Research Time

I won't even think about how long it's been since the last post - though it's glaringly obvious from the title page. Suffice to say I've been a bit lax with the old blog.

Anyway, had a few quieter work months, plodding away at (rather dull) web copy and odd bits and pieces that always seem to require more admin time than actual working. But it's back to the books now and I'm in my element again, planning out the work days on the calendar, opening up fresh new Word documents and starting lists.

I've got two on the go at the moment. One has a January deadline, which seemed fine when I signed up but of course I'd forgotten about Christmas so there's going to be a few late nights. I'll start writing the other the day after I hand in the first manuscript so not much of a break for shopping in the sales but might save me a few quid. I've started doing a bit of research on that one so that I'm ready to go when it's time to start writing.

Advance Copy of my New Book

There's nothing quite like getting a book through the post with your name on the cover and yesterday I opened up a parcel to see just that. It's a strange mix of emotions: excitement, nerves, pride but there's also a sense of distance to it. It takes so much longer for a book to be published than for an article to appear in a magazine or on a website that you're always well into your next project, or the one after that, by the time the book is printed.

Anyway, I was really pleased with the final result and think it looks fab. The illustrator has done a great job and the hard cover makes it look and feel like far more of a weighty tome than its gift book title would suggest.

Whilst I'm still holding out for that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, which is seeing a novel that I've written in print, it doesn't detract from the excitement of looking at the tangible result of a great deal of hard work.

It isn't officially published until September and then the fresh excitement of trying to spot it in bookshops will arrive... simple pleasures!

Time is Ticking

Ahhhgghh! No idea why I decided that this morning would be a good time to update the blog for the first time in months. Really I should be switching of the Internet and barricading myself into a small, dark room with a pen and a notebook. There is now just under a month left until I have to deliver a 55,000 word manuscript and there's still sooooo much to do.

The research has been great and I'm really enjoying writing the book - it's just so much work to complete in such a short space of time. My office is strewn with library books, printouts, notes and an unseemly number of discarded coffee cups and biscuit wrappers. I've set myself a daily word target and am vainly attempting to stick to it.

The completed (but only half edited) novel has not just taken a back seat, it's been left behind at the rest stop and will have to stay there until paid work is taken care of.

Right, back to it!

Real Work Ruins Everything

It's such a shame that the paid words have to take a precedence over the enjoyable ones that, unfortunately, don't pay the bills.

I know, I know, I shouldn't moan about having work. This time six months ago I was doing the usual freelance whining about not having enough work and worrying about ever getting any more bookings. The thing is, it gave me time to work on the novel - pretty much finish it in fact - in those sparse couple of months when the paid jobs slowed right down. And now that I'm up to my neck in work that someone is actually going to pay me for (eventually in some cases - invoice chasing being one of my frequent pastimes) I'm moaning again. I'm just desperate to get on finish the edits of the novel so that I can give it someone to read and get some proper feedback.

I suppose if I stop procrastinating, stop surfing the Net, stop making cups of coffee, stop tweeting, stop blogging and stop doing loads of washing, I might actually be able to finish the paid work and have a bit of time for something else...

Lazy Daisy

Forgive me reader for I have sinned, it has been months since my last blog post. So, what's been happening?

The days, weeks and months seem to have literally flown by but that's hardly an excuse for not putting fingers to keys for quite so long. Work went crazy just as I was planning to slow down for Christmas but being freelance, I was hardly in a position to turn anything down so I was writing like a nutter right up until the last minute. Of course, the bonus of that is that I didn't have to go anywhere near a shop and managed to make pretty much all my festive purchases online, in between completing copy for a comedy beard book and writing more serious words for a book about London restaurants.

As expected, the novel took a bit of a back seat over this time but I did manage to finally complete the first draft. The workload meant that there was a natural break in which to shut it in the proverbial drawer for some detachment time. I printed it off last month and a week of early nights and a nice cup of tea and printouts in bed meant that I read it through and started doing some edits.

I'm having real problems seeing the big picture so I need to back to square one I think and try and read it again with fresh eyes. I've managed to pick up a load of basic editorial changes, spotted some problems with dialogue etc but I just can't seem to get my head round any major character or plot problems. I know there are some, it's just pinpointing them and having the confidence to shuffle the book about like a pack of cards. Time for the stage that I'm dreading... asking someone else to read it. Of course, as only my husband knows that I'm actually writing a novel, this might come as a bit of a shock!

Plodding on with Work and Novel

Having read numerous blogs and having lived with myself for the last 30-odd years, I knew this would happen. I'd been keeping a strict update on the writing, with a chart pinned to the wall to encourage me to write every day and put down the word counts. And then, I stopped.

Obviously, there are countless excuses I could come up with as to why the novel suddenly came to a grinding halt but what's the point? There will always be a reason not to write, which makes it all the more important to keep writing. Luckily, it was only a small blip and I've got back into it again. I'm now a month behind my self-imposed deadline but the annoying thing is, I only have about 5,000 words to write. I can easily knock out 5,000 words in a day for the day job but when it comes to crafting a novel, procrastination makes this extremely unlikely!

I've been really buoyed on by the updates of Cally Taylor over the last couple of weeks and the excitement of her novel getting published. If it's a dream to write a novel then there's no point sitting there thinking about it. It's not going to write itself and a finished novel has infinitely more chance of being published than a blank ream of paper.

Avoiding Writing by Learning How to Write

I went to the two-day conference, 'How to Get Published' at Kingston University at the weekend. I'd seen it advertised in a couple of mags and, instead of doing my usual - "that sounds goods, maybe I'll do it next time", I actually booked a place, bundled the kids to my parents and went back to school.

It was a really beneficial two days that was pretty intense but packed full of handy info. It was great to hear from people from all sides of the industry, from agents and publishers to authors. Everyone was honest to the point of being off-putting but, as any budding writer knows, nothing's going to put you off once you get the bug! The authors were genuinely inspiring and although it took them years to make it, they never stopped trying. I have learnt that editing really is the key - Michael Ridpath spent years re-writing his first manuscript until he felt it was in the best possible condition to send to agents. The strategy clearly worked but it means I've got years of work ahead of me before I think about sending anything to anyone - slightly depressing!

Well, I'd better get back to it - 10,000 words to go...and that's just the first draft.

Seeing your Name in Print

Last week I received two magazines in the post that I had articles published in. Now, this doesn't happen very often, I hasten to add! I generally write web copy and, although it's great to see your work up there on a website, nothing quite beats the buzz of flicking through a magazine and seeing real life pages with your name and words on them.

I had a travel piece about Singapore in 'Owners Perspective' magazine and then a parenting article in 'Step Ahead', which is also on their website. There'll probably be a drought of magazine articles for months to come now!

Lost (for) Words

I took my laptop on holiday and thought that I'd tap away in the evenings as we sat in the campervan and listened to the weather in North Devon.

Well, it all went according to plan and words were indeed written but then they cruelly taken away again. On the last day of the holiday my son knocked the laptop off a table, the screen went blank and the computer died. I know, I know - back-up, back-up, back-up and normally I'm religious about it if I do ANY work at all on my laptop. But, having forgotten the memory stick and having absolutely no access to Internet (I normally email work back to myself for double security), I didn't back anything up during the week.

It wasn't a huge amount - about 3,000 words - but those words were written at a particular time, in a particular place and with a particular frame of mind that will never all be replicated exactly. In other words, they're gone.

I've tried to be pragmatic and I haven't screamed and shouted - it's worse than being angry; I'm sad. Now, I just can't face replacing those words with others that just won't seem authentic somehow and I haven't written any more of the novel for about four days.

I know I need to just dust myself off and stop being so bloody stupid. They're not miraculously going to reappear and no one else is going to finish writing the book so I need to snap out of it...tomorrow...

Setting a Deadline

There's nothing like a self-imposed deadline to get the fingers tapping away and I've just set mine. I've booked a place on the Writer's Conference at Kingston University at the beginning of September and I'm determined to finish the first draft of my novel by then.

There's no particular reason why this should be the deadline but it fitted in roughly with when I wanted to finish the first draft and it just seemed fitting that it would tie in with a conference about trying to get published. The idea is that I finish the draft, go to the conference, have a bit of thinking time and then get on with some serious editing.

Getting Inspiration

Well, it was a bit of a mixed bag last week. It started off so well with lots of words written on Monday and Tuesday and then it all went horribly wrong. I could blame the kids....hell yeah, let's blame the kids! After putting in 14-hour days breaking up fights, preparing food and mopping up poo, the last thing I felt like doing was switching on the computer and getting stuck into the novel.

I know, I know, these are exactly the type of excuses that everyone uses when they say "I'd love to write a book, but I haven't got the time". There's always time, you just sometimes need to give yourself a bit of a kick up the backside. Anyway, that kick finally came after reading the 'race to the finish line' Tweets of novelists Helen and Cally yesterday. It was really inspiring to read about their progress as they completed the last few scenes of their respective books and both sat down with a well-earned drink afterwards.

I think it reiterates the fact that writing can be such a solitary experience and the Internet is a fantastic resource, not just in terms of information about the craft itself, but also for getting in touch with other people suffering the same highs and lows.

They both found the time to write and today I got myself back on track. As the kids created mayhem and destroyed the house, I sat down with my laptop amongst the debris and wrote a few hundred words. Now I'm raring to go again - although I'll probably have to delete everything I wrote today as I'm sure it won't make any sense.

Another One (probably) Bites the Dust

I've just submitted my entry to the Guardian short story competition. It feels great to send off a piece of writing. Although I'm never under any illusion as to the outcome of the submission, it still feels like an achievement to actually get some work to a standard whereby you're happy for other people to read it.

I personally find it really rewarding to keep writing short stories while I'm plodding on with the novel. I haven't done as much as I'd like recently, and I'm sure I should probably be concentrating all my efforts on wrestling my way through the mighty tome, but there's a great deal of satisfaction to be gained from completing a story, however short it is.

I've got a long way to go before I can celebrate finishing the book and short stories are a great way to hit a mini milestone along the route.

Yummy Mummy Envy

I always reckon I've done quite well if I manage to have a shower, find some vaguely matching underwear and remember both kids and my bag when I'm leaving the house. So, I was feeling pretty smug this morning when I arrived at toddler play just after it opened instead of running in sweating for the last few minutes.

All thoughts of smugness evaporated when a vision of yummy mumminess swanned through the door and put my poor efforts at hair (scraped back), make-up (none) and outfit (well, it was clean) to shame. Dressed in a crisp, dazzling white linen dress with a long sparkly bead necklace, matching hairband and silver sequinned pumps, the woman had two small kids with her and a third on the way - I'd guess she was about six months' pregnant.

I had to do a double take as I thought Charlotte from Sex and the City had just swanned into playgroup. If I ever had anything white in my wardrobe, it's now turned into the uniform sludge colour of washing that doesn't get sorted into colour groups. I'd certainly never dream of wearing a white dress within a mile of my kids. As it is, I'm usually liberally doused in snot, food and various other child-related goo before we make it anywhere near the public. And how on earth she managed to find the time and space to contemplate, choose, and put on accessories is just beyond me.

You know what they say: "behind every cool, calm and collected mum is a full-time nanny".

What if it's a Load of Rubbish?

Yeah, yeah, I know writers have these melancholic thoughts all the time. I've read countless articles and blog posts about published authors going through various stages in their novels when they think they can't go on; they've run out of ideas; the book isn't actually that great after all. Anyway, unpublished as I am, it's my turn.

Having cracked the halfway point, it seems I've reached the top of the mountain and have collapsed in a sweating, panting heap with no energy left to get back down the other side. I've got serious doubts about my main character, the ending of the book, the sub plots, the minor characters. Are they too stereotypical? Do they have enough going on in their lives? Is the story interesting enough to hold a reader's attention?

I've been forcing myself to keep writing a bit every day and I'm hoping the doubts will pass and I can get back to belting through the first draft and worry about sorting the problems out at the re-write stage.

Unfortunately, I've got some riveting insurance articles to write first today before I can get down to the novel. Got to pay the bills somehow!

Reaching the Halfway Point

At the end of last week, I finally reached the halfway point for the first draft of my novel. It was a minor celebration, as it's technically just a word count plucked from the sky, but it still felt good.

I guess it's a bit like the due date for a baby: although you really have no idea exactly when it's going to arrive, it's nice to have a date to work towards. I just hope that finishing the book isn't as painful as giving birth.

Positive Mental Attitude

So, after submitting a short story to the Shortbread website, I was really chuffed to get some positive feedback from the Editor.

Each story is individually read before it goes live and it means you get some indication of whether anyone's going to like it, before it's unleashed onto the story writing and reading world.

It's crazy but even a few nice comments can have a dramatic effect and it was enough to spur me on and get going on a couple more short story ideas - things that have been fizzing away on the back burner for months.

Small steps...

Less Thinking, More Doing

I had a quiet work day yesterday so I thought I'd catch up on some pitches and submissions. I sent a short story to 'My Weekly' and I pitched a couple of magazines with a travel article. I also joined up to Shortbread and spent half an hour reading some of the stories to get a feel for the site. There's some really good stuff - pretty eclectic too.

I don't seem to have too much luck when it comes to pitching on spec. I tend to get most work through repeat clients or word-of-mouth. But, every so often, I have a mad morning and write some pitches to send out. I had one accepted a month or so ago and that spurred me on for a bit. Not exactly a retirement fund but it makes me feel like I'm doing something useful on the quiet days.

Anyway, back to writing copy about car insurance...

A Cock in a Frock on a Rock

Much as I’d love to claim authorship of the above, it’s actually a line from ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’.

I’m a massive fan of the film and I was excited but slightly nervous when I heard that a stage musical version was coming to town. Such a wonderfully original and quirky indie film unleashed on the theatre-going world as a big budget musical? Could it work? So many similar offerings have been universally panned, finished their run early or failed to reproduce the smallest iota of the excitement or authenticity of the original incarnation that it’s better to expect the worst. Anyway, having gone to see it for myself last night, it seems that the reviews (mainly good) and the word-of-mouth (all good) were completely justified.

From curtain-up, when three glamorous divas were lowered from the gods to swing mid air and belt out the opening number, we all knew it was going to be good.

The casting is fab, the cheese factor has been judged superbly and the choreography is stunning. However, it’s the ‘no expense spared’ costume and set design that really pulls the show into a league of its own. Seriously, they’ve splashed the cash and haven’t missed a trick. There are so many fantastic little details where corners could have been cut without anyone complaining.

There’s plenty of exposed, toned flesh to keep the straight ladies and gay men’s eyes firmly glued to the stage and I was pleased that they hadn’t toned down the innuendo and blatant sexual references too much and turned it into a watered-down ‘ooh, er missus’ version of the film.

I wasn’t the only person who enjoyed it – a packed house all got up for a standing ovation at the end. Well, apart from the three elderly ladies in the row in front of us. They cackled their way through all the penis jokes, admired the bare buttocks pretty vocally but unfortunately mobility issues meant they couldn’t jump to their feet for the finale.

Just Take the Damned Drugs

I've just been listening to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 while eating my lunch and I've been compelled to come back to the computer for a rant.

It was a discussion about the pros and cons of taking pain relief while giving birth and the bit I caught seemed to almost exclusively feature the "hair shirt" brigade.

The big natural birth argument seems to revolve around the old adage that childbirth is the most natural thing in the world and that women have been doing it for thousands of years. Well, yes, they have but I just don't get the logic - the same could be said about periods but I can't imagine anyone going without the modern conveniences of sanitary wear just because that's how it was done in days gone by.

Having gone through two births I feel I've got some inside information about the subject. Much as we'd all love to see our babies sliding gracefully into the world after a few mild labour pains and a couple of pushes, the reality for most people is a very different experience. I personally found the whole thing pretty horrific. Having been lulled into the whole natural birth philosophy during my first pregnancy I was determined to have a water birth with no intervention. The best laid plans and all that... After 36 hours of excruciating agony, someone realised the baby was lying back-to-back, her head was stuck and I'd have to have a forceps delivery. Fancy trying that without any pain relief? Neither did I.

No one is denying that childbirth is natural but one could argue the same about kidney stones or appendicitis and you wouldn't dream of suffering either ailment without some knockout pain relief. There's definitely a school of thought that maintains you've had a much more real and connecting experience if you've given birth naturally, with an almost corporate boardroom one-upmanship (or should that be one-up'woman'ship) amongst those who've done it all with just one slug of gas and air and a couple of pulses of a Tens machine. But why should those of us who opt for a little pain relief be made to feel as if we've somehow cheated?

I've got nothing but admiration for women who do manage to give birth without the aid of drugs but it just isn't an option for everyone. After two days of full-on labour, with a 91/2lb baby that was stuck, I took every damned drug that was offered to me.

Working for Free

I'm not sure if it's down to the recession or just the fact that so many people are willing to work for nothing in order to break into journalism but I've noticed so many posts and ads for jobs recently that contain those worrying words - 'intern' or 'unpaid'.

I know there's always been a culture of doing a bit of work experience or submitting a few free articles in order to get bylines and/or experience but it really seems to have reached the point of ridicule lately. Whilst a recent graduate or someone with no credits should definitely be prepared for a bit of 'voluntary work' on publications, it's undoubtedly going to have a knock-on effect for people who've carved out a career and are actually trying to make a living working as copywriters and journalists.

I'm by no means putting myself up there as a seasoned hack; I'm pretty small fry in comparison to the big guns on the dailies and large circulation glossies. However, I don't see why the career that someone's been building up for years should be belittled by assuming that they'll be prepared to work for absolutely no renumeration. Not just that, but they should be thankful for getting the opportunity to slog their guts out over an article, or to trudge across town in rush hour and work ten-hour days for three months with just a travel card and a couple of luncheon vouchers to show for their troubles.

When I left uni, I did a few weeks' of work experience at a publishing company and that did lead to my first editorial job so I can hardly moan about the use of the system - it worked for me. BUT, and it's a big but - I had absolutely no experience at the time and it was a great (and possibly one of the only) way to get your foot in the door. It just feels like many companies are now exploiting this common route into publishing by using unpaid staff for longer contracts and more responsible jobs. In short, they're trying to pull in career writers and editors to work for bugger all.