diary of a secret writer

Staying out for the summer

2009-07-17T04:42:00.000-07:00

Naughty, naughty. I haven't blogged (well, here at least) for over a month. I told myself that if I wasn't doing any novel writing, then the least I had to do was blog regularly to keep my hand in, as it were. The copious amounts of writing I've been doing for work don't really count for my purposes, I don't think.

Well, nothing much has changed here on Walton Mountain. Work continues to pain me, though I do have a project on at the moment that I love. It deals with children and charities, so maybe that's a clue as to the sort of thing I should really be doing.

I'm working from home today, and as I started at 8am (get me!) and have had an uber efficient morning, I'm going to try (if I can finish a couple of proposals I need to write) to get an hour's writing in late this afternoon. Would be most carthartic and woudl make me feel like I've had a day of super achievement.

Off to rainy Wales for fun and frolics this weekend...

a x

Blimey

2009-05-26T07:39:00.003-07:00

I actually managed to do some writing last week.

I've finished my first chapter.

I have a whole other sub plot I've developed.

Yippee!!!

a x

A polite aide-memoire to the lovely commuters of Greater London

2009-05-15T03:18:00.000-07:00

Dear commuters,

It has come to my notice in recent months that despite the fact that being Londonders, of course, you are in fact superior to everyone else on the planet, there might be a few tincy little changes you could make to your commuting style to make everyone's day just that little bit better. You know, slidng up that scale from execrable to approaching mediocre.

1. Gentlemen. While it is true that I am not intimately acquainted with your genitalia, I can tell every one of you right now, with confidence, that your manhood is not so large that you need to sit with your legs at a precise 90 degree angle. As admirable as your trigonometry calculations are, airing your testes in this manner results in you taking up the space of three passengers.

2. The Oyster Card is a modern day little blue miracle, isn't it? Well, it is when it works. And I feel your frustrations too when the little bugger refuses to let you through the ticket gate. However. Imagine the scene:

It's rush hour. Everyone's either a) miserable because they're late for work or b) miserable as they've just spent the day at work. The population of China is attempting to simultaneously dash for the 6.50 to Chessington South. You're one of the lucky ones; you've actually made it to the ticket gate. You gratefully swipe your Oyster Card, so cleverly concealed in your purse, across the yellow reader. DISASTER. 'Please seek assistance', the gate pleads. but no, you decide, I don't need assistance, for I am a Londoner equipped with my Oyster Card and I am DAMNED if this gate is going to make me look like some touristy provincial. So you swipe again. 'Please seek assistance'. Again. And again. And again.

Meanwhile, three billion angry, pushy commuters are pressing behind you in scenes reminiscent of 10.55 at the local on a Friday night. Please, for the love of God. Give it up and go to the TFL bloke by the gate. For all our sakes.

3. Simple laws of physics dictate that if I'm on the train, thus occupying the space you want to be in, and I am trying to free up this space by leaving the train through a reasonably small gap, you should wait for me to get off the train before you shove your great arrogant bulky frame on to your carriage home. Just let me off first, please. And don't stand right in front of the doors blocking my exit or I will TAKE YOU DOWN.

This list is by no means a panacea for the daily challenge that is the London commute. But it's a start.

a x

Capturing, plotting, filing

2009-04-28T05:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know how writers find time to write. I mean the sort that write books, while they have jobs, and children, and A LIFE. The only time I seem to have a creative thought worth capturing is when I'm busy doing something else (I count sleeping in this one too :) ), and I always seem to be too busy to stop to mentally log it for future use.

I am going to try to find a good way to ensure I stop losing the good raw stuff because I'm 'too busy to stop', and also that I look at assessing these ideas and assimilating them into my plot. All too often the ideas are perfectly detailed tableaux of a very specific moment in my character's story - with no idea of the build-up or what is to follow that scene.

I know.

I need to stop and think what I want to be the build-up to that scene. And the resulting plot deveopment from that scene.

Off to find a good online plotting aid...

a x

Inspired to write #1

2009-03-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

Wanted to share something I saw today that makes me want to write a short story. I think it's the incredible level of detail given about the piece of jewellery contrasting so sharply with no information as to why this (sad?) situation has arisen that piqued my curiosity:

http://onepoundring.com/

Why has the owner of such an expensive piece of jewellery decided to set up an online lottery to get rid of it?

Why is someone who could afford a £3.5k ring (or was in a relationship where their other half could afford a £3.5k ring) now so broke that they claim they're forced into this online lottery?

Is the site creator a photographer, because the picture doesn't look like an amateur snap?

Where does the site's owner live?

As someone who has recently got engaged this site has especially intrigued me...

a x

Not so secret writing

2009-03-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

It may be just me, and I may just be more attuned to comment from other unpublished writers than your average web surfer, but it does seem that there are an increasing number of people who are tiring of the corporate nine till five and are writing, publicly, and telling all the world about how much they want to become a published author.

Whether it's a sign of these economically troubled times - never has escaping reliance on a greedy corporation seemed sweeter - or that people are simply tiring of the super acquisitive materialism of recent years, it does seem to be that people are turning back to the power of words and wielding them for all they're worth.

I for one cannot bear the lazy, overcomplicated and vague language employed into today's offices and part of the reason I write is to esacpe that. There will no place for 'liaise', 'pushing the envelope' or the perpetually confusing 'touch base about it offline'. VILE VILE VILE.

Off to practise what I preach...

a x

The bizarre case of OK and Jade Goody

2009-03-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

Utterly bewildered by the news that OK! magazine has already got its Jade Goody tribute issue on sale, complete with year of death - before Jade has actually passed away.

I know new media has meant that comms have sped up and print titles are increasingly under pressure to keep up with their digital peers. However. Publishing a black bordered tribute issue? Boasting you have her 'final words'?

Before she's died?

Seriously guys. Come on.

a x

Warm fuzzy feeling

2009-02-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

I have just written a poem.

It's for my other half's Valentine's card.

This has made me feel warm and fuzzy.

It also reminded me how much I love writing creatively. Not to brief for a client, who edits away any semblance of flair and prefers to edit in grammatical errors (my personal bugbear being superfluous capital letters). Writing, for me, to make someone I care about happy.

Not too shabby a Friday 13th.

a x

Goodnight, sweet prince...

2009-01-08T07:42:00.000-08:00

So. Last night was the last time I get to see the Tennantmeister in his role as Hamlet.

It was FABULOUS.

No need to bore you with yet more accounts of every nuance of every soliloquy... just to say that the look of sheer joy on David's face, his bashfulness and almost disbelief that people were on their feet and screaming for him at the end was an image that will stay with me forever.

Anyway... 2009. Here we are. So what am I going to do to make it count? I'm not one for clichéd new year's resolutions that are made in the fug of a hangover on the first and guiltily abandoned shortly after Epiphany (and if you manage that long, I think you're doing well). No, this is more about vague musings about what I'd like to achieve this year.

It's got to be about taking control of my career - steering it in the direction I want and need it to go. Sorting out my finances (more important than ever bearing in mind the current state of the economy) and working out how on God's earth I am EVER going to get on the property ladder?!

Also to stop comparing myself with my peers. Nigh on impossible, but to do it less. It will never make me happy. There will always be others who earn more than me, who get to marry David Tennant and who get to waft around writing a few hundred words a day and get paid handsomely for it... :)

This is going to be a Good Year. I have decided.

A x

More Hamlet... less sleep

2008-12-19T07:35:00.000-08:00

Nearly Christmas! I am feeling the least Christmassy I have in years, mostly due to being horrendously busy at work and also always being out with friends...

I did make time to see Hamlet AGAIN last night, however... though David Tennant isn't in it right now (bad back, apparently... oh that boyish charnm belies his advancing years :) ), it was still utterly stunning. Ed was fantastic and really stepped up to the challenge, supported by the faultless RSC cast. Already looking forward to seeing it for the final time in January.

Why is it that at Christmas you can never say no? I am so, so tired right now - I've been out nearly every night for the last two weeks and I am EXHAUSTED. I don't want to see another glass of wine ever again*, and can't wait to get into bed tonight and sleep! Does that make me Scrooge?! I hope not - I have been playing at being The Yes Man and going out whever anyone asks me. Well, it is Christmas after all.

Last day of work!!!!

a x

*until tomorrow at least

WHAT?!!!!!

2008-11-19T04:18:00.000-08:00

JOHN SERGEANT HAS PULLED OUT OF STRICTLY?!!!

I can't believe he's been bullied out by the judges! This is another Ross/Brand affair...

*writes feverish email to Daily Mail Overlords of Morality*

Racing towards 2009

2008-10-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how quickly this year is going. Only ten weeks (ish) of 2008 left... it's been an okay year. I feel like I have much more of an idea about what I want to do, where I want to go... haven't done that much about actually getting there, however :)

Work is even more stressful than usual - a couple of people have been fired/made redundant, which is not doing anyone's motivation any good, least of all mine! I am keeping my head down and ploughing on until the Christmas break, hoping that those couple of weeks off might give me the time and space that I need to make some decisions and make some changes.

I met up with some friends from university a couple of weeks ago - one of the girls I haven't seen since our English Lit graduation ceremony in 2003! I was most jealous to hear that she is nearlya qualified teacher AND is doing an MA in poetry, where she is tutored by Andrew Motion. Andrew fricking Motion. The poet laureate (not that he likes his job very much).

I WANT TO BE BACK AT UNIVERSITY!!!

Thankfully, I'm going to see David Tennant in Love's Labour's Lost next week, which should take my mind off things...!!! And I'm writing lots at the moment too... though sadly it's for the Day Job, meaning that it's all dull, dull, dull pieces of copy for dull, dull, dull audiences. Well, At least it's something...

a x

Escapism

2008-09-16T03:25:00.000-07:00

I haven’t had a proper holiday from work in two years. TWO YEARS!! Consequently, my lesser half and I have next week off. In these deliciously trying economic times, we don’t really have any money to go away to a beautiful country hotel overlooking the sea – instead, we’ve found a tiny little cottage a few miles from the sea where we can hole up for a few days and escape.

Hopefully this will give me a chance to engage in some actual writing – writing distinct from that of the Day Job, that is. LH can immerse himself in his X Box for a few hours a day while I plot, ponder and pencil a few words... perhaps getting away from the drain that is everyday life will allow me to plot book one properly, instead of dipping in and out and writing a few hundred words here and there and giving up!

Holiday here I come! Only a few days of busy stressful London to go...

a x

Reasons why Peep Show...

2008-09-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

...should be a GCSE set text:

people really are that petty and mental...
everyone has a bit of Mark in them...
...yet more worryingly, everyone has a bit of Jez in them...
...should illustrate to graduates that getting a degree doesn't get you a super well paid and exciting job straight out of uni... you too will probably end up using your HIstory degree to work at JLB
it glamorises Croydon
Johnson is the epitome of alpha male, and should be worshipped
You'll never make a worse decision than Jeremy
You'll never have done anything as bad as the bad thing that Jeremy did
it teaches you new ways to consider moral decisions, enabling you to justify entirely selfish courses of action on the flimsiest of premises

Not shaken but definitely stirred

2008-09-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

There’s a lot of upheaval at the moment at work and with my friends, too. I’m not sure quite what has triggered it generally (it’s almost certainly coincidental), but lots of people that I know are making changes in their lives; significant changes that seem pretty bold. Yet they are all without exception absolutely sure it’s the right thing to be doing.

I have friends who are not just switching jobs, they’re switching careers. Some are moving to different parts of England, some are moving to other countries entirely. Some are getting married, some are are breaking up. And they’re all so, so confident that this will help them a little way down that yellow brick road to happiness.

I have to admit, I’m quite envious of this ‘shake it up and let’s see what happens’, ‘que sera, sera’ mentality that seems to be gripping those around me. I’m getting itchy feet again, and the time to shake things up is approaching.

Only problem is...

...I don’t know what I want the end result of my shaking to be.

It will certainly mean a change of job. Possibly a change of career, and it’s likely I’ll need to relocate too.

Interesting times ahead. I think I need to get thinking.

I think the tickets I’ve managed to bag to see David Tennant in Love’s Labour’s Lost can only help this thought process.

A x

The rest is silence...

2008-08-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

So.

I've seen it.

It was phenomenal.

After ten months of waiting, last night I finally got to see the new production of Hamlet at the RSC in Stratford. David Tennant and Patrick Stewart in the sexy sleazy Shakesperean tragedy.

David Tennant was magnificent, he really was. A few people have asked me if he was any good, saying they were actually put off going to see the production when they heard that the Doctor was going to be taking on the lead. However - that overlooks one tiny detail - David can act. He can really act. And he acts his socks off in this production, meaning that you're not going 'ooh, look it's the Doctor, fencing with a Danish nobleman' - you forget that it's being acted by anyone famous, even that it's being acted at all - well, for me at least, that's how it was. He was awesome.

Loved Penny Downie as Gertrude - just slutty enough I thought! Her hysterical laughter turned anguished sobbing was fabulous. Patrick Stewart was competent (you'd hope so!) as Claudius, and was gloriously sycophantic as the play opened. However, I never really felt he truly exposed Claudius' real nastiness. Perhaps once the previews have been completed and the first press reviews are out, he'll look to enhance the more sinister side of the character.

However, the real revelation for me was Oliver Ford Davies. Playing Polonius, he really got under the skin of this bumbling, self-centred old man and peeled back the layers to show us his selfishness, disregard for his children and his surprising moment sof sharp insight - after all, let's not forget that it's Polonius who who notes of Hamlet that there is method in his madness.

Having drank the rest of the night away in the Dirty Duck, I'm going to retire to bed now. I am so, so happy I splashed out on tickets for the London run of this show - if I wasn't already going to see it again I'd be on eBay right now parting with money I don't even have to have the chance to see this fantastic production again.

Awesome.

a x

How to create time

2008-07-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

There was a piece in many of today's newspapers about a scary sounding experiment that's going ahead in Geneva next month. Now, I'd heard about this place before, and had hoped that the thing they're about to do had happened quietly without my knowledge. However - no - actually it's happening next month.

They're going to do some kind of particle accelerator thing (forgive me for not having advanced my physics knowledge beyond GCSE - I got an A* don't you know :) ) that if all works well, will create some particles called Higgins Boson things (not the catchiest name - there's a serious marketing opportunity there) which will reveal the secrets of the origins of the universe. Seriously exciting stuff. Apparently they may even reveal how we can travel in time. Someone alert David Tennant...

However - the reason why it's incredibly scary is that there's the weeniest tiny chance that the reaction might create a black hole. A black hole that could swallow up our entire universe. Because the scientists involved want to know more about something called Higgins Boson.

I'd like to suggest that there may be some sort of crazy minded, super-liberal argument that might hint that given the odds - perhaps - just perhaps - it might not be worth taking the risk?

They'd better wait until after I see la Tennant in Stratford...

a x

Must try harder

2008-07-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

Seven months since a post.

Budget.

Well, it's not like anyone's reading anyway. But I must get better at this before I start trying to entice readers... main changes since January (gulp):

I have become utterly obsessed with David Tennant - he is delicious
I have been promoted! So I am now on the poverty line, rather than just beneath it
I have decided that I need to become an awful lot better at online media because I feel I would be much happier working in that field
Did I mention David Tennant?

I'm still not engaged, pregnant or proud owner of a publishing contract. Win some, lose some...

A xx

PS I got new tickets to Hamlet in Stratford. I know you were worrying.

RSC love thwarted

2008-01-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

Well... I was supposed to be going to see David Tennant's Hamlet by the RSC this year. Not only do I have phenomenal tickets, I also have the time off work booked and a guest house room for while we're there.

And then one of my best friends reveals when she's getting married. That weeekend.

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

(if anyone has a pair of good RSC tix for this summer let me know)

(otherwise - just let me CRY)

(ps)

(AAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH)

A x

Popping my cherry

2007-11-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

My first meme - please be gentle *blushes*

Five Gentlemen I'd Like To Have Round for Tea:
1. Robbie Williams - he's my one true love
2. Josh Hartnett - ultimate eye candy
3. The hot presenter from Something for the Weekend - I SO would
4. Graham Norton - to take the p*ss out of anyone who was misbehaving
5. Geoge Clooney - just because

Five Ladies I'd Like to Lunch With:
1. Cheryl Cole - she looks like wicked fun
2. Fern Britton - blatantly such a laugh and would put everyone at their ease
3. My mum - would put everyone in their place
4. The Queen - would have far more interesting stories than anyone else
5. Marilyn Monroe - ultimate sex kitten

Four People I'd Like To Meet in Heaven(excluding family and friends):
1. Vladimir Nabokov - my ultimate literary icon - would just adore to devour a few bottles of wine with him talking bot the english language
2. Elizabeth I - how did she hold it together and be so strong? Also would like to check the historical accuracy of a few Philippa Gregorys with her...!
3. Roald Dahl - such a genius - and a genius I could never have appreciated when was alive (I was about 8 when he died). Would adore to have a grown-uppy-drinky-pubby-gossip with him.
4. Enid Blyton - I would like to understand the age of childhood innocence, then.

Four Material Things I Couldn't Live Without:
1. My mobile...
2. Broadband
3. My annotated Lolita
4. My Maestro card

Four Things I COULD Live Without:
1. The London Underground during rush hour
2. My debt
3. Self important Londoners
4. Hangovers

Three Books I Would Save From a Burning Building:
1. Annotated Lolita
2. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
3. Hamlet - Shakespeare
...feel these could cure any 16 year old of teen angst...

Three Books I Would Throw Into a Burning Building:
1. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (couldn't get in to it)
2. Kerry Katona's novel (no i haven't read it; I just KNOW)
3. Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Primer. Trust me on this one

Five Songs That Make Me Happy:
1. There She Goes - The La's
2. I Need You - Wireless
3. She Loves You - The Beatles
4. You're So Great - Blur
5. Valerie - Amy Winehouse

Two Things I Wish I'd Invented:
1. The printing press (God damn you William Caxton!)
2. Fermentation. Goodness, if only I had the patent...

A x

The new thrill: knitted products

2007-11-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

I know I have been v. bad. I have been mostly v. committed to The Day Job in order to prep them for a promotion in the new year. Fingers crossed.

In other news... I'm having real issues with my story. I thought I had a fabulous spark for my beautiful novel. Turns out, all I have is a spark that fizzled whenever I try to have my spark ignite into the flame of a narrative... I think I need to go back to mind maps. BORE

In secondary news... I was SO excited when I last visited Sainbury's! Now let me tell you, there isn't usually excitement linked with that particular voyage. Yet - when I stumbled into the neon lighted void of la 'Bury this week... ALL THE SMOOTHIES HAD HATS ON!!! Yes, yes, apparently it's an annual thing. But I was utterly delighted to be able to choose a beautiful hand knittted beanie for my lunch time smoothie this week. AND it means I have given 50p to charity. FABULOUS.

On even more other news... I still remain Take That ticketless. I cannot convey my rage at this situation.

A xx

Social networking

2007-09-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a month now and I still haven't put pen to paper in terms of my own writing. I have done loads of writing for The Day Job (natch - it's hard to escape!), but though all sorts of intricacies of plot have been fizzing round my head I have failed to write anything. Nada. I hang my head in shame. I have been doing some good Facebooking though...

Therefore... I resolve to take a leaf out of the many school schildren who are heading back to school this week with bright, fresh young minds, and will commit to doing my homework! Oh, if only I could dispose with The Day Job. Good job I'm winning the lottery tomorrow.

A x

The ten commandments of diary of a secret writer (part two)*

2007-08-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

6. Thou shalt not be afraid to put pen to paper... thou cannot edit a blank page...
7. Thou shalt be encouraged by other blogging writers and link to their fabulous knowledgable blogs
8. Thou shalt draw up a decent plot outline that is actually compelling (okay, so this should only be applicable initially, but I need it!)
9. Thou shalt not be discouraged by how long it shalt take to write the first three chapters
10. Thou shalt believe that thou can do it – thou canst actually write a whole novel

A x

*DSW still reserves the right to change any element of these commandments...!

The ten commandments of diary of a secret writer (part one)*

2007-08-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

Thou shalt preserve the secrecy of thine identity to protect thineself’s self-doubting nature
Thou shalt blog charmingly when in an amusingly light stage of inebriation
Thou shalt not blog when thou hast imbibed a little much of the vino... thou shalt not look big, funny or clever
Thou shall blog frequently – even if thou has writer’s block
Thou shalt read anything and everything that does not move away fast enough

*DSW reserves the right to change any element of these commandments on the slightest whim (perhaps I will look VERY big and clever when I blog when drunk...I think it’s unlikely)

A x

Mr Manchester

2007-08-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to register how sad I am that Tony Wilson died this evening. Despite his eccentricity and passion for grey nail varnish (!), he was truly one of the best things that ever happened to Manchester and today is a sad day now he is gone. RIP Mr Manchester... you will be sorely missed.

A x

Prologue

2007-08-08T07:47:00.001-07:00

After several false starts, I’m finally here. This time, I’m blogging with a purpose. I have made a promise to myself to start writing. Writing properly, that is. Funnily enough, writing Post-It notes to my colleagues and rambling emails to my friends isn’t fulfiling for a girl who has wanted to write stories ever since she can remember. So – here I am in my mid twenties, deciding at last it’s time to give it a go. Only thing is –though I’ve realised I need to at least try to write my stories, I am much, much too shy to tell anyone I know in real life that I’m trying to do it. So it will have to be our little secret for now. Okay?

A x