Alex Laybourne's Blog, page 76

The Week Ahead

Last week was a raging success. Not only did I hit nearly 1000 words a day on my novel, I managed to edit a fair amount, learn a lot in the process - about my technique and how to improve it, and I also blogged like a motherfuc… um, I mean, train, like a train.

I even managed to pick up a few freelance gigs which I knows out Friday night and Saturday. Only $50 but it buys some baby diapers and things so it’s all good. Should have some more coming in this week too.

Looking back, last week was one of my best in recent weeks, I hope I can keep it up. With that in mind, let me jump ahead to my goals for this week.

I still have two projects on the go, and I like having it so. Especially as one is writing and the other is editing it allows me to shift focus regularly.

On the WIP, I will keep my aim at 500 a day, and the editing I just want to get it done this week. It should be possible, then I can send to collection out to my Beta readers. Of which I have a couple for this collection.

Then it is just a question of cover art and then away we go. I have a great cover concept in mind, I just need to ask my brother-in-law nicely.

Only a short post this morning, to start the week gently, but please, all feel free to share your plans for the week ahead. I love to hear your plans as much as I enjoy making my own. I feel we can all benefit from pooling ideas, for there are bound to be methods that we use which differ in some way and may be just what we are looking for to shake things up and get us moving at a fast pace.

Have a great week.

Result; Free Gym Membership

Today there was a fun fair in town for the kids, and a large flea market. It is an annual event that closes off many of the streets in town to end a week of celebrations. I’m still not sure what the reason for it is, but hey, who cares. It’s good fun.

Every year we go and walk the market, take the kids to the fun fair and just generally have a nice family day.  Today was no exception. As has been the case for the last three years, torrential rain was forecast and actually showed up. We were not deterred and as the clouds broke and the sun came through, everything fell into place.

About half way round, the flea market becomes more of a general market, and there was a stall there for a local gym. Being the ex gym addict that I am, I went to see what they had to offer, and was told they had a promotion running where you can win a free day pass etc. The idea was simple, reach into a covered bucket, grab a ball and off you go.

My son wanted to give it a go, so I said ok, fine. He reached in and pulled out the winning ball and I now get to work out for 1 month absolutely FREE.

I haven’t been to the gym in about four years, because… well… I don’t have the money for it, so the chance to get back into the swing of things, even if just for a month is just incredible.

That’s pretty much all I’ve got for today, I was just happy and wanted to share the news. Nothing writing related, but to be honest, I haven’t done any writing today. Unless you count the freelance project I got in, started, and finished in one day. (Pats myself on the back)

It’s raining and blowing a gale outside now, the house is quiet and everybody is asleep. Time for a read and then the football highlights.

I have to weigh myself tomorrow. Been two weeks since the last time. The diet I’m on is going well, or so I think. None of my trousers fit anymore, so I guess that’s a good sign. Hoping to have lost a couple of kilos. Maybe blogging about it will help keep me focused. Not that it has been a problem until now. I will keep you posted.

Have a good night!

EDEN LAKE

Reblogged from Written in Blood:

EDEN LAKE-United Kingdom-2008

Kelly Reilly as Jenny

Michael Fassbender as Steve

Written and Directed by James Watkins

First, there is the plot. Steve (Michael Fassbender, “Inglourious Basterds“, and “Shame”) has a holiday planned with his girlfriend Jenny (Kelly Reilly, “Sherlock Holmes“, “Pride and Prejudice“). He takes Jenny to an idyllic remote lake for some sun and relaxation before the place is turned into a housing community called Eden Lake.

Read more… 562 more words

A great review on one of my favorite British horror movies.

A Natural Blog

I am been on somewhat of a blogging rampage of late, the ideas have been flowing freely, and my capacity for writing seems to have increased exponentially with my decision to cut the junk food from my diet and lead a much healthier lifestyle. I am sure that there is a link between the two.

Still, when it comes to blogging, I find that I cannot force my writing. With fiction I have no problem in just bulldozing ahead with my ideas, forcing the words onto the page until they form some sense of order and there, amidst the mess I find my path again. With a little bit of landscaping I can clear it away and there we go. With blogging it doesn’t work like that.

There used to be days where I stared at the page ‘ New Post’ the only text on the screen. My mind would be a blank and I was unable to enter even the most basic of words. Having the idea but being unable to get the words out was one problem, but having nothing at all was something else. I could read all the blogs I wanted, I could scour the news and think of movies I like or books that inspire me, but nothing would get my brain into blogging gear.

The, the moment I turned away to do something else, it would hit me. Inspiration.

The less I thought about, the more the little voice in the back of my mind spoke up. “You should blog about that.” or “That’s a nice idea, we can use that.”

In the beginning, I was annoyed by this, but then I got to thinking, and in theory, it makes sense. A blog should be natural, it shouldn’t be something that is forced.

Sure, we blog for others to read, but no every post has to be something profound or life affirming, for you or your readers.

What is blogging if not just a modern form of journal keeping?

Recording out private thoughts and feelings, is a natural act, it needs to flow. To journal, we need to be relaxed, and simply let go. Be unafraid to show who we are, beneath the public persona that we all create for ourselves. The sort of honesty, even on particular topics, as blogs tend to be, cannot be forced. They must flow.

So this week, I decided that the very last thing I would think about it blogging. Th result, I have been blogging more than ever, and in my honest opinion, they have been some of my very best posts.

So, with this I decree, that I will continue to not think about blogging, for as long as people continue reading what I don’t think about.

With that, I want to end this post with a thank you, extended to all of you who have read this post or any of the other ones I have written.

A Writer is Born to Do But One Thing

 

I firmly believe that people are born to be writers. Sure, anybody can put words together, and anybody can edit them into something meaningful, but writers are a breed apart. We live writing, it consumes us. There is something burning away inside out hearts, our minds and our soul that just makes us write. It forces our hand, and whether we want to or not, whether we publish our work, destroy it, spend out lives editing the same piece of text over and over, or just hide it away in a small dark room for our eyes only, we must do it… we must write.

For me, this goes even further, I have a need to write things down. I list things, to do list’s at work, or making notes for things that don’t need to have notes made of them.

At work, someone asks me to check my customer’s databases for something. I only have 4 customers, and have had them for the whole 2 years I have been here. Rather than just check it, I write their names down so just that I can write them. I don’t cross them off, I rather write a note next to them saying, ‘Checked’ or ‘Done’.

When checking work, either my own or my colleagues, instead of just typing up my comments, I write everything down by hand, and then type it up after I am done. I go through more notepads and pens than anybody in the office, simply because I have this continuing, burning need to write. I do it unconsciously. I pick up a pen and write words, random words.

I try to tell myself that it is because I am a writer, because seeing words written, on paper or typed is just something I need. It keeps me calm, makes me feel safe and secure. Words comfort me, creating them, putting them down helps to streamline my thoughts.

I can multitask quite well (without sounding too pretentious) but still, I like to write everything down. Even when I have no time, or a tight deadlines, I write. My handwriting gets worse and worse, until it looks like the chicken scribble of a doctor in the middle of a caffeine rush, but still, I have to put that pen to paper.

Is it just me, am I nuts? Actually, don’t answer that, I know I’m absolutely bonkers, but that is outside the scope of this level of word obsessed nuts.

What I find even strange is I don’t keep a journal. But, oh, how I would love it… I feel another post coming on.

 

 

 

 

Review: The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I will admit, this book is not something I would normally read, but I picked it up, and it sounded interesting. I had no idea what it was, and boy am I glad I stepped out of my comfort zone. The Lovely Bones is an incredible read and quite the emotional journey,

I will freely admit that the book moved me to tears in several places. Not because of a specific chapter or even the setting, but rather a single line. There were a couple of instances within the book that just hit me for some reasons. One was when Susie sees her Grandfather again, they dance and then he leaves.

I am no great reviewer, I read for pleasure and to improve my own writing, and I don’t want to give away any spoilers because that would be unfair, to rob people of the full Lovely Bones experience.

The book takes us through grief and mourning in a way I have never seen before. We see how a single death can affect a community, and forever alter the course of lives. Even of those who had very little to do with the deceased when they were alive, and had no role in their death.

We see a family struggle, fall apart, and then slowly rebuild. We see relationships develop and crumble, and yet, above all of that, above the real world sufferings of those grieving a loss, we are made to wonder, if not for just a second, about those that pass on. If you believe in spirits, or a heaven (something I would love to do, but find myself lost on) then this book will make you pause. How do the dead mourn their passing. Sitting above us, watching out lives play out, how do they cope with what happened, and react to the chain of events that their death started.

A stunning masterpiece, this book is going straight back onto the TBR pile.

View all my reviews

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,

When it comes to editing, I do it long hand. I print out my manuscript and take the dreaded red pen to it.

I don’t know why I do it that way, but it was a habit I have picked up, and one I continue to refine. I figure that to change it now would just be a waste of time and of good habits that I have formed by following such a regime.

The other day, as I was editing a collection of short stories that I wrote a long (long) time ago, I began to grow a little disenchanted with the amount of red pen that I saw marching over the page.

Granted, I was not only highlighting errors, but also sections that needed to be re-addressed and new ideas that came to me. As these stories have sat for about 18 months, it is understandable that I have grown enough as a writer to see my errors and correct them. Still, it is never nice to see so many corrections, even when advised by my own hand.

A brain wave struck, and it made me wonder if other writers to this also.

Editing it primarily about removing the bad, it is about polishing and shaping the lump of (word)clay we have thrown onto the table, and fashioning something from it that people want to read, cherish and adore.

However, what about if we also pick out the bits we like. What I plan on doing in the future, is to take the dreaded red pen to my errors and areas of improvement, but to use a highlights to pick out the lines, or sections that I really like. The strong sentences, phrases that make me smile or that I think really make the page stand out.

Maybe by doing this, introducing a little color and vibrancy to proceedings, editing will lose the daunting edge.

Is it possible that by highlighting what is good and what we love, we will also, in return develop a sharper eye for the things we dislike.

Personally, I would like to believe it would work that way. It would certainly lift my mood a little, when typing up the re-writes to see a page with positive things pointed out.

What do you think?

Daddy, I Know How We Can Get Rid of Granny!

 

May I Have This Dance?

Join me, and together we shall waltz into the very depths of Hell and rule all of the worlds.

Artwork by Jim Murray

How To Read Short Stories

This may sound like an odd post, and to be honest, the title is more of a test run to see what effect certain phrases have on search terms etc, but that is a post for later.

As bizarre as it may sound however, I do actually have a post that relates to the title.

Just yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine, a colleague no less, who I had convinced to try some Stephen King. One of the books that I convinced her to buy was Skeleton Crew, a collection of short stories that are some of my favorite King shorts;

The Mist
Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut
The Raft
Survivor Type (Possibly one of the most disturbing and stomach churning pieces of fiction I have ever read).
The Ballard of the Flexible Bullet

While talking to said colleague just yesterday, I asked her if she had started to read of the books she had bought. She said yes, but then, as the conversation developed she said that she not only was not reading the stories in order, but she wasn’t even reading the whole collection before moving on to something else.

Maybe this is just me, but I fell ill at ease the rest of the conversation. It just didn’t sit right with me that someone can read a collection of short stories out-of-order. I can cope with the reading other things around it, because I have done that on occasion myself. However, to read them out-of-order just seems and feel utterly wrong to me. It was like someone raking their fingers down a chalkboard.

I read the last story first, then the first story in the middle… argh, make it stop!!!

I did however, manage to pull myself out of my terminal velocity plunge into insanity and ponder the question … ‘is she alone?’

I would never dream about reading a book out-of-order, but what about you?

I mean sure, there is no rule that says you cannot read short stories in any order you wish, but … I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a bit odd.

This also led me to ponder the different types of short story collections, the single author variety, and the multiple author anthologies. Is there a different approach that needs to be considered when reading these, can they be held apart from each other in reading rules?

Tell me, pleasure, am I just nuts, or does it seem wrong to read a book in an order that is not that with which is was produced?