Archive for August, 2008
How to be miserable: Try to become a fiction writer!
Don’t worry, I haven’t entirely sunk into a can’t-finish-a-novel depression - I just liked the idea of entering the How to be Miserable contest being sponsored by life coach Tim Brownson. But in fact, trying to becoming a fiction writer can certainly produce its moments of misery, so if you’re in the business of wanting [...]
Buying Australian books at the Book Depository
I’ve mused before about buying books online or from my local bookshop, and my preference is definitely to browse through my favourite independent bookshops and enjoy touching the books, reading the first pages, and discovering books I didn’t even know existed yet. But in recent weeks I’ve been a bit let down by this strategy [...]
Enid Blyton was my childhood hero: But do we need new books?
Since my new bookshelves arrived, I’ve been gradually unpacking more boxes of books which had been stored (generously) in my mother’s cupboards. Last weekend it was the turn of my childhood books to appear out of the boxes, and if anybody had been listening to my ecstatic cries each time I uncovered another old treasure, [...]
I really wish I could write like that: Can I perfect my own writing style?
Regular readers will be glad to hear that the much-anticipated writing buddy system is finally bearing fruit, so to speak. We’re both about a week behind our timetable but a few days ago I sent the next chapter of my novel over to Katrina and have started work on the following one.
Writing this novel is [...]
Nobody ever arrested me for overdue library books … yet
You might remember my frank confession about my difficulties in returning library books by the due date. If you don’t remember, suffice to say that I have major overdue library book issues. On three continents.
However, I’m pleased to say that until now I have never been arrested in connection to overdue library books. Heidi Dalibor [...]
It seems that I have original ideas, at least occasionally
Remember a few weeks ago I wrote another short story for a Writers Weekly 24-hour contest? Well, results are still not in yet, but what I read on the Writers Weekly site today still cheered me up somewhat.
Angela Hoy of Writers Weekly wrote a post this week about the common themes that she found in [...]
Unspectacular beginning to writer buddy system
So … yesterday was the first deadline in our writing buddy system. Both my buddy Katrina and I had spectacularly disorganised weeks last week with the odd drama and hiccup thrown in for good measure, and failed to meet our deadline yesterday. Instead, we ate cheesecake together. (Baked cheesecake, the best kind).
However, we are not [...]
A big lack of writing motivation
So far, it’s really been one of those weeks. My paid writing gets done only because a deadline is looming; my poor fiction writing has only got a couple of looks in and only in the form of me opening up a Word file and leaving it open most of the day, hoping that seeing [...]
Getting back on the train soon
I’ve had a car for most of winter, which is handy for getting to work when it’s cold and dark in the mornings. But it does mean that I’m missing an important ritual of my teaching days: catching the train and the bus. I’ll have to give up this car again soon, but I’m really [...]
A fluffy, funny novel for NaNoWriMo?
So if I’m not planning to write my serious second novel for the 2008 NaNoWriMo month, does that mean I skip the event altogether? Or should I turn my hand to some of the other writing ideas I have, for something a little less literary and more fun to write?
Recently I’ve really enjoyed reading a [...]