You Have To Kiss A Lot Of Frogs

As a writer when you are working on a novel your mind doesn't stop working, the creative impulses don't leave you alone just because you already have the plot you need. At the moment I feel like some kind of schizophrenic, I have all these characters buzzing around in my head demanding I write their story even though I'm trying to concentrate on rewriting an old manuscript to submit to an agent.

In light of all the terrible things that have happened over the last six months I have decided that my only option is to really throw myself into being a writer. I have a new part-time job which gives me more time to concentrate on what means the most to me, i.e. my writing.

Last Friday I attended the York Writers Festival. It was my first writers festival and it was awesome. I had signed up for an afternoon course with Julia Churchill and I had two one to ones with Agents from London. It was a fantastic experience, getting feedback on a work in progress and finding out whether it was marketable, well written and where to go next. I came away feeling really energised despite the long drive home.

Writing can be really solitary, sometimes its good to step away from the computer and actually go out and meet other writers. I have made some of my best and closest friends from joining writers groups and meeting other writers on the internet. I'd encourage any writer to get out there and join critique groups, book clubs, writers forums, etc. Don't let it cut into your actual writing time but make time for it.

Long Time No Speak

It has been a long time since my last post and a lot has happened. On a positive note I won a writing competition as part of the Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators and am now working on a rewrite of one of my novels for an Agent to look at. It means I have been pulled away from writing Tattooing Angels for a little while but hopefully it will be worth it. The rewrite has been just what I needed to get my mind going again and although I feel the story may have lost some of the soul that was in the original, I also feel it needed to lose a little bit to stop it becoming overly sentimental.

On a negative note I resigned from my job. I had worked at the same place for the same boss for over eight years and had reached a level of comfortable unhappiness (if that makes sense). I wanted to leave but was too settled to force myself to move. In the end it wasn't my decision, I was stabbed in the back yet again by a person who I had been struggling to justify even knowing for some time. I was let down by people that I had thought were good friends and I learnt a painful but valuable lesson about loyalty and trust.

I will never forget how I was made to feel or how I feel now, because I think it is important to hold on to things that cause us pain so that we don't make the same mistakes again. Also because as a writer these things give us a lot of material. I'm pretty sure a few of the people will feature in future novels in some form or other as malignant, despicable villains with few redeeming features.

There is always a silver lining... I don't miss the place at all. I have no regrets about not being there and would never go back. I have had few weeks of semi-freedom to do some writing and some recovering from a long and ongoing illness. I have a new job which starts next week that I am looking forward to the challenges of. I have met some wonderful people as a temp and I have found out that being a home typist isn't as wonderful a job as it sounds!!

When life hands you lemons throw them on the floor and stamp the life out of them! That's my new philosophy. I got sick of hearing the phrase "when one door closes another one opens" when I lost my job. There were no doors open at the time but everyone who said it was right. Another door opened, someone pushed open a window or two as well and the world started to look a whole lot better. I felt free of some peope who had held me down for a long time, the constant nagging pain in my head was gone for the first time in forever and I felt like there were actually possibilities. Money holds us prisoner, we rely on it and we need it so we base everything else around it but it actually isn't worth it. I'm surviging on very little and I'm happier. Go figure!