Thursday thoughts

So the dialogue piece wasn't very good, but at least nobody else's was either! I should have written a longer dialogue and not opted for the bits of overheard conversation. Next task is an essay called 'Metamorphosis' which we are going to read next week with no names attached, to see if we can guess the author!

Tomorrow is December 1 - how did that happen? I suppose I'd better accept Christmas is approaching and start thinking about present-buying and the rest of it. Not a happy thought. I'm really tired with the normal Christmas stuff. Just a break from work, with lovely food and a few small presents, to be spent with my most-loved is my ideal. Which of course is exactly what we will do, but the retail razzmatazz is so depressing. Those specially packaged 'gifts' are just offensive - completely useless items you don't want and which your friends and family don't want either, but which are designed to be bought because you feel you should give them something. Yuck.

I was considering the send-a-goat thing this year instead of sending business Christmas cards, but now the charities are falling out over whether it's a good idea or not. How I am supposed to know if they don't? I just like the idea of someone with nothing benefitting from the out-of-control consumerism of this time of year. Maybe I should stick with a British charity. It gets harder and harder to make decisions these days, so many environmental considerations. This is getting negative so I'm going to stop now and do some ironing!

What is bloggable?

I have been wondering about the content of my blog. It makes pretty tedious reading because I am loath to put in anything at all personal. I only confide in my very best friends offline, so there is no way I would bare my soul all over the web!

This is limiting, though, and I am not sure what to do. I have discovered that other people on the course, who are obviously savvier than I am, have not put their names on their blogs. I have just tried to remove my surname but although it has gone from the profile, it is stubbornly staying on the blog. Time to call on my IT support when he returns from Ki Aikido class.

I have been reading a few other blogs and they seem to be as heavily censored as mine, apart from Ryan's, and he seems to be regretting his openness now! I will continue to ponder.

Not a good one

Today has been an irritating day. I thought I had got my story for Derrek nailed down, but it seems I have a woolly premise and a protagonist who is too passive! The IT session was frustrating and then as we left I casually asked Matt if we would be putting on the content next week and he said 'put it on beforehand if you can.' Uh? If I could do that, I'd have done it already! Matt and Adrian are very nice and helpful but I 'm not sure these sessions are working too well, and I know I'm not the only one. I ended up feeling sulky and resentful and about 15 - so much for going back to college! I've now had a lovely quiet evening on my own as Andy's out practising with the band for a gig on Friday, and I'm feeling human again. I even have 3 ideas for the script-writing tomorrow!

Just another manic Monday

It's been a busy day today, but I've achieved a lot, probably all I wanted to. I've finished the story for Derrek, which is my own version of Bobby and Janey in Bruce Springsteen's 'Spare Parts'. I wonder if anyone will notice? In my version, Janey has a termination so there's no dodgy business down at the riverside. Wouldn't be such a good song though!

I've also finished the piece of dialogue for Bill. As usual I am wondering how bad it is. Oblique and indirect dialogue is much harder to write than a keen reader would ever imagine. In fact, there's so much more to this novel business altogether. Maybe I am destined to always stay on the reading side of the fence.

I have written some stuff for my website and sent it to my college e-mail account, ready to move to My Docs before our session tomorrow afternoon. I'm not really very happy with it, but no doubt things will become clearer with time. I like the Simon Crompton website Christina showed us last week and it is very basic, straightforward and professional. I need to get some more photos as the only one I have is a bit too holiday snap-ish.

As well as all this I have been down to Lloyds to pay in an essential cheque and pay off my credit card balance, which was my deposit for the course. The payment was well-timed and I've had a month's credit. Also been to wonderful Asda to stock up on food for the week. The air machine there is still out of order almost 2 weeks after my last skirmish, when it took the air out of my tyres! So called in at Tesco to check the pressure.

Andy and I have discussed his new cards and advertising prior to him seeing the designer tomorrow, so now just a pile of ironing remains - but maybe it can wait till tomorrow!

Time to catch up

Andy wanted to go surfing today as it's good for the first time in ages, so I have stayed at home and done some college work, some business admin and some personal finance stuff.

I think I may have cracked Derrek's piece for this week, after much racking of brains - it seems so simple until you actually try and fit a story into the structure! I just hope he doesn't ask for another next week. I don't think I'm cut out for this fiction stuff! I always thought I had a vivid imagination but now I'm not so sure.

The next task is to write some dialogue for Bill, dialogue which is oblique and indirect and moves the narrative along. Seems pretty straightforward when we're watching 'Steptoe and Son' but at present my brain is a void.

I'm starting to get a bit restless. I checked my diary and discovered it's a month since we were up in Bath, so the timing is spot-on as usual. That is partly why I suggested a visit to Plymouth yesterday, but let's face it, Plymouth isn't anyone's first choice for a shot of urban buzz.

I feel much less isolated living here than I did in Newlyn, and of course the course helps in that I am mixing with intelligent people and stretching my grey matter. I was curious when I started the course as to whether the intellectual stimulation would be the answer and stop my craving for a bit more life, but it appears not. I do think it helps though. I wonder whether the tutors who have moved to Cornwall from London feel like this at all, or whether they had had enough of it and were just glad to escape. I haven't really found anyone else with my escapist tendencies. I must ask around.

Plymouth

I felt like a change of scene today, so we decided to go to Plymouth, check out the new shopping centre and keep out of the rain. Our visit did not start well when we discovered the Park & Ride does not operate on Saturdays. We found a car park but had no money for the pay & display machine so drove out again. We finally found a newsagent where I bought a paper and got enough change for a parking meter.

I hardly know Plymouth at all, apart from passing through on the train and driving past en route to the rest of Devon. My last visit to the centre was about 20 years ago. So I think it's fortunate that the new shopping centre has been built as the rest of the city (apart from the Hoe) still has a rather depressing feel. It is a city on the up, I'm told, and it certainly seems that is the only way to go. We will probably return on a warmer day when we're less likely to get drenched, and explore the Hoe and Barbican.

Non-fiction and business writing

Yesterday was a 12 hour day at college, so by the time I got in I was only fit for a meal, a glass of wine and some easy viewing before bed. The day was longer than usual because after the course meeting we listened to the two radio plays made last week and then Susannah came in to talk to us about the creative non-fiction unit.

And now I think I am going to revert to my original idea and choose non-fiction and features! So much information, so much confusion! We were asked to work on a book idea but at the moment I have no firm ideas, so worked on Jenny's pitch for a climbing book. I have considered lots of possibilities - running your own business, working from home, downshifting to the country, a joint self-help book with Andy - and now need to think about them all more seriously. I have been told I have a knack of putting complex ideas across in a very straightforward and understandable way so I think this unit will be a good match for my natural abilities.

Today I have changed my persona and my clothes and become Ms Business again. Another networking event, this time in Bodmin. Maybe not the most dynamic place to do business but you just never know. I went along with a couple of women I know through work and enjoyed the different environment. I never thought I would be relaxed about going to these occasions but I am!

More business writing to do over the weekend. I have a profile of Andy to finish for one of the companies he is an associate of and this month's newsletter, on the subject of networking in fact! Everybody seems to have the same fears about it and the newsletter is intended to offer some practical help. It's great when readers take the trouble to respond, particularly if we don't know them personally. The internet is such a mindblowing tool.

Business writing at home and college

When I started this course, Business Writing was probably the option I liked the look of least. I've done it for ages for our business so I wanted to try something new and more exciting.

However, today Tom did a session with us and now I'm not so sure! I am actually interested in business and I know I have a business head, so why not put those to use? Apparently it also combines well with feature writing, which is something I have always wanted to do.

Will business vanquish non-fiction? Tomorrow we have a session with Susannah, so perhaps by tomorrow evening I will have more idea.

I have enjoyed Bill and Derrek's classes (Bill's in particular, I could listen to him all day quite happily!) but I simply don't have an idea for a novel and my pieces are always about people I know or experiences I have had. Not really good enough to fuel a whole novel, I don't think. But Tom did point out that many successful novelists have started out writing for business in one way or another. I knew all about Fay Weldon, of course, but didn't know that Salman Rushdie came up with the 'naughty but nice' fresh cream slogan. Will Self used to write for the Safeway in-house mag! Quite encouraging, isn't it?

After Tom's session I showed David and Fi how to use the reading blog. Nice to be able to help out and also very comforting to know I am not the only one who struggles!

I am feeling very pleased with the way I am coping with the different commitments in my life these days. I almost didn't join the course this year because I thought it might be too much. It was really down to Andy that I did - he always has more faith in me than I do and I've never known him to be wrong yet.

The housekeeping side of things has been no trouble at all and if anything, is probably better organised than before because I know there is less time to do it in. I have been keeping up with assignments and not getting panicked about them, although the work for our assessments in January is starting to loom in the distance. Doing my bits and pieces in the business has been fine so far - I actually had some writing to do this evening and there's another networking event on Friday. Andy and I must schedule some time together now that he's got his hypnotherapy qualification and we can get started on some marketing.

The only thing that's being neglected is my website www.city-of-bath-england.com which I haven't updated for weeks now. Because of that, my search engine rankings are slowly slipping, but oddly, the hits are staying up. Maybe I can do a bit of tweaking in the Christmas 'holidays'. I am starting to miss it - I have been amazed by how enjoyable it is, nerdy though it sounds!

Pride comes before a fall

So little time in which to gloat - I have just checked my new entry and it appears that last night's was not added for some reason. And I can't even remember what it was about either!

IT support

I am feeling pleased with myself this evening - today we had our IT session with Matt and started building our websites using Dreamweaver. And I kept up and didn't make a single cock-up!

This is very pleasing as I seem to have a bit of a block in my brain where computers are concerned, just like I used to have for maths and science subjects at school. When I have to do anything IT-ish, it feels like part of my brain jumps up and runs round the room screaming 'Aaaaaaagghh'. This part drowns out the rational part and stops it thinking through the task, so that I end up making a hideous mistake or just paralysed, thinking 'I can't do this. I can't do IT.' Very annoying, but very difficult to stop.

I have just looked at the discussion boards and seen that David has asked for help in putting a reading blog on Moodle, so I have offered - me, offering IT assistance! Is this a first?

Stephen King is haunting me!

Since reading 'On Writing' by Stephen King, he has been cropping up everywhere! His latest visitation was on Desert Island Discs this morning, which someone kindly tipped us off about on the discussion boards. Having read the book, I didn't get a lot more from the programme and thought that Kirsty Young dwelt rather heavily on his former drink and drug habits. Read a review of his latest novel 'Lisey's Story' yesterday and it was pronounced his best yet. I've never actually read any of his stuff and I'm not tempted yet. There's plenty else to get on with that does appeal!

Strike it out

Quote from Ernest Hemingway - 'If there is anything in your own work you think particularly fine, strike it out!'

From my own blunders and those of my classmates, I am beginning to appreciate the truth of this. The phrase that gives you a gratifying glow as you write and re-read it is always the one which grates on others and hopefully on you when you read it later. Strike it out!

I am realising that I write in my head before, and more than, I do on the page or the screen. I need a good idea of what I am going to write before I sit down to start. I find the mental process is fermented well whilst carrying out mindless tasks like housework. Hence I have a clean house and lots of newly-ironed clothes. But no written assignments yet. What else needs cleaning?

Corporate me

Today I have morphed from student me to corporate me and put my suit on to attend a networking meeting in Truro. Andy is completing his NLP Masters training in Cheltenham and I'm probably better at networking than him anyway. So many people try to sell themselves and their products at networking events and it's better just to talk to people and show interest in what they're doing.

For example, today I met a website designer who has written a book about web design for Barnes & Noble in the US. It will be published by a different publisher over here. He apparently pitched an idea to them and they came back and suggested something a bit different. He studied Journalism at City in London and worked at The Times for 6 weeks as his tutor was married to the deputy editor! Not a bad work placement!

Nobody else there was particularly interesting or interested in me - or maybe I just failed to hit their interesting button! You can never tell anyway. You might think you have made absolutely no impact at all and wonder why you bother going, and then months later you get an enquiry because someone has mentioned you to someone else. Best to go to these things with no expectations, if you can manage that.

Favourite blog

I have a favourite blog I look at most days - www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com. Scott Schuman has worked in men's fashion in New York for years and last year started his blog, in which he roams the streets of NY, taking pictures of the stylish people he sees. He has been snapped up by the fashion mags who send him to cover the seasonal fashion shows. I still prefer the NY photos - ordinary people who have a quirky dress sense and some amazing stories. Compulsive viewing if you enjoy looking at fashion and/or people.

Fortysomething rant

It's been a long time since I worked in a library and obviously a lot has changed. As well as being a place to work and read, it is now apparently somewhere to giggle and chat with your friends, slightly less loudly than usual.
Yes, I have seen the room you can work in if you need to be quiet, but why is that necessary? It seems the same as having a special room in a pub where you can go if you want to drink - isn't that what the pub is for anyway?
It's not just the college library either. A few weeks ago I was working in the public library in Bath and someone a couple of tables away took a call on his mobile phone! Answered it and chatted away quite unconcernedly. Does getting indignant about this mean I am officially middle-aged? I hope not.
While I'm on a roll, another gripe concerning the library. The signs on the loo doors say 'Female Toilet' and 'Male Toilet'. Does this mean that toilets now have a gender? How long before we are buying female shoes and male shoes?

Next week already

Sunday night and once again I haven't done all the things I meant to do over the weekend. Although usually I have Monday at home as well, so it's not so bad. This week I'll be here on Wednesday instead and can catch up then.
I'm still learning to juggle college work ie reading and writing, with business commitments - admin, writing and networking meetings - plus the inevitable housework. Which is best, feeling panicky I'm not doing enough for college, feeling guilty I'm not doing enough for the business or feeling irritable because the house needs cleaning? So far, whichever I choose, the rest always seems more pressing if it doesn't get done!

Saturday blog

I've just watched 'The Culture Show'. Mark Kermode was talking about a film with a lot of narration which has been adapted from a novel. He felt this shows that the makers hadn't quite got to grips with the adaptation. Interesting point after our session with Bill on Thursday about the problems of filming 'Wuthering Heights'.
More synchronicity - the show is currently asking viewers to vote for their greatest 'living icon', and Kate Bush, she of wailing 'Wuthering Heights' fame, is one of the top ten. I can't stand these 'greatest' and 'best of' type contests - how can you possibly compare someone like Vivienne Westwood with Alan Bennett, for example? It's a totally meaningless waste of time and I would have thought better of 'The Culture Show'.
Enough ranting. Roast chicken awaits, one of the British top ten dinners?

It worked!

Yes, I definitely have a blog! With my techno-wrecking capabilities, I can never be sure anything will work, but it's there all right.
A place to write daily, I am told, to help mould me into a real, proper writer. I'm all for that.
The week goes by quickly, I find, when three days are spent at college. Somehow the four days at home go by even quicker, leaving lots of things I'd meant to do, undone. Like tackling the last third of Mr Campbell and his hero. I sense a lot of antipathy towards Joseph Campbell amongst my classmates. He is certainly the champion of the convoluted sentence and the multi-syllabic word.
Unfortunately the book doesn't convey what an amazing man he was. I remember stumbling across him on television years ago, being interviewed by a fellow American, and although I didn't understand what he was talking about, I simply couldn't turn it off. It was utterly compelling. I am hoping that the book is penetrating at some level too, far beneath the day-to-day conscious level.

Here goes

I seem to have created a blog! Having joined the MA Professional Writing course in week 4, I missed all the induction sessions, including the one in which Matt, the IT guy, set up blogs for everyone. So I'm coming to this a bit belatedly.
I have now completed three weeks at UCF and they've flown by. I just hope I have picked up all the information I need in the course of my bumbling about between lectures.