Why is Writing so Damn Expensive!?

So my wondering into the writing market isn’t going well! You’d of thought that when all you need is your laptop and your imagination you are on a roll, but no.

I joined a critique site after advice from someone and after the initial excitement and then again when people look at it again my 2nd draft has now faded as I attempt to post my third piece to be told, that unless I join and pay to be a member that’s it unless I delate something. Paying to join this site won’t get my work read any quicker and that seems to take at least 4 days to make it to the top of the queue. So thats $65 a year (£50 ish)

Then there are the writing courses, the current one I am attending is going to cost £70 per six week block. The Derby book festival I went to cost me £21.00 to see the three people I was most interested in seeing and the East Midlands writing thing cost me £50. While I write this I am a bit like I hope my hubby doesn’t read this 😛

Then it’s like being at uni there are a whole host of books people recommend you buy… But which one is the best so we will add about £10.00 onto here at least.

so thats £191 at least so far… Nevermind my the software I brought (Scrivner) the dictation package I’ve not really got on with cause my brain doesn’t work fast enough..

Sometimes I sit here and look at these £200 plus retreats and thing would this be a quicker and cheaper way to get success. Or do I just need to keep in my case paying out in hope I might get somewhere….

Then as we are always told at work time cost money! It also costs my heath and my children’s attention when I want to write, or upload something to a website in order to get feedback. But first I need to critique other people’s work… Then there is the networking, for me at the moment mine is all social media related. But then what happens when I need to go wider?

So thats travel and cars don’t run on fresh air.

Then I dread to think about the added cost that comes with trying to get published! I listen to other authors talk and I don’t have the confidence anymore to just go up to people and start talking to them. I need people to be aware of my existence first.

As you can tell I am a bit rumpy this morning well frustrated, having just had two weeks (three weeks) off sic which I could of spent writing the sun is out again and likely to zap. my energy as soon as I walk out the house. Plus the cat was moaning early this morning prior to six, but by the time I got up to sort her it was after and I concluded having to get up at 7, I am going to fell worse if I try and go back to sleep than I am if I get up! PLUS, I wouldn’t have slept properly anyway with knowing I had to get up in 45 minutes!

Anyway enough from me, time to get the little people up and go to work!!!! Hope everyone has a fun day!

But why is writing so expensive!?

 

 

 

Creative Writing class 3.4

Hey,

I Usually enjoy my creative writing class, but over the last two weeks we have been doing editing and dialogue, which has left me stressed out about my WIP 😦 part of me is like just write and sort out later but it doesn’t work like that does it! Plus I could of possibly been writing dialogue wrong all my life JOY!

On the positive side, I thought I would share something that I wrote as homework.

My words were: Rainbow, Corn Beef, Elephant, Custard and Crystal

“You are going on holiday and arrive at the airport check-in desk. The person in front of you is repacking their suitcase when you see an unusal and suspicious item in their luggage

With today’s heightened security at airports I was keen to get a closer look, there was no point screaming and shouting if it turned out to be nothing. Plus I was sure they had dogs and x-ray machines to spot these sorts of things. As I tried to edge closer to see I was getting funny looks from people like I was trying to push in or something? There was an big Elephant in the room and I seemed to be the only one who was aware of it. Everyone else was busy discussing if they wanted Corn Beef or cheese sandwiches and whether they wanted Custard on their desert’s or not. This was airline food for crying out loud did it matter? As the women repacked her bag I noticed a Rainbow coloured teddy had been missed that was laying on the floor behind her case, this was my chance as I tried to walk over as casual as possible bending down to pick up the teddy the lady looked at me surprised with my sudden urge to help her after I had been watching her struggle for the past five minutes at least. The teddy felt heavier than I would have expected weighing it up in my hands I looked at her and her face began to drop as she realised what I was thinking. My husband gets cross with me, he says that I am never off the clock and maybe one day I should leave my detective inspector hat at home along with my ID card. But I guess this time he was wrong because who knows where those uncut Crystals would of ended up if I hadn’t spotted the shiny object in the lining of her suitcase, poor teddy though having his insides taken out like that.”

Creative Writing Week 3.1

Back to creative writing today which I quite enjoyed 🙂 John our tutor gave us a task of randomly picking out words from a dictionary and also gave us a beginning and a middle of a story, we then had to create something. I think my practice at Rochelle’s Friday Fictioner’s really helped today, well maybe not trying to get the words in but being able to keep stuff short.

My words were after John shuffled them were

Masquerade, Chaste and Palliate

Looking out of the window, she saw Sam crossing the bridge

she couldn’t help thinking he was trying to Masquerade hiding from who he really was. What was he so afraid and scared of? who cared what people thought of him? it wasn’t like people were Chaste these days. With his parents being from a religious background they had tried to Palliate him but his sexuality wasn’t an illness it was who he was. I watched as he greeted people in the street, they were parent’s of someone to, but they ran to meet him to be consumed by his aura, while his parents watched on in disgust.

the ending should of been other people’s parents ran to meet them, not mine! but I decided to change it slightly!

We have been set a challenge for homework, again using five random words. We had two scenarios

1 You are going on holiday and arrive at the airport check-in desk. The person in front of you is repacking their suitcase when you see an unusal and suspicious item in their luggage

2. You are doing your weekly shop in the local supermarket, when suddenly a women collapses in front of you, she gasps for breath as you kneel over her, and she whisper’s “he wasn’t there” then she loses consciousness

my words were: Corn Beef, Crystal, Elephant, Custard and Rainbow

So I’ll let you know 🙂

 

 

Creative Writing Class

Hey,

So I did some work in Creative Writing class for once and here it is.

Write a short story in just Four paragraphs. And, each paragraph can only be Three sentences long

Write a first paragraph in which the main character is going somewhere

Melanie brushed her long golden hair she was getting ready to visit her mum and dad who she hadn’t seen since last Christmas.

As she rushed to get ready she heard a car pull up outside and blasted their horn.

She had promised herself just one she would be late.

Write a second paragraph in which the main character overhears something at grabs their interest or seems important

As she made herself comfortable in the back of the shiny black cab, she began to listen to the drivers conversation for little did they know she understood some Arabic.

Something about Nottingham Arena and its layout and where was a good hiding place that would have maximum effect.

Heart began to race and the ringing in arrears surfaced was she hearing the plans of the terrorist attack?

Write a third paragraph in which the main character reacts to, thinks about, or reflects upon what he/she has heard

What should she do sat in the back of this? It wasn’t like she could just ring 999 from where she was sat?

She watched the streets pass by, willing the taxi drivers dry faster getting to her destination so she can act.

Her hands felt clammy and she knew her pale complexion was beginning to redden as the driver asked you write love? Do you need me to stop?

Write a fourth paragraph in which the main character has a change of direction or plan

She died out of the taxi and into mother’s loving arms and sobbed, mum I need to phone the police or something, as I think something bad is about to happen at Alex’s work.

Her mum listen carefully brushing the clammy hair away from her daughter’s face don’t be silly maybe you got it wrong you know your grasp of Arabic isn’t that strong.

Maybe you miss heard something and they were planning a surprise for a friend in Nottingham before heading off to see their favorite band.

***

Might make some adjustments, read this out next week…

Characters

So I am back at creative writing, and I wouldn’t say I was struggling these last couple of weeks but we have been working on characters, but I already have my characters! So why do I need to invent new ones?

Then I am like, but my bad guy I don’t know who he is yet, and I am still struggling with where do I go with this? What does a terrorist look like? Or could it be a female terrorist, but females aren’t seen in that role in their society, But then it got me thinking about the IRA they were blowing stuff up for other reasons and so I remember being told they would give advance warning of doing this. But then maybe I should forget the terrorist route and go down the drugs route… would that be more plausible? Because why would a terrorist kill a said person, wouldn’t they be more interested in a LARGE impact and not killing one person!? I have been googling terrorism and pulled a varity of web pages off about female terrorists. I wish I had someones brain to pick at.

I did manage to do some writing from a picture out of the avon book of a guy though I was abit lost to start with something sort of happened. But if I work on this am I not getting distracted on the bigger picture.

We also talking about show and tell in class today which had me worried about my whole story in general! John our teacher acted out a good thing which got us all thinking. These past two weeks in class I think they have confused the matter more than relit my fire. Maybe I should of done some more study and then got into my story from class.

Then I keep looking at dictation software, is it worth buying something 2nd hand off ebay to give it ago..?

My ankle is still generally fucked! No work for the rest of the week and I have found that wearing soaks and shoes today has made a big difference. I am really struggling with my daily journal, Yes I have a list of things to be greetful for, but I feel so shity since the “accident” that I can’t be doing with it, as I have had to stop running for 2-3 weeks so there goes that goal! so much for positivity I might climb on the stall or send my child to reach my chocolate again!

It’s all a bit shit really, and all because I came off that ride at the weekend and fucked my foot and ankle!!!

Yesterday…

So yesterday was a bad day 😦

So I spent yesterday struggling with MS and my legs again, a girl at work told me she was too hot and I proceeded to come back from the toilets to offer her my jumper, as I just got all confused and then spent the next x trying to work out why I had offered my jumper if she was too cold!

Then came the bad news that one of my work colleagues has cancer for the 2nd time, and that broke my heart and I wanted to cry! Because the last person who I knew who had Cancer for the 2nd time being it breast cancer died, I was like I am not going to cry until she has left work at least, but I managed to hold off and I still haven’t cried! But thinking about the other person who died just breaks my heart and I was a bit like my MS is bad again cause it’s Winter time and now I am being told someone else has cancer again! 😦 So yesterday no writing was done and I pretty much sucked! Having only got the chocolate next to me now!

On the writing front, I went to a talk today by an author at the library in Nottingham, which was really interesting! And I have also been asked to review this guys book! Does that mean I am a proper blogger now? They have sadly only sent me the kindle version but it’s a start!

As for my writing career I sent the guy who did my creative writing course the first bit of the story I am writing at the moment! And asked him if he would read it and tell me what he thinks as it’s what I am looking to submit to the mentoring thing!

So tonight, chocolate fingers, location work for my story and sleep possibly! The sleep probably will win over everything else!

Much love

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