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.

Busy

With a weekend of organising, catering and playing host at a family gathering behind me, I still find that I have tons to do. The housework has been terribly neglected since my Big Clean last week, we need to find a new place to live after discovering that our landlord wants our flat back and, until yesterday, I had done no writing in a week! 

Now trying to get back on track, there's a load of laundry in the washing machine, I'm viewing a flat tomorrow afternoon and I have just posted another instalment of my short story on my Wordpress blog. Plus I had another story idea yesterday so quickly jotted it down on paper to avoid losing it to my rather poor memory. 

Added to all of this, I am eagerly awaiting a letter to hopefully confirm the Little Monster's place in nursery for next January and the delivery of my Open University materials ahead of beginning A215 Creative Writing at the end of this month. 

I am going to try not to neglect this blog as much as I have been. To that end, I hope to post a rather brilliant film review later today so watch out for it! 

Why is it that everything seems to come at once? 

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! 

Meet The Mummy, The Housewife, The Wife, The Best Friend and The Student

My entire blog is based around the theme of juggling the different aspects of my life. I have found that, to manage my life effectively, I actually need to be five different people. Let me introduce you to them.

No. 1 The Mummy

This is the person I become when playing with my Little Monster. I am completely without shame as I dance around my living room, sing "The Wheels on the Bus" in public and pretend to be a fierce monster who will eat up small children. My main goals are entertaining my daughter and generally having lots of very immature fun, while teaching her lots of important things like how to read.

No. 2 The Housewife

This is the person that pops up when its time to make dinner, get the laundry done or get the flat cleaned up after Mummy and The Little Monster have finished making a mess of it. I am sensible, organised and a little irritable. My goals are to have a clean and tidy flat and a healthy yet tasty meal on the table that has been cooked entirely from scratch. Unfortunately, I don't appear as often as I perhaps should.

No. 3 The Wife

This person has actually existed since I was seventeen but back then was called The Girlfriend, only three years ago becoming The Wife. I am flirtatious, confident and get up to things that would cause The Mummy to blush and The Housewife to tut and shake her head in disapproval (though probably just to cover her jealousy). Many people seem to believe that I disappeared long ago when the Little Monster was born but actually I just don't come out as often as I used to. I usually appear after about 9pm and perhaps during nap time, plus the occasional naughty text message conversation with the Other Half during the day. But it's not all about the sex, I'm also the one that likes a cuddle on the sofa in the evening.

No. 4 The Best Friend

I have known the Other Half for a very long time. For a few years, before The Girlfriend came along, we were just friends. The Best Friend is someone I still become for a little while each day, usually more at weekends. Me and the Other Half play computer and board games, watch comedy films and generally have a good laugh. I am also there for the Other Half when he needs to talk about something or asks for advice that doesn't involve the flat or our daughter.

No. 5  The Student

Though I am called The Student, I am also the part that blogs and writes and reads novels. I am academic, imaginative and, it could be said, a bit selfish. Unlike the other four, I am focussed entirely on myself and my own development and goals. Some days, I am around for hours. Sometimes I am bubbling beneath the surface, desperate to come out and spend some time sitting at the laptop or curled up on the sofa with a good book. Sometimes I am suppressed for days at a time, such as if the Little Monster is ill and needs looking after.

During the course of a day, I have to switch between these personalities at a moment's notice. If The Wife is enjoying some very adult time with the Other Half but there's a sudden noise over the baby monitor, The Mummy needs to appear pretty quickly. They can be a little interchangeable. A combination of The Mummy and The Housewife, for example, gives the rather delightful result of doing the hoovering while dancing to the Queen classic, "I want to break free" (You'll only know why this is delightful if you have seen the video. If you haven't watched it, go away and do so immediately, assuming the cave you're living in has sufficient internet for youtube).

I suppose all parents share this need for switching quickly between roles. The Other Half has the daily task of switching from Daddy mode to Work mode, which must be difficult. I think the typical problem for many couples comes when its time to conjure up their sexual alter-egos when they're completely knackered from being Mummy and Daddy all day long. The key to happiness seems to be getting the balance of each role just right. If anyone figures out how to do that, please let me know.

Does a good book need sex?

I have been looking around for a good book to read for a while now. I have a study break over the summer and since I heard the advice "If you're not writing, you should be reading", I thought I should to fit in a few books. I'm currently reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and I think something more modern would be a nice change afterwards.

So I looked through forums and reviews to find something good. One thing seems to stand out about all of the popular books that other ladies are reading at the moment: everyone is raving about the magnificent sex scenes in them. Never a big fan of this kind of writing anyway, I was under the perhaps naive impression that this sort of thing was hidden under a pillow and never really spoken of. But I suppose I've always seen anything to do with sex as a private matter, something to be discussed only with one's partner, closest friends and perhaps a health professional. Perhaps this is still mostly correct. After all, the only place I've seen women openly talking about this are in online forums, where everyone is more or less anonymous anyway. What is apparent is the appeal of books that contain plenty of very adult romantic scenes. 

Some of my most recent reading was the Twilight Saga. Yes, I know many will immediately picture me as an emo teenager, going weak at the knees over Robert Pattinson. I don't wish to stick on this point for long so to briefly state my own opinion, I own the films and enjoy them but they are vastly overrated and the books are much better, although I generally think that of any film adaptation of a good book. The books were recommended to me by so many people that I eventually decided that I must try them. I liked the fantasy aspect of the story but what really made me like the books was the lack of sex. I have started far too many books that within a few pages have a wedged in sex scene that, I think, adds very little to the story. In the Twilight Saga, there are many romantic scenes and sex is talked about but there are no intimate details and it feels very much relevant to the story.

Having just started writing a novel which will have romantic aspects to it, I'm starting to wonder if anyone's going to bother reading it if I don't include some sex scenes. But should I give up my own principles just to gain a decent readership? Another piece of advice I've heard: "Write what you would read". Well, I just don't read books with explicit sex in them. Call me old fashioned, I probably am, but I think romance and, not just in books, should be about more than that.