Stacey Field's Blog

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10 Things Only Writers Will Understand

1) Your best ideas will happen just as you're about to drift off to sleep. You promise yourself you'll remember everything in the morning, but of course this never happens and you find yourself wracking your brain for hours trying to remember that witty bit of banter your semi-conscious state had dreamed up.

2) The internet is out to get you! You know you've set yourself a word limit of 1000 words a day but that youtube video of Jon Snow at a dinner party is just too good to be played once!

3) When they find out you're writing a novel friends and family will only ever ask you questions about your book. 'How many pages is it at now?' 'When will we be able to read it?' whilst you grind your teeth and wish the ground would swallow you up.

4) If you're in the zone and the words are flowing, toilet breaks become a thing of the past.

5) You're internet history looks as dodgy as hell due to constant googling of story ideas.

6) You obsess about commas way more than is healthy.

7) You often read back what you've written and wonder what the hell you were thinking when you wrote it.

8) You'll have days of complete confidence in your writing followed by weeks of feeling inadequate and wondering why the hell you set yourself up for so much criticism.

9) You'll receive looks of pure hatred from your dog and realise it's been days since you walked him/her.

10) You take a journal everywhere and take pride in the fact that you own one, yet you never actually write anything in it.

Crete villages, Yorkshire beaches and first drafts

Hello and welcome to my second blog post!  In the weeks since my last post I have been working very hard on my debut novel The Life and Afterlife of Charlie Brackwood in order to reach my deadline for a first draft.  I can proudly say I am now at the extremely exciting editing stage.  I purposefully set my deadline to be the day before me and the hubby jetted off to the beautiful island of Crete so that my thoughts weren’t consumed with deadlines and story plots, (not a great way to spend a holiday that was meant to be relaxing and stress free).

I am so relieved that the next stage of my book can now begin and in it’s complete, though raw, form I feel as though I have accomplished a small victory (hurrah!)  After almost a year and a half of writing, and experiencing days of complete confidence in myself but also enduring times of utter turmoil at the thought of my writing not being up to scratch, to actually have a complete story is a massive achievement and one that I will always be proud of.  But more, if not most, importantly I have enjoyed living in my imagination and allowing myself to daydream about a world that I alone have created.  To have a creative outlet when there was none before is a huge relief and I am very grateful for the time that has been given to me to pursue this project (mainly down to my amazing husband Tom…Thanks Tom!)

Anyway, back to my adventures in Greece.  With my newly found freedom (it felt strange not to have to sit at a computer sipping peppermint tea whilst scrupulously resisting the allure of the internet with it’s videos of jet skiing dogs and cats wearing Darth Vader costumes) we set to explore the traditional and idyllic village of Kouloutoufari.

This small, peaceful village is set back from the hustle and bustle of the main resort and, due to its location high in the hills, provides a stunning view of the sea and Hersonissos below.  I love Greek food and in this quaint village there were plenty of restaurants to choose from, all with wonderfully inviting and friendly hosts.  Greek people are lovely and we were even officially welcomed to Crete by one shop owner with a shot of locally made spirit, Raki (be warned: this home brew is strong!)

Over the duration of our hols the hubby and I spent our days being lazy by the pool or exploring the nearby villages of Piskopiano and Old Hersonissos, we even had a wander down to the beach front in Hersonissos.  Like Kouloutoufari, Piskapiano is an ancient village chiselled in to the side of Mount Herakas and is full of old architecture and traditional Greek cottages.  We even visited the Museum of Rural Life and an old church where we lit a candle (and almost burnt the church down as we hadn’t set it in the sand properly!)

But mainly we let the peaceful and relaxing atmosphere wash over us as we enjoyed spending some quality time together.  I specifically enjoyed having the time to read a few books, something I don’t often get to do these days.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Longest Ride and True Believer both by one of my favourite authors Nicholas Sparks.  I also saved You’re the One That I Want by Giovanna Fletcher for the flight home as I thoroughly enjoyed reading her debut novel Billy and Me and I wasn’t disappointed.  In fact, as I read it I felt as though I were travelling back in time to my own high school days!

After a glorious week in the bright sunshine and sweltering heat we made our way back to the green pastures of lovely Yorkshire where we settled back in to our normal routines with our two dogs.  But after a few days of normalcy we decided that we hadn’t quite had our fill of sea air and we set off to the sandy beaches of Filey in North Yorkshire.

The weather was no comparison to Crete but the hubby made the most of it by bringing his power kite along (and scaring a few dogs, including our usually extremely confident cockapoo, in the process) whilst I sat on a blanket and entered the worlds of Maddy, Ben and Robert; all characters in the novel You’re the One That I Want and became so absorbed in the plot that I no longer noticed the bitter wind whipping around me.

After a bout of kite flying and a spot of reading it was time for a bacon sandwich and a hot chocolate on the promenade.  As I stared off in to the distance watching families, couples and many, many dogs frolicking on the beach, my imagination muscle started to twitch and before long I had vowed to myself to set a story in the lively but romantic seaside town of Fileyin the future.  What a great setting for a story and on my own doorstep too!

Anyway, back to the daily grind…I have a novel to edit!

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Scarecrows, Sunshine and my Muse

For the past two weekends I took it upon myself to take a break from writing and get myself out in the warm weather to sample what Yorkshire has to offer a first-time writer like me, (and basically to suss out some plot ideas!).  Last Saturday saw the opening day for the Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival and after mentioning it to the hubby for weeks, I dragged him along to soak up some Yorkshire sunshine and ogle some straw-filled sacks in the shape of human beings, (and some non-human beings too!).

After parking the car (and soaking up some breathtaking Yorkshire Dales scenery on the drive there) we moseyed on down to the small, but heavenly, village of Kettlewell.  It truly was a sight to behold, and even lovelier was the amount of visitors that had turned up for the unveiling of this years scarecrows’ in such an idyllic village. Everywhere I looked luscious rolling hills lit up the landscape in a patchwork of assorted greens and yellows, creating a dramatic atmospheric feel to the village.  Small cottages were lined up in quaint rows with layers of bunting still decorating them, (the village was included in Le Tour) that only stood to reinforce the quaint village stereotype that is so alive in Kettlewell.

For £1 we purchased a map of the village, that included both child and adult trails, and then we were off!  It all began with the hubby spotting a yellow minion and after that it would appear scarecrows of all shapes and sizes came out to play!  An adorable sugar plum fairy, complete with wand and sparkly wings, was perched in a nearby garden, Spiderman was seen impressively climbing up the grey stone of an old cottage and even Father Christmas managed to make an appearance along with many others!  I even had a chance to turn myself in to a scarecrow with a fantastic photo op set up just outside the village hall.

But, my all time favourite scene had to be the maypole scene in the centre of the village.  Small scarecrow children adorned tiny straw hats and formed a circle with their straw arms outstretched in a pose that made you think they would launch in to a cheerful dance at any second, while colourful bunting gently flapped in the wind.  What a fantastic way to spend a Saturday.

After tirelessly scouring the entire village, including the beautiful local church, for amazingly life-like scarecrows often in humorous and clever scenes, we felt we were in need of a little light refreshment.  So we made our way to the village hall where we found a huge variety of scrumptious looking cakes expertly made by the local villagers as well as a variety of drinks and sandwiches, all very modestly priced too!  We chose to sit in the walled garden that belonged to the village hall and devour our scarecrow-hunting rewards whilst soaking up the fantastic atmosphere and scenery.

The best part of the festival was knowing that all the proceeds from the car park, (£2 all day stay), the scarecrow trail sheets and the refreshments in the village hall were put back in to the village via the local school and church.  It was great to know we had helped towards keeping such a fantastic little village with such an incredible community spirit up and running for another year.

So, see you next year Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival I can hardly wait to see your next batch of creative scarecrows!

Over the past week I have come to a real difficult point in my story, I guess most people would call it writers block but in short: I haven’t a blooming clue how to carry on my storyline!  At least, I didn’t until I took a visit to the place it all began.  Burnsall, the beautiful Yorkshire Dale village that my book is set in.  The weather was a bit temperamental; raining one minute, bright sunshine the next but that didn’t make the scenery any less beautiful.  As I stood on the path that runs along the river wharfe and gazed at the decorative 5-arch bridge, my beloved characters began talking to me again!  To my great relief my muse was back!

I decided to take a walk further down the river and came across some spectacular views, the limestone cliffs loomed and overshadowed the clear water beneath it and ideas started popping in my head at a rapid rate!  What a magical, fantastic place it is and what a privilege to have it on my doorstep.  The peaceful surroundings had such an effect on me that I was reluctant to go home.

I always mused whether I had a muse (get it?) and it turns out I do…it’s just embedded in the beautiful Burnsall countryside, which I am extremely happy about.  After all, now I have an excuse to visit the village me and the hubby got married in and I can file it away as ‘creative necessity’!

Anyway, now I have no excuse’s I had better get back to work!  I hope you liked my first blog post and keep tuning in for more Yorkshire-related musings.

The post Scarecrows, Sunshine and my Muse appeared first on Stacey Field.