennant. Oh, and that boy I fancied? He's now my boyfriend!

8. The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan: I started reading this series in year 10 (I liked converse shoes back then and the book cover was a flying converse). I bought the first two and borrowed the others from the school library. I remember finishing my work early in class so I could read them. I was such a nerd! I reread them over the summer on my kindle and I still love them. I have always been interested in Greek mythology, especially after Disney's Hercules, and these books really satisfied my craving. The books we had at home about the Greeks were really dry and boring, so these were the perfect way to learn and be entertained. This has inspired my dissertation as I want to get kids interested in Gothic Literature. Obviously, with the internet it is a lot easier to learn things, I could just Google Greek myths now. But reading is much more fun. 

9. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe: This story seems to have followed me everywhere. I first heard of it via The Simpsons, a very educational source. Then in Art A-Level I was told my subject matter was 'too nice' and should do something more 'edgy'. My art teacher wanted me to do something about gangs and drug culture. Boring! I chose the dark literature route. I illustrated the whole of The Tell-Tale Heart and loved every minute of it. Then in the first term of university I wrote a piece inspired by this story, called Obsession. In the second term I went on to illustrate it. Considering I hadn't been a very Gothic person before, I was really getting into it. There just seems to be a strange affinity with this story, and it has even worked its way into my dissertation too.

10. The Gone series by Michael Grant: I read this series over the summer and oh my God! It is gripping. The last one comes out in April and I am so excited, it is my post-dissertation treat. It has been a huge inspiration for my dissertation and after reading these books I changed my idea completely. Gone was the romcom and instead was a dangerously dark mystery with murder and ghosts. This series made me realise that kids don't need protecting from wicked things, and in fact love to read about them. You can also write about crazy things like mutant powers and 'the gaiaphage' and kids will go along with it. 

Obviously, there are so many more books and authors that have inspired and influenced me, but alas, it was a Top Ten, not a Top 100. If you are a budding writer, I recommend you do this too, it can be quite surprising as to what inspires you most. 

Kit Berry - Stonewylde

Been thinking of what to write for ages and just this minute I finally thought of something, hurrah!

Lately, University has been a major downer. Every lecturer seems to be telling us that writing is impossible, difficult, and a waste of time, so what other job are you going to do? Just what you want to hear after three years of doing a degree! But yesterday in my Sci-Fi and Fantasy module we had a guest talk from Kit Berry. I admit I had never heard of her before and really wasn't in the mood for a guest talk (it was too early!) but it turned out to be well worth getting out of bed. She has written a fantasy series set in the fictional place of Stonewylde, based on places in and around Dorset. Funnily enough, one of the places she mentions is a place I've wanted to write about too. This stag gate in Dorset.

Anyway, her talk was amazing. Sure, she had difficulties like my lecturers have mentioned - she was rejected by agents and then publishers. In fact, she was rejected by 13 publishers, which I think is freaky because she believed a lot in superstitions and fate, and 13 is like the most superstitious number ever. However, this didn't stop her, it actually spurred her on to self-publishing and making her own publishing label, Moongazy Publishing. I think what really got to me was when she talked about how she had a weekend where all her readers met up in Devon (woo!) and did quizzes and workshops and just generally had a great time. It was then she realised how big a following she had and that it was crazy that she wasn't properly published because she should be. And in the end she tried the publishers again and was finally picked up by Orion Publishing, with an envious contract.

It's my dream to have a book series published and then made into a great movie. My lecturers would probably tell me that's a pipe dream and the best I could hope for is to be a journalist on my local paper, while also working as a waitress or something. How fun. And yes, even though Kit Berry has had lots of different jobs she did live the dream and is now a full-time writer.

She said that being a writer is still hard because of all the marketing, promoting and publicity but I think I would really enjoy that. At one point in my life I really wanted to be a PR. Besides, I'm always on Twitter anyway plugging this blog, it would be better with a book because I'd actually get paid for it!

She also did a little book signing and it's the first signed book I've ever owned! Although on hearing my name she said: 'Oh there's a girl in this called Holly, and I'm afraid to say she's a bitch.' Surprisingly, I hear this a lot. That other Holly's are bitches, not me.

Her story of becoming an author was really moving and I haven't done it justice. But she was a fantastic woman, really inspirational! If I can write anything like her, and be half as successful, I'll be happy. I would love to prove my lecturers wrong!

Life on Mars

I started my Sci-Fi and Fantasy module last Thursday and the writing task we had to do involved crashing on Mars. There were three parts to it:

1. Imagine your spaceship is failing and you are plummeting towards Mars.
2. You're now on Mars, describe what it looks like.
3. You find an object, what is it?

We were also given some pictures as inspiration.

We only had about ten minutes to do this task and this is what I came up with:

Mars

Sirens blaring. Red lights flashing. Sheer panic rising. The engines are destroyed. The meteors have hit. There’s nothing we can do now. I know I should be with my crew, but still, I run wildly to the escape pods. There were three. Two have been damaged. There’s only one left. I punch the button and barely wait for the door to open before leaping inside. My fingers, slick with sweat, fumble at the controls…

The impact tears through my body. I scramble for the door and heave it open. My oxygen mask is cloudy from my panicked breathing. For a second I am completely blind. I force myself to calm down. The screen of my mask clears. Eyes wide, I take in my new surroundings. Brilliant burnt orange sand stretches before me. Endlessly. The horizon is a dead straight line, with only a few bumps of rock to break the monotony. My crash has left a small dent in such a vast land. The atmosphere is a dull glow, neither day nor night. I see the end of the meteor shower. So far from here. The Titan is a flaming wreck across the sky. My stomach turns. I have to stop myself from being sick within my mask. Guilt overcomes me. Hopelessness follows. What I’ve done…I cannot undo. I raise my arm in a salute to my fallen comrades. I flick on my communicator. Static. Silence. I am truly alone now...

After walking for hours I finally see something other than rocks and craters. A small speck of bright light in the distance, unexpected in this bleak place. Another ship? A city? It is miles away, yet a small feeling of hope grows. I’ve been between fear, denial, and misery. I have been ignoring my oxygen levels since I crashed. I dread to think what is left. Could I run to this mysterious object? No. It would use up more oxygen that way. I must take it slow.

I’m exhausted by the time it is within reach. It is not a ship or city. The distance and atmosphere made the size difficult to judge. It is much smaller. And round. My heart slows as I approach it. My hope disappears entirely. The fear, denial, misery is back. It is the bloody oxygen mask of Axel. His head still inside.

University Grades - The Final Semester

Once again I am posting my grades with links to the pieces so you can read them too.

Year 3 Semester 1
Advanced Fictional Writing: Re-Writing Rationale - 63%
Advanced Fictional Writing: Creative Piece Margaret Jones and the Weedy Dealer - 64%
Writing History Fiction: Essay Why Are the Tudors So Popular in Contemporary Historical Fiction? - 68%
Writing History Fiction: Creative Piece Toil and Trouble - 65%
Comic Books and Graphic Novels: Essay Is The Dark Knight Returns a Successful Novel? - 66%
Comic Books and Graphic Novels: Creative Piece Mr Impossible - 62%

Year 2 Semester 2
Fiction for Children: Creative Piece Royalteen - 66%
Fiction for Children: Presentation - 68%
Writing and the Environment: Creative Piece From Earth with Love - 57%
Writing and the Environment: Creative Piece Gaia's Final Revenge - 58%
Textual Intervention II: Essay All Works of Art Either Uphold the Status Quo or Challenge it - 67%
Textual Intervention II: Creative Piece Mark Desade's Misfortune of Curiosity - 65%

Creative Voice II: Critical Evaluation – 68%
Creative Voice II: Sketches - 67%

Year 2 Semester 1

Media Writing: 1500 Word Critique of Article – 67%

Media Writing: 2000 Word Article Holly's Happenings – 65%

Short Story: Parody Surrealhabilitation – 68%

Short Story: Creative Piece Stockholm – 64%

Textual Intervention: Creative Piece The Diary of Lucy Van Helsing – 72%

Textual Intervention: Rationale – 66%

Creating Short Screenplays: Film Script The German – 64%

Creating Short Screenplays: Essay Film Analysis of Valgaften: Election Night – 65%

Year 1 Semester 2

Creative Non-Fiction: Creative Piece My Doctor Who Experience – 66%

Creative Non-Fiction: Essay – 54%

Creative Voice I: Critical Evaluation – 60%

Creative Voice I: Creative Piece Delirium – 68%

Creativity II: Exhibition Piece Animations – 62%

Creativity II: Evaluation – 63%

Poetry and Poetic Expression: Creative Piece – 64%

Poetry and Poetic Expression: Rationale – 68%

Year 1 Semester 1

Language – Writing – Reading: Essay – 62%

Language – Writing – Reading: Portfolio of Writing Exercises – 53%

Fictional Writing: Creative Piece Obsession – 65%

Fictional Writing: Rationale – 63%

Creativity I: Presentation Evaluation on A Written Affair – 63%

Creativity I: Research Essay on Oscar Wilde – 68%

Script Writing: Essay on Rob Reiner's Misery – 64%

Script Writing: Pitch Presentation – 72%

I recently received my grades for last semester and while they are good I am disappointed with the comments I got. None of them were particularly constructive. They were like 'Good story, but I would have written it with this person as the protagonist'. Well, I didn't, so please mark my work by what I've written not how you would have written it.
This was especially annoying for my Margaret Jones and the Weedy Dealer piece as the marker wrote: 'What occurred to me on reading it again was it could make a great teen (young) book if only Margaret was at home/base camp and Andrew (something I can't read) was the protagonist - doing his mother's bidding because she was (something else I can't read)'.
It's annoying because he's missed the point of my piece entirely! Margaret is this eccentric botanist on the run from a drug lord, it's weird and funny. Having a teenage boy do it is so mundane.
I always used to think I was better at the creative pieces but strangely it appears I am actually better at the essays. I only have one semester left and I am going to try my hardest to get a First again. Hopefully in my ECP.

Writing History Fiction - Little Snippets

The module I'm find least inspiring this term is Writing History Fiction. I'm not sure whether it's because the subject is boring, the set texts are boring, the lecturer is boring, or I'm just awful at history, but the whole thing is just tiresome. Right now I should be writing my creative piece as well as researching for my essay, both of which make me feel bored. I go to the lecture and just want to fall asleep (although that might have something to do with the fact that I always go out the night before). However, we have done a few interesting writing tasks during lectures. 

The first one was writing an opening sentence that would hook a reader as well as letting them know that it was a historical piece. Here was mine:

Andrew Walker knew that a decent woman would not have known how to do that. 

Surprisingly, I got a few laughs for this. It's not too historical but because I used the phrase 'decent woman' it sounds a little old fashioned.

The second task was to write a short piece that began with speech which is later on repeated. This was in relation to Wolf Hall, as that begins with Thomas Cromwell's dad beating him and saying 'So now get up.' which he says again later. It also had to be in historic present, which basically means present tense, but because it happens in the past it's historic, if that makes sense? 

'You're dead.'

Frank stumbles through the door of the Anderson shelter and falls onto the damp cot. His breath comes in short, sharp bursts, his heart is pounding in his chest. 

'If this was a real air raid, you'd be dead,' his dad tells him. 'You have to be in here in less than a minute. None of this dawdling business.'

Frank finally catches his breath and opens his mouth to reply but his dad is already walking away, making sure the shelter door is securely locked. 

He doesn't mind if his dad thinks he is a dawdler, he was slow for a reason. Opening his jacket, Frank peers in. The little kitten nestled inside stares back at him and meows weakly. 

I thought that story was quite cute. Whether it full fills the brief is another matter. It's hard to write well in the ten minutes or so they give you in lecture. 

The last task was to write a piece where someone walks in someone who is upset. These task are all pretty random, but this one was inspired by Wolf Hall yet again. There is a scene when someone walks in on Thomas Cromwell when he is all teary eyed over a book his dead daughter used to own. It would be emotional, but I really hate the book.

Gillian pushed on the kitchen door, it swung open easily. James was already sat at the table, his head lowered, narrow shoulders shaking. Gillian stepped into the room, unsure whether to let him know she was there or not. The longer she waited the more pronounced the silence grew. She padded quietly over to him and it was only once she was stood behind him did she see the tear-stained letter in his hands. Her soft gasp finally alerted James to her presence. He started and crumpled the letter in his fist. His eyes, red from crying, darted guiltily. 

'I'm sorry,' he sniffled.

Gillian cast her eyes over the table. Torn apart roughly, was the letter addressed to her. The return address made her heart stop.

She held out her hand, 'Give it to me.'

James gently unfolded the letter, smoothing it out on the table, before passing it to her with trembling hands.

'Mother...' he sobbed. Tears streamed down his cheeks and a glistening trail ran from his nose.

Gillian scanned the letter. The first line was enough to make her knees buckle. 

Mrs Stanely, we regret to inform you that your husband, Howard Stanely, has died in combat...

She couldn't read any more. She dropped the letter to the floor and collapsed into a kitchen chair. She opened her arms and welcomed James's embrace. 

They mourned in the kitchen together.

Obviously, when doing historical writing a lot of research is needed. I'm not sure what the condolence letters would have said, so for this task I just made it up. I think out of the three tasks my favourite is the second, only because it features a kitten. 

For two of these tasks I wrote about war time, as it's the only sort of history I partially know. Yet for my final creative piece I'm writing about the 1600's and witches. God knows that's going to require a tonne of research! Hopefully I will be more inspired by the time I write because I am really not feeling it at the moment and the creative piece is due in three weeks. Aaaaah!

Creative Writing Lectures

Four weeks in and lectures are in motion, and now that I've not got the flu and my cough is subsiding (somewhat) I can fully enjoy them. 

Advance Fictional Writing is exactly how it sounds. I feel that it's repeating a lot of the stuff I learnt in first year. While it is handy, it's also boring. I know about character now, with all my character profile sheets, I really know about character. Plot, structure, setting and dialogue are all second nature to me now and it's not interesting to listen to it all again.
Luckily, that's not all that is involved in the lecture. The other part includes a talk about marketing and publishing. This is more interesting as it is about what to do after you have written your masterpiece. It's also interesting because I have considered going into marketing before and part of me wouldn't mind being an editor, either. So that's always something to look into.

BBC's adaptation of Fingersmith

The most annoying this about this lecture is the reading list. They didn't post it until after the summer so I had no idea we even had to read anything. It now means that for the past four weeks I have been struggling to catch up, and finish the books we were meant to have for lecture a week late. For example, we were supposed to have read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters for Tuesday the 9th of October and I only just finished it today. I have another book to read by this Tuesday coming as well. However, this one is a lot shorter so I will probably manage it, for once. That's another thing, these books aren't even short, they're like 500 pages long. Even for me that's rough!
The final part of the lecture involves work shopping our creative pieces. As I missed the first lecture due to flu I was a little behind. Everyone already has ideas and at least 500 words. My mind is so focused on my ECP at the moment that I hadn't given a thought to all the other creative pieces I would have to do. But then it occurred to me, I could use this lecture as an opportunity to start my Margaret Jones novel. So on Tuesday I took the beginnings of the story in and my group seemed to like it. They even laughed and were surprised when I said she would stumble upon a drug lord's stash. Hopefully my lecturers will like it as much.
So overall, out of ten I would give Advanced Fictional Writing a six. Interesting, but not too inspiring.

My second lecture of the week is Writing-History-Fiction. Yes, written like that. Supposedly it means different things to if it was written Writing History Fiction. This is the lecture I look forward to most in the week. Not because of the topic or content but because it is the only lecture in which I have friends. It totally makes up for the fact that it's rather boring. I think the main problem is that I suck at history. I know nothing about it. And honestly, don't really care. Don't get me wrong, I find some parts really fascinating but they're not something I want to write about. Actually, I have no idea what I want to write about. I only chose this module because I thought my boyfriend would finally read something I wrote and like it, as he studies History at the university. Another problem is my lecturer, bless her. She's not technology savvy, like most lecturers, but she insists on using it. She sounds like Professor McGonagall but acts like Professor Trelawney. I think that says it all. And the books! The books are even worse than Advanced Fictional Writing. I've already mentioned Wolf Hall before, but my God, I just cannot read it.
Out of ten, this module receives a seven. All right, but my friends make it much better.

My last module of the week (I only have three this year, as I have my ECP) is Comic Books and Graphic Novels. It sounds like it is going to be lots of fun, and over the summer I really got into comic books. But I actually find it rather tedious. My lecturer is nice enough but he's so airy fairy and laid back. There doesn't seem to be any structure. On Friday we watched the first 20 minutes of the 1960's Batman movie with Adam West, which by the way is totally ridiculous. It is fun, I just wonder about the money I'm spending on tuition fees to watch Batman. That makes me sound like such a spoilsport.
The one style of writing I was glad to give up was scriptwriting, and guess what, comic book writing is pretty much just like scriptwriting. I'm dreading the creative piece. The first assignment was a choice between an essay, Is Batman: The Dark Knight Returns a successful novel? or a parody of Batman. Everyone has chosen to do the parody, but I'm so anxious about it that I chose to the essay. That might have also been a bad choice. I worked out that I haven't written an essay since the Textual Intervention II piece back in March. (You remember  I aptly named it the Worst Essay Ever.) Anyway, that was eight months ago! This essay is certainly going to be a challenge.
For this module I give it a seven out of ten. Enjoyable, yet flat.

Overall this term isn't too inspiring. I think I may just knuckle down with my ECP, which reminds me, I have a meeting with my ECP supervisor tomorrow about it. I sent her the first 3,000 words. I really hope she likes it, or at least has something constructive to say. Finger's crossed. 

The Masque of Red Death Re-imagined

While I haven't blogged much lately I have been silently working on my ECP. Not just writing either. As it's me I have probably done more drawings for my story than actual writing. It's a curse. I think it does help though, as now I know what my characters look like, and not just in my head, but on paper. Lenore keeps changing however, I can never seem to get her quite how I like, which is probably why I am having such difficulty doing her Character Profile.

This is a drawing of one of the scariest characters from my story. The red-faced man. Okay, he doesn't have a very scary name, but boy, is he creepy. Here's when Lenore first sees him.

'A man stood by the dining hall doors. Not just any man. His lips were torn back to reveal deadly sharp teeth. The flesh around his nose had peeled away leaving only twisted holes instead of nostrils. And even though his sockets were empty he was definitely staring straight at her. The worst was the colour of his skin. It was a bright red like freshly spilt blood.'

This is the monster that haunts Lenore's new friend, Perry. He is a creation of the evil Edgar Allan Poe, and his origins stem from The Masque of Red Death. To me he looks like a mixture of Darth Maul and Marvel's Red Skull. Either way, it would still be creepy to have this guy following you around. 

When I get my printer/scanner working properly again I will scan my other drawings. And they're a lot nicer to look at. 

National Novel Writing Month

I have been absolutely atrocious at updating this blog lately and for that I apologise. However, I do have valid reasons. Like I've returned to university so there has been loads going on. Such as, moving into a new house, which is filled with spiders. Then, killing all the spiders. Okay, so that didn't take too much time. Though I did have a lot of work involving the Ultimate Frisbee team and Freshers Fayre. And there have been many, many nights out. To top that all off, I got Fresher's Flu. Yes, it's a real thing, and yes it's hideous. I actually thought I was going to die. But now I'm better and ready to write! Oh, of course there have been lectures. Well, one so far. It was Writing History Fiction. And you can kinda guess it was a bit boring. I have to read Wolf Hall by next week. At this exact moment I have read 100 pages out of 600...it's not looking good. I mean, look how thick it is! At least I have it on Kindle so it's not too much of a strain on my arms in bed.

Anyway, this post isn't about that. It's about NANO, or National Novel Writing Month! A friend on my course made a group on Facebook about it and suggested we all join. I had heard of it before from another friend but never really considered it. The aim of NANO is to write your entire novel, around 50,000 words, in the month of November with no editing allowed. Everyone on my course has to write 8,000 words for their ECPs. But I'm sure they have a great idea in their head they want to write it all down and not just stop at 8,000 words, like me. I figure this is a great way of motivation and maybe I will have my first complete novel at the end of it. However, it will mean a tonne of editing. And what if Judy, my supervisor, doesn't like it? I'll have 50,000 words of waste.

Ah! No negative thinking!

There's 30 days in November so that means 333.3333 words a day. And since I already have 5,000 words that's even less. Only by a little bit, I know. I'm really feeling good about this. Pity November is a while away yet. I guess that means I'll have a little head start. Luckily, as I'm not planning on doing NANO officially I don't have to follow the November rule strictly. Besides I think my supervisor would be worried if I hadn't written anything by November.

I am thinking of posting the beginnings of my ECP; it's shaping up quite nicely. I want to show it to my supervisor first though to see what she thinks. Fingers crossed she really likes it.

Also, I have a new aim. To write 'but' less. I've noticed that I write it a lot, sometimes unnecessarily. I'm finding it surprisingly hard!