More Notes!

Writing is a little samey at the moment as I continue with the typing up of the various notebooks I have made so far for my non fiction self help book. We're getting there though. I hope. I've felt I had to force myself to carry on for longer than I really wanted to today. This could be just tiredness (late night last night - rather fabulous fancy dress party to attend!) or it could just be a bit of burnout after working at it solidly yesterday.

Either way. I've been at it since early morning so I'm giving myself permission to take a break. In truth I'd like to think this was to go off and do something fun and delightful. In actuality, it's to go and hang the rest of the washing out and then make a start of the European Ironing Mountain which has built up in my lounge having been laid low all week with a stinker of a cold. Not exactly fun but there we are. If anyone has any ironing fairies they're not currently using, please do send them my way!

Have fun in the sunshine (at last!) and happy writing!

Reality Blogging

The lovely Carol has kindly nominated me for the Reality Blog award.

She actually did it a couple of weeks ago but I've been trying to think of answers to the questions that accompany it! They are the type of questions that could have a myriad of answers, depending on your mood but I'm reluctant to leave it any longer so here goes!


If you could change one thing, what would it be?

I'd love to be the kind of person who never worries about anything. I, on the other hand, worry about everything, so being able to change that would probably have a lot of good repercussions.


If you could repeat an age, what would it be?

This is a tricky one. I'm going to cheat and mention two: First I'd like to repeat the time I left school and take a different job to the one I chose to take, and also have the confidence to believe that writing could actually be a real possibility. I'd also like to repeat the few years which encompass our wedding day and just after because I'd love to live that over again, aswell as the fabulous travelling we got to do with the company my husband was working for at the time.


What one thing really scares you?

One? You want me to narrow it down to one? Ugh. Ok, well, serious illness for me or those I love.


If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be?

I think it would be fun to be some sort of extremely highly paid actor for a day. I think a job that pays horrendous amounts of money to play dress up all day can't be too bad.


Thank you so much, Carol for the nomination. It really does make a difference when people do interact on a blog and prove you're not just talking to the air!

And now it's my turn! (mwah ahh ahh!) So, the bloggers I nominate for this are:

Dean H
Kristah
Laura

I'm now off back to the oodles of notes I'm in the process of typing up for the non fiction book I'm working on. Seeming like a rather never ending task at the moment! Wish me luck and enjoy the weekend sunshine (at last!)

Catching up...

It was quite a busy week for me, with one thing and another. I took a walk on Monday morning, taking advantage of a dry day which made me feel good at getting some exercise, provided the opportunity for people watching and inspiration, and just helped get the brain unclogged, as a good walk can.

Getting some fresh air

 

I finally got the contract back this week, so we are back up and running on the research front so that's taking up some time, but in a good way. I'm still fairly nervous about the book, but I don't think that's an unusual thing - I've yet to meet a writer who isn't worrying about their current/past/future project! I'm making notes aplenty, and although I was going to put the notes directly onto the computer, and did in fact start that way, it's turned out to be easier to write them in a notebook which will get transcribed in with the rest as and when. This way I can just grab the research info, notebook and pencil and go. Like anything, it's finding what works best at a certain time for you.

 

I keep thinking about my novels. I miss them, and really want to get back to them. I've also come up with another couple of ideas over the past few weeks which are just bubbling about and fermenting in my brain at present. They're not ready to be written down, even in note form at the moment, but are firm enough not to be forgotten. They're well and truly stuck there now which is good. I'm not sure how they're going to progress but that's all part of the brewing-in-the-brain stage. And that's fine for now. I really want to get a long completed one edited and ready for submission. It's just finding the time to do everything at the moment. I don't think my brain will cope with working on both projects at the same time right at the moment. Perhaps when it gets to the actual writing bit, I might be able to switch between. Has anyone else had any experience of this - do you find it easy to switch between different forms of writing?

 

Unfortunately I had a fibromyalgia flare up on Wednesday which lasted a few days and put a bit of a spanner in the works, but it's something I just have to accept and work around as and when I can.

 

Back to the research now...

Research and Editing

I tend to be a 'one project at a time' kind of girl. It just works best for me, whether it is writing, paper crafting, sewing or whatever. I'm pretty easily distracted anyway (the times I've walked in and found the dishwasher half emptied and thought, 'Ohhhh right, I was doing that, wasn't I?' I can't tell you), so having all my focus on one thing is my preference.

But sometimes. especially when it comes to writing, it just doesn't work like that. There are articles to write, pitches to make and books to get on with. And I just have to adapt.

I have a couple of (main) projects on the go at the moment. One is starting the research for a non fiction book and the other is editing a novel I wrote some time back. I really liked it but things happened and nothing was ever really done with it. With the benefit of having been away from it for a long while, I've now started going back over and making a few changes. I think there will probably be more than I originally thought so the timescale I'd estimated might go over too but what can you do? If it needs doing, it needs doing right!

The other is starting to generate what will likely be quite a lot of research....

 

I'm wondering how others collate their research, in order to keep it accessible. Do you keep it all on computer or print it out or both or - shock! - hand write it? Although I've written a previous book (different subject), and various articles, I'm just pondering as to whether my method is the most efficient.

 

I'd love to hear others input on how you work best when it comes to research. Please do leave me a comment below.

 

Thanks for reading. 

You have to love reading

If you write, then you have to love reading. There's no getting around it. If you write fiction, then you need to read fiction, and if you write non-fiction then you're likely going to have to look up and read some stuff!

Of course, for the most part, that's not an issue. It's a natural thing for us to want to devour as many books as possible and it's likely that, if you're anything like me, the To Be Read pile doesn't seem to get any smaller, no matter how much we read.

Finding the time to read is one issue that many of us struggle with. It's so easy to get swept along in the daily trundle of life, working, housework, the garden, that although you might get around to catching up on articles and news online, sometimes you look round and realise you haven't picked up a proper book in weeks!

I've now made a conscious effort to get a book off the shelf (and deciding which one can take its own share of the time - is it just me or do you have to be 'in the mood' for certain books too?) and then make another concerted effort to actually pick it up and read it. Now, whether that's in the bath, over breakfast, on the commute (if you go by train!) or in bed, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you do it.

So grab a book, switch off the goggle box and dive in!

Shameless plug as it's Hallowe'en

Happy Hallowe'en to one and all!

Bearing in mind the date, I am today going to do a shameless plug of my non-fiction book, Ghost Walks of Brighton.

I mean, if you can't plug a ghost book at Hallowe'en, when can you? (Well, any time and as much as possible really, if you want to get sales, but you know what I mean.)

I've always been interested in the paranormal and had toyed with the idea of writing something about it but I wasn't sure what, exactly. That was until I came across the call from Country Books about a series of ghost walk books they were putting together, and that they were looking to expand the series further.

Having known Brighton for many years, and the interesting history it had, I suggested this to Dick Richardson, the publisher and he was happy to go ahead. What I really enjoyed was that, although it is a series, Dick didn't have a specific format he wanted to go with, it was up to me as to how I wanted to do it, and how long it was, etc.

First of all, I did all the research and gathered stories and tales, choosing the ones I felt were best included and weeding out ones that didn't fit or were a bit vague. Being fairly local, I was also able to draw on a couple of experiences from friends and relatives. Once the stories were there, I had to put them into place.

Now, I am not known for my navigational skills. Rather I am known for my total lack of them. Thankfully my husband has excellent ones so, with the help of a big map, we plotted the locations of the tales and then condensed them into actual walks, keeping them within certain areas, although it's possible for them to be put together to make longer ones. Then came the time to walk them and try them out. There were a few changes along the way which I noted down and applied to the manscript once we got back. Although we had done the 'Lanes' one on a separate day, the others were all done together, on quite a long and fairly tiring day! It was all quite fun and exciting though!

If you're interested in the subject, the book is still a good read, even if you aren't able to do the walks. Several people I know have gone this route because they either are not able to physically do the walks or aren't local enough so don't feel you need to miss out!

The paperback can be bought at Brighton's Waterstones, or direct from the publisher here. There's also a Kindle version which is available at Amazon here

If you choose to have a read, I hope you enjoy it - and Happy Hallowe'en!