How to make my writing better?

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Trudy K Taylor

“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”

Albert Einstein.

image by Binlid at imcool.co.uk

I’m not good at asking for help, but I’ve reached a point in my writing where I can’t move forward without it.

Apart from an LSJ course on Writing for Children (which was excellent), no one has ever critiqued my work. I don’t belong to a writers’ group and I don’t have critique partners, but I also don’t have a completed manuscript, so to be fair, I was concentrating my efforts on that.

Here’s the problem: for the last few weeks I’ve been posting short flash fiction stories to the Writer Unboxed site for their summer competition. This was a big step, no one apart from the tutor at LSJ had ever read my work. And I had ‘beginners luck’ I think, as the first posting got an honourable mention, but the thing is, I’ve been posting every week since then, and I’m just not getting any better, or even equalling that first success, and I don’t know why.

My goal is to write novels, and I appreciate that short stories (and you don’t get much shorter than flash fiction) are a different medium entirely. But I should still be able to see where I’m going wrong.

Maybe I’m bad at editing – when I read the stories over, I don’t know what’s missing, but I’m clearly not connecting with the readers or the judges. If anything, I’m getting less ‘likes’ each week I enter.

There are a couple of my stories that I don’t like myself, in retrospect, but others I still do. And this isn’t about wanting to win the competition, it’s about spotting a problem and just not knowing how to fix it.

And then I thought about an episode of The Big Bang Theory I’d seen, where Sheldon quoted Einstein’s definition of insanity. Click here for a clip from the same episode, but not the actual quote, which is so good, you’re getting it again –

I don’t want to be that person, it strikes me as such a huge waste of time, (I barely have enough of that as it is!), so I need to ask for help.

I’ve decided to reach out to a couple of other bloggers and see if they know of any competitions or other online forums where I can submit work and where feedback is encouraged.

I’ll let you know how I get on.

And if you’re aware of any such places out on the Web, could you let me know?

Doggy Snood

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Trudy K Taylor

Bertie has long ears. And in summer, as most spaniel owners know, grass seeds are really common, and once they get inside the ear, they don’t want to come out.

Out little spaniel was in agony last week when he encountered one of these pointy little seeds, and it cost us a trip to the vet (where he was sedated) and £82.

I don’t want to stop taking him to his favourite places, they’re my favourite places too, and most mornings you see something magical like this….

… a deer spying on us from across the field.

So – I have come up with a cunning invention….the doggy snood.

What? Yeah, I know it looks ridiculous, but he’s co-ordinated!

It’s an old pair of my tights, or a healthy chunk of the leg actually, and it fits on his ears just nice.

(Martha Stewart has instructions to sew a more stylish dog snood, if that interests you)

From the front, it looks a little odder.

But he’s happy.

As always.

Olympic Opening Ceremony on Weymouth Beach

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Trudy K Taylor

Weymouth beach, 2 massive TV screens, and the Olympic Opening Ceremony streamed live to an audience of thousands. A real night to remember.

We parked outside town, and walked in along the seafront – which was a treat in itself. The view across the bay towards Weymouth is magical.

Weymouth holiday makers certainly look unusual this year: there were a couple of short haired joggers along the Esplanade who looked more Special Branch than tourist; and there’s the sailing crews, with their incredibly tanned skin, and crisp Team colours, who seem like super-beings walking amongst us.

It was such a beautiful balmy night, we could have been walking in the Med, but once inside the Live Site, I’ve rarely felt so British. The atmosphere was incredible, and the ceremony itself was breath-taking. I was so impressed with what Danny Boyle put on for us – it showcased so many things we should be proud of as a nation; also well pleased to recognise most the songs being played, though Eldest Daughter had to point out Dizzee Rascal to me, and I returned the favour by supplying the name of the Sex Pistols when she asked.

I knew the words to a lot of the songs, so did the crowd, and we all sang to the National Anthem. Interestingly, no one, including me, seems to know the second verse. That can’t be right can it? I bet other countries know all the words to their anthems. But when I questioned the girls later, it occurred to me that the only time you hear ‘God save the Queen’ is at a sporting event, and we don’t watch a lot of those – apart from the FA Cup Final, or the World Cup – and now the Olympics.

We missed the end of the ceremony, as we had a long walk back, but caught the fireworks on the beach, and we’ll catch up on what we’ve missed over the weekend – isn’t technology incredible?

Enjoy the rest of the Olympics, I’m sure it’s going to be amazing.

First official day of the summer hols!

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Trudy K Taylor

(Weekends don’t count, apparently).

We’re not going away this year – too much to do and spend on the house – but this first day has gone pretty well so far.

I’ve got two girls and a dog to entertain, and I really love having them around, and miss them like crazy when they go back to school.

There.

I’ve distanced myself from half the women I know. The split seems to be 50/50 between those dreading the kids being off for 6 weeks, and those loving it! And I’m firmly in Team Loving It (sounds vaguely like a popular fast food – oops).

First things first – a nice long walk with the dog, and boy, it’s hot out there. And then with one happy, exhausted mutt bedded down for the morning, we headed into town for the thing we do every year – the library challenge. This year it’s called Story Lab, but the challenge is the same – read 6 books over the summer.

Youngest daughter picked out a varied bunch of books, including 2 Horrid Henry’s, 2 Eva Ibbotson’s , Ellen Renner’s Castle of Shadows (recommended by me), and an interactive crime novel, by Karen King, with podcasts giving extra clues. I’m intrigued by the interactive book, it strikes me as a clever balance between reading and technology, but my opinion doesn’t count – we will see what Youngest makes of it*.

Now, Eldest daughter has taken a different route entirely. We’re extremely fortunate that our local library lends ebooks, and she wants to try it out. She’s doubly lucky that her iPad is compatible with the Overdrive system the library employs, (seems like the Kindle, which Youngest and I both own, is not). I’m sure the selection isn’t huge, but Eldest didn’t want to take any tree books home with her on this trip.

Next stop was the park. Every kind of park life was on display; youngsters paddling in the fountain; teenagers skateboarding, and meeting up with friends; office workers soaking up the sun with their packed lunches; organised mums with happy, shiny children sitting down on picnic mats; and elderly couples taking in the scene on park benches.

I grabbed a coffee, Youngest paddled in the fountain, and Eldest climbed a tree.

And then we walked home for lunch.

Because I am not one of those organised mums with a picnic blanket.

Still, it’s only the first day.

I can always get better.

* Update: the podcasts are ‘well cool’, apparently, but ‘they kind of disrupt the flow of your reading’.

3 inspiring links to keep you writing

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Trudy K Taylor

So, are you finished your book yet?

Friends used to ask this question when I started writing. Now? Not so much.

I guess they figure I should be done already. My book should be sitting on a shelf somewhere, and I should be signing copies in Waterstones, and doing ‘famous author stuff’.

I have to admit, I believed this fantasy once. I thought I’d write the book (which would be easy), and it would be snapped up (preferably with a bidding war) and I’d be going to the film premiere in Leicester Square in no time!

I’m not so embarrassed to admit this, since the fantasy was enough to get me started on this writing journey. We all have to start somewhere. And thanks to the many hours I’ve spent staring blankly at my current Word document, and all the writer’s blogs available online, I know a LOT better now.

But once you know how hard it is to get published, it can be a little gloomy, so here are my links to the most inspiring, honest and upbeat accounts of the road to publication.

1. Shannon Messenger, who began writing in 2009 and has her first MG novel out soon.

She does a great roundup of her writing year, which makes for an inspiring read.

Here they are in order 2009 2010 2011

2. Then, there’s Amanda Hocking’s story of how she self published all her books (and there are many – she writes FAST!) – an epic tale of how it all happened

3. Laini Taylor’s post about how Daughter of Smoke and Bone (wonderful book!) came into being –wheeeee-real book! You have to click through a few links to get the full story, but honestly, reading this blog is such a pleasure anyway, it’s worth it. Laini also has a great blog about her writing process, called Not for Robots, which is well worth checking out.

Of course, while you’re reading these posts, you’re not getting any work done…but procrastination is a topic for another time!

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