The naive novelist?

I have always had an obsession with books, but aside from a couple of flash fiction pieces I wrote several years ago, I had never tried to write. I guess I never believed that I could. Last April I wanted to try, I set up this blog and here I am.

Throughout the last few weeks I have regularly been posting short stories and have completely fallen in love with the writing process, to be able to immerse myself in characters and plots of my own making has been a total joy.

With encouragement from the lovely Louise Walters, author of the fabulous Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase, I decided to try to write a novel.

When I began, back in May, I found it unimaginable that I may be able to write 1000 words, ten times more than my longest story, and yet, several weeks on, I have broken the 40,000 barrier.

Eager to learn the craft, I have been reading many blogs and articles on novel writing. I have read page after page telling me that first novels are always terrible, that I need to write three books before I have one that’s readable, that I will most probably give up before I reach the end, that I…… no, actually that’s when I stopped reading.

I don’t want to dampen my enthusiasm so I choose to believe that maybe, just maybe, with handwork and passion I can write something that I can be proud of, and if I can’t, then I will have had a blast trying.

Fabricating Fiction or The Naive Novelist? Time will tell.

Who’s laughing now?

You called me Miss Piggy, just for ‘fun,’

You would steal my school bag to make me run,

You would grab my stomach, making it jiggle,

‘Stop crying fatty, it’s just a giggle.’

I binged and I starved in a bid to grow thinner,

Ignored growling hunger, refused to eat dinner,

I was admitted to hospital, fed by a drip,

Self image distorted, I was losing my grip.

My recovery was slow, my confidence gone,

But if you thought you could break me, well you were wrong,

My body grew stronger, my courage was steel,

You don’t get to choose how I feel.

I was spotted by an agent, ‘I think you’re so cute,’

Was trembling with fear at my first photo shoot,

Now I have staff, no-one calls me fat cow,

£20,000 a picture – who’s laughing now?

Written for Streams of Consciousness Saturday. Write the first thing that comes into your head following a prompt, and post without editing. This weeks prompt was ‘funny.’

The very inspiring blogger award

I am very pleased to have been nominated for another Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Big thanks to Kathy, whose stories I always enjoy reading.

Ok so now for the rules which I am going to bend slightly!

The rules:

1. The nominee shall display the Very Inspiring Blogger Award logo on her/his blog, and link back to the blogger who nominated them.

2. The nominee shall nominate fifteen bloggers she/he admires by linking to their blogs and informing them about it. (I am crazy busy at the moment so am going to nominate three blogs. Quality not quantity as the wise old saying goes).

3. The blogger shall list three things that inspired her/him this week.

The three things that have inspired me this week are: –

1. A lady I had the pleasure of meeting on Wednesday. She is in her 60’s, terminally ill, housebound and one of the most positive people I have ever met. She contacted me to ask if I would go to her home to teach her mindfulness. She had been reading a lot about it and was curious. I had heard her backstory before I went and aside from her ill health this lady has been through a LOT.

I feel grateful to have had the privilege to meet her. Although I am teaching her mindfulness over the next few weeks I have a feeling she will be teaching me far more about living. To retain dignity, hope and a sense of curiosity in such difficult circumstances was really inspirational to me. Having a disability I do try to always focus on the things I can do, rather than the things I can’t and this morning was a great reminder that you are never too old, sick or immobile to seek out a new experience and find some joy in life.

2. My eight year old son. He has decided he has finished writing his first book. There has been no angst over word count or concerns that it is only, in fact, two pages long. He has already picked a subject for his second. ‘Wow.’ I told him. ‘You’re so fast. I’m still only a third of a way through writing my first novel.’ ‘Why don’t you just sit down and finish it then Mummy?’ Why indeed.

3. My sixteen year old son has gone back to school this week to start studying for his A’Levels as well as starting his first ever part-time job. He is working long hours but is fiercely determined to create the future he wants. I am very proud of him.

My nominees:-

My first nominee is Linda. Not only do I find her blog uplifting and interesting she has created a great challenge in the form of Stream of Consciousness Saturday. It’s really liberating to be able to write the first thing that comes into my head following a prompt and not have to worry about editing.

My second nominee is K.Z.. An awesome indie writer, her stories never fail to make me gasp. She has just self-published her first book, 100 nightmares. Don’t read it just before bed!

My last nomination is Lore, a natural storyteller who weaves together words so beautifully I often have a lump in my throat reading them.

Share your World – Week 34

Share your World. Answer the four questions set by Cee’s Photography.

What is your favorite smell? What memory does it remind you of?

I love the smell of bonfires. I remember being huddled with my sister and cousins watching the fireworks as we oohed and ahhed in synchronicity. Baked potatoes and hotdogs always followed. Good times.

Name a song or two which are included on the soundtrack to your life?

*Pink Floyd Time. Always one of my favourite bands I recall hearing it at a party one evening at a time I was dissatisfied with pretty much everything. Rubbish relationship, job, didn’t like where I was living etc. the lyrics hit me like a sledgehammer. Make a change before it’s too late. Take responsibility for getting out of the rut I had created, so I did.

Do you play video/computer game? Which one(s) or most recent?

My boys often get me to play video games purely for their own amusement. I am terrible. We do collect retro games consoles. I am the Queen of Pong (that doesn’t read well does it)?

Which of Snow White’s 7 dwarfs describes you best? Plus what would the 8th dwarf’s name be? (Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey)

I think I’ll go for happy. Being a mindfulness coach helps me see the beauty in every moment. If I were picking my own 8th dwarf name it would probably be hungry.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful for the lovely feedback we received at the end of our first 10 week mindfulness course specifically for recovering addicts and their families. I am looking forward to starting work with a new group next week with mental health issues. I feel so privileged to be part of someone’s journey to recovery. Also, as much as I adore the children being at home during the holidays I am looking forward to getting back to writing my novel next week when school restarts.

*Pink Floyd – Time

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
When I come home cold and tired
It’s good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away, across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spell

It’s my wedding anniversary!

A year ago today I was lucky enough to marry my best friend. Those that read My Gretna Green Wedding blog know that we chose to elope and had an amazing week, with the minimum of planning.

When we came home and announced our news we were met with equal amounts of congratulations and advice. I was told numerous times that ‘they,’ (and I never quite worked out who ‘they’ were) say the first year of marriage is the hardest. I was expecting therefore a bit of a roller coaster, a period of adjustment while we settled into our brand new roles. What I found instead was an anchor to the solidity of Tim’s unwavering love, a calmness that arose out of the security of being loved completely. Unconditionally. The first year has been amazing and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Note to self!

How do you deal with criticism?

As I new writer I have done something that will probably have all you seasoned novelists covering your face and shaking your head in despair. I (whispers) showed my first draft to someone to get an opinion. Not just someone either. My sister. Much as I love her she is always guaranteed to call a spade a spade. I knew that, but I did it anyway.

Attempting my first piece of writing over 100 words has been overwhelming. I love to read books but trying to create one, well, if you’ve tried, you know. I never thought it would be easy but, shrugs.

So I plotted, created characters and wrote and at 15,000 words broke into a cold sweat. Did this make any sense? Was it engaging? Could I do this? Even though this was a rough first draft I guess I wanted validation that I had something worth developing, worth all the hours, the waking at 3 am to tweak the plot or finish the chapter.

I emailed it over to my sister. I knew I could rely on her to be totally honest with me. And she was. ‘It’s so depressing it made me want to slit my wrists and not carry on reading. Oh and I don’t like your language.’

Hmmm ok. Let’s not point out that I haven’t actually reached the really sad bit in the middle yet.

I know she is trying to support me and I appreciate her help. I will take her comments on board and am sure that when I have finished wiping my tears off the keyboard I will carry on. Next time I ask for an opinion I will keep the following words in mind: –

“Don’t let people’s compliments go to your head and don’t let their criticism go to your heart”.

So, how do you deal with criticism – constructive or otherwise?

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Thanks so much to Ronovan for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. As I only created this blog a few weeks ago it is touching to receive such an accolade from the most inspiring blogger I know.

Here are the rules:

1.Thank and link to the amazing person who nominated you.
2.List the rules and display the award.
3.Share seven facts about yourself.
4.Nominate up to 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they have been nominated.
5.Proudly display the award logo on your blog and follow the blogger who nominated you.

Now for the seven facts:

1) On my first every CV I put ‘fluent in German,’ thinking it would help me sound more intelligent. I got the job I went for not realising the Head Office was based in Germany. Yep I lasted as long as my first conference call. My basic grasp of the language was excruciating. (in my defence I did pass my German GCSE exam). Honesty is always the best policy for me nowadays.

2) I meditate every single day. I studied mindfulness after acquiring a disability whilst exploring ways to cope with chronic pain. It changed my life so much I completed teacher training and am now a mindfulness coach.

3) I love orange smarties. So much so when my son was young he would always pick them out of his tube and hand them to me. One day I filled a tube solely with orange smarties to see what he would do. He handed them all over one-by-one with a rather shocked expression on his face (and I handed them back with a million kisses and tears in my eyes).

4) Last year I eloped to Gretna Green without telling a soul (apart from my children). Well obviously my husband knew. We had an awesome day and I wouldn’t change a thing. I created a wedding blog you can view here.

5) I was lucky enough to gain a place on the WoMentoring Project. My mentor is the fabulous Louise Walters. I never dreamt I could write (anything) and am so grateful of the project for giving me the confidence to try.

6) I read ALL the time. When I finish a book I have become really emotionally engaged in I carry out a period of silence and then don’t start another one for a couple of days as a mark of respect.

7) I practice gratitude daily. My journal is the last thing I do at night. Rather than dwell on the things I have lost or can’t do anymore I choose to look for the positives in everything. There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.

WordPress is teaming with inspiring bloggers but I have managed to pick some from the ones I follow from either my Fabricating Fiction blog or my Happy Starfish blog.

1) Stepping out of pain – As a sufferer of chronic pain I know there is a myriad of negative information readily available via google. People readily share how bad their condition is, how they will never get better, how nothing helps. It is lovely to read positive and inspiring posts with practical ideas that can help alleviate symptoms of chronic conditions.

2) The call of the pen – Lyn will probably shy away from this award but she is so encouraging of new writers and a fountain of knowledge, I couldn’t not include her.

3) Healing your grief – ‘How to work through the journey of grief after losing a child.’ Karen is such an inspiration, full of positivity and her posts are always beautifully written.

4) No one gets flowers for chronic pain – a touchingly honest account of life with pain, the good, the bad, the highs and the lows. Inspiring for other sufferers to know they are not alone (me included)!

5) Artfully Inspiring – Not only is Adelie a fantastic writer she is also a beautiful human being. Check out her about me page.

fabricating fiction

Louise Jensen – Writer – www.louisejensen.co.uk

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