Thursday, March 8, 2012

Living on ice cream and chocolate kisses

I have been working on...gulp...a novel lately. I have been writing short stories for quite a while but this 'bigger' idea has been just sitting there, nestled in my brain, waiting for me to do something with it. It's a bit of a scary undertaking to imagine writing 60,000-odd words of fiction and, as a result, I have scared myself away from the whole concept on several occasions. But lately I have armed myself with a number of very interesting books on writing to give me faith and fortitude as well as some all important structure. The best one so far has been First Draft in 30 Days by Karen S. Wiesner, if you're interested.

To keep me company while I poke and prod at my imagination, I have been giving You Tube a fairly serious workout. I had forgotten entirely how good Billy Bragg is (sorry Billy)! I used to love listening to him in the 80s and 90s. Have you re-discovered any old faves like that recently?

And...lastly, but by no means least(ly)...Happy International Womens Day!






10 comments:

librarygirl said...

oh good luck and good writing!
I love Billy B!

Feronia said...

Thanks :) He's great, isn't he.

T. said...

I always wondered, how one could possibly write a novel because my stories usually drained at about 10.000 words.
Then I got older and read story engineering by Larry Brooks. As soon as you know what goes where even a big story isn't that scary anymore. (But I sure couldn't do it in 30 days.)

How are you approaching this big thing?

Good luck with your project!

Feronia said...

Thanks for the book tip, Sefarina. I'll look for that one. I am approaching it day by day and following the 30-day guide as best I can. If I think too much about the whole project, I'll freak out :) What do you write about?

T. said...

I hope you'll like it ^^

Day by day is the best way to get things done. I'm thrilled to read about your progress.
Don't freak out, it's all there.

Basically, I write fantasy. Not very posh, but I love it.
My current project is about a world that lost its sun. Don't know if it's any good though, but I'm near writing the end. :)

What do you write?

Feronia said...

Thanks for your encouragement, Sefarina. That helps a lot! Have you read the poem "Darkness" by Byron - it is about the end of the world when the world has lost its sun. I like the sound of your story! I'd love to read it. My current project is about World War Two - I am using a lot of the research that I did for my thesis.

T. said...

Thanks! I didn't know there was a poem, but I researched it. Strange how similar our thoughts are, though 200 years lie between us. But I think my ending has a little more hope ;)
I'm so glad you like the idea. ^^

I'd love to read your novel, too. WW2 is such a source for stories.

Feronia said...

Your idea just jumped out at me because I'd only read "Darkness" just the other day - but yes, it is bleak. We should exchange some pieces of writing sometime :)

T. said...

Sure!
I'd love to read your story.

(word verification says: rientu returns ^^)

Feronia said...

Great :) When I have a chapter done, I'll send it to you :))