Leah - December (and 2013) Round Up and A Motivational Message

Good evening everyone! I hope you’re all well and that December has been as good to you as it has been to me. I’ve had a lovely time; good food, family, drink, presents and only the briefest touch of sickness. All in all, it’s been lovely.

I suppose you’re curious about what I’ve been up to?

Well… if I look at the things I wanted to achieve this month:

• Complete, to satisfactory standard my anthology short story
• Finish all my transcripts
• Earn at least £100 by way of paid writing (probably goes hand in hand with my transcripts)
• Enter at least one short story competition
• Reassess Slippers & Chains and figure out where I need to be (editing)
• Start draft of next ‘Meeting Each Other’ story (Bill)

 …I can tell you honestly and truly that I’ve done it all. I’m so pleased! Not without my fair share of sweating, crying and head-desking, but it’s all done. And that puts me in good stead for 2014.

But first… I’d like to talk about 2013 as a whole.

It’s been a mad year for me. The second year of my boys’ lives and the first year I’ve been out of full time work since leaving university. It has been full of good times, bad times, scary times and angry times, but as I look back there is so much for me to be pleased about. And proud of.

First... the highlights:

Just a quick run down...

Wonderful! More than anything this proves to me that with good planning and persistence anybody can do anything. And that counts for all of you too.

I’m going to talk more about 2014 in my own blog, so this is more of a motivational message for you. You can do what you set out to do. You can carve out time, make a little space and work towards your goals. You just have to make sure that the goals are a true reflection of what you want and sensible when placed against your own personal circumstances. 

Words of wisdom... from my brain to your screen! :p

That’s different for everyone; I can’t advise you on that. But I can tell you that by taking the time to decide fully what you want and lay it out in a manner you understand (bullet points, mind maps, pictures or audio recordings, whatever!) you can make it happen.

That’s my message for you at the end of this glorious year; go out there, make it happen. You can do it. I know you can and I believe in you.

All that remains to say now is...

Credit: bdtiger2000 at OpenClipArt.com

Peace. x

Checking In

123rf.com

December 31^st seemed the right time to check in. It’s the best moment to look back on a year - a point when somehow it’s easier to unclutter and isolate the past twelve months from thoughts and plans around 2014. 

I’ve often wondered whether it was such a good idea to nail my Goals List to the mast, especially when life gets in the way of writing. During the summer, one of my friends said to me ‘Keith…you can never live and write.’ I know what she meant. Some weeks I was burning the candle at both ends - and in the middle. But we get on with it don’t we, because we’re writers and they never quit – because those that blow hot and cold or throw in the towel are not serious writers. Harsh maybe – but true.

Looking back on my goals for the last few months, sometimes that progress milestone didn’t quite get passed, or I was still short of a finishing line. That was hard to take, especially when I'd  been super glued to a manuscript instead of getting entangled in the eiderdown or eaten by the sofa after another TV dinner.

Guess I might not be in the medal positions, but I’m still at the races and in the pack as the bell goes for the last lap. Will stay positive and remind myself that what I’m doing now is far  better than what I was doing before I started to write. Life and writing will never be easy together.

Long Term Goals

•Submit manuscript, synopsis and letter of introduction to literary agents.

•Publish my book

•The Escape Line blog link to reach 30,000 hits by 31 December 2013 – At 33,850 on 31/12/13. New target 60,000 by 31 December 2014

•Win prizes in Flash Fiction Writing Competitions

Short Term Goals

•Complete manuscript by 31 October 2013 - Final Chapter completed on 10 December. Epilogue and final edits to finish. Revised completion date 31 January 2014

•Submit to agent with accompanying letters by 30 November 2013 – Deadline missed. Revised final date 28 February 2013

•Continue to blog weekly – Done

•Enter 2 Flash Fiction competitions by 31 December 2013 - One submitted. Begin serious submissions from 01 March 2014

•Write 2 Flash Fiction pieces a month – Done.  Continue for 2014

Additions

1,000 Word short story for Phoenix Writers Anthology completed on 31 December 2013

 

Keith

Wayne - Embracing Rejection

No Admittance - Wayne Kelly

So, if you read my previous post, you know I set myself a few goals. My short term plans have fared well, having managed to submit several pieces during August, September, October and November.

Wow, what a great feeling it was when I began to submit my first pieces for short story and flash competitions. Filled with hope and naive optimism that perhaps, just maybe, one of the little blighters would get long listed, even daring to dream that one of them might even turn up in a short list. I wasn't holding out for anything quite as exciting as first prize (not on my first batch of submissions) but surely I would get some positive outcome somewhere. Well . . . So far? Nope. Nada. Zip.

And guess what? That's ok. Really, it is. I won't try to pretend I'm chuffed about it, but once the initial disappointment wore off, I realised that as each set of results was announced, I would get a fresh opportunity to submit the piece somewhere else. It has given me the chance to cast a fresh glance over the rejected story and , if necessary, make a few more tweaks before sending it off once again. One thing we writers aren't short of is competitions to enter.

A little bit of rejection won't discourage me from what I love to do: Write. There are many reasons that a piece may not hit the mark in a particular competition - sometimes it may just need more of a polish. Perhaps the genre wasn't suitable for your chosen competition. Or maybe the judge wasn't a fan of tales revolving around killer bingo robots. There's no accounting for taste.

Either way, I say 'Embrace Rejection'. Keep writing, keep learning, keep developing your craft and if, like me, you are lucky enough to have the support of fellow scribblers like the Phoenix Writers, eventually you will get the result you hope for.

Happy writing and Merry Christmas.

Wayne.

Sheila - 'You Can't Write About That!'

Flowers - Maria A Smith

It seems to me that if you’re a writer, no memory, or experience, is too sacred, or too precious to be exploited. And we’re not just talking misery memoires here either. 

Problems with a drug addict son? Just purge yourself in print, preferably a best seller. Your friends confide in you their problems with their sex lives, their husbands, their many and varied adulteries, lusting after a best friend’s husband, a husband’s vasectomy? Why not make a few hundred pounds writing an article for a newspaper, never mind that names have been changed to protect the identity of the person being exploited. Surely when people confide in you they do not intend for you to share it with 2 million readers even if you change the names?

On the other hand, all experiences must inform the way we write and how we write. It’s inescapable. I found myself reflecting on this when subconsciously, I wrote a short story which had in it one true fact I had been told in confidence.  Unbidden, it had crept in, central to the story though the interlinking thoughts and feelings were not part of the original. In truth,  it was something that could have happened to any number of people, but if the story ever saw the light of day, and members of my family knew it had been written by me, immediately, they would draw their own conclusions and someone would feel betrayed. 

Strangely enough, when funny things happen at family get togethers, or holidays, my sisters say, “Oh, you can write about that!” I usually answer in the negative, but occasionally, reading back a piece of dialogue I’ve written,  I can immediately recognise a turn of phrase, an odd comment and know the source. It’s remained in my subconscious just waiting for a moment to be used. But would I indulge in a massive betrayal just to see my name in print? I think not.