March 2015

Another busy month! The weekend away at the end of February sparked some new ideas for poems on the car journey down, so very refreshing! Started an idea for a story based on one of the girls and well as notes for my poem postcards. All my friends asked about how my writing was going and that was certainly a huge confidence boost. Got me off to a good start for the month too.

I've taken the decision to try and focus my lunch breaks at work on writing, therefore the book now stays at home! It seems to be working well and I enjoy the time to try and separate myself from the work worries. I've now typed up how far I've got with both my Cornwall and Oxford stories, and it's meant that I know where I am and can now plan where I go next. New research as well as positive feedback from two manuscript evenings for Writers Group have sparked inspiration and visiting the Oxford Literary Festival last week was just as useful! Both myself and my sister made visits to Oxford colleges in order to research our stories more and get a feel for where they are set, mine in Balliol and hers in Hertford, and they were very beneficial visits, so just need to put some of that inspiration down on paper now, can't wait! Writers Group has been influential in getting me going again, when I was just starting to hit a bit of a wall and get stuck. One idea offered was a writing task on the cottage in Cornwall, to get down on paper all the visions in my head, even the smallest details, its certainly been a very useful exercise, and look forward to putting parts into my story. I've also started character profiles and planning maps for both the stories, before I get too carried away and it again has been very useful. A few of the members also commented that based on what they'd already heard of my Cornwall story, that it could be a novel. I'd never really thought of it like that, it started out as a short story, but who knows? Certainly another boost to the confidence at least!

That's what been the most interesting part, when I look back on my original idea and where the stories started, they've already changed so much and I'm still yet to find out where they are going, it's certainly an exciting journey so far, and I'm looking forward to what lies ahead.

I also took some time to type up all the poems I'd started in my notebook, and was surprised with how many were actually in there! I've scribbled a few new ones recently too, and it was good to go back to where I started, as I've been so distracted with stories recently. I've also had my most recent column published as well as working on and finishing the next one, so always something to work on! So that's about all for this month, and I shall expect more of the same in the next four weeks, just happy so long as I'm writing!