Month: March 2013

So close. Bloody research.

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Hello

It’s getting close the dead line for my short short story. I’m almost finished with it and ready to send it in but I would’ve been finished completely if I hadn’t done one thing.

I asked my dad for advice.

Now don’t get me wrong. I value my dad’s opinion greatly and he’s always been very insightful and honest with me. I asked him about the hero of my story. He is 29 yrs old and resembles a blond Hugh Jackman. He also can’t feel hot or cold temperatures. Well, not all the time anyway. It’s only when he gets very close to either of them or is out in either of them for a long time that it affects him.

I ran this passed my good old dad and he said that if the character does actually feel pain then he is not completely immune to hot or cold temperatures. He just has a high pain thresh hold. This would account for him being able to feel pain but only at last minute as he doesn’t react in the same way as most people do when they’re near a fire or out in the cold. This was very insightful and something I needed to hear. I did some more research to confirm this and, as always really, he was right. But this also meant one more thing.

I had to go back over my story and edit it to include this new found, and something I should’ve looked into earlier really, piece of information.

Thankfully I only had to add a few things in so the story would make sense and the reader can understand what the hero’s, in his opinion, condition is and why he feel lonely. The deadline is 13/4/13 and it’s now creeping up on me. Wish me luck and hopefully I’ll get my first competition entry of 2013 in on time.

Well, I’m going to get back to editing the story. I’ll post it on here when it’s finished and hopefully you’ll give me some feedback.

Oh and, how close to missing deadlines have you come in the past?

Laters

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A little looks to be going a long way.

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Hello

I recently read an article about in ‘Writing Magazine’ about getting the first draft of your novel finished and one part caught my eye. The rest of it was stuff I already knew. Stuff like having a structure for your story, just typing and not worrying to much about the content as the edit will take care of it and so on. But the one thing that stood out for me was this.(well the general meaning of it anyway as I can’t remember the full quote)

‘You don’t have to write vast amounts each day. Even if you only write a small amount they’re all words that will get you closer to completing your novel.’

I often worry that I should be writing a certain amount each time I sit down at my desk. I’d find myself forcing out 2000 words when really I only felt up to writing 500. But 500 every day is a good amount in anyone’s book. Even just 100 is fair. As you will probably know if you’re into to writing something the words will just flow. Before you know it you’ll count them and find you’ve done a few hundred in no time.

I’m getting into writing everyday and it is very rewarding. I find that I’m moving my current story along nicely and getting closer to the final epic(hopefully) battle that concludes the whole thing. I’ve even used my main twist which I’ve been waiting to use for AGES.

Well, I’ll get back to it. But one question before I do, how many words do you write each day when you’re writing a story?

Bye

Edinburgh. A late Christmas present.

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Hello

I’m still in the process of editing my short short story for my first competition entry of 2013. I’ve always been editing the story once every 24 hours but had to leave it for three whole days on account of a late Christmas present. A Christmas present me and my girlfriend had given to each. A trip away to Edinburgh.

My girlfriend Michelle works as a nurse and has to schedule her time off way in advance. This meant that 11th – 14th March was the earliest she could book time off work. We decided, well she did and I agreed, to go away on holiday for a few days instead of buying each other Christmas presents. And anything that we want we have or go out and buy so it was a good idea. We discussed the Lake District and Edinburgh and eventually settled on Edinburgh. I booked the hotel and she booked the train tickets.

We arrived in Edinburgh on a cold Monday 11th March 2013 afternoon. I thought I could use my map location/GPS thing on my phone to find the hotel. But I learned a life lesson that day. Don’t rely on those blood things. Everytime I stopped to check we were going in the right direction it changed the sodding route. This meant that when we got to our hotel, an average place that was just about what we needed, we had gone in a few circles. Anyway, we got ourselves settled and went out for some food and few drinks to start the holiday off.

The next day we decided to visit Edinburgh Castle. It was still cold but we didn’t want to let that stop us. After having a Scottish Breakfast, I forgot that haggis isn’t that bad, we set off up the hill towards the castle.

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Oh yes. I have pictures.

Even from the car park the views from the castle are pretty good. Though they’re better when you get inside. It costs £14.95 (at time of writing) per adult and we made sure we got our money’s worth. The following are some of the photo’s I took whilst wandering round.

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Just a couple of notes on these pictures. The first picture is the first view of Edinburgh city centre you can see when you enter the castle grounds. The middle picture to the left is the ‘One O’clock gun’ which is fired everyday. The bloke on uniform marches out and fires the gun. And that’s it. The bottom picture is the one I like the most. It depicts ‘Private McBain at Malplaquet.’ The story goes that when Private McBain’s wife decided to return home to Scotland she handed him their infant son. Having nowhere else to put him, Private McBain put his son in his knapsack and continued to fight the battle Malplaquet. That’s courage for you.

Here’s a few more that I thought were good.

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After leaving the castle we decided to climb to Arthur’s Seat. The highest peak in Edinburgh. The website I looked at said it wouldn’t take too long. It took us almost two hours to get there, climb it, take pictures, climb back down and go back to the hotel. More pictures for you.

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It is a medium to hard climb for those who don’t that kind of thing to often. And it helps if you wear the correct trainers or boots. Though it is very satisfying to climb to the top of it and the views are spectacular. I’d recommend it. After this we went home and rested before going out but we only lasted for a few drinks. We were knackered.

The last full day we had, Wednesday 13th March, the sun was out and we went to Edinburgh’s old town and visited the Camera Obscura – World of Illusions museum. It was full of optical illusions, a mirror maze, a machine that let you see how would look as a baby or a caveman and loads of other things that made my head go all over the place. Here are a few more pictures for you.

That short short story of mine

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Hello

So I’m well on my way to finishing my entry for the writing magazine’s short short story competition. Having only 750 words to work with is hard. But exceedingly good.

I’m settled on my story but making sure use all the words are used correctly and none are wasted is as good as it is bad.

Its bad because I find myself overthinking what words to use. But I suppose any writer does. Should I use the word ‘explain’ or ‘define’? Should I say ‘he wounld’nt have it.’ or ‘he would’nt listen.’ The story is set in my head but the words that link it up just keep on changing. This is bad because the deadline is 13/4/13 and with editing comes one or two corrections each time. I shall keep going though. I’ve come this far.

Its good because I get to see an idea I’ve had for years grow. I get to see an idea which I’ve sat on for ages come to fruitition. I have to say I find it…how do I put this…well awesome! Even if the story doesnt get me anywhere in that competition, I’ll have it written. I’ll have it to re-jig. I’LL HAVE IT.

Anyway, i’m gonna back to it. That thing won’t edit itself. So I’ll leave you with a question…

Have you got an idea you’ve been sitting on?