‘Either I am a great writer or a nincompoop.’

‘One must write from deep feeling, said Dostoievsky. And do I? Or do I fabricate with words, loving them as I do? No, I think not.’

‘Characters are to be merely views: personality must be avoided at all costs…. Directly you specify hair, age etc. something frivolous, or irrelevant gets into the book,…’ 

‘As I think, the diary writing has greatly helped my style; loosened the ligaatures.’

‘It is very natural that clever young men should be rather odious.’

‘He had a hearty contempt for his fellow-writers which he expressed with zest.’

The above were taken from one of W.Somerset Maugham’s short stories. Single words I wrote down from the story were: loquacious, disputatious & odious.

‘Dreams is not like stories, its like pictures in a book.’ Taken from a children’s film animation.

‘We don’t have to judge harshly those who have killed.’ Not quite an exact quotation taken from a drama on the radio.

For the brain, it says that Vitamin B6 is said to help with ‘writer’s block’. This book also suggests trading in the midnight oil for the earlier morning start. Efficiency is improved by changing task every 90 minutes or so (refers to circadion rhythms).

For eyes, suggests Vitamins A, B2, C and E as well as doing eye exercises as a defence against repetitive strain injury.

Eat well. Do not skip meals. I had a look into things for weight loss – if you skip a  meal, the body thinks it could starve and food more likely to be converted to fat.

Exercise is also important. The author of the book likes Tae Bo (whatever that is). Ray Bradbury liked to swim, Charles Schulz liked to walk or skate.

Writing wise, mentions starting using phrases (doesn’t use the word prompt). Also, write a complete story in 100 words (says on the BBC Get Writing website about 60-word fiction which I can’t find on their website) and writing a novel in a month.

Looking in the references and websites, I see that the book hasn’t been very well proof-read. I noticed a couple of web addresses that were definitely incorrect. They missed out the ‘//’ after http: though Internet Explorer (well, my version) adds the ‘//’ so you do get to the correct site in the end.

Think I am running slightly behind. Although I have read chapter 4, I haven’t done all the activities. Good job this week is a ‘Writing Week’ so that I can catch up again.

Hubby bought “Awaken the Writer Within” today for me from a bookshop (along with several other books for himself and our son). Hmm, there is mention of using astrology, tarot, Scrabble, Monopoly, Snakes & Ladders, the dictionary to ‘Discover the Plot’. On the back cover, the book includes visualisation techniques, flow charts, dream-work and word webs. The author has written material for Bob Hope, Dave Allen, and the Two Ronnies (I wonder if that included fork handles/four candles). I bought a tarot pack nigh on 20 years ago, I wonder where it is.

Sailing ship with sails
Charts the freezing winter sea
On this snowy day.

Salmon pink trousers
Matching feathered scarf round neck
With tongue piercing. 

Yellow lights twirling
Throwing out skirts of brightness
Warning ‘Grit Spreading’ 

Also, I had a cluster of some of the TMA prompts and scribbled a couple of ideas down. The bus was too bumpy to do freewriting (or I might not have been able to read my writing).

He says he cares but ignores your needs. He spends his money on his friends but not on his family. He appears generous but is tight to those that matter. He is the perfect gentleman in public but is a complete monster at home. People think he is gentle and kind, but behind closed doors, is the opposite.

I was unable to write anything on the bus, but did read some more of Virginia Woolf’s A Writer’s Diary. I had a cuppa in a cafe yesterday morning when I got to my destination for a Welsh Chat a bit too early, so I did a bit of a descriptive freewrite on the place. I tried to write down what one of the people there was like before she left. When I got home, I wasn’t feeling well and that lasted all evening. I went to bed early and I think I slept well (hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in ages), so I am a bit bright-eyed and bushy-tailed though that won’t last long!

The second part is to post your answers to activity 3.7, and do activity 3.6. Can the freewrite for 3.6 trigger any memories such as anything that has happened in the past. Then, write a piece that links two experiences from different times.

I hope to do at least one of these activities today so I can post something. My tutor said that we should spend 2 hours on the online tutorial. We are to comment on other people’s work as well.

Tried to sleep but my head was spinning. At 5am when my son woke up, kicked my other half out of bed and jumped in with me, I decided to write down the two ideas. The one idea could be adapted to form several stories. Perhaps one could be a chiller that I could write in a month in Welsh for the Eisteddfod. Closing date for Eisteddfod competitions is 1st April. Haven’t started any yet. One competition is for 10 micro stories (50-250 words). Maybe though I should stick to the learners competitions – Stars for prose, and Water for the poem.

The other competition is for Mslexia’s Women’s Poetry Competition. Entry fee is £5 which covers up to 5 poems. Closing date is 28th April 2006.

Inside, I notice there is a write-a-novel competition but I cannot enter as I do not have coupon 1 from February 2006 issue of WF. I would have needed 2 coupons, plus £10 entry fee.

TThe WF Short Story Competition appeals to me. It is monthly, closing date 5th of each month. Also, there is the Biscuit Prize Biscuit which has a closing date of 31st May 2006.

I am a bit mift tthat the prize crossword in the March 2006 issue has a closing date for entries on the 28th February.

There is an advert for the Spit-Lit Festival which seems to be sponsored by The OU (as well as others).

I am still reading Browning. I am finding myself lost in words that seem to form no precise meaning or sense even grammatically. Maybe I am trying to read poetry as prose. Does poetry have to follow the laws of grammar? What does the following mean?

“His service payeth me a sublimate
Blown up his nose to help the ailing eye.”

Maybe like Number Two thinking “may the sun shine on you today and every day” as being some sort of code (along with patter cake). Perhaps I am a person who understands “it means what it says”.

Scapegrace: man or boy of reckless and disorderly habits; an incorrigible scamp. Often used playfully. (From the OED). A reckless, unprincipled person; one who is wild and reckless; a rascal; a scoundrel (from dictionary.com). 

“But there are people who take salt in their coffee. They say it gives a tang, a saviour, which is peculiar and fascinating.”

On the bus last week to evening class, I wrote some haiku. Herebe it below:

Ouch, hammer strikes thumb
Holding nail securing back
Of flat-packed bookcase.

Cheap nails for flat-pack,
Chipboard is laminated
Does the job for now.

Screws, bolts cams, nails, knobs
And the odd dowel or two
Fixed the chest of drawers.

Where does piece One go?
Connects to piece Two with bolts
Secured with cams A.

Someone said that they worked on poems whilst driving a car.

Ian McMillan read a poem about his first driving lesson. He talked to another poet on the bus and how you can look at things, hear sounds and make those into a poem or two. Many poets are inspired by the journey more than the drive.

A215 front, the tutor-group conferences have had a few more posts in. I posted a part of a story that I had in my head before I signed up for the course. General consensus is that it is a good story, though I may have to change a few things. Also, one of the prompts from the coursebook I did yielded a couple of comments, all good with some suggestions to take it on.

Back to sorting out bookcases, and things…

I wrote a second focused freewrite on a TMA prompt which I thought was better than the first. For part 2 of the TMA, we are supposed to carry on from where the freewrite has taken us but I didn’t feel I could go anywhere with the first attempt. The course guide suggests to write part two in the timetabled writing week. I might freewrite the rest of the prompts anyway. I have done two focused freewrites for ‘hand’. On the cafe conference, people have said that they have used ‘guitar’ and ‘broken plate’/

 I haven’t had much of an appetitie for food today, skipping breakfast and lunch. I have had several cups of teas instead.

 I have put together a flat-packed bookcase which is now in what will be my son’s room. It is already full with books, both English and Welsh, fiction and reference. One shelf is nearly full of Just William. I have a habit of buying books from libraries and charity shops, especially those in Welsh. Still, we have far too many books but not anywhere to shelve them.

In the first week archive, 359 people posted 3180 messages; in the second week archive, 159 people posted 3866 messages; in the archive itself, 77 people posted 2912 messages. As I type this message [yesterday lunchtime 9th Feb], in the cafe of 308 messages by 58 people.

Hopefully, now with the bar open, more sensible discussion, ideas, writings, can be posted.

I thought the course conference cafe was fun, now I am not so sure. The beauty of using the FirstClass software is that loads of/all  messages can be marked as read to get rid of the red flags. I think I might just ignore it for a few days. It has lost some of the initial spirit and niceness, is hard to follow as people don’t start new threads when the discussion goes off the initial topic – maybe taking clustering a bit too far.

We started with intros, then fav/least fav colour. We then clustered one of them. Some of the clusters were read out. A lot of the colours turned out to be at least two-sided (contradictory). Then, we made a character out of one, they then wrote an emotional letter to someone else. Next was then a meeting with some dialogue. My character replied to a lonely hearts column ad, and met her on Valentines Day. He was nearly late because his mother rang to say Happy Valentine’s… Some of the things were so funny. Next, we looked at poetry and based a they know/they don’t know couplets on the second character. Again, some were really funny, especially where there was a rhyme. Because my tutor is a poet (though has a PhD in creative writing), we went in a poetry direction. She read some of her work. Some lines (and rhymes) are repeated quite cleverly.

We finished early and I bumped into a friend who was picking up his wife, an OU tutor dealing with the induction session and also a tutor on this course. It was good to see her. We’ll have to go round to theirs at some point – they had a de-clutter and found one of my husband’s musical thingywhatist machine gizmos (I don’t know what it is).

Haven’t done any freewriting today, but have been reading and writing journal entries & posting messages in the course conferences.

The idea, once a first line/sentence is posted, that someone else in the tutor group uses that as the start of a story/poem and writes a paragraph or a few more lines of a poem. Then, once someone has responded to your starter sentence/line, you can then say who it was by, and why you chose it. Then, can say one or two things about what you liked in the response.

Someone had set up a “smartgroups” for the course, and some (no more than half a dozen) people joined middle of January before the course conferences opened. However, there have only been 9 messages, and no activity since the 19th January. The description for the group is “A chance to discuss the new course creative writing a215. Share ideas and keep in touch” but not many ideas or keeping in touch has occured. Maybe again, early days.

Will this do for a writing hat?

They had a getting to know you exercise. Clustering a colour. Cluster a person (lifestyle, family, associates..) then use that person to write a letter to another person. Cluster the recipient of the letter. Describe a meeting between the two characters. During lunch, writing sensory impressions, and then more on the senses.

It looks like the dayschool covered the first three chapters of the coursebook.

Finished reading Margaret Atwood’s book on writing. Given me a few things for the reading list.

I read this in Margaret Atwood’s book on writing (Negotiating with the Dead) and the chapter it is taken from hasn’t inspired me at all. It is kinda depressing. I fear that my books, poetry, etc would fit in the last category. I’m in this for the story, not really for Art with a capital A, or money (though money would be nice).

Shall put New Grub Street on my reading list.

In the conference, there was talk about pens and notebooks. I went shopping today and bought five A5 sized notebooks and one A4 pad. I also bought own-brand post-its for indexing in books. I came home and found that I still had 3 fountain pens – two Parker and one Osmiroid. The one Parker was one I used in secondary school about 20 years ago. I put a reservoir thingy in the one, but there was no ink in that or cartridges in any of the pens. I found a bottle of Quink stashed away. I forgot how beautifully the pen writes. I also forgot how much ink the pens can hold when cartridges are removed. There was brown, blue and red ink in them.

I went shopping by bus, and was reading Margaret Atwood’s ‘Negotiating with the Dead’ – a writer on writing, which I borrowed from the library. It has given me some interesting ideas for stories and readings. Shall have to draw up a wishlist to borrow. I now have a PIN so I can reserve them online.

I had a letter of introduction from my tutor in the post. I am still waiting for a reply to my email I sent. Still, no hurry as the course starts in a fortnight.

A lot of us are chomping at the bit. We want access to our tutor group conferences NOW. At present, we have access to the OUSA open conference. Personally, I’d like the course discussed in closed conferences. A number of tutors’ names have been posted, which I don’t think is a good idea in an open conference. Anyone, be they A215 students or not, can use Google to find out more information based on the names posted in the open conference.

My friend is a tutor on the course, but isn’t my tutor. That makes sense.

I read my tutor’s poetry in the book I bought from a charity shop. Some people say that poems without a rhyme are just prose with different formatting. A number of forms of poetry require rhyme. One poem in the book, but not my tutor’s, doesn’t rhyme, however, I think it is a very clever poem. The verses have 6 lines with the last word of each being carried through to the end of the poem as last words of the line (or in the very last verse which has 3 lines, in the middle or end of the line). Am not sure at the moment what to make of my tutor’s poetry. However, they do bring up thoughts and ideas – thought provoking.

So, what are my reasons for doing A215? Well, I want to improve my story-telling skills. I wrote a piece of prose for the National Eisteddfod: it was a good story, but had too many characters surplus to the storyline. I’d like to try again. This year, the title is Stars and is limited to 500 words. The poem is called Water. These are the two competitions for learners that I fancy a go at. There are other poems and prose competitions at the Eisteddfod. This year, there is a chiller short story, 10 micro-stories (between 50 and 250 words), various types of poems with varying themes/titles, such as The Nightclub, Mill, “Amour”, amongst others. I might have a go, but am not sure my Welsh is up to it.

PTerry says he is totally electronic – writes directly to the screen. I hope he does regular backups! I remember when I was at university in the nineties that I lost a few pages of work from the final year project a week before it was due in because I didn’t back up. In the end, I resorted to typewriter and tippex. He says he has a 400 minimum word limit a day, and sets aside an hour a day for reading. He says to keep away from writing groups because “you never can be quite certain whether the criticism or praise your work receives is because the critic knows it will be their turn the following week to be analysed.”

Still not done much freewriting. It can be hard to concentrate when a small person demands your attention, has a strop because you put the kettle on, or wants to have the same dvd on all day, or all three at once. I have given up 3 OU courses because I had been unable to concentrate and keep the mind in gear. Childbirth addles the brain.

Another technique, from which freewrites can be generated, is clustering. I think this is like brainstorming & spider diagrams – say, as in one OU course I did, there was an essay question comparing and contrasting plants and animal cells. I drew a spider diagram for each plant cells and animal cells.

Still awaiting details of who my tutor is going to be, but judging by the list of tutor groups in the directory on firstclass set up for my region, I have a sneaky suspicion that I actually know the tutor personally from the initials given. Will have to wait and see. Patience is a virtue, they say.

Still not yet finished reading all of J.G. Ballard’s short stories. These are well worth reading if you have the time.

Also, as well as results, a number of courses, including this one, starting Feb 2006 will have the first mailings sent out before Christmas. Am hoping to get an early start.

Your skin glows like the pomegranate, blossoms big as the dahlia in the purest hope of spring.

My heart follows your harpsichord voice and leaps like a dog at the whisper of your name.

The evening floats in on a great eagle wing.

I am comforted by your jumper that I carry into the twilight of cupbeams and hold next to my arm.

I am filled with hope that I may dry your tears of water.

As my leg falls from my sock, it reminds me of your table.

In the quiet, I listen for the last bang of the day.

My heated head leaps to my scarf.

I wait in the moonlight for your secret fire so that we may swim as one, head to head, in search of the magnificient black and mystical book of love

I have managed though, to read a few more of JG Ballard’s short stories. Wow, they were ahead of their time. They would make good stories for The Twilight Zone (if they haven’t already).

I have posted a message in a course conference about course blogs. Someone replied to my mailbox asking WHY? Why would we want to write a web log? Haven’t replied yet, but am thinking of saying, Why not? Just replied with that now. Some messages in the thread said that the word Blog is a horrible word – take away one letter then you have bog! Why Blog and not Biary, Bournal, Oldry? Or why not simply call it a log, journal or diary?

Anyway, time for a cuppa.

I have a story in my head, which involves murder. I want the body to be buried and lie undiscovered (and the crime) for a few years, but I don’t want the purpetrator to get away with it. I have also bought The Crime Writer’s Handbook, which gives some details of murder weapons. Am toying with poison as well as a thump on the head, perhaps a combination of the two.