Oh My Gosh!

I won the Write Invite Hard Copy - so excited!  My first winnings - now what shall I spend it on??

House of Ill

A manic last week culminating in 3 drunken nights in a row. The final of which involved me cooking for ten people for the first time. With a hangover. A two day rollover one.
I drank, I smoke, I sang - it wasn't pretty. Today it has all caught up with me and I have worn my dressing gown over my clothes all day today. Ok, you got me, I often wear my dressing gown over my clothes but this time it has tissues in the pocket into which I am intermittently and theatrically spluttering.

To make the day just a little more special, I have a 7 and 8 year old following me around sighing in their dressing gowns. It is obvious that I overdid it last week and this is why I feel rough but I don't know what their excuse is?  I'm pretty sure they weren't doing Just Dance on the Wii at 1am on Saturday. Lightweights.

So another week has started with a slight skew to my plans for a week dedicated to my non-fiction book plans for my course. In between mopping brows (theirs) and drying tears (mine) I have managed to start the plan for my book.  Who knows, if we're all sofa-bound again tomorrow maybe I'll even start on the synopsis?

It's all in the timing

It struck me today that it is literally a full time job for me just going to the gym, making healthy food and eating it whilst catching up with the previous days episode of Come Dine with Me. By the time all the above are done, it's usually time to pick up the kids from school.

Where do people find the time to write? I recently read of a writer who gets up at 6am to have two full hours of writing in before she has to deal with her family, job etc. I am slightly shamed by this as I find it hard to get up at 7am just to deal with the family. I gave up my job in December so I should be ROLLING in time, I should have so much time I don't know what to do with it.

I still feel a schedule is the key - I will get working on it tomorrow, but for now, I am finally going to get down to some actual writing of actual words.

Par for the course

On a bit of a writing drought at the moment - I obviously need a deadline to force me into action.  Am spending a lot of time 'thinking' about my next assignment - I have to completely plan out a non-fiction book - that's it. Easy, hey? I have decided not to take the safe but boring route that I was offered and try and think of something that interests me. This is proving harder than I thought. Lots of things interest me, but would they make a good book?

Confessions of a lazy, greedy, vegan wino?

1001 excuses for not writing/cleaning/exercising?

(Soy)chicken Soup for the middle aged facebook addict?

It's my last non-fiction assignment though, so I will have to bite the bullet and get stuck in soon so I can't start the fun part of this course. Am hoping to do this fiction half in slightly less time than the first half took me (6 years - don't judge me).

Cat got my keyboard?

It's been a quiet week for me on the blog front. Well, on the writing front generally, I'm ashamed to say. I think I may have been stunned into silence by increasing my followers by a third. Yes, there's now 6 of you. Well 5, technically as I'm actually following myself from another account, but lets not split hairs.

Welcome to Rebecca Woodhead a real life actual proper writer and queen of twitter and What the Dickens? a fantastic looking shop and website where I think I will hold my next birthday list (29th June, thanks for asking - partial to pencils and sharpies).

At the end of last year, I won a free advert with Write Invite and have finally sent them the draft for this (it was 40 words you know, it took some time!) which will be going out at the end of this month - so who knows, maybe they'll be 7 of us soon??

Finished!!

Finally finished the ghost story - I actually abandoned the first one half way through as something about it wasn't quite right (found it really hard to write anything remotely scary without it being very obvious) and so I started something completely at about 8.30 last night!  Abandoned it mid-way for a skype with a friend (I know!!??!) and then finally finished just after 10pm! Revisions made this morning after proof reading by J last night - just what he fancied doing after coming in from a works night out.

I am sure I should be putting a lot more hours into this so am going to try the novel approach of starting a competition entry sooner than the day before it needs to be posted next time. Stupid expensive printer is out of stupid expensive ink so have to go on a smash and grab to Kingston before I can print and post and start feeling smug.

100 words in....

....only another 1,400 - 1,600 to go. Obviously the perfect time to stop for a blog update! Why do I find the need to stop as soon as I get going? At my current word ratio I may just have this story finished for next years competition!  I was slightly disheartened to read that this is 'certainly the most popular short story competition' but still, I need the practise so must crack on.  I will need to send this off tomorrow to meet Mondays deadline and I remember the editing of last months effort took me many hours longer than I'd anticipated so I'd better hurry up with the first draft.  I just have to make another cup of tea and I'll be straight on it.

PS In good news this week I have exercised every day (mon - gym, tues - spin, weds - gym, thurs - pump dvd (still want to kill Davina) and fri - who knows - maybe another spin?) so at least am sticking to one of my new years resolutions well. And it's already March so that might be an all time personal record.

Ghost Story Blues

Well, I thought this would be easy but I am struggling - it's similar to when I go to a veggie restaurant and I'm suddenly confused by all the options.  I love scary films & books so I have so many ideas (well, half or bits of ideas) and I don't know what to do!??!  Pick one and get on with it I guess - deadline is Monday so this will need to be posted on Friday. Hmm, leaving it till the last minute again - it's almost like a pattern is forming?  Note to self: need new pattern.

It's a new day, it's a new dawn....

It's easy to feel positive on a Monday morning when it's a beautiful day like today. I am determined to hold on to that thought though and stick to a good schedule all this week. I wrote out my weekly plan last night but I am very good at the planning and less good at the doing so we'll see how far I get.  So far, so good, nice morning, shouting, no last minute homework deficit discoveries and I made it to the gym on target.  I even limped my way through the whole new routine and have now got all my jobs and emails out of the way so I have a clear mind for this afternoon.

Just time for a little light lunch (did I mention I'm trying to sort my eating out as well this week - I like to try and change EVERYTHING at once, can't think why I'm not more successful?) and then on with the ghost story. Am looking forward to this one so hopefully the enthusiasm will carry me through. Am wondering how tricky it will be to write a scary story that's not obvious or tacky? Judging by a lot of recent horror films, not that easy! 

Not a great week

Over eating, under writing.
And only 1 spin class - must do better - gym first thing in the morning and writing all afternoon. Shall I do write an assignment or write for fun?

1 step forward...then stay put

Thought I'd be flushed with the success of not missing a competition deadline but I have completely wasted the last 2 days - haven't even been to the gym. As last week was half term, I thought it was perfectly respectable to take yesterday as day to recover, enjoy the peace and get jobs done. Fair enough. But what is my excuse today?

Do feel a little a little under the weather. Also have been engrossed in Never Let Me Go. I am SO easily distracted. Still, tomorrow is another day - spin first, write later.