The Start of Something

Knowing that my Open University materials were going to be dispatched today, I checked the website this morning, wondering where they were on their long journey to me. I have been worried that they would arrive next week, when I shan't be at home to receive them. So it was with surprise that I discovered they were dispatched a day early and had already gone to and from two different depots.
But I had to go out. Our playgroup's first meeting of the new term was this morning and I knew that my Little Monster would be distraught if she missed it. In truth, I was eager to see my friends again too. So I risked leaving the house.

On arriving home, I felt a sudden panic that there would be a card from the delivery company and that I would have to spend ages on the phone to beg them to redeliver tomorrow. But there was nothing there was I opened the front door. So I waited.

Finally, at about four o'clock, the buzzer sounded and I collected the books I have been excited to see for months. Having new big textbooks full of new information has always excited me, though perhaps not with maths or physics, my least favourite subjects. To be honest, I get a tiny thrill just from opening a package, even though I usually know what packages contain if they arrive for me. Sometimes, usually around Christmas, a package will arrive in my Other Half's name and I'll wonder if it's really for me. It usually is - he prefers to shop online.

Ripping off the wrappings, I immediately checked that the parcel had everything it should: a letter welcoming me to the course, a collection of audio CDs, an assessment guide, a thin text which is the study guide and a thick textbook which is the workbook I have heard much about from past A215 students.

I have already flipped through some of the study guide and read in detail the first week's schedule of work. I have read the Index of the workbook and can barely stop myself from starting on it's activities. This is my third course but I was not nearly so excited to start either of the others. This is exactly what I want to be doing. I want to be a writer.

A new beginning

I have started a new blog. I love my current blog dearly but I realise that its a personal blog about my life and I would like to have a separate blog for my writing. Do not despair, I say with some sarcasm, as I shall try to keep this blog up as well. Besides, where else would I express my pride at every one of my daughter's achievements (today, she managed to sing the chorus to "Rumour has it" by Adele!) and rant about everything that annoys me.

If you wish to take a little look, here is a link to my new writing-focused blog: http://ameliaappletree.wordpress.com/

A new study year approaches

The summer holidays are in full swing and yet I'm already looking ahead to my next Open University course, Creative Writing (A215), which will begin in a little less than eight weeks. With my first two courses, I was reading my set books at this point to prepare myself. But this course has no set books, only the textbooks which will arrive sometime in September. In all likelihood, I won't have time to even read them before the course starts as September is set to be incredibly busy, what with our family holiday, the Little Monster's birthday and a few other social engagements.

There are a few things I can do to prepare. Firstly, I can buy my new stationary. It may sound rather sad but there's something rather wonderful about a brand new, clean notebook, ready and waiting to be filled. I have heard other writers comment on how daunting a blank page can be but, for me, its inspiring. I plan to have a little notebook to carry around with me, so that if a good idea hits me I have something to jot it down before its wiped frustratingly from my memory. I'll also have a nice big notebook, probably hardback, to keep assignments drafts and planning. This leads onto the second thing I can do to prepare for my course: write. Although I regularly use my laptop for writing, especially for writing my novel as it would only need to be typed up later anyway, I never feel a craving to type, only to handwrite. At times, I simply have an impulse to write. Learning some writing exercises has given me something to write about when I don't feel in the mood for writing my novel. Plus, in one case so far, a writing exercise has turned easily into a short story. 

Thirdly, and many argue this is of the utmost importance for a  would-be writer, I can prepare by reading. This part is already going well, given that I have just finished reading The Hunger Games Trilogy (which was brilliant, by the way). Now I am looking for something new to read - recommendations are extremely welcome. I used to read books on holidays but something tells me I'll be a little busy keeping my Little Monster happy! 

The Writing Process

From extensive reading on the subject, everyone seems to have their own method when it comes to writing. Some people plan out every aspect of a novel before even considering an opening line. Others jump straight into their first draft.

Having only written fairly short stories during my teenage years, I hadn't really worked out a method when I first started on my current novel. I settled for writing a synopsis of the plot at first. But as I began to write, I realised that I often forget what colour eyes a character has or old they're supposed to be. So I have now also written character descriptions for all of my main characters. I am hoping that this will limit continuity errors. 

For a few settings, I have been able to find photographs on the internet, immensely helpful when writing physical descriptions and trying to imagine how a place might make a character feel. But, obviously, some places are complete fabrications of my imagination so I have also written notes on physical features of certain settings, such as the main character's home. 

I have made the perhaps silly decision to write in first person, present tense. So often, when I check back through my writing, I find that I have accidentally used past tense instead. Hopefully these little mistakes will become rarer as I write more. 

Every time I open the file to start writing, I read back over what I have already to try and get back into the correct mindset. However, while doing that, I find things that don't sound quite right or that could be improved. I end up doing at least ten minutes of editing before I even start anything new. I have no idea if this is normal. I hope that doing my creative writing course later this year will give me better insight into editing techniques. For now, I shall continue this way. 

I also have the problem of getting a little distracted from writing. For instance, this very post is being written when I had meant to be working on the novel. Email and Twitter are other common distractions when I get even slightly stuck. I have no solution to this. Instead, I give in. It does mean that when I get around to actually writing, my mind is a little clearer. 

I would be interested to hear how other writers overcome these problems or plan out their work. 

Choosing an Open University course

I have received an email telling me that I am officially registered to start the OU course Creative Writing (A215) in September. I am very excited about this and I'm trying to prepare as much as possible. At the same time, now that I'm all set to start another module, I'm thinking about what I'll study after that. 

Open University courses come in three levels; 1, 2 & 3. My plan is to take two courses of each level, which will give me a Degree with Honours and a few other qualifications along the way. So far, I have completed two level 1 courses and I am taking my first level 2 course next. I have already planned that after Creative Writing (A215), I'll be taking Advanced Creative Writing (A363), which is a level 3 course. I still need to decide on another level 2 course and another level 3 course. 

I had originally been planning to take a course in child development at level 2 and a course in children's literature at level 3 but I've changed my mind on these now. I want to take more courses suited to my goal of writing fiction. With this in mind, I am now considering taking Reading and Studying Literature (A230) and then 20th Century Literature: Texts and Debates (A300). 

I am starting to regret my first course, which was K101 (An Introduction to Health and Social Care). I took this with the idea that I wanted to work with children. As time has gone by, I've entirely changed my mind on this idea. I've realised that I only wanted to work with children because I'm  good with children, not because working with children is really an ambition of mine. I decided that I might as well go for my actual ambition, becoming a writer.

I believe that life is just too short to go for an easy option or not bothering with a dream because it seems unattainable. Yes it may be unlikely to happen but, as long you aren't sacrificing too much, why not try? It isn't as if I'm going to refuse any job other than a writing job. I know that bills need to be paid and I won't have my daughter going without because of my ambitions. That would be unfair. I am being practical and realistic about this. I don't imagine that I'm going to write a best seller and earn millions (as nice as that would be!) but having something I've written published would be fantastic. 

From my window

As part of the OpenLearn creative writing course I recently did, I completed an exercise in observation and sensory perception focused on my living room. I was not very pleased with it so I decided to do the exercise again. It was suggested that these exercises are repeated often anyway and I'm rather pleased with this result, which is basically observations from my living room window. Any constructive criticism would be welcome.

Between our building and the row of houses opposite, there is a small courtyard enclosed by brick walls at either end. A large circle of paving stones fills much of the right side while the left contains a hedgerow with a tree planted within in. There are two more trees are either end of the courtyard but from my viewpoint, only a few their leaves are visible, shaking in the gentle breeze.
The lawn has clearly been mowed as the many parallel lines running across it demonstrate. But this must have been done some time ago as a multitude of daisies are now scattered amongst the grass. A blackbird hops about near the hedgerow, its head flitting from side to side, as if nervous of some danger. It flaps into the air as a toddler bounds into the courtyard, followed by her mother pushing another, much younger child in a pushchair. The little girl is wearing a pretty floral summer dress and skips through the grass with joy. Her mother calls for her to keep on the path but she is determined to remain on the lawn. This reminds me of my own little girl and even of distant memories of wanting to walk on the grass as a child myself. Even now, the idea of strolling barefoot across that lawn seems appealing. It occurs to me that it could be the fresh scent as I catch a breath of this through the open window. Perhaps its simply more comfortable than walking on a paved surface.
The sky is perfectly blue, except for a white line drawn by an aeroplane. My daughter believes these to be rockets and thinks me silly for telling her otherwise. Birds fly across my view frequently. Some are seagulls, regularly seen by the river, which is just down the path to the right.
A young couple have just arrived carrying folded chairs and plates of food. They settle themselves on the lawn, the girl giggling as if breaking some rule. They eat and talk happily. I look away, aware that I am intruding on their privacy, despite it being a public place. It has not occurred to me to use this area before, except as a more pleasant route back from the supermarket. Perhaps we'll have a picnic down there one day and sit amongst the daisies and the fragrance of the grass and fresh air.

Moving on to Creative Writing

I have finally completed my second Open University module. I sent off my final assessment of AA100 (The Arts Past and Present), having actually enjoyed writing it. Clearly I am not adverse to writing essays, or I probably wouldn't be doing a degree, but it usually gets a little stressful towards the end. I squeeze in words to reach a reasonable word count. I rake through the textbook for anything I may have missed. But this essay was truly enjoyable. Perhaps it was simply because I found the subject interesting. Glastonbury, Stonehenge, symbolism, tradition...it was all very intriguing. But I think something was just going well for me. The words seemed to flow nicely rather than being forced. Lets hope this continues onto my next course!

Speaking of which, I have just have a quick browse through the OpenLearn Unit "Writing what you know", which is an adapted extract from the course I'll be starting in September; A215 (Creative Writing). It's interesting and has some very helpful exercises for improving sensory perception, observing the world around you and using memories. I tried out a couple of them and I plan to try more in a different location, perhaps tomorrow as I walk to church or if I take a walk along the river in the afternoon. 

I feel so enthusiastic about this. I'm going to buy a new notebook to start recording anything that might be good for my writing. It might even improve my blog! 

In other news, the Little Monster, with some help, is growing cress this week. So far, there's just some cress seeds scattered over some damp cotton wool in a little dish on our living room window sill but I'm hoping there'll be something to see tomorrow. She's very excited about growing something. It really makes me long for a garden where we could grow all manner of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Not to mention that I'd love to keep some chickens!