Blog Archives

Simply Live....until you don't..

29/2/2012

I've been thinking about how endlessly inventive people are (see 25 Feb). It even extends to tributes to the dead.
Did any of you see the little shrines to Steve Jobs? Someone (I wonder who?) put an apple with a bite out of it beside a photograph of him on a pavement, more people added apples with one bite out and the idea spread around the world....

Here in UK there has recently been a bicycle safety campaign and 'ghost bicycles' - bicycles painted white - have begun to appear at the scene of fatal cycle accidents, in memory of the person killed.

Now I wonder who thinks these things up, and whether more than one person thinks of them at the same time in different places..

No way of knowing I suppose.

(..told you I'd change the subject today! )

Simply Write....that novel..

27/2/2012

Rogano's

Art Deco

All original

Best coffee and vanilla ice cream in town..

What better place?

Thank you so much for your congratulations and a special thank you to those of you who cheered me on when the going got tough! I took myself off to the city yesterday for a little celebration, just by myself. I wanted to write the words The End in my notebook in Rogano's.

Of course the real work is probably just beginning. My 50002 words are unlikely to all be the right words in the right order, but I have a story - a beginning, a middle and an end, and a cast of characters in whom I have grown very interested. A first draft. And lots of words to play with.

The ending, by the way, is neither 'twisty', nor conventionally happy. I would call it enigmatic (which doesn't tell you much I know, Sarah, Mary and Liz!)

February was not quite as much fun as last year, mainly because I was unwell for a bit and didn't gad about as much this year, but it was very very satisfying - and that's something I've never said about February before either. I'm really looking forward to the editing stage, but I won't be trying to do it in a month!

Now there is the rest of my life to catch up with....

Will change the subject tomorrow - promise!

Simply Write....that novel..

26/2/2012

Done it.
50,000 words.
Can't believe it.
Phew!
Having tomorrow off.
Back soon..

Simply Listen/Simply Write....

25/2/2012

....a little post, but fun. Take a look at http://bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17162066 Magical instruments made of ice. Aren't human beings endlessly inventive!

48,054 WORDS...

Simply Grow....

24/2/2012

At least here in Scotland..

It all still looks and feels a bit winter weary, but today there was sunshine and birdsong, snowdrops, hellebores, hyacinths, primula and crocus, so it must be true - spring IS coming....

Simply Listened..

23/2/2012

..to a brilliant concert this afternoon. Swedish conductor Stefan Solyom (wonderful to watch his workout on the podium) drew the very best from the Scottish Symphony Orchestra who were on top form, and Russian born violinist Alexandra Soumm had us spellbound. Liszt, Bruch and Dvorak.
I am in awe of musicians and conductors who give so much, intellectually, emotionally and physically.
It makes painting, and writing, seem very tame!
(Talking of which 5,301 words to go....)

Simply Beautiful....

22/2/2012

Someone brought me yellow tulips.

(43,062 words....)

Simply Grow....

21/2/2012

A different kind of painting..

..and some lovely plants to sell.

Some snowdrops left over..

..and a dozen primula getting well watered.

(40,772 words....)

Simply Write....

20/2/2012

Today it is raining again - but this was yesterday. Beautiful, and the Snowdrop Tea was a great success!

'Inside every fat book is a thin book trying to get out.'

My thin book needs some fat on its bones!

Simply Write....that novel..

19/2/2012

Here is a clip of witty Kurt Vonnegut talking about the shapes of stories. I'd never imagined that Kurt Vonnegut would be funny somehow...

www.flavorwire.com/261120/charts-and-diagrams-drawn-by-famous-authors#4

On the same interesting site are pictures of the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world

www.flavorwire.com/254434/the-20-most-beautiful-bookstores-in-the-world/

Sign up here for the world tour!

39,345 words and a little break on this sunny cold day to go to the Snowdrop Tea (see 17th)

Hope the sun is shining where you are....

Simply Write..that novel....

18/2/2012

I am struggling a bit now. I have 38,012 words, but I also have a cold and a horrible cough which is keeping me awake at nights....I know, Poor Me!

And my sneaky Inner Editor has somehow got back into my head. Would someone care to take it on for another 11 days? Liz? Lynne? Elizabeth? Or any other authors out there? I think maybe Chris Baty's kennels only open in November.

I also had the feeling that reading Colette (for book group) wasn't such a good idea. I think she is such a brilliant writer. Her words are poetry; no one uses such unusual yet perfectly apt adjectives. Few people craft a tale like she does. I'm getting really sidetracked and even comparing different translations..

I'm also getting sidetracked by the wish to begin editing my own effort and find myself jumping about from one bit to another. (Someone once told me I had a grasshopper brain. They were right, I fear.)

50,000 words is an arbitrary figure I know, and this 'boot camp' way is of course not the only way to write a novel....but then again, having got this far..

Simply Grow....snowdrops..

17/2/2012

It seems ages since I posted under Simply Grow. But it's time! Spring is just around the corner.

If you live near enough, do come to the charity Snowdrop Tea at Innellan this Sunday for a taste of Spring. It is in aid of the family centre and children's nursery. There will be snowdrops 'in the green' for sale, beautiful hellebores, crocus and muscari, tulips - the dark Queen of The Night and the fresh Spring Green, a delightful dwarf narcissus called Topolino and the exquisite dwarf iris George and Purple Gem, and of course lots of colourful primroses. Who could resist?

Innellan Village Hall from 2 - 4. Entry £2 adults, £1 children, which includes tea and cakes.

The banner shows snowdrops in our village. We add to them year by year, and they are very slowly spreading -at the Village Hall, by the postbox, by signposts and roadsides, in the small Coronation Wood..The Forestry Commission planted lots by the river many years ago - it is a nice time of year for a walk in Ardentinny....

For more inspiration have you been watching Bees, Butterflies and Blooms on BBC2 on Wednesdays? Still available on i Player...

Simply Eat..another ethical dilemma!

16/2/2012

To eat or not to eat Spanish strawberries, that is the question..

Whether it be air miles and environmental damage on the one hand, unemployment in Spain at 22% (and an alarming 51.4% among young people) on the other, one things the answer is not, is simple.

Spanish farmers grow wonderful strawberries. Are we in danger of being more than a little sanctimonious here? It seems OK to put yourself on a plane for a holiday in their sunshine, but not OK for them to export their produce by plane to make a living....

Untangling the costs to the environment vs the benefit to the people is beyond me, and, this time we bought the strawberries, and the raspberries (Spain) and the cherries (Chile). They were delicious.

In the fruit bowl are also a pineapple (Costa Rica), bananas (Colombia), kiwi fruit, lemons and oranges - I don't know where they are from, but it's not UK!

I bought them from the Co-op - does that make it better?

Did the Phoenicians start all this? Can I blame them?

..your views most welcome..

Simply Laugh..simply cry....

15/2/2012

He's a generous man, my husband. Said he didn't mind at all sharing his valentine card with 180 odd other people!

A sad sign of the times in the city....

Is your city like this?

Simply Write....and finding the time...

14/2/2012

What other commitments have I got and can I get out of, I asked myself as I tried to clear my diary for February in order to write my novel. It's hard to say no....But on the other hand looking at an almost blank month on the calendar gave me a great sense of freedom as I realised it is possible to create time and space for things I really want to do. There is a lesson here!

One commitment I will keep is book group. We are meeting at the end of February and we are reading My Mother's House by Colette. That will either inspire my writing wonderfully, or make me give up in despair, but I will read it. I love the book group.

..can you clear some space in your diary for something you really want to do?

There are other commitments too which I wouldn't let pass....

happy Valentine's day..

Simply Write..

13/2/2012

From page 132 of No Plot, No Problem :

CAN I GIVE UP NOW ?

No. You cannot give up now.

Oh. OK then.

Simply Write....

12/2/2012

'The biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not lack of talent. It's the lack of a deadline.'

So says Chris Baty whose book No Plot, No Problem continues to help me along to my target of 50,000 words (I'm at 32,197!). The biggest help for me at this point is that Chris has confiscated my Inner Editor.

'That's right, the Inner Editor. The doubting, self-critical voice that we all inherit around puberty as an unfortunate door prize for surviving childhood....happiest when it is tsk-tsking our shortcomings and weaving our blunders into a rich tapestry of personal failure. For reasons not entirely clear to anyone we invite this fun spoiling tyrant along with us on our artistic endeavours.'

For this month Chris has boarded my Inner Editor at the fully licensed, board certified Inner Editor Kennels where he assures me it will be very very happy, and he says I can have the beastie back when I have written my novel.

I believe him.

And am very very happy without it.

For the rough draft.

..why don't you board yours out for a bit? And don't you just love the first daffodils?

Simply Write..

11/2/2012

We leave the story for now,with the ambulance sirens blaring and its blue lights flashing....

NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month - which the rest of the world does in November, but I am choosing to do in February - was begun in 1999 by Chris Baty and friends. 21 of them rashly set out to write a novel in one month. It seemed a good idea at the time, says Baty, disarmingly. 6 of them made the target of 50,000 words (also known as winning). The second year 140 people signed up and 29 won. By 2003 more than 25,000 participants in 30 countries took part. By 2010 200,000 people around the world took on this mad creative writing challenge!

Check it out at www.nanowrimo.org or on Wikiepedia.

..and I am, more or less, on target with 29,625 words and counting....

It's getting harder!

Simply Write..that novel....

10/2/2012

                                                      It had been a day like any other.

                                                      Don't all disasters start out as a day like any other?

                                                      Isn't that what makes life so frightening?

                                                     The skid seemed to happen in slow motion and in eerie silence....

..tomorrow...what is this National novel Writing Month anyway?

Simply Write..that novel....

9/2/2012

...he looked intently at the shapes and spaces of the group of objects until his mind quietened and he knew he could start. Almost at random he began to draw, his eye and hand going at the same slow pace as he recorded every curve and turn of the line, as though his eye was a cursor for his hand.

The beauty of the fruit, the elegance of the vase - a beautiful piece which seemed to have life in it as the best of Louise's pots did; the placing on the page - that subtle balance, not too obvious, a little tension that was necessary to keep the viewer's eye interested, it absorbed him totally. The music faded from his conscious mind and he was unaware of time passing, till he heard the car door slam, glanced at the clock and went to meet Matthew.

Simply Write..that novel....

8/2/2012

For the first time in many months Jon selected some music and put it on while he worked. Not the Casals - too emotional. Not the lyrical Yo Yo Ma. He settled on the slightly dated, slightly austere Tortelier version.

He could cope with that.

Just about.

Simply Write..that novel....

7/2/2012

'..he could put in an hour or two in the studio before bed.'

Simply Write..that novel....

6/2/2012

'....he began that journey into the work which shut out, at least for a time, the worries of his daily life without Louise.'

Simply Write..that novel....

5/2/2012

Can he reach it?

Simply Write..that novel....

4/2/2012

The story starts in a rather unusual place....