Friday 2 March 2007

Lagging behind in the race...

Oh dear or dear I’m lagging behind, I never was too good at races!!

But I’m determined to carry on; there have just been a few things which have been distracting me lately:

- My other writing work, which pays the bills. I write career guides for How to Become. So far I’ve written four and I may also write some more in the future. But they’re really long (between 10,000 and 15,000 words – more than a dissertation!) so they’re quite time consuming.

- My part time job, I work for a corporate hospitality company and we do events like the Rugby and racing so we’ve been really busy (Which translates: no time to write while my boss isn’t looking)

- My hectic social life; I know this is a good thing but last week I was out almost every night, and I had so much writing to do; I should just disown my friends!!

- All my writing courses. I do a Novel writing class on Monday nights at the City University and a Freelance writing class on Wednesdays at the City Lit. They’re both brilliant but it means I running in and out of London like crazy all the time. Oh and I did a short story writing class, all day, last Sunday, which I’d recommended.

Another big annoyance which has been on my mind is a psychic reading I had last night. It’s something I’ve wanted to do in a while, and was really looking forward to what she would tell me. Big disappointment. I went with three friends who all had excellent readings by different psychics, but mine just blagged everything, I’m sure of it! Okay she told me a few things about how my writing career would improve but she could have said that to anyone. It was all such general stuff, and I can’t believe I paid her for it. A woman who went before me felt the same about her, so it wasn’t just me. It’s a shame as I feel as though I will be quite cynical about this type of stuff in the future, the only advice I can give to anyone who is thinking about having a reading is go to one which is recommended to you beforehand.

Anyway enough about that; I definitely needed to get it off my chest though!! I have lots to do novel wise, and really need to get on with it this month. I want to sort out my plot, characters and write at least 5,000 words, so I’ll keep you posted!!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Couldn't keep up with your schedule! Good luck this week getting back to the novel.

Thihnking of the physic things have you Julie Cohen's Spirit Willing Flesh Weak? Great light read and about a fake physic.....
Have a great weekend.

Rose Red Art said...

We all write when we can. Don't worry about it! Life tends to get in the way for me too! This isn't really a race as such - well, I don't see it that way anyway!

It's a shame your experience with the psychic wasn't good. I do palmistry and tarot card readings (although I'm still learning with the tarot cards) I'm too nervous to see a psychic myself!

Zinnia Cyclamen said...

Good grief, no wonder you're taking a while to get the words down! Can you find small chunks of time? I did my first draft in three 30-60 minute sessions a week, output most weeks around 2000 words, not a huge amount but that way you get a first draft done in a year or thereabouts. Am here to say hello as a fellow novel racer btw - not really racing though as I'm revising now, but happy to be part of this lovely online writing community.

Buffy said...

So how does one get in on the race? I need to sit something aside and begin again...and I need motivation ...

NoviceNovelist said...

Thanks for popping in with your words of encouragement on my new blog - I just cracked 50k words and am on a crazy high!!! really like your blog - love hearing about other writer's lives - so good to feel I'm not along. Good luck with your word count!!!!

Jay said...

I think writers have to live their lives fully - if you don't have experiences, what will you write about?