Inspired

By my new writing class. It's run by Stephen May, author of the indispensible Teach Yourself Creative Writing and the award winning novel TAG (Both great books and I'm not just saying that cos I know him :o)). Who fortunately for me and other local wannabe writers just lives down the road.

I wasn't sure what to expect, having been to several writing classes/groups over the last couple of years but I got back home last night buzzing and full of ideas. Stephen didn't waste a minute of the hour and a half and had us doing lots of fantastic writing exercises that all cunningly linked together and really worked. I found voices and characters I'd never imagined I had in me and came away with three pieces of writing that I'm sure will lead on to something more. The other people in the class were equally impressed - even /especially the woman who said she had never had to work so hard at writing in her life.

For anyone in the area who is interested in coming along the sessions are at Hebden Bridge Library on a Monday and Thursday evening 6-7.30.

Now I'm going to go and introduce my favourite new character from last night to the motley crew that are assembing for my Murder Mystery.

Counting the words

Got off to a flying start today - I wrote 2,000 words before lunch (OK, so it was a very late lunch). Unfortunately it was 2,000 words of an entirely new novel idea which came to me while I was reading my emails. It felt good to be writing so fluidly but I wish I could have added to my main novel word count. Still I suppose it's all good exercise and who knows where on or when those 2,000 words might come in useful.

I started to write a ghost story for the Times / Vintage Classics competition last night, but I had to stop 'cos I was giving myself the creeps. This isn't any indication of the scariness of my story, it's just that I am a wimp. It was fun tho' writing something in a genre I haven't tried before. I'm going to try and finish it off later, in the bright light of the afternoon.

I've signed up once more for a writing class run by my local WEA. Its one that I started back in January and I have found it really useful for lots of reasons - excellent advice and tips from our wonderful tutor, support from fellow local writers and adding a bit of structure to my writing life. I'm looking forward to the classes starting again in a couple of weeks.

I've now added a novel wordcounter to my blog, in the hope that it will embarrass me into adding to my total wordage (yeah I know quantity isn't everything but nobody seems to have devised a quality-ometer yet (now wouldn't that be a useful tool!)). I was pleased to find out that I had written almost a quarter of my intended total. Thanks to Sarah *G* for guiding me to the Zokutou Word Meter