Ashbee
member
Reged: 13/06/2008
Posts: 808
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Ah, the great nature or nurture debate!
Well, what do you think? If you think the ability to write is something that is born in you then most of us might as well give up. If, however, in my opinion, we are willing to be daring, try new ideas, practice and just enjoy ourselves then yes, we are all writers.
Gothfairy has made contact with W&H about a seperate link but we have yet to hear. Please keep starting new links - ask questions of each other, throw in ideas, talk about the writers who inspire you or anything that relates to writing. Don't forget that you can stick stuff into journals too...or use different coloured inks according to your mood and draw things that perhaps you don't have the words for...
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sallyj
member
Reged: 10/12/2006
Posts: 71
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It's great to see all this discussion on here.
When I write I do try and aim my work at a particular market (magazine or competition) because if I am going to work hard at writing something, I would like other people to read it.
Does anyone else suffer with the guilt factor in writing? i.e. feeling guilty at leaving housework, ironing etc to indulge in writing?
This weekend I hope to get my next 'project' started - an entry for the Woman's Weekly/Mills & Boon short story competition.
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saraw
member
Reged: 08/03/2007
Posts: 271
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I am really happy someone has started this topic, it is great knowing how many like minded people there are on this forum. I have taken into account what everyone is saying and I was generally writing about my day, not necessarily my thoughts and comments or fun things that had happened. Especially my funny dogs what they get up to. I will try and change direction and re consider my journal. I suppose the more practice I do the better it will be. Thank you all for your tips!!
Sara
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billie
member
Reged: 21/11/2007
Posts: 69
Loc: Derbyshire
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Hi everyone it's given me food for thought this discussion I've always kept a diary right from being a girl although sadly i threw away my early ones. I think i'd like to have a go at being a bit more discriptive in them rather than my usual monologue.
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billie
member
Reged: 21/11/2007
Posts: 69
Loc: Derbyshire
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Forgot to say is this a good way of starting? Thanks Billie
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Ashbee
member
Reged: 13/06/2008
Posts: 808
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Glad to hear that some of you are now inspired to have a go... journals are a good way to start but if you fancy doing a bit of creative fictional writing, why not start a journal as someone else? Just for fun - no intention of turning anyone into a schizophrenic you understand!
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billie
member
Reged: 21/11/2007
Posts: 69
Loc: Derbyshire
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Thanks for the advice ashbee will have a go, no harm in trying as they say.
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Chatelaine
member
Reged: 23/08/2007
Posts: 2959
Loc: A village somewhere on the Con...
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Glad that you started this thread Ashbee!!  Some of the forumers know that I have been writing for donkeys' years, but been under a writer's block blanket for years now. And when it got lifted I was so over the moon, and then a "friend" (whom some of you will "know", as I have written about him on the forum) ensured that the lid was once again firmly shoved into position on hte pan!!  And hey presto!!! Massive writer's block in place again!!
I was a strange child..... I was nothing like other children, and certainly did not persue childlike interests, and used to make up stories in my head, and lived these stories much like waking dreams, or daydreams.... and then I started to write some down..... I even enacted them in the solitude of my bedroom. I had few friends, but was not that bothered because I by far preferred my own company, books, music, nature, old and fascinating buildings, art, pets..... I do hail from a somewhat eccentric, very artistic family..... 
My love of writing, paired with a vivid imagination, was "discovered" by a friend, a lady who had been multi-published writer since her early 20's - so, she'd been writing for some 50 years! And she became my mentor. And under her guidance and her loving help I blossomed (NO, I did not get "drunk"..... some of you know that getting blossomed now also means getting tiddly, thanks to one of our forumers...  ). Seriously now, I wrote every waking moment, that I did not have to work. I worked in offices, and looking back now, I find that I wasted my life! It was made more bearable by daydreaming my stories, and when I had "lived" and "experienced" my story through daydreaming, I either wrote it down, or later on put it on a diskette.
I know that many of you say, write about something that you know or is familiar to you...... Of course we/writers do that to a (large) degree, but much of what I have written so far, has come to me through dreams. And the odd, quirky, yet delightful thing is that I used to dream subsequent chapters of my writings....
Further inspiration comes in various guises..... it can come through the everyday or mundane, and that inspiration will in fact have no relation to that fact, but that mundane instant in time was the seed which developed into a "literary" flower.
I don't keep a journal, and never have! I largely keep everything in my head, and even in this bad state of writers block, that which I have already worked out and is there ready for the writing, is there in my head!
Being busy with setting up a shop at hte present is of course not helping much with my writing, but all the same, I hope that the homeopathic help I am now getting will not only aleviate my persistant exhaustion, but also rekindle my creative/artistic flame. For OMG I need it!!! And perhaps we can talk on here some more....???
P.S. I do not do short stories..... don;t even much like reading 'm..... sorry folks...... I mean fictional short stories. But do enjoy reading genuinely interesting articles in magazines, etc.
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Flutterfly
member
Reged: 02/07/2008
Posts: 38
Loc: France
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A couple of ideas, or exercises as they were on my OU creative writing course, (which by the way was not geared towards marketing and selling your work - that is course 2!) that I found really useful, was the idea of focusing on, and describing in detail, the smells and sounds in a given situation - on the beach for example.
Background sounds and smells that we do not always notice at the time, but that are very hard to recapture once away from the situation. Reading back what I had written later, proved the method to be very evocative. Maybe this is already obvious to all you writers out there but I found it really enlightening and helpful.
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Flutterfly
member
Reged: 02/07/2008
Posts: 38
Loc: France
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We must have been writing our posts at the same time Chatelaine as I have only just read yours. You are very lucky that your ideas come to you in this way, and with sequels too! You were obviously born with this talent and it has always been in you, just waiting to get out. It sounds as though if it doesnt come out of your pen first, it comes out in your dreams! Fantastic.
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paloma_chaffinch
member
Reged: 07/07/2008
Posts: 3
Loc: West Sussex
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Wow - I just joined the W&H forum and I found this wonderful thread and, yes, this is my FIRST post!
So many of you seem to be in exactly the same place I am - love writing, don't really want to do it as a job/for money, and are easily side tracked by life. I did the OU short course on writing fiction but haven't done the Level 2 one, mainly because I'm worried about the amount of hours it will take a week (can anyone give me any insight on that?) but also because it covers poetry, plays and memoirs and although I wouldn't mind learning a bit about writing poetry the other two don't appeal. I also have a blog which I sporadically add to - I know I should write on it more often but just feel pressured if I try to do that. Blogging is easy and fun and you sort of feel 'published' although you can hide if you want!! I also keep a journal but, again, don't enter stuff in it every day. A thing to try, Saraw, is to just do stream-of-consciousness writing, in other words write whatever comes into your head and don't stop until you've covered two pages. If you run out of things to write, just write that you can't think of anything else to write until something new pops into your head again.
For everyone, I can recommend Natalie Goldberg's 'Writing Down the Bones' and Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way' for inspiration. Also you may have a local Creative Writing Club/Group that you could try out. Try Mslexia's site (http://www.mslexia.co.uk/) - they have a section of Workshops which are full of inspirational ideas. The magazine is also really worth subscribing to - it's bi-monthly. Also, Joanna Young's blog at http://www.confidentwriting.com/ is good (and UK rather than US) so it's worth subscribing to her RSS feed.
Ooh - and visit http://www.greenstory.co.uk/index.asp where a story is built chapter by chapter and you can submit the next chapter and vote for the one that gets into the book.
I think a separate forum for us 'writers' (!!!) is a brilliant idea. I went to the bookclub forum because I love reading but was over the moon when I found this thread.
Think I'd better shut up now :-)
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Paloma Chaffinch
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SuzanStMaur
member
Reged: 07/07/2008
Posts: 12
Loc: Milton Keynes, UK
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"Any writers out there?"
Yep - me too!
I've earned my living as a writer for more years than I care to admit to and have 16 published books (with a 17th due out in October) to show for it. Some, indeed, are about writing and how to get published, etc.
In the past I've done all kinds of commercial writing work - copywriting, PR, scriptwriting, speech writing (which I still do), etc - but now my "day job" is helping others get books written and published.
As I've said on the "Just For Writers" thread in the "Your Lives" section on here, I'd be happy to offer any guidance I can to aspiring W&H member writers.
My accountant will probably kill me, but as long as I don't get involved in hours of work I'm happy to help FOC.
SUZE
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www.SuzanStMaur.com
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writerjo
member
Reged: 19/01/2008
Posts: 10
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I am a published writer (mainly short stories and non-fiction articles on writing). I've run writing workshops all over the country in the past, but eased up when my daughter was born (haven't done much writing since then either, but getting back into it slowly!). I edited and published, Quality Women's Fiction(QWF) magazine for 12 years, which I set up myself and sold to the USA two years ago. I also launched Cadenza (www.cadenza-magazine.co.uk)in 1999, but offloaded that when my daughter was a baby. However,I missed helping to launch new writers so much I've now set up another small press print magazine called The Yellow Room (www.theyellowroom-magazine.co.uk). I have a blog spot as well (http://theyellowroomeditor.blogspot.com/). I'm always looking for new writers of good literary short stories, so some of you on here may like to have a go at submitting (details on the website). I always try to give positive feedback. I've written 40,000 words of a novel so far. I did most of that by devoting just one hour an evening to writing it. Believe me, it soon adds up!Good luck to everyone and I'll be checking in regularly to hopefully get to know you all better.
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Chatelaine
member
Reged: 23/08/2007
Posts: 2959
Loc: A village somewhere on the Con...
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Lots of new forumers!!! Welcome all!! This forum does come with a warning: it is sooooo addictive!!!
As I live on the Continent, it is one hour later here, and this girl is knackered! Been busy at home and getting things sorted at our new shop. Been sorting through a several boxes of immensely interesting books on, a.o., Japanse and Chinese culture, art, history, language, etc., plus lots more. Been pricing the things according to "rarity" and interest, condition and age. If it aren't antiques, I am happy knee deep in and amongst books. Anyway, this is a roundabout way of saying that I am off beddiebyes in a mo.
How wonderful if some of you would help us!!
Had a look at your website Suze, and it is very interesting. Notice that you are Canadian born. I was brought up in Canada and lived there for 11 yrs, and still have family there. No matter how I try to shed it, even after all these years, those in the know, pinpoint part of my accent as being Montrealais, doused with Yorkshire, and a smattering of the SW. I am impressed with what you have achieved. And if I were in your shoes Suze, I would feel very proud about it.
Writerjo, will have a look at the websites you named tomorrow. My probem is that I am in no way an evening person. Everything starts shutting down as the evening progresses, and a have now reached "very slow", and fast approaching "dead halt".... I would need to write mornings, but with setting up an antiques shop with 2 friends/colleagues, much effort and time goes into that. And before I rush off to the shop, I need to take care of amongst others my darling family of pets first.
Once the shop is up and running in the next few weeks, I hope that I will get a more regular life, and be able to start devoting some time to writing again.
I do so hope that we all, who are interested in starting a writers only "forum", will be reaping the fruits of shared experiences, and support, and getting where necessary the help we seek.
Thank you all! And good night......
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Flutterfly
member
Reged: 02/07/2008
Posts: 38
Loc: France
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Hi Paloma Chaffinch
I said earlier on here that I did the OU Creative Writing course, it was level 2 but did not (and still does not as far as I can see)include any plays. I must say I would not have been keen on this either and it is the one thing that has stopped me from doing the level 3 course, which focuses on script writing for TV, stage and radio.
The level 2 course was fiction, poetry and life writing, all of which were right up my street. I agree with you about the 'Writing Down the Bones' book, it is really helpful. The stream of consciousness idea works really well for me too, in fact my OH says that this is the style I use when I speak!
It is hard to say how much time the course took on a weekly basis, it was mostly really relaxing and enjoyable doing the exercises and so I was not counting. Also, when I had a creative burst I would just go with the flow and was often working ahead of where we officially were. I suppose overall it was 6/7 hours per week.
I have only recently started using forums and as a result am becoming more relaxed about being myself 'on the air' as it were! I have been thinking about blogging for ages, especially as we live in France and there really is never a dull moment. The other evening for example, we had just eaten a late dinner, it was nearly 9.30pm and as we stepped out of the house saw that our garden was filled with cows, bulls and calves!! The rest of the story may appear if I ever start a blog, but I am not sure how to go about it. Any pointers?
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paloma_chaffinch
member
Reged: 07/07/2008
Posts: 3
Loc: West Sussex
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Hi Flutterfly
6-7 hours a week doesn't sound too bad compared with other Level 2 courses which ask for 16 hours a week. I'll have a re-think about signing up for it.
To start a blog go to either Blogger at https://www.blogger.com/start or WordPress at http://wordpress.com/ and they will guide you through the process - it's really easy. Let me know if you start one so I can have a look and link to you. Can't wait to hear the rest of the story about the livestock!
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Paloma Chaffinch
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issi
member
Reged: 30/09/2007
Posts: 3011
Loc: Surrey
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Yes, I am interested in writing but unlike most of you I would love to earn money by it. When I taught shorthand I had a regular column of lesson plans for shorthand teachers in a teaching magazine. I had one short funny story printed in the Daily Mail regarding a neighbour's cat, and I have sent numerous short stories off for competitions with no result whatsoever. I have written a "how to type using all your fingers" book and registered the design of the cover as it has an attachment but I can't get published. My cry is this - I buckle under criticism and have only been able to send stories to competitions because I do not know who will be reading them. I have understood that everyone gets rejected but I really cannot tell whether anything I write is worth staying awake to read and it bugs me that I actually hate seeing anyone reading anything I write. Am I nuts? How do I get over this?
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paloma_chaffinch
member
Reged: 07/07/2008
Posts: 3
Loc: West Sussex
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Hi Issy
Go visit http://www.writersdock.org/index.php or http://www.writewords.org.uk/. You can sign up to join the forums and you can review other people's writing and have them review yours. It sounds like you could use some support and advice and people are generally helpful and honest. I think Write Words is probably the best but have a look at both.
Good luck with your writing
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Paloma Chaffinch
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issi
member
Reged: 30/09/2007
Posts: 3011
Loc: Surrey
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Thanks paloma. Will have a look.
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wendieg
member
Reged: 23/06/2008
Posts: 7
Loc: Bedfordshire
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Love the idea of a separate slot for us writers! Its so reassuring to know that as I am sitting here trying to drag an idea for an article or two out of my brain, there are others out there. I did a Creative Writing course and loved it. We were given ideas and subjects to write about in class which we had to read out and it was interesting to hear other peoples interpretations. Am struggling with a correspondence course but enjoying the challenge. I try to start by writing in a journal which does seem to get my brain in gear. Sometimes, like most things in life, you just have to sit down and get on with it!
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