Annette V Hart's Blog: The ramblings of Annette Hart, page 10

Another holiday, a different writing experience...

My first week a way for the summer (The Isle of Wight) I found I wrote a lot in spare moments when my attention was not demanded elsewhere. It seemed to free me up when my writing had been sticking and I was pleased with the progress I had made. I have just finished my second week away in a more beautiful location and a much better cottage (the middle of a rolling green nowhere in glorious Devon) yet I have not written a word.

I must admit that I read a lot (re-reading one of my favourite Harry Potters, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), and I sketched a bit but once again my writing stalled, even with the incentive of agreement to publish my third book. I can only think the important difference was that this was a holiday spent very much with family in mind, visiting relatives our main purpose.

Now I just need to find my way back to writing amongst the turmoil of my children's return to school...

Trail blazing women...

I've just watched a facinating programme on BBC4 all about Margaret Moore, Sir Thomas Moore's daughter. It talked about humanist education (grammar schools) and how unusual, therefore, her own education was. And she was the first English woman to publish a book in English who wasn't royal (although not under her own name). And, of course, she was followed by Queen Elizabeth I. At 11 she made a book for her stepmother, Katherine Parr, which was the translation of a French poem, bound in her own detailed embroidery.

It also reminded me what a good play A Man for All Seasons is!

Stimulating scenery...

With just a surprisingly small amount of cajoling, we managed to get the children out for a walk. Having not been for a while, we decided to visit Box Hill which is just a 5 minute drive away. With a big road race pending (in preparation for the Olympics next year), they've resurfaced the road but have left the speed humps - an interesting challenge for the cyclists.

It seems sad, with their no parking/stopping signs and fencing off the hill, that they only seem to be encouraging people to watch it from particular places - where, of corse, they will have to pay! We can watch it from my sister's roadside garden, drink in hand as the cyclists whizz by in seconds.

Still, I did find my walk inspiring. I often try to stop and take in certain areas, imprinting a picture in my mind to use at a later date in my writing. Today it was the ancient copse of yew trees that set my descriptive juices bubbling.

It's amazing what fresh sea air can do...

I always find I can write on holiday. I don't know if it's a relaxing of the mind and spirit but it certainly works for me. And usually there's a place, scene or event which captures my descriptive imagination for future use... Of course, it also helps that my husband is willing to take the children off to the swimming pool for an hour of quietude.

But maybe my willingness to write was down to the fact that our 'chalet' resembled a rather tired and delapidated, pre-fab, school hut!

Aaah... Holiday!...

I'm about to go on our annual family holiday (excepting the week, of course, a fortnight later when we visit family in Devon) and am looking forward to one whole week without a computer. I may not be blogging, drafting on Word, or trying to rouse interest in my book online but I will have both a pad and a sketch book to keep me doodling on the beach. I will also, of course, be taking plenty to read myself and I'm not ashamed to admit it's a plenty of historical (distant and recent) romance.

Avoiding over-analyising writing...

I'm finally back on track and writing well. Now I'm turning my thoughts to helping my son with his writing during the summer holidays. I spent hours trawling through the internet looking at ideas, books and worksheets; there are hundreds of books giving guidance on how to write every style of writing. But I'm cautious of using these guides - I don't want to disrupt what I am already doing right. And I certainly don't want to get bogged down in whether I'm doing things the recommended way, how it 'should' be done, or to get stuck in formulaic writing. I am going to stick to helping my son understand the basics: grammar and punctuation! I might learn something too.

Too tired to write, too tired to think...

I hate it when you really want to get on with writing but everything else in your life means you are just too tired. I find that then, even if I try, my writing is stilted and I have no ideas. I can sit and search in my head for ages, not find it, and then take forever to realise I should really give up and lie down!

It's usually a good point at which to pick up a book instead.

At the moment, it's a really busy end of summer term with lots of events happening right up to the end and at all hours. Roll on summer hols... Isle of Wight here we come!

Someone's beaten me to it!...

Once upon a time, many years ago, when I was at uni studying Medieval English Literature, we read and discussed an old legend and I thought it would be a good idea to write it for a modern audience. I never got around to it... and now someone else has done. I am ordering the book ostensibly for my son but in reality for me! The book is Hereward by James Wilde and tells the legend of the rebel and outlaw who fought the Normans and predates Robin Hood.

What's in a name?...

I've been methodically cataloguing all the names (characters and places) I've used in my stories so far. It's not that I don't want to repeat any names - I'd just rather not do so for my main characters and certainly not for places. But I feel that I have to keep tabs in an organised way (not like me at all!) as I have had a good go at making up the place names and I give my characters names with an Anglo-Saxon background, (or what might be relevant for their country).

I love my baby names book (The Classic 1000 Baby Names) and The Anglo-Saxons with an atlas comes in handy too!

Help finding books...

I found a wonderful site which not only reviewed my book and interviewed me but I've found really helpful in choosing books to buy myself: www.thebookbag.com.