A competition entry and another short story almost done.

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Hello again,

 

So, since the last time I posted I’ve edited my short story for the 1000 word short story competition a fair few times. It’s close to being finished. Well, as finished as it ever will be. I could spend ages editing it. Coming up with reasons why that one bloke down the street might not like it. But I can’t worry about that. As long as I’m happy I’ve done the best I can, I’ll be fine. I reckon the story will be finished before I next write to you. Possibly. It’ll be close anyway. I’m currently very happy with it but it can always get better. They always can.

Alongside doing this, as you may or may not know, I’ve been keeping on with my preparation for the sequel to my NaNoWriMo 2012 entry, The Searcher’s Want. The story so far has brought up a few things I can work on. A love triangle, which was born in the first story but can be suitably embellished within the walls of the second one, a new direction for the demons to go in (mainly revenge and the total destruction of the world, naturally) a few new characters, a new headquarters for the heroes of the piece and new weapons and vehicles. Along with all these wonderful things, I have most of the original characters from the first one that all require character development and new story lines. I know these things will materialise every time I sit down to write more and more. And this little bit of knowledge always makes me happy to be a writer and always makes me look forward to the next time I write. I hope this continues forever and ever and that.

Right, have a good week of writing and everything else.

Bye Bye

 

A competition entry, the start of another sequel and a bit of therapy.

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Howdo!

 

Since last time I have focused on two things. Editing a short story I’m going to enter into a short story competition and writing a short story, which could be a novella, that will set up the sequel to another story of mine, my 2012 NaNoWriMo entry about demons and those that hunt them and protect the world, The Searcher’s Want.

The first thing started with me writing a brand new story for a competition. 1000 words about anything I wanted with a deadline of 14.08.2014. As I racked my brain to decide what I could write about, I remembered I had planned ahead. I had already written a fair few short stories for just this kind of situation. So, I found one of them that was 750 words, and started to edit the hell out of it for the competition. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed writing the story I picked, about a man scared to share a secret condition he has with his nearest and dearest in fear of rejection (not from personal experience I might add) and editing it brought it all back. Of course I think it’s awesome, but I shall keep editing until I have all angles covered. I’m also thinking it will be fine practice for when I edit The Town of the Mountain. It’s going well so far and I’ve started to edit it only looking at character with the next part being location as I’ve already finished the grammar and punctuation check. I’ll let you know how it goes.

The second thing was the start of my Searcher’s Want sequel. I did start to write a 1000 word story using characters from my demons and hunters yarn, but I stopped and started all over again without the 1000 word limit. And immediately wanted to plan for a sequel. I’ve written 2000 words so far and thought of new things I’ll have to embellish on at some point before I write the full sequel. It’s shaping up already and I think I have the theme and story line for the whole thing. Which has helped me a lot as, in between all this wonderful writing of mine, my day job is winding me up something rotten. I’d write more about it but I don’t want to waste any more time than I already have. So…

The writing has been a kind of therapy for me and helped me get through the last few days. I also know, more than ever, that I want to AT LEAST write stories for the rest of my life. If they’re only for me, that’s fine. If others like them, cheeky bonus!

Ok. Going to get back to it.

BYE!!

 

A distraction? Oh well.

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Hello!

 

After finishing my last short story, which featured the last three hunters from the Town of the Mountain taking on a huge dragon currently known as ‘the big bad’(working name), I had to decide what my next short story would be about. And who it should be about more than anything. I have a few more people I want to write a short story for and set up for the sequel but I just could not decide who I should write about.

There are three names in contention. Darling Bloomflower, the new girlfriend of Markus and the very talented go-go dancer, Clifton Thomas, the owner of the main source of entertainment from the Town by the name of ‘The House’, and the Master Craftsman, the man responsible for training the hunters. Now I can think of how to start these stories and also how each of these characters may play a part in the sequel. This is now. Back then (last week) I could not think which character I wanted to write about. And then, a welcome distraction.

Writing Magazine holds many competitions each month and I plan on entering a few, or at least one anyway, this year. The latest competition is a 1000 word story competition on any genre. My head was buzzing. I could enter a story I’ve already written. Or create a new one. A new one? Hmm….I’ll have a go then.

As I started to write I chose to delve into another story I’ve written regarding Searchers (different word for hunters really) and demons for inspiration. I wrote 500 words and then was tired so went to sleep. When I came back to my 500 I realised I didn’t like it. So I deleted all of it and started again. And then it hit me. I could write a short story, or one a bit closer to a novella, to set up the sequel to my Searchers and demons yarn. So that’s what I’m going to do. And after that I’m going to get back to writing my short stories for the town of the mountain sequel. So many sequels. So little time. But it does give me a lot to write and pushes me further away from any chance of having writers block. For now anyway. And the 1000 word competition will still be entered into, hopefully.

And to finish off this entry to my little block of the internet, Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson is moving along nicely. The hero is getting along with his adventure as eloquently and humourlarly(is that a word? Nope. It stays in) as ever, and my commute to work and back is quick and nice. The only thing I have to worry about is the deaf population of the tram blasting their music through small, white headphones. Wish me luck.

Okidoke. Best get back to it. Bye!

The villains are made. But what of the new hero’s?

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Hello!

 

As the title suggests, the villains have been created. The villains of my sequel to the Bugbear adventure I’m preparing to write that is. I found some notes from around 18 months ago that had, along with the Vampire, Gargoyle, Dragon and Demon, Giants and Werewolves as the villains for this sequel of mine. And, though writing about Giants and Werewolves sounds great, I didn’t fancy having to juggle too many bad guys at any given time. I have finished the villain’s short story that I mentioned at the end of my last post and have crafted the starts of a plan for the villains to combat the new scourge of their lives, the hunters. A plan is in motion so when I come to write the whole sequel, I can at least have a starting point.

I considered writing about the Giants and Werewolves but I’d prefer to be able to calmly create four villains than possibly botch creating six. And in the past I’ve not enjoyed creating loads of villains anyway. I’ve already got seven (so far) hunters to scribble about and I’ve decided to make three out of the four villains have vast amount amounts like them as well. The Vampire will at least have an army at his disposal. An army which can be added to at any time. And, three of the seven hunters only saw real battle at the end of Town of the Mountain, so they’re on a steep learning curve to say the least. Which is the main focus of….

My next short story. Which is already finished! It concerns the newest hero’s to this tale, three of the four hunters that survived almost being beaten to death by the hunters of the town of the mountain, who then survived a hoard of bugbears not long afterwards (for more information, either ask me or look back over my previous blog posts). The three, Jackson, Meredith and Albert, have been sent to London to tackle its Dragon problem. They engage the beast in a heated physical and mental battle before the Dragon retreats. Or so they think. These three may or may not act separately from the main hunters but I’m not quite sure yet. I’ll have to mull it over. I’m glad it all formed on the page enough so that I had a starting point at least. I’m yet to write all the character profiles so this could all go out of the window.

Anyway, in between all of this I’ve kept on reading Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. I’m just about getting used to the language used, which is well old and with a lot of Scottish words and ways of speaking, but thankfully I can still read it smoothly enough. If I couldn’t, the book would have been out of the tram window in no time. I’ll let you know if I do. And try and take of picture of it as well.

Right then, Bye!

 

A book finished, a birthday holiday, and a short story started.

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Hello

 

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Since I last spoke to you I’ve finished reading The Picture of Dorian Gray. And a very good book it was to. Full of suspense, drama and it was extremely well written. Probably the most eloquent book I’ve read so far. It was paced very well and I’m happy to have added to my ‘Have read and liked’ collection. I’m hoping this collection will grow after I’ve finished my current book, Kidnapped by Robert Lewis Stevenson. I found it for £3.50 in a small book shop when I went to Anglesey. Of course, what I thought was a little known book, turned out upon its mention to my family that they had all heard of it. Anyway, so far the book it going well. I’ve taken to reading it to and from work religiously. It has made the trip very quick and more enjoyable than usual. Hopefully this will keep up.

I’ve also been busy having a 31st birthday (16th June) and a holiday in Rome (14-19 June) with my lovely girlfriend. I’m hoping to post some pictures from the holiday when I upload them to this here laptop of mine. Wouldn’t you know it, when we got back from my holiday, the charger cable didn’t work for it! So, as I watched the life drain from my computer, I realised I could not type a word or charge my iPod to listen to a song! I wanted to get back to writing after an amazing holiday in Rome and had to go almost primal by using a pen and paper! To be fair it was quite invigorating. Getting out of my comfort zone and having to concentrate on what I’m writing and making it eligible. Most of it wasn’t though but, once my new charger cable had arrived, I typed it all up and it became…

The next short story in my quest to prepare for the sequel to the Town of the Mountain. I was wondering who I should write about next. I ran over who I could write about and a few choices came to mind. Then I talked myself out of some of those choices and after doing this, I realised a question emerged. Who can I write about? Then, just as quickly as that question popped up, another more important one did. Who is the villain, or villains, of my sequel? I actually didn’t have one or any. So, I screwed my face up real tight and wondered who my villain could be. And then, as if by magic, it hit me. I started to think of a human as the villain but I decided against that. Why not a demon or two? I love writing about them? So, I decided that the bad guys will be the top demons of the four categories that plague my version of England. The head Gargoyle that leads to fight to ruin Liverpool. The head Vampire that wants to ruin Birmingham. The head winged demon that wants to ruin Manchester. And a whacking great big dragon, known as the big bad, that wants to ruin London. Once I had decided all this, I made the notes and started to write. I’m half way through it and very happy with what I have so far. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Well, I don’t like to ramble on too long so I’ll bid you a goodbye for now.

Have a good one, bye bye.

Another story, a plan of action, and a question about Editing.

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Hello!

 

Since last time I have not really done that much in the way of writing. Which is why I didn’t update my blog last week as I usually would have done. Today however finds me having done enough to warrant a glorious, in my view anyway, blog post.

I have been reading and am 2/3 of the way through The Picture of Dorian Gray. It started to bore me a little when it was going on about what Mr Gray had done in the years since he realised what gift his picture had given him. For instance, for around four pages or possibly more as I’m pretty sure I’ve blanked it out already, it went on about the different kinds of jewels he collected when he turned his hand to such a thing. Now, I can understand explaining what a character has been up to, but in that much detail? I almost found myself wishing I was reading another book. But then, I got to chapter thirteen. With all that over description done with, the story continued. And continued awesomely! I recommend reading it if you haven’t already done do.

Okidoke. To part of the title of this post. I finished the two swordsman, Stuart and The Count, short story for my lead up to/preparation for the sequel to my bugbear caper. As I was writing it I settled on two things. One, that I thoroughly enjoy coming up with stuff as I’m writing. Stuff which could lead to story arcs and things for the sequel that I had not even considered before sitting down to write. And two, a plan of action. I’m going to get my short stories written, I reckon I’ve got at least ten more to do, and then go head on into editing ‘Town of the Mountain.’

Now, every time in the past that I have gone to do this with any of my stories I have always been distracted. I think of another idea for a story, I see something shiny, I get hungry, my legs hurt, I’m checking how my football bet is coming along, to name but a few reasons why I haven’t exactly embraced editing. But it is an essential part of the process so I’m looking forward to going head on into it. I hope to start in August if I can. Or I might just start in August anyway. Who knows?

Along with reading for the past couple of weeks, I’ve also been on my travels. To Anglesey no less. It was great to have some time away with my girlfriend and my family. It all sets up my next holiday very nicely. Me and my girlfriend are going to Rome! For my birthday! I ordered my Europe’s yesterday and pick them up tomorrow. I’m starting to get excited. I’ve heard not one bad thing about the place so far. Here’s hoping it lives up to the hype.

Right then, I’ll leave you with a question. Do you have any tips for preparing to and doing the editing thing?

Cheers

Five Fascinating Facts about George Orwell’s 1984

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Hello

I liked this post so I thought I’d share this with you all.

Bye Bye

InterestingLiterature's avatarInteresting Literature

1. George Orwell’s classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was published on this day, 8 June, in 1949. But this wasn’t the original title of the novel. According to the introduction to the Penguin Classics edition, Orwell initially planned to set the novel in 1980; this then became 1982, and finally 1984 (or Nineteen Eighty-Four, as the title is usually rendered).

Orwell12. Orwell named Room 101 after a conference room in BBC Broadcasting House. In this room, during the Second World War, he had to sit through tedious meetings when he worked for the Ministry of Information. Indeed, the Ministry also served as the inspiration for the Ministry of Truth, where the novel’s protagonist, Winston Smith, works. ‘Room 101’ has, of course, entered wider linguistic use as a term for something containing one’s pet hates or worst fears. Although the novel also popularised the terms ‘thoughtcrime’ and ‘thought police’, these…

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The more I write the more the ideas keep flowing.

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Hello

 

I finished Eriden Grainger’s little yarn about how she has fared since the events of ‘The Town of the Mountain’ took place. I mentioned last time that she had a lot of worries on her plate. She still does by the end of the story but she now has a clearer idea of what value she may have to Manchester and its demon problem.

As she arrives in Manchester she is welcomed by a policeman who is flanked by five more policeman. Is this some kind of welcome wagon you may ask? Not really. The policeman is not so subtly letting Eriden know that he is scared of her. She finds out that none of the police on show, and probably most of the ones that aren’t, believe in the hunters or value them in anyway. Despite Markus’s already titanic efforts to reduce the demon population. Once she finds this out, she knows that she can’t wait to get to work and prove them wrong. She watches a local news report and see’s Markus being interviewed after his heroics which have been charted in his own short story. He then pays her a visit and fills her in a little bit more. I have always liked linking stories together using only one or two lines or just a small paragraph. Anytime this happens in a film or in a book I get excited. I just don’t want to do it too often though. It is helping me move these stories along so I’ll keeping doing it for now but I’ll stop soon. Honest.

And a related note, at the rate I’m going with planning the second book I’m asking myself, should I start writing it soon? No, I shall not. I’ll need to do plenty of planning and note writing before I do that. I might do it for NaNoWriMo this year. Hmm…..I’ve just paused for a few minutes while writing this to contemplate something I’m going to do in November. I always disliked people who relentlessly wish their lives away. Maybe my impending 31st birthday is making me think like a grown up or summat. I dunno. Whatever.

Other than the above, I’ve had a quiet week. I applied for a new job. I went out for drinks for a friend’s birthday, chilled on Saturday and won £14 betting on the Champions League final (cheers Mr Ramos), visited a food festival before more drinks and watched the latest X-Men movie. Come to think of it, maybe my week hasn’t been that quiet.

I’m going now.

Bye Bye