Tag: formspring

What I Really Need Is What Makes Me Bleed

No blog post yesterday. I bet you were all so very sad that you couldn’t read about my terribly exciting life (was that a roll of your eyes?) . To tell the truth, I spent most of the day covered in dust, trying to sort my desk out. You’ll be pleased to know that I now have enough space to house at least some of my junk. I need more, but this will have to do for the minute. I’ll probably take a photo of it in a minute and let you have a look at it. My walls are covered in photos, art, a family tree for one of my characters and plenty of other stuff that is either useful or has just been accumulated over the years. I live quite a cluttered existence. Perhaps that statement’s worth is increased by the simple fact that I have far too much stationary on my desk. I even have calligraphy quills and pots of ink. I have pretty much nowhere to put all these pens etc. They’re currently stuffed in two pen pots, a Christmas cookie tin, a red glass goblet and a metal goblet. My paintbrushes are all embedded into some foam that cushioned my laptop when I got it. Unfortunately, I really do have to create such structures to house my belongings. In the opposite corner of the room, for example, I have a shelf type thing on which my bathroom stuff stands (I can’t keep it in the bathroom because my brother is secretly a girl and uses more bathroom products than I have a care to count in a matter of seconds), which I created out of a shoe box and its lid. It’s not very sturdy but it serves its purpose.

So my major accomplishment yesterday was to create some more workspace. You can never have enough workspace. After that I went out for a nice night with a good friend. Sadly for you (yeah, I bet you’re weeping your heart out right now… not) there were no pictures of said night out as I couldn’t fit my camera in my bag. Weird events unfurled, but that was mainly guys trying it on and them definitely getting nowhere. Then there was dancing and then there was home. We saw quite a lot of people that we knew, last night, as well. It seems some people are home for the Easter break already. Some of them it was nice to see. Others weren’t so nice.

Shortly, I plan to get a cuppa rosie lea, as we say here (that means a nice hot mug of tea), and then I’m probably going to continue with the last two chapters of Secrets and maybe even write the epilogue. It might take me a lot longer than that, though.

In other news, I’ve joined technorati, which is a site to promote your blogs. It lets other people find them through their tag system and it also allows users to review your blog. Incidentally, if you have an account and wanted to review this then you can find a link to its technorati page on the right (where all my links are kept – you’re probably sick of me repeating that right now). That’s not to compel you to do so, by the way; it’s just so that if you want your thoughts to be heard about the content of this blog and whether you think others should or should not read it then you can. Obviously, I appreciate any comments you want to make below each post as well.

I haven’t written any more flash fiction yet, but it will be done when I get around to it. However, I do only have one more statement suggestion for it. So if you do want to give me a suggestion then I’d appreciate it either in a comment below this post or the post that outlines what flash fiction is so that you have an idea of what you’re getting yourself into. And this is my first piece of flash fiction if you wanted an idea of what will happen to your provided statement. My last post on here also highlighted how you can find the different pieces of flash fiction that I intend to write on here. I hope that helps you. And if you want to ask me any questions then please feel free to use my formspring (links to the right – again) account – you don’t even need an account to ask me questions!

(Lyrics in the title are from Volcano by Damien Rice)

Emerging from the Gentle Grip of Night’s Unfolding Arms

I’m considering writing some flash fiction on here in the future. If you’re unaware as to what that entails, then listen up, please:

Flash fiction is where you write a piece of fiction based on an idea or a statement that you are given. You go with whatever you think of when you get the statement, phrase, question or idea etc. Then, you complete a writing piece on it in either a set number of words or a set time.

Because it’s so quick and spontaneous (hence the name flash fiction) it’s supposed to be a really good way to build up your writing skills (as well as padding those portfolios!), which is why I’m going to start writing pieces. I’m going to add them here and each piece will be titled with ‘Flash Fiction No.#’ so that they will be easier for you to find. Not only that, but I will be tagging them with ‘flash fiction 500’ and ‘flash fiction 1000’ according to how many words I write of each. Pieces may not end up complete as these are literally just quick writing exercises, but hopefully you will enjoy reading through them. I don’t want to write just anything, though, so, if you have a suggestion for a statement that I can base a piece of flash fiction on, please comment below and I will write a piece based on it. These pieces may not be terribly long, but it will help me to improve my writing and for you to see what I can do.

Your flash fiction statement will probably end up being written about, so please comment with one!

Another thing to mention is my formspring account. I know that I keep going on about it, but I’d really like to hear if you have any questions. They can be about my writing or even just something you generally want help with. I’ll try my best to satisfactorily answer the questions that you pose. More questions, however, mean that I get to expand more of them on here if I think I can give you more information and, let’s face it, I clearly love rambling on here.

IMPORTANTLY, (yes I had to caps lock to make sure I got your attention) the poll finishes tomorrow so if you want to get your vote heard then please click on your favourite title on the right.

I thought I would show you the book cover for the first book in the JLM Series, Dark Side of the Moon, which has been designed by Andrew McCluskey (NALGames). This is the current design, but he’s said he’d like to edit it further. I’m not sure when he’ll get around to this, so you can have a look at it’s current state. Personally, I really like it, which is great as Andrew is the one in charge of the graphical content of my new site. He’s also going to be in charge of the flash content. Sean Buller (UnknownGamer), my lovely Canadian friend, is the one in charge of the coding. When they’ve finished my site and set up one of their own to promote their website building skills, I’ll give you a link so that you can take a long hard look at what they can do. What they can do is brilliant, though, and they’re willing to learn new skills to get you what you want. The design of the book cover below, for example, was taken from an amalgamation of ideas that I gave Andrew. None of them were very set because I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted, but he’s managed to come up with something I adore and, when he has a moment, he intends to edit it a little more to make it just that bit more awesome.

I’m still editing Dark Side of the Moon. Nevertheless, I am getting closer to the end of that. The last scenes of Secrets/Spilling Secrets are looking good, even if I say so myself. I’m taking it slowly, though, to make sure that I hammer out every minute detail and get it as perfect as I possibly can. If it’s not perfect, then it just won’t do. Lots happens in it and there are some tense and emotional moments. Furthermore, I think it will beautifully illustrate how much some of the characters have developed since Dark Side of the Moon and how they’ve grown up from the stroppy teens they were, amongst other things.

Anyway, please remember to comment with statements for flash fiction pieces and don’t forget to leave me some formspring questions. Thanks!

(Lyrics in the title are from You Are The Moon by The Hush Sound)

The Butterflies Are Creeping Through My Spine

It must seem like I blog a lot. I do, but it’s because I either have too much going on in my head or I just like to ramble to anyone who’ll listen. Kudos to you if you’ve put up with reading my entries so far. It’s much appreciated. I’d like to think I’m not too boring. If I am, then I sincerely apologise. I realise that nothing I have to say is of much importance in the grand scheme of things, but if it helps you to brighten a dull corner of your time then I’m sure it’s worth it.
How late do you think is acceptable to send a Christmas present? Is now too late? I thought so. I still haven’t sent my friend her present. I’m pretty useless in that respect, as it’s nearly her birthday already and I still haven’t sent it. It’s not that I haven’t meant to, but our post office is out of my way and when I have time to get there it’s usually after it’s closed, which is useless when trying to send a package. She’ll get it eventually, but it may still take a while. It’s sitting off to one side all neatly wrapped. There were originally two like that and there still would be if the person to whom the second parcel was going to be sent hadn’t visited me over New Years. I’m considering waiting to send her the present for her birthday, complete with birthday gift too, instead. I’m a poor, lowly student so I guess it would cost me less to send it as one package than to send two separate packages. I don’t know if that’s true, but that’s what my logic says. Sometimes my logic is a bit shot, though, so I could be entirely wrong. If I am, please inform me. What would be nice to hear is how long anyone else may have delayed in sending anything they were supposed to send. It would be nice to think that I’m not the only one who is just generally rubbish at this kind of thing. And if you’re not rubbish like me and actually had a good reason for postponing then please share. I’m nosey and I like to hear other people’s stories – I think that’s partly why I got myself a formspring account.

You may have noticed that I added a list of links to my various pages and sites on the right. These are not going to be permanent. As soon as my new site is finished and this is iframed in, there will be no need for them as you will be able to use the site navbar to see everything that is described to the right. This is to help with my whole idea of integrating all of my social networking and everything else into one place. Not only does it make it easier for you to find stuff… but it makes it easier for me to show you new stuff! It will be clever and cool like that. As you can probably gather, I am extremely excited by all of this. I will be quite proud of it when it’s done and moreso of the people who are sorting it for me. They really get all of the credit for how it will work out. I am simply giving directions as to what I’d like to see and what I’d like to be attempted. I’m fully aware that some of it may not be possible, but as long as they try as hard as they can (which I’m certain that they will), then I will be pleased and thoroughly grateful. 
IN WRITING NEWS
This is where you get excited because I have taken a break from constant edits and have started on the last two chapters of what will either be known as Secrets or Spilling Secrets (see the poll to the right and have your say!). It’s a major scene that includes a battle, so I’ve been putting it off a little whilst I did my editing. I wasn’t just putting it off due to the fact that I’ve never written a proper battle scene before, but because I wanted to try to accomplish as much editing as I possibly could before I jumped in. It needs a lot of thought. Certain characters need to be in certain places at certain times to make sure that I can get a particular piece of writing to play out. I realise that this doesn’t sound very difficult, but by places I don’t mean that they need to be in a set room or anything like that. By certain places, I mean that the battle has to be meticulously choreographed so that the characters who die are in the right place to die and the characters who are saved are in the right place to be saved… or the characters destined to die might accidentally live and those who are supposed to live might fall down a rabbit hole or something. Is that as confusing as it sounded in my head?
I’ve only really had to choreograph one scene before and that was definitely not as complicated as a fast battle scene. I have to ensure that I write in third person, too. If you read the formspring question I was asked then you will already know about the viewpoints in the stories: In Shadows & Ghosts I noticed chapters generally alternate between first-person Jocasta and a separate third-person subplot. Do you think of these as paired off, with two consecutive chapters happening simultaneously or is it all chronological? This is done consciously; however, I usually leave the first person scenes to my main MC (unsurprisingly, perhaps, that’s Jocasta Lizzbeth Moonshadow). This is different, though. Jo will be in the scene and yet it is going to be third person. This means I have to make sure that I don’t slip into it by accident. Usually, I like to let Jo tell her story where she can and I write the other things in third person, but in this case it is imperative that Jo does not record it. This isn’t to say that she wouldn’t record it if she could… but in these ending chapters and their battle scene there is the distinct possibility that she may never write anything down again…
I’ll let you wonder why that may be and hope that I haven’t given anything away. 



You never know, I might leave it all at a bloody end right there. After all, I do so like destroying the lives of my characters and putting them in pain. Happy hypothesising and please don’t forget to comment!


(Lyrics in the title are from Roses And Butterflies by Making April)

Murder Your Darlings

I read the title of today’s journal post (it’s a blog, let’s face it, but I prefer calling it a journal. I think it’s a much nicer word if I’m honest. It rolls off the tongue instead of dropping off it like a loose tile crashing from a roof) in a book called Wannabe A Writer? If you’re starting out as a writer, I recommend it. It’s funny and informative at the same time. I was reading it on the bus, shortly before I turned to look out of the window and the bus jolted, causing me to smack into the glass pane with a rather loud thud – my day has not been going overly well. 
[I would have continued there but my ginger cat (Baby) rather unfortunately spent about ten minutes pushing himself onto my lap and seems to have drooled all over me but not before he felt he had to move my mouse around my touchpad… and now he has left and I have been engaged in conversation with my mother – the joys of family and cats]
The point I was trying to get to was what the quote was about. It’s apparently in reference to your writing. What it means is that if there is a piece in your writing that you love, then you should chop it out because it will undoubtedly by superfluous. I’m in agreement with the writer of Wannabe A Writer? – I think it’s absolute twaddle. In most cases, the pieces that you like are liked because of their written merits and not because you’re going all fan girl about what has just happened. When I read the original statement, however, that was not what sprang to my mind. Maybe I’m particularly vicious and vindictive at heart (I wouldn’t say so but I bet some people disagree), because it made me think instantly of the trials and tribulations that I force my characters through. It’s very rare that I allow them to come through unscathed. And by unscathed, I mean that they are usually in either mental or physical pain or quite often both.
You might ask why I’m training to be a primary school teacher when I embody such attributes, but I assure you that I leave all of my cruelty to my characters. This isn’t to say that I would treat my own children in the same way that I treat them, either. So for me ‘murder your darlings’ would be about torturing and occasionally killing off some of my favourite characters and the fact that I love doing that to them. I’m sure (I hope) there are plenty of other people that do the same thing and enjoy it just as much (no matter how sadistic that might be).
Anyway, moving on to my formspring question that you might want to take a look at and that I shall expand up on in a moment: How long have you been writing novels? Have you always just written about urban fantasy? 
In regards to my last sentence, I have tried to write more realistic fiction and I do have several serials on the go. The trouble is that these serials take up time that I sometimes don’t have so they’re very slow to reach completion. If I’m right, then I have at least two serials of realistic fiction that need finishing off. I also write collaboratively. One of these collaborative pieces is leaning more towards the action/adventure and sci-fi categories. Then, I also have a supernatural piece that needs completing, which is set further back in history. Currently, the links to them can all be found on my portfolio, but, hopefully, when my new site is up and running all of my serials and short stories will be on there. This should make it easier and more accessible to everybody. I plan to move my poetry there, too. I’m considering writing more short stories as these take up less of my time, whilst still continuing with my serials. Progress on the serials, however, is unlikely to speed up at present. I should, furthermore, be incorporating some of my artwork onto the new site, but I’m unsure as to how this is going to work out. You will all be kept posted, however.
The poll results are in regarding the name change of The Secrets Were Spilling At The Seams in my JLM Series. It turns out, however, that the results are tied between Andrew’s suggestion of Spilling Secrets and the shortened version of plain old Secrets. I think both sound much less clunky than their predecessor. Nevertheless, I am left with the dilemma of which name to choose. I know which I personally like and I’m probably going to go with this. Still, a public vote on it might show me how much support I have for my personal favourite, so I won’t mention which it is. The new poll will be going up very shortly. Results day is probably going to be Friday night so please don’t hesitate to show your preference before the time runs out.
For the blog, I’m thinking of adding a small section with terms and meanings, too, for those of you who may read and have absolutely no idea what in blue blazes I may be squawking on about. So after the poll has been sorted out then this section may appear, too.