tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90901302086807247622024-03-19T04:11:24.103-07:00Dear WriterDear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-11635018163575173712013-03-07T02:51:00.000-08:002013-03-07T02:51:56.788-08:00Happy World Book Day!<!--StartFragment-->
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy World Book Day – the booklover’s equivalent of
Christmas, birthday and Easter rolled into one!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As my new novel, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finding Cherokee Brown</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> is, in part, a celebration of the written word, it
feels only right that I should give </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">away some signed copies today.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVZyJCCPbOGPU_GX4tqml3kSPlT3y3MH34XhoI4rDXvxd_yGtOfnwAH4k0ReN3JuxlAm1WaFuo7nP7DWEvic8ZUk69C8zFtplgOmr64B2bP5XUkI1zNqFBc3VpOiByRqpY4adqKBj62g/s1600/SC_cherokeee60381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVZyJCCPbOGPU_GX4tqml3kSPlT3y3MH34XhoI4rDXvxd_yGtOfnwAH4k0ReN3JuxlAm1WaFuo7nP7DWEvic8ZUk69C8zFtplgOmr64B2bP5XUkI1zNqFBc3VpOiByRqpY4adqKBj62g/s320/SC_cherokeee60381.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Young adult writing at its best." We Love This Book</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, if you would like to win a copy, please tell me the book
that means the most to you – and why.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You can either post your answer below, or email it to me at:
siobhancurham[AT]yahoo[DOT]co[DOT]uk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The three responses that move me the most will win a copy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy reading, booklovers!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-79684538096174646712013-03-04T08:24:00.000-08:002013-03-04T08:24:22.145-08:00Publication Day!Hello!<br />
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Today, my new novel, <i><b>Finding Cherokee Brown</b></i>, was published.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26air8Ce5gqJkbNwlLtJfc-9wue_dZImHFd20fdua9sDGRSZtffeqj3bdeBh2in_4ODTK602PJG_9eJUysZ_VUPA3j2WB_dYaehLdZTTQ4b2GQaLdiVfoSTGksoYkvtdT2fxu3K9HjEI/s1600/Finding+Cherokee+Brown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26air8Ce5gqJkbNwlLtJfc-9wue_dZImHFd20fdua9sDGRSZtffeqj3bdeBh2in_4ODTK602PJG_9eJUysZ_VUPA3j2WB_dYaehLdZTTQ4b2GQaLdiVfoSTGksoYkvtdT2fxu3K9HjEI/s320/Finding+Cherokee+Brown.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
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<b><i>Finding Cherokee Brown </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">is the story of a teenage girl who decides to write a book about her life in the hope that it will force her to become more like the feisty literary heroines she loves to read about - and in doing so, help her stand up to her bullies.</span></b><br />
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<b>Here are some early reviews:</b><br />
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<i>‘Siobhan Curham has written a great book that deals with
bullying, identity and being brave enough to be yourself. . . This is a lovely
story that had me rooting for Cherokee all the way . . . and her journey of
self-discovery is delightfully written</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.’ <b>The
Bookseller</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>‘I loved
Cherokee as a character. Her voice and her plight drew me in from pretty much
the first page. She is immediately likeable, and as a self-depreciating
underdog, she is incredibly easy to root for. Not all authors can successfully
pull off a witty, fast-talking stream of teenage girl monologue, but Siobhan
Curham manages to do so in style. . . The strong writing and characters combine
to form a mixture that feels meaningful, and had me emotionally engaged with
the story throughout . . .The original narrative elements simply add to the
enjoyment of the reading experience. The vividness of Cherokee's voice brought
to mind that of Lennie from The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson.’</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <b>The Book Bag<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<i>‘A tightly woven, entertaining and moving story . . .
Curham has met the challenge she outlines in a letter to the reader – Cherokee
Brown is an ‘inspirational, interesting heroine’, a victim of bullying,
‘determined to fight back in her own original way…’ She is funny, resilient,
but by no means perfect. She is never presumptuous, and always willing to fight
back . . . A pleasure to read.’</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> <b>The
Nocturnal Reader<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>‘Anyone
who is being bullied, has been bullied in the past, or is bullying someone
should read this book. Cherokee is a very inspirational character and the book
itself carries a powerful message. Overall, I loved this book! It is funny,
poignant and really makes you think. 5/5!’</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <b>The Mile Long Bookshelf<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>‘I
thoroughly enjoyed Siobhan Curham's debut 'Dear Dylan' which was published last
year, so I've been looking forward to reading more from her ever since.
'Finding Cherokee Brown' is another great title which I read in one sitting
because it was such a brilliant story.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>It
centres on fifteen year old Claire Weeks who decides that she is going to write
a story about her life after finding an old copy of a book called 'So you want
to write a novel?'. What starts off as an attempt to escape from her day
to day life, soon turns into something even more powerful and life changing
when she discovers a huge family secret which makes her question everything she
thought she knew about herself. Claire aka Cherokee was a great main
character. Curham can really write people who you warm to instantly and
feel enormous empathy for. She has several issues to deal with in the
book, one being the fact that she is bullied at her school. This is something
that a lot of people have faced at one point or another in their lives and I
enjoyed seeing her finally decide to fight back and not let the bullies get
away with it. I thought it was interesting that one of her teachers fails
to deal with the teens who are taunting her. It shows that even adults
sometimes suffer confidence issues, feel powerless and cannot stand up against
other people. Claire feels like she doesn't fit in with her family, since her
mother remarried and had twins. Throughout the book she gradually learns
that everyone has the power to change their own life and that wonderful things
can happen when you take control of your own destiny. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>Anybody
being bullied or bullying others should read this book because it features a
truly inspirational heroine and has a powerful message to convey about the
power of both the written and spoken word. It is also moving, poignant
and funny and is another great title from a fantastic author.’ </i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><b>A Dream of Books</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I feel very passionately about the subject matter of this book, so if you do read it, and enjoy it, please spread the word - especially if you know someone who has been a victim of bullying.<br />
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Thanks so much,<br />
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Siobhan x<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b>Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-56983417909588362192013-02-26T08:13:00.001-08:002013-02-26T08:13:18.444-08:00In Memory of Max<!--StartFragment-->
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last week my beloved dog, Max was
put to sleep. Max had become such a crucial part of my writing life that I felt I had to write a tribute to him here . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I got Max eight years ago from The
Dog’s Trust. They had found him as a stray so we never knew his actual age or
where he had come from. However, within minutes of getting him home it became
clear that wherever he’d been before he’d been very badly treated. For the
first few weeks with us, he refused to leave the house for a walk and stayed
stuck to my side at all times. In the end it took a box of his favourite
cocktail sausages to get him to go out anywhere other than the garden. I would
have to walk ahead a few feet and hold out a sausage to entice him to creep
forward. It took us about half an hour to get to the end of my road! The first
time I got him into a park I discovered that he had an absolute phobia of
footballs – I can only imagine that whoever had him before must have kicked
balls at him because just the sound of a ball being kicked would send him
fleeing in terror.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But, as the months passed, Max
gradually came out of his shell. It was so rewarding to see his fears dissolve
and a fun-loving, affectionate dog appear. And for me as a writer, he provided
the perfect companion. Writing can be such a solitary profession but whenever I
sat at my desk, Max would plonk himself down at my feet and wait there
patiently until it was time for his next walk. And our walks became an
intrinsic part of my writing process too. Over the years we walked for miles
and miles together. And as we walked, I would work on my book-in-progress in my
head and every time without fail, plot problems would solve themselves, and
characters would become more fully formed. And Max would be there next to me,
every step of the way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the past few months, old age had
started to set in, and my fun-loving, bouncy dog became tired and in pain. As
Max had had such a traumatic start to his life I didn’t want him to suffer in
old age. The vet told me that having him put to sleep would be the most loving
thing to do. It also turned out to be the most heart-breaking. But Max died
quickly and peacefully, with his head in my lap being fed his favourite treats.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For the first couple of days
afterwards, I wandered around in a daze. My constant companion of eight years
had gone and I felt utterly bereft. Then, on Friday night, I had to give a
reading at an event at Keats House in London. It was my first reading from my
upcoming novel, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finding Cherokee Brown. </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
always get really nervous when I’m reading from a new book for the first time,
and when the host called me up to the microphone my heart was pounding. But as
soon as I got there something really strange happened. A picture of Max
appeared in my head and I imagined him plonking himself down at my feet. I
instantly felt calm and my reading went really well. My trusty writing
companion might no longer physically be at my side, but he’ll always be in my
heart.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-35601593864532662802013-02-14T03:48:00.000-08:002013-02-14T03:48:03.986-08:00Diary of a French Book Launch<!--StartFragment-->
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Being a writer is a real Jekyll and Hyde job. For months and
months on end you lock yourself away and write – only coming out to do
essential stuff, like feeding the dog and the son – and then, suddenly,
Publication Week arrives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Publication Week means three drastic changes to your daily
routine:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You
have to stop wearing your favourite writing outfit of choice (in my case
baggy jogging bottoms with an attractive hole in the crotch, a pair of
woolly knee-high socks, and an ancient Washington DC sweatshirt that I
bought one time in an airport to use up my leftover dollars).<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You
have to start wearing ‘respectable’ clothes, involving really
uncomfortable things such as heels, and belts, and zips.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You
have to venture into the world outside of your imagination and talk to
people that you haven’t actually made up inside your head.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This week, the French edition of my next novel, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finding
Cherokee Brown</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> was published. So, I had to
do all of the above, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> go to
Paris and do it in French.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Once I’d got used to wearing a dress again it was so much
fun. And I wanted to share my French adventure here because there was a time,
not so long ago, that I didn’t know if I’d ever have a book deal again – let
alone one in France! So, to all you aspiring authors out there, take note –
this is what can happen if you refuse to give up on your dream…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My day began ridiculously early as I had to get to London in
time to catch the 8.30 </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Eurostar</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. Over
night, it had snowed quite heavily, so I was first notified that my cab had
arrived when I heard it crashing into the wall opposite my house. Despite this rather
shaky start, the cab driver managed to get me to the station just in time – </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> provide me with a whole new range of swear words. I
got to St Pancras to discover that the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Eurostar</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> had been delayed, due to ‘the wrong kind of snow on
the line’ but at least it was still running. And the extra hour of the journey flew
by once I got into an engrossing discussion about </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Come Dine With Me</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> with the guy sitting next to me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My lovely French translator, Marie Hermet, met me at the
station, where we caught a cab to the publisher’s office. On the way she told
me that she is also translator for one of my writing heroes, Roddy Doyle, and I
had one of those, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">if I die right now, I’ll die happy </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">moments</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Which
very nearly came true as it turns out that French cab drivers are even crazier
than English ones …<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The ‘wrong type of snow’ meant that we were now too late to
go out for our planned lunch, so I met all of the lovely team at Flammarion and
they ordered lunch in instead. As we tucked into a delicious desk buffet of
salad and assorted French cakes we compared notes on the French and UK book
industry – I’d rather naively assumed that it would be exactly the same, but
it’s not at all. It was really interesting to learn that YA blogging is only
just starting to take off over there and Flammarion were just in the process of
setting up their own blog. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After lunch, I was taken to a meeting room and an afternoon
of interviews with French journalists began. Now, my French is embarrassingly
bad, I literally know about twelve words (which includes the numbers from one
to ten) so thankfully Marie was there to help me out. I had imagined that the
questions would be pretty basic but au contraire, it turns out that French
interviews are just like their movies – intense and emotionally forensic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGRr61REoHpIA1usEP0OnTinf5qx25kdWM2em7WikZlzIgWWaLghKqOeh4c_IL83oTFVeeZYhUkAHB7gqM1ajgXqodrpxZh8s5Q8m2JaBay0diHPGXAeOjSuSIAi0QILO9DjK8QToaHe0/s1600/20130211_143644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGRr61REoHpIA1usEP0OnTinf5qx25kdWM2em7WikZlzIgWWaLghKqOeh4c_IL83oTFVeeZYhUkAHB7gqM1ajgXqodrpxZh8s5Q8m2JaBay0diHPGXAeOjSuSIAi0QILO9DjK8QToaHe0/s320/20130211_143644.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Being interviewed - French style!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Every so often, I would have to pinch myself that not only
had these people read my books, but they had analysed them for themes and
meanings, and had really got what I’d been trying to say. It was massively
humbling and affirming – especially as the message behind my books is so
important to me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After the interviews were over my editor asked me if I would
sign a few copies of my book. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4Ib0V49PvLHpsYkWxS1CGceuBotfPJXpHfkQhEbQFqKr35TD3qrqXMgrIf5xp2eEjU_F2re5B1MIAAPDAP6CIURKFos6vNzkGQ15SxUmxe7K7PwMqHF1LU9rl10GsnifCeAeBRnAY6o/s1600/20130211_155808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4Ib0V49PvLHpsYkWxS1CGceuBotfPJXpHfkQhEbQFqKr35TD3qrqXMgrIf5xp2eEjU_F2re5B1MIAAPDAP6CIURKFos6vNzkGQ15SxUmxe7K7PwMqHF1LU9rl10GsnifCeAeBRnAY6o/s320/20130211_155808.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I think you can see me behind them. I have to tell you, my
signing skills were slipping a bit towards the end!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I left Flammarion feeling like one of the luckiest people on
the planet. Much as I love the months of writing hibernation, it is so nice
when your writing sends you out on an adventure like this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My day ended in a cosy Parisian restaurant with my
American-friend-in-Paris, author / illustrator Doug Cushman. We chewed the fat
about life, the universe and books then returned to his studio, which also
doubles as a hotel for Hen & Ink authors whenever they’re in town. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54ZPcDPgF0Y59AMYVB4k-jI3H3fbs6BFchsbHFGiksRMHgcPXy0HYIZQySHYNuLe1P80cdQQceYPD7rXi7-6dA0fSvJMI-mq1ZF8QPWuV2NtxQH_nRmdyltFv0MOfWtbBZycyQ89t6PE/s1600/20130211_174939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54ZPcDPgF0Y59AMYVB4k-jI3H3fbs6BFchsbHFGiksRMHgcPXy0HYIZQySHYNuLe1P80cdQQceYPD7rXi7-6dA0fSvJMI-mq1ZF8QPWuV2NtxQH_nRmdyltFv0MOfWtbBZycyQ89t6PE/s320/20130211_174939.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now I’m back at my desk in the UK, in my trusty Washington
sweatshirt and woolly socks. It’s still snowing outside, but I’m keeping warm drinking gallons of hot chocolate – from my brand new </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I Love Paris</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> mug.</span></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->
Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-22939696227070203022013-01-31T06:41:00.001-08:002013-01-31T06:41:43.824-08:00Competition Time<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Whoop! Whoop! It's competition time again :) </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To celebrate the upcoming publication of my next novel, <i>Finding Cherokee Brown</i>, I thought it might be fun to give away a signed copy <b>before it hits the shops</b>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Zy_zhtXYZZIg4VylMGSAr3sx1w-Ek5SJXYe6XqTToxMg5fZZaUUV7dVHhhYoBgpUb3CMkdwWCPbxI6fm6mKhFZm9ZvDffIBLyFyn0UzwHklNyroDudDvaXZtLKxhMO1UCTBZoce50G0/s1600/511Z+K+3UsL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Zy_zhtXYZZIg4VylMGSAr3sx1w-Ek5SJXYe6XqTToxMg5fZZaUUV7dVHhhYoBgpUb3CMkdwWCPbxI6fm6mKhFZm9ZvDffIBLyFyn0UzwHklNyroDudDvaXZtLKxhMO1UCTBZoce50G0/s1600/511Z+K+3UsL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, if you would like an exclusive sneak preview, either write a poem or a piece of prose inspired by one of the following pictures - both of which are settings in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Finding Cherokee Brown</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLuvz4hYm1FG1IygHUFLNgZ8p5noaTjIUk3laLBdgbje9Oznt1_lvL1e1I5BhxDuy-CsWcNk6iBty_O_uPDiY3Amq-BIY9k2dl0InF11wmzwjryEI6RUz_Jtxc74d9aGFp4OLqOqiOdg/s1600/20130117_085847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLuvz4hYm1FG1IygHUFLNgZ8p5noaTjIUk3laLBdgbje9Oznt1_lvL1e1I5BhxDuy-CsWcNk6iBty_O_uPDiY3Amq-BIY9k2dl0InF11wmzwjryEI6RUz_Jtxc74d9aGFp4OLqOqiOdg/s320/20130117_085847.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is a church in Spitalfields, East London, where Cherokee hides out right before taking a massively courageous step in her life.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0DfhAkJSbz1yFcEEcNhYieAviO3Ms5AiQcYU73YGM0zWWB4Am70A64_VObUvOymCX_5ODsRaYvuTiOwrdMKpxNzOAVd2n5NYYgEZsxyWhqlWNEB0P_DgykIdmvHi7qjHSC3b5v2VG_M/s1600/20130117_090205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0DfhAkJSbz1yFcEEcNhYieAviO3Ms5AiQcYU73YGM0zWWB4Am70A64_VObUvOymCX_5ODsRaYvuTiOwrdMKpxNzOAVd2n5NYYgEZsxyWhqlWNEB0P_DgykIdmvHi7qjHSC3b5v2VG_M/s320/20130117_090205.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And this is taken at the Old Truman Brewery, again in East London.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Please send your entries to me at: siobhancurham[AT]yahoo[DOT]co[DOT]uk by Monday 11th February.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Entries should be no more than 600 words long.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-30257108605483716812013-01-17T02:18:00.000-08:002013-01-17T02:18:04.357-08:00How Photography Can Help Your Writing<!--StartFragment-->
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Dear Writer,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is a truth universally acknowledged that unimaginative
writing = sucky writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And nowhere does this apply more than when it comes to
description. Check out the following examples:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">‘It was as black as night’</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></i>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'<i>His heart pounded like a drum'</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">‘Her eyes were as blue as the sky’</span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yawn. Yawn, Yawn,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But how can you get your description to stand out and remain
imprinted upon your reader’s mind long after they have put your writing down?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The answer, or </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">one</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
answer at least, is PHOTOGRAPHY.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjDioWUUVFwRRya6Y4Tz-99SFyCTXIsHjOdOb0RUX9Pr8eYy0xL4eividHG8vXqouq0ECcPDlSHDJaQZ_aO6Mqh5AJm0qfwgkPToVUDIjI2BZ20nt2Yag28u4iNU1PH2EpHHW-jNtIqA/s1600/20130117_090205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjDioWUUVFwRRya6Y4Tz-99SFyCTXIsHjOdOb0RUX9Pr8eYy0xL4eividHG8vXqouq0ECcPDlSHDJaQZ_aO6Mqh5AJm0qfwgkPToVUDIjI2BZ20nt2Yag28u4iNU1PH2EpHHW-jNtIqA/s320/20130117_090205.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A few years ago I wrote a novel set in Hammersmith, London.
As this was an area I wasn’t all that familiar with I decided to go there and
take some photos. I ended up spending hours pounding the streets, looking for
the kind of buildings my characters would live and work in, the cafes and bars they
would drink in and the places they would shop. It was a lot of fun and hugely
productive. I came home feeling like I knew a whole lot more about my
characters and their world, without even writing a single word. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I did get down to the writing of the novel I made a
collage from the photos, which I put up over my desk. Whenever I got to a piece
of description I would study the relevant photo, looking for any unusual
details that would help bring my writing to life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQMnVBErmZKFfXV9A8Q0k3hlcZRgRXgJS1wVeXjZyIlvJjziTk08O_rUeopPZ6HHO5fgdAqDDGLr-AEo2le27PYa9VxsXN6jfQHnlKTDe4t_HEDBXpdqx3HJtu7ybVIP_l4n4sDzYnIA/s1600/20130116_143849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQMnVBErmZKFfXV9A8Q0k3hlcZRgRXgJS1wVeXjZyIlvJjziTk08O_rUeopPZ6HHO5fgdAqDDGLr-AEo2le27PYa9VxsXN6jfQHnlKTDe4t_HEDBXpdqx3HJtu7ybVIP_l4n4sDzYnIA/s320/20130116_143849.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Using photography to complement your writing soon becomes a
virtuous circle: the more you train your eye to look for an interesting or
thought-provoking picture, the more you train your writing mind to focus on the
unusual and imaginative.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, your mission this week, should you choose to accept it,
is to take yourself out with your camera and seek out some killer shots to help
enhance your writing. They could be photos that are in some way linked to your
work in progress, or you could use them as starting points for brand new pieces
of work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If aliens have abducted your camera / phone and you aren’t able to get out there and take any photos of your own I’ve included some
pictures I’ve taken while I’ve been out and about in London the past couple of
days. I hope they help and, if you do end up using one of them as a writing prompt
I would love to see the results so please do email them to me.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Till next time,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy writing and happy snapping!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-66761671854599330862013-01-10T06:04:00.001-08:002013-01-10T06:04:55.175-08:00Writing Resolutions<!--StartFragment-->
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy 2013!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How was your Christmas? I hope it was happy and healthy and
hearty – and all other good things beginning with H. And hope you’re now relaxed,
rejuvenated and raring to get on with your new writing goals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You’re not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You’re too tired?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Too fed up of school / college / work already?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Got a terminal case of the January glums?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Okay, worry not – here at </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> we just so happen to specialise in turning that
writer’s frown upside down – and no, I’m not gonna get you to stand on your
head.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The only good thing about January is that it’s clean slate
time. A fresh new writing year awaits, and what better way to get focused and
ensure you make the most of it than to get yourself a swanky new set of writing
resolutions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Writing Resolutions Action Plan</b></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now, before we go any further, I have to clarify one thing –
I am not from the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">New Years Resolutions Should Be a Form of Torture</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> school of thought. I have no idea why, in the
bleakest month of the year, people draw up lists depriving themselves of life’s
pleasures, like chocolate, wine and cake. I mean, seriously, why would you do
that to yourself? New Years Resolutions should be fun. They should be about
resolving to do things you’ve always longed to do, not depriving yourself of
the things you love. So, when it comes to writing resolutions, set yourself
goals that make you feel excited, not depressed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And the very act of writing your writing resolutions should
be fun too. So, set aside some time when you won’t be interrupted, put on your
favourite feel-good tunes, and close your eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While you have your eyes closed take a few moments to let go
of any nagging irritations that might be buzzing round your mind. Focus on your
breathing and, when you’re feeling relaxed, picture yourself living your
writing dream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now, for the purposes of this exercise, there is no such
thing as impossible. This is your writing DREAM – and the whole point of dreams
is that </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">you</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> get to dream them up. So go
ahead – if you could do or be anything writing wise, what would it be?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Really have fun with this. Try imagining a typical day in
your Dream Writer Life. Where would you be? What would you be doing? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The very first time I did this exercise I was living in a
flat above a chip shop in London. I hadn’t had a single word published yet, but
my dream was to one day be writing novels in a cottage in the countryside. I
pictured myself tapping away on my PC, stopping every now and then to check out
the beautiful view from my window. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m typing this blog now in my bedroom, in my cottage, in
the country. I just stopped to look out of the window at the woods on the other
side of the valley. My seventh book is coming out in March. Life is good.
Dreams come true. Believe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCC8LkbPKLlcLHWMfDdxVhhDloUdkQ49VacksoQpD3Y7KP0c6XzEhPG8K-gPOlkl1myr7JgD2zQDNCAAxJxp5PD-X6sWKIb_Qtj9yNVfsCF938mPQ0sQByAiuPln61vIrsqYly8K1-XQ/s1600/20121221_180150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCC8LkbPKLlcLHWMfDdxVhhDloUdkQ49VacksoQpD3Y7KP0c6XzEhPG8K-gPOlkl1myr7JgD2zQDNCAAxJxp5PD-X6sWKIb_Qtj9yNVfsCF938mPQ0sQByAiuPln61vIrsqYly8K1-XQ/s320/20121221_180150.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With my seventh book, Finding Cherokee Brown</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, once you are clear on what your big, massive, writing
dream is, it’s time to open your eyes and write yourself a set of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">fun </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">achievable</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> writing resolutions for the year ahead.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Think of these resolutions as stepping stones to the big
dream. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If your ultimate writing goal is to become a novelist, how
about setting a writing resolution to write a short story first (this is one of
the resolutions I made before I wrote my first novel).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Or you could resolve to find a new writing place – somewhere
that makes you feel alive and inspired (I used to go up to London’s South Bank
– it was people watching heaven!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Or how about setting yourself the goal of developing the characters for your novel in the coming months? (Please see my previous blog post for a free character questionnaire to help you with this one).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Maybe this year you could resolve to start posting your work
for feedback in online writing forums.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Or you could set yourself weekly word count targets – but if
you do this one, make sure you come up with rewards for meeting them (remember,
it’s got to be fun, people!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When you’ve written your list of resolutions be sure to keep
them somewhere you can see them – and tick them off as and when you achieve
them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Nothing is more satisfying than a ticked off resolution –
apart from a ticked off resolution and a big chunk of chocolate cake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">May 2013 be the year all your writing dreams come true!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-33222290776457352492012-12-06T08:11:00.000-08:002012-12-06T08:11:28.012-08:00Character Questionnaire <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Okay, I have a confession to make. Sometimes, I can be a REALLY LAZY WRITER.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I don't know if any of you can relate to this, but sometimes, I'm so super-eager to get writing a story, I just can't be bothered to do all of the tiresome prep work - like working on my character backgrounds. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The trouble is - every time I try to take this shortcut and plunge right into the story, it comes back to bite me on the butt.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It doesn't matter how exciting my plot might be - if I haven't got to know my characters properly first they emerge on the page as flat and dull as cardboard cutouts.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX5FkI_0BXevlZwzPVySl6sViw-pKOyZ6V5Rp_D2VlKrdlFIl0oGpsVO4_RJALbH6eQlcUcUUJ7k2qMWke94kkVG_z-GY2KTaPIjEwocqImJV2JadIWe453cQ-2M-zzudWFNFXMaaZas4/s1600/th.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX5FkI_0BXevlZwzPVySl6sViw-pKOyZ6V5Rp_D2VlKrdlFIl0oGpsVO4_RJALbH6eQlcUcUUJ7k2qMWke94kkVG_z-GY2KTaPIjEwocqImJV2JadIWe453cQ-2M-zzudWFNFXMaaZas4/s1600/th.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tough but true - characters NEED fleshing out</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One easy, quick and fun way to get to know your characters a whole lot better before you start writing, is to create a Character Questionnaire.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You can then use this as a template for each new character you create.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I always end up coming back to this tool and I always find that - as well as making my characters more 3 dimmensional - it actually helps hugely with plot ideas too.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And because it's nearly the end of the week, and I've just had a particularly delicious bar of chocolate, and I've just found out that Bruce Springsteen will be touring again next year, and I'm feeling in a particularly generous frame of mind, I'd like to share my Character Questionnaire with you too. (Just think of me as your writerly fairy godmother!)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Feel free to copy and paste the questionnaire below to your own pc - and add and remove questions as you like.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As always, I'd love to know if you already use anything like this in your own writing, and how you find it works...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Till next week,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy writing!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<h2>
CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE</h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;">
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<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How
old are they?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How
do they get on with their parents?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
was their childhood like?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Think
of one key event from their past and how it has shaped them – positive and
negative.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How
do they speak? Accent? Catch-phrases etc?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
are their core needs in life ie; love, security, power?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How
do they react when this core need is denied ie; under stress?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
is their favourite meal?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
are they most afraid of? And why? What is the root cause?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
are their politics?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
newspaper do they read?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Do
they believe in a God?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
is their bedroom like?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Do
they have any secrets?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
makes them jealous?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
is their favourite swear word?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
sports do they like?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Are
they superstitious?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Have
they ever been on a protest rally?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
was their favourite toy as a child?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
is their greatest hope?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Who
do they most admire?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How
do they behave at a party? ie; shy or outgoing?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
is their favourite music?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Do
they have any pets?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Have
they ever lost anyone dear to them?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
is their perfect Saturday night?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
last made them cry?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Is
their glass half full or half empty?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Are
they popular?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Who
is their best friend?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
is their favourite season and why?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
do they think of vegetarianism?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Do
they or have they ever taken drugs?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Are
they happy?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Would
rejection make them angry or sad?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
car do they drive?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Do
they love themselves?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
is their motto in life?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
are their best and worst points physically?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How
do they behave when outside – day and night?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
physical objects do they associate with their parents?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How
have their attitudes to their parents changed over time?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Describe
their attitudes to: money, the opposite sex, love, insanity, suicide,
violence, family life, food, animals.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
is their motivating force in life?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
is their mindset at the beginning of your story and what do they want?</span><o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<!--EndFragment-->
</span></span></div>
Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-49899299947156782452012-11-27T05:34:00.000-08:002012-11-27T05:34:00.730-08:00The Importance of Writing About Your Writing<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yesterday, when I was clearing out my desk, I found an old
notebook. Inside were pages of notes about an idea I’d had a couple of years
ago for a book. There were notes about possible characters, notes about possible
plot twists and notes about possible structure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAz7fiAFQ7PpKpdtcYF0zO-cDEopnr93rKbrkkAh3l7ch0KbHMtbNPleZYvop3lZIDRONfJFi-nHTzSE-v4LgzDYUfhXUYx-ihDfeJesw7ElZNua9Sn7twxbdoThotPLkVt5EGYuGJSE/s1600/20121126_164817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAz7fiAFQ7PpKpdtcYF0zO-cDEopnr93rKbrkkAh3l7ch0KbHMtbNPleZYvop3lZIDRONfJFi-nHTzSE-v4LgzDYUfhXUYx-ihDfeJesw7ElZNua9Sn7twxbdoThotPLkVt5EGYuGJSE/s320/20121126_164817.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Writing Journal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There were also pages and pages where I scribbled down all
of my doubts about whether my idea would work or not. If you don’t already do
this, I thoroughly recommend </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">writing about your writing</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. It might sound a bit nuts but it really helps.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let me give you an example. In my notebook I had written all
about concerns I had regarding the plot of the novel. My notes read like a
conversation with myself:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m not sure whether the character should get on well
with her mum. Part of me thinks that she should, but maybe it would be more
dramatic if she didn’t…”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Should she end up going to Paris – or America? I think
Paris, they could be going to a music competition – a European music
competition…”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“What would make a dramatic high point?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“What quote should I use in the talk?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And so on. I don’t know why, but there is something really
powerful about writing about your writing concerns rather than just thinking
about them. Writing helps you to formulate your thoughts and come to a conclusion,
whereas thinking can often make you stuck – unable to see the plot for the fears. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, if you only do one thing related to your writing this
week, invest in a writing journal and start writing about your writing. I
promise you won’t regret it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And, as a happy postscript to this blog, the idea that I was
writing about in my notebook ended up becoming a fully formed novel called </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finding
Cherokee Brown</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. It’s being published in the
UK, France and Germany next year. So, you never know where those writing notes
will take you – and what they will end up growing into…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimRk1DQz1dHHZeQFmYItWJQTZeYEWz1NNA2N9MkdX7M-3DF1942hmODw1nDajigwynmL4PQbpEabX4xFDWsVOFYbP8cX83oaQtoKNIWqB5t3UApF9GUAC2FLUyK6kDX7SiLceeH8WcAA0/s1600/LeRetourDeCherokeeBrown-C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimRk1DQz1dHHZeQFmYItWJQTZeYEWz1NNA2N9MkdX7M-3DF1942hmODw1nDajigwynmL4PQbpEabX4xFDWsVOFYbP8cX83oaQtoKNIWqB5t3UApF9GUAC2FLUyK6kDX7SiLceeH8WcAA0/s320/LeRetourDeCherokeeBrown-C.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The French Cover for Finding Cherokee Brown</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Till next time,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy writing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-87361190995621275912012-11-20T08:32:00.000-08:002012-11-20T08:32:46.836-08:00Funny Poem Winners!<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Howdy writers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, it gives me great, big, huge pleasure to announce the
winners of my recent ‘</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’s Friday and I’ve Got the Flu</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">’ Competition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’d been looking for fun poems that would make me forget my
sky high temperature and thumping headache, and I was so touched by the lovely
messages and brilliant entries I received.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, thank you all very much :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the end, I couldn’t decide between two of the entries, so
I hereby declare the following two poems joint winners. I hope you enjoy them
as much as I did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First up is </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From the Chair’s Point of View</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> by 13 year-old Chloe from Stourbridge. It was
inspired by a conversation Chloe had with a medical professional when she asked
if her wheelchair could be altered and the doctor uttered the immortal words,
‘Well, let’s look at this from the chair’s point of view'. Thankfully, Chloe kept
her sense of humour about it and wrote this fantastic poem. I loved the rhythm
of this piece, the sense of fun, and the clever way in which Chloe wove in her
family life from the point of view of the chair. And most of all I loved the
dry humour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From the Chair’s Point of View</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From
the chair’s point of view, well.. from the chair’s point of view,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
wouldn't have thought that eating every single chocolate<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">in
that 'Family Sized' box, all on your own, was really the best idea, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear
Mother!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From
the chair’s point of view, well.. from the chair’s point of view,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
wouldn't have thought that slumping and slurping while ka-powing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">aliens
all day, was absolutely the best idea<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear
Brother!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From
the chair’s point of view, well.. from the chair’s point of view,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
wouldn't have thought that all that crying and sighing <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">with
a worlds supply of chocolate <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">was
really the best idea<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear
Sister!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Oh
from the chair’s point of view, that poor chair’s point of view.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's
had to put up with such a lot <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">in
its time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So
it's lucky that I'm here, really.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You
may start to yell, and say that I'm being rude, now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But,
you see..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm
only expressing the chair’s point of view!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not
mine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not
at all!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So I
can't be grounded<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's
not right!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The
chair seems so very <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">exhausted<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm
just being compassionate, caring<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That's
all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Honest!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
just thought you'd like to know<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the
poor old haggard chair’s point of view!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And the other winner is the brilliant </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shawty</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> by Arianne from County Westmeath in Ireland. This
poem was so well written and contained such great detail. I also loved the
subject matter. Like Chloe’s poem, it had me hooked from start to finish and I
loved the tongue-in-cheek humour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
Shawty</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shawty:
noun; a modern term used to describe an attractive female, most commonly found
in popular music.</span></i></span><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
understand it’s not an expected thing to do <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But I
figured I’d be hip and cool<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And
honestly I’m not being haughty<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I
address this man-magnet we call Shawty<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m just
trying to wrap my head around<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The idea
that, not as a piece of dirt on the ground<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On which
boys like to hiss and spit,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This
modern goddess actually exists.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She seems
to originate from the United States<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But in a
sudden twist of all our fates<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She’s
recently been spotted in new locations<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Though
perhaps she’s just been on more vacations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Her
natural habitat is that of malls<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Or
otherwise strutting within high school halls<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Carrying
six shopping bags on her arms<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And
winning over jocks with her many charms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She
adores the brand new music scene<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In fact
she seems a little keen<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To
feature in so many raps<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And
receive her fair share of these claps<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She is
the perfect streetwise dancer –<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not one
of these little ballet prancers –<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And
frequents a variety of top night clubs<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Though
she is allergic to good old fashioned pubs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She wears
the latest fashions with style<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Without
fuss, without care all the while<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In fact
she juggles many outfits a day<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And once
according to legend they say<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Apple-bottom
jeans and boots with the fur –<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The whole
club was looking at her –<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At the
same time as them baggy sweat pants<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And not
forgetting those Reeboks with the straps.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Oh yes,
she regularly hits the floor<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And never
leaves by the main door<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She’s an
icon, you know, with needs<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And a
billion-member Twitter feed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">However
there is strong evidence to suggest<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She
doesn’t get a lot of rest<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Her
constant popularity is such<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And she’s
in pop songs that much.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I think
it’s time we give her a break<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At least
for her precious mental health’s sake<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You never
know with all this fame<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She might
end up thinking life’s a game<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Though in
reality it’s not easy,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Consistently
avoiding all things sleazy,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Being
stunningly beautiful as well as pretty<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And
downing eighteen shots in one sitting.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yes, I
vote to let Shawty of the hook<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At least
until she writes a new book<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And let
her get on with life<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Free from
all this media strife.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We’ll
remember her fondly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And of
course blondely<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For the
few seconds, in essence,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In which
we can cope without her presence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thank you so much to everyone who entered - and there'll be more competitions here VERY soon...</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-65341496259095205792012-11-09T06:55:00.000-08:002012-11-09T06:55:34.503-08:00Friday Fun Competition & Writing Prompt<h2>
Friday Fun Competition</h2>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's Friday.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've got the stinky, stoopid flu and badly need to do something fun!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, I've decided to have a <b><i>Friday-afternoon-I've-got-the-flu-and-need-some-fun Competition :) </i></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The prize is a signed copy of my novel <i>Dear Dylan,</i> and the competition is to write a poem or piece of prose that makes me laugh so hard I forget that I've got a temperature and my head feels as if someone's drilling inside of it!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzaVEKSUhyycseEDRLjpOZwEdePShRcVpd1peE9IiohVjuLp5wWiwlXYVM1KTf94OfzyW3vB101etfJ8SOWUQiOr5X9s4Q62cMfgnYwwLPnOq2bDzxl6_U4_HxfoGBeONeTCUptoUUl0/s1600/IMG00766-20120304-1843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzaVEKSUhyycseEDRLjpOZwEdePShRcVpd1peE9IiohVjuLp5wWiwlXYVM1KTf94OfzyW3vB101etfJ8SOWUQiOr5X9s4Q62cMfgnYwwLPnOq2bDzxl6_U4_HxfoGBeONeTCUptoUUl0/s320/IMG00766-20120304-1843.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It doesn't matter what it's about - or how silly it is - the one that makes me laugh the most gets the prize.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Please send your entries to: contact[AT]siobhancurham[DOT]co[DOT]uk</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thank you. Cough. Cough. Sneeze.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<h2>
Writing Prompt</h2>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For those of you who like writing prompts - here's a picture for you. One day, this beautiful carving just appeared in the field where I walk my dog. </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSi8ZjY9S0n2FXWATmV9FKJN8y1JQDWF_qrY7gOoz6ZzL_1dc7eywj60Rfnnhfbt3dXeSftkT5nAxfLQr6_0nwAwoxzFhyCuVIyR1fouiCJiKHv4JtXQA8f6VWlwQ58sXBfLT5srxTQss/s1600/IMG00375-20110806-1739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSi8ZjY9S0n2FXWATmV9FKJN8y1JQDWF_qrY7gOoz6ZzL_1dc7eywj60Rfnnhfbt3dXeSftkT5nAxfLQr6_0nwAwoxzFhyCuVIyR1fouiCJiKHv4JtXQA8f6VWlwQ58sXBfLT5srxTQss/s320/IMG00375-20110806-1739.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Take a good look at the pic and then free write about it for ten minutes and see what you come up with.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I hope you find it inspiring - and I'd love to see whatever you end up writing...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Till next time,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy writing!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x</span>Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-71832573010439009892012-10-29T06:30:00.000-07:002012-10-29T06:30:37.978-07:00Collage - to make your writing come alive!<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Whoops! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted here – where did the time go? I’ll tell you
where it went; it was swallowed up in the black hole that is a publishing
deadline. The horrible irony is, I’ve been too busy writing to write my blog about
writing! But I’m back now and I’ve got loads of fun writing exercises and tips
for you. Including, today, how making a collage can be the perfect preparation
for your story, novel or poem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But first, let me offer a
grovelling explanation for my long absence...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This year I found myself in the
massively lucky position of having not one, but </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">two</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> books to finish for publication next year. As
someone who once wondered if I’d ever have a book deal again I was totally
grateful to be faced with this mammoth workload (and I’m living proof that you
should never, ever give up on your writing dreams!) but it’s been a tough old
slog. And sometimes, when you’re writing a novel, or two, you just have to get
into the zone and focus solely on the work in progress.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But I’m chuffed to be able to tell
you that both books are now finished. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finding Cherokee Brown</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> will be out in March 2013 and </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shipwrecked</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> will be out in June.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnSJevhgMRaKsIlUfBn1PdlXXMnIcliCgEMZfNchieU6hxA78vLIocgDSZPXwapwV4B_aSgbx8m_NyL-8jMazA0FfmOWQbupLL0zDBmkUm50066jNBtQR6ehNrUUJku25QRLxGxCg-LU/s1600/SC_Shipwreked_CVR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnSJevhgMRaKsIlUfBn1PdlXXMnIcliCgEMZfNchieU6hxA78vLIocgDSZPXwapwV4B_aSgbx8m_NyL-8jMazA0FfmOWQbupLL0zDBmkUm50066jNBtQR6ehNrUUJku25QRLxGxCg-LU/s320/SC_Shipwreked_CVR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shipwrecked</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> is a top secret project I’ve been working on for the
past year. It’s been top secret because a TV series is being developed
alongside the books. This is the first time my publisher, Egmont, have embarked
upon a project like this – normally a TV adaptation would take place after the
book has been published and completely separately – so I feel honoured to be
the writer chosen for the job.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shipwrecked</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> is a series, I’ve just started work on the second
book – I know, no rest for the wicked! – and I’ll be honest with you, when I
first sat down to write it I felt a little overwhelmed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Do you ever feel like that when you
start writing something new? Like the story seems so frickin’ huge you just
don’t know where to begin? Or maybe the setting and characters haven’t quite
come alive in your head yet so when you try to capture them on the page they
seem stilted and two dimensional?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is exactly how I was feeling
the other day – and then I remembered the one fail-safe, fool-proof exercise guaranteed
to bring your story to life </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">before you even start writing it </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">– </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">making a story collage</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A story collage is pretty much what
it says on the tin – a collage, made up of pictures of characters, settings, and
any other images that symbolise what you want to write about. It’s a lot of fun
to create and, as you get busy attacking stacks of magazines with your
scissors, or printing pics from the net, you’d be amazed at how many extra
ideas you start getting for your story too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I sat down to make my collage
for </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shipwrecked 2 </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the first thing I did
was look for pictures of my new characters. As soon as I had these I found they
gave me endless clues and ideas for the characters’ back-stories. Then I had
fun searching through the travel sections of newspapers for suitably tropical
pics – and found one photo in particular that gave me tons of ideas for the
plot. Within an hour I’d gone from </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">complete overwhelm</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> to </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">can’t-wait-to-get-writing.</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRFKVMUpeIdNSF-gQjZFafufpNluxpwibsUGXu9t56FA6A3tZ44pDWaDT737fSRuOEyckVYgzlD06EbYKeMT-nK71e_oNUjbGfO4smxtCnlzoxygfgS_3j4XyeFwYfHcxk4xfrpUcxMM/s1600/IMG01243-20121026-1055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRFKVMUpeIdNSF-gQjZFafufpNluxpwibsUGXu9t56FA6A3tZ44pDWaDT737fSRuOEyckVYgzlD06EbYKeMT-nK71e_oNUjbGfO4smxtCnlzoxygfgS_3j4XyeFwYfHcxk4xfrpUcxMM/s320/IMG01243-20121026-1055.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My collage starts taking shape...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The photo above is of the start of my collage - it will get a lot bigger as and when I find inspirational pics. I’ve stuck it on my
cupboard door so that I’m facing it when I write. That way I feel fully
immersed in the world of the characters and location.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I seriously can’t recommend this
exercise enough, and would love to hear how you get on if you try it too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Till next time,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">happy writing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-38387877131362635012012-07-31T08:32:00.000-07:002012-07-31T08:32:07.740-07:00Why I Love Writing Showcase<br />
<h1>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-weight: normal;">Dear Writer,<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’s Olympic week in London and it
just so happens that the office I work in is directly opposite the Jamaican
team’s HQ. Let me tell you, it’s very hard coming up with story ideas when
Usain Bolt is about to arrive at any moment for a press conference!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This has been my view for the past
few days as I gaze out of the window longingly…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cb21rBNAeCMN0iHYppQT1h6pJBX3JEssA7cD8MSuKRdrNVw936KPUMeFF7vFA2eHl7LafOnpIX0RL4gBjb1TnXHBE3El3QoFaTVHsznGDQ5H6-yxe8G-1hfo-49-u_zL-5IReP4q_9I/s1600/IMG00925-20120726-1624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cb21rBNAeCMN0iHYppQT1h6pJBX3JEssA7cD8MSuKRdrNVw936KPUMeFF7vFA2eHl7LafOnpIX0RL4gBjb1TnXHBE3El3QoFaTVHsznGDQ5H6-yxe8G-1hfo-49-u_zL-5IReP4q_9I/s320/IMG00925-20120726-1624.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for Usain!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h1>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></h1>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As promised last week, after
unveiling the first ever competition winners here on Dear Writer, today it
gives me tremendous pleasure to showcase the five runners-up. I think you’ll
agree, they all deserve showcasing. And I love the fact that the same title;
‘Why I Love Writing’, sparked such very different responses.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So here they are, with my reasons
why I chose them:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<h1>
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why I Love Writing by Anna Pilkington</span></span></h1>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have loved writing since before I could write.
Literally. I drew pictures to tell my story. And I love to read. I was in about
first grade when it hit me, that you can go anywhere. That you can be drawn
into another world and leave all your problems behind. You can fight Lord
Voldemort and win the Hunger Games all in one day. And most of all, I love
writing for other people. I love watching them react to it, to be transported
to that world. The world I made. It can be anywhere. In outer space,
Antarctica, Paris, or the Ice Age.</span><br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was brought up on reading and writing. I have had
stories read to me since the day I was born. At one time my parents owned a
magazine in Lubbock, Texas, and my mom has worked at newspapers her whole life.
She started a blog in 2009 about letter writing, so that started my desire for
a blog. I now have a fashion blog that I just started that I love to write on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I suppose someone out there can just whip up a
story without throwing anything away, but I love the half finished stories that
you find in a notebook from a year ago. It's so fun to finish them and to see
how much your taste has changed in genres and themes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The thing I love most about writing
is that I can put my dreams into a story for others to read. I love the feeling
when you just finished a story and you feel so proud. Like right now. And
that's why I love writing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span lang="EN-US"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The thing I loved most about Anna’s entry
(apart from her obvious passion for writing) is when she talks about that
amazing sense of pride you get when you complete a piece of writing, and it was
fun how she tied this in with completing her entry for this competition. I hope
she feels really proud at being a runner-up in the competition too! Well done,
Anna!</span></b></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<h1>
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why I Love Writing by Drew Boulton<o:p></o:p></span></span></h1>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The best song ever written for me and you,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Is the song by P!nk entitled Who Knew,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I first heard it I very nearly started to cry,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The emotions that were expressed came from her heart
inside.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She really lets go about her feelings of her friend,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Who sadly let drugs make his life come to an end,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And the lines in it say exactly who she is,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just a normal person with nothing but a wish.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A wish that her friend could just have stayed alive,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So she could just touch him one more time,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The words are those of a person with feelings,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Who only writes about something with meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That is why I love that song deep in my heart,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A song of true meaning that in my life will never
part,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And if you ever think life doesn't treat you as a
friend,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Think of those people who's lives have come to an end.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span lang="EN-US"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Drew’s was the only entry about loving
another person’s writing and it was also the only entry written in poetry form.
I love the way certain song lyrics can have such a powerful effect on you so
Drew’s poem really struck a chord with me. I thought it was really well
written, emotional and moving and I loved the fact it was so different to the others.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h1>
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why I love writing by Marian<o:p></o:p></span></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There is a problem. Yes, a big problem. See the title
is highly inappropriate as I do not love writing. Nor do I even remotely like
it. It is a bothersome and distressing ordeal. First you have to think of a
storyline and plot. Look how that’s working out for me. I’m going completely
against the topic. I’m commonly found dumbstruck with a pen in my hand. Nothing
registering in my genius brain. My thoughts get jumbled up and I forget whether
I’m supposed to be writing about my dream holiday travelling around the world,
with a book in my hand or a fiercely dragon fighting a knight, destined to live
happily ever after with a mystical princess. As you can see it is a big
problem. A big problem indeed. And that’s not the half of it. How on earth am I
supposed to write what’s going on in my far away mind. It’s difficult enough to
focus on one idea at a time. And you’re asking me to write it down? I will
forget my capitals letters and full stops. The whole two page essay will be one
big sentence with approximately one hundred and fifty two “ands”. Every
sentence will start with “I went”. At least my spelling will live through this
deathly torment. Thank God for spell check is all I can say! Then after that
there’s the proof read to make sure it makes sense. My beginning began in the
21</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">st</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> century where it meandered to the middle ages and came to
sudden stop in the year 3000. That is when I start singing Busted's “ year
three thousand” and press x without thinking and forgetting to save. There goes
all my effort. My long hours spent in front of my thesaurus. So I can firmly
tell you I do not like writing and I will never write again – wait … I’m
writing!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I LOVED this entry. It was so much fun
and made me laugh my head off in places because I could relate only too well to
the whole love / hate thing when it comes to writing. Great ending too!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why I Love Writing by Nadia</span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My love for writing came from my love for reading. At
first I only used to read I didn’t even consider writing. I read because I
loved the different places a story could take you, I loved how a character
could change the way you feel about something and most of all I loved the story
line of a book and how every story was so different and each story held a
different idea<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I just love how the author can make you
feel different things in a book, how it can make you laugh , how it
can make you cry but the thing I love most in books is how it can take you
places you never dreamt of , places you never imagine. It can just teleport you
there and you can feel like your there.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then one day I thought I want to do that, I want to
make people feel like that after reading something that I wrote, so I decided
that I should try writing as a hobby. When I did I found that I really enjoyed
writing, I didn’t even think my writing was good, I just really enjoyed
writing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But then one day I posted one of my stories onto my
blog and the feedback I got was really nice and people said they really liked
it. I just loved that feeling I got when someone commented or told me something
nice about my story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So ever since then I have been writing and love it. I
love it when someone is genuine when they say how much they liked my story.
Also I enjoy writing when I blog, I love to write about different things, it
doesn’t always have to be fiction or a story. I love writing in my diary, blog
and scribbles of ideas in my notebooks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So the reason I love writing is because I love the
feeling of entertaining people with my writing and I love getting positive and
sweet feedback. One day I hope more people will enjoy and appreciate my writing
as I love to write.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I could really relate to this entry too –
my love for writing also stemmed from a love of reading and I think Nadia
perfectly captures the way in which the written word can ‘teleport’ you into a
different world. And I’m sure one day her dream will come true and readers will
appreciate her writing as much as she loves to write.</span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why I Love Writing by Georgia Walters</span></b></h2>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are so many reasons as to why I love to write!
Mainly though, it lets you escape from the real world... And when I am typing I
can write as freely as I want, about whatever subject I like ( it isn't like
English classes at school, where you have to do what the teacher says: I can
write whatever I want!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Also, I love it because you can write anything in a
story. I love to write fictional stories, mainly dystopian and fantasy one too.
When I write these I feel like I'm in the story... Not writing it! it's great,
because I can just escape problems at school or arguments by just turning on my
laptop and writing!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In fact, that's what I'm doing with one of my stories,
about a problematic schoolgirl. I have edited names and write up funny stories,
in a diary format. I based it around me and a boy called Michael, who used to
pick on me, and also I have based it on my two friends Leigh and Molly, who are
so obsessed with a certain few celebrities it drives me nuts! So, I just change
some names, and write about the funnier events that have happened to me. I want
to make other people laugh along – and hopefully I will, if any of my stories
are ever published.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The thing I love most about Georgia’s
entry is when she talks about the freedom that comes with writing what you want
– especially when you are so used to be told what to write in school or
college. I also love the fact that Georgia talks about the therapeutic powers
of writing and how you can escape the problems of your every day life by just
turning on your laptop and starting to write. Well done, Georgia!</span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div>
<h2>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Summer Writing Prompts</span></h2>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Later this week I will be publishing some special summer writing prompts here, aimed at keeping you writing through August, but in a fun, holiday way - no-one should have to work too hard in August, not even us long-suffering writers!</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">More soon...</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x</span></div>
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<br /></div>Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-73291762066424583612012-07-26T02:07:00.000-07:002012-07-26T02:07:11.859-07:00And the Winner is...!<!--StartFragment-->
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">,</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">*ATTENTION - THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS <b>WINNING WRITERS</b>!!!*</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable afternoon going through
all of the entries for the very first ever </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> competition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, it was very enjoyable at first, when I was reading all
of the wonderful pieces about why the entrants love writing. But then, when it
came to deciding upon the winners, it got pretty darned stressful. It was SO
difficult to choose! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’d initially said that I’d have one overall winner and a
second and third place. But the quality of the entries was so high that I couldn’t
choose between the second and third place, so there will be two joint second
prize winners, and I’m adding a runners-up category for the five writers who
came closest to getting into the top three, as there was so little to choose
between them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<b>First Prize</b></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, without further ado, it gives me great, humungous,
enormous pleasure to present the overall winner’s entry, by <b>Ama Badu</b> from
London.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why
I Love Writing…<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Putting
into words why I put things into words is tricky. I want to write an elaborate
account of how it's the only place I can express myself, about world building,
creativity, fantasying, the magic of it. But I cannot. I write because I have
to. It is no different to breathing; on the outside I appear okay, but if I
stop inside I am suffocating. I can no more tell my mind to stop making stories
than to cease reflecting the signals passing between the nerve endings of my
brain. This is very inconvenient. And distracting. I'm emotionally strangled
most of the time. "A story-making mind. Sounds wonderful", some idiot
will tell me before proceeding to press their demands. <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The
stories get clogged up in worries, desires, fatigue and to do lists and I jump
far away from the computer. Stare into an infinite future of menial jobs where
the very dregs of people end up; make-up free parading themselves around.
Forcefully, miserably I drag myself back to the screen. After typing some words
I stare the other way, into a future built on typing some words, envision a
cocktail of isolation, rejection slips, late bills, the empty fridge,
persistent uncertainty, deadlines. I throw in some alcoholism because writers
are drunks...or addicts...apparently, maybe a failed marriage, or four, some
sexual deviation. And I press save anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I want
to talk to the part of me that enjoys writing, (the clearly insane part) and
report what it says. Its silence is eerily pronounced. Though the mantra of
expressing beauty, truth and love decorates my response, I know to understand
might be at the core of why I write. Understanding myself, the world, others.
Others, the world, myself understood. A world of understanding people. <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Placing
the unfeasible aside however, frankly, why do I write? Plunge into the
darkness, chuck up rocks for a pearl. Because birds fly despite planes. Fishes
swim despite sharks. Londoners breath despite exhaust fumes. And Ama's write
despite the unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I loved this entry because it was so well-written and
contained so much passion, emotion, beautiful imagery and humour (please
believe me that not ALL writers are alcoholic, sexual deviants though!) It ticked all
the boxes for me, and above all, Ama’s passion for writing sings from the page.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So a MASSIVE well done to Ama. She has won a signed copy of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear
Dylan,</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and me as her writing mentor for a
month.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<h2>
<b>Joint Second Place</b></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In joint second place are Catherine from <a href="http://www.thebookparade.blogspot.co.uk/">The Book Parade</a>
blog and Jasmine, who blogs at <a href="http://ebonyblacklines.blogspot.co.uk/">Ebony Black Lines</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here is </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Catherine</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">’s
entry:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why I Love Writing…<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Words are the most beautiful, magical thing.
Soft and sweet, singing stories that sweep you in like spells.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A pen is the most powerful, precious thing.
Allows you to express yourself, pour your soul onto a page, capture emotions
and memories, evoke emotions and memories.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pen and words walk hand in hand like bow and
arrow – a fearless weapon, capable of piercing the heart and setting it ablaze
with hatred, anger, fear, passion.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pen and words walk hand in hand like bow and
cello – a magnificent musical instrument, capable of playing a melody with the
heartstrings, humming tunes that sing of sadness, laughter, joy, love.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When you pick up a pen and write, you are
powerful. You have the power to travel to exotic worlds, to discover new
things, to laugh, to cry, to fall in love. And even more wonderful, you have
the power to share this incredible experience with others too.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Infuse your words with your heart and soul,
let a little of yourself flow into the words, bringing them to life, making
them buzz with realness.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Writing doesn’t disappear. Your words will
remain in the world for generations, to enchant others, to inspire others.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is why I love writing. I can lose myself
in words, lose myself in imagination. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can share a little of myself with the
world.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can be anyone. I can do anything.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am powerful. I am free.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The thing I loved most about this entry was the
beauty of the words and imagery used – it felt like a real love letter to
writing and I could relate to it so much. I also LOVE the final line: ‘<i>I am
powerful. I am free</i>.’ This sums up so perfectly the beauty of writing to me. Massive
well done, Catherine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
<b>Joint Second Place</b></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The other joint second
place winner was <b>Jasmine</b> from the <a href="http://ebonyblacklines.blogspot.co.uk/">Ebony Black Lines</a> blog. Here’s her entry:</span><span lang="EN-US"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why I Love Writing...</span></i></b></span><span lang="EN-US"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
have always been the girl my parents shake their heads with despair at and
mutter, “Always got her head in the clouds, always dreaming,” and I don’t deny
it. Whenever I can I close my eyes and dream; Dream of wild fancies, hopeless
desires and wishful thoughts. It was my way of freeing myself from the strong
bonds of reality and letting my mind rove places that would never be possible.
It was also my way of living lives that I knew I would never be able to, or
feeling emotions that - I hoped (some of them are scary!!) – I would never
experience.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And
then books were introduced into my life.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
believe reading is like dreaming with open eyes, you are drawn away on a
journey in another person’s shoes and get to live their life for the duration
of the book, and maybe that is why I loved reading in the first place, because
of its link with dreaming. I would be pulled into the story, living and
breathing each characters difficulties, triumphs and feeling every little
emotion. Sometimes I would get so wrapped up in the book I would forget about
where I was or what day or time it was. And then I realised that that was what
I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to capture people with my writing and draw
them into a book and share my passion for writing with them so that they can
feel the same way...<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>And now I love
writing...I write anything, blogs, stories, diaries. It is the way I express
myself into something that will live on, something memorable after I have
finished writing, and it is a way in which I can pour my emotions out and
entertain people whose opinions I value.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I loved Jasmine’s emphasis on the dreamy aspect
of writing and her entry included a line that has stayed with me ever since
first reading: </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">‘I believe reading is like dreaming with open eyes.’</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> How brilliantly put, and of course you can say
exactly the same about writing. Massive well done to you too, Jasmine!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Both second prize winners will receive a signed
copy of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Dylan</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> plus my detailed
feedback on one piece of their work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h2>
Next Week</h2>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Next week I will be showcasing the entries of
the five writers who came closest to making it to the winning three:</span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Anna Pilkington<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Marian<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Nadia<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Georgia Walters<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Drew Boulton<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They will all also receive signed books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you entered the competition and weren’t lucky
this time round, first of all, thank-you and second, please don’t worry, the standard of the entries was exceptionally high and there
will be plenty more to come, with loads of exciting prizes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Next week, as well as showcasing the runners-up
entries, I will be giving you some fun, summer writing prompts to help keep you writing through August.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Till then, enjoy the sunshine and, as always…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy writing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv896516511msonormal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-18833678010073635622012-07-19T07:24:00.000-07:002012-07-19T07:24:54.189-07:00Writing Prompt<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hope you've had a great week.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I went to see Bruce Springsteen on Saturday and he was AMAZING! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here I am rocking the British summer festival look...</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLon6U_hSbbJ96YUvKle7MjsI3BOibLzesD34_DgZCNIxA2GsPhvSBxRNcyshOuLt5R2EPEwJPTEefwyjTPp8wbN5q_Pou7ux2k0Uym_ckbmBjQu3S5-7u-j8rXYcVpt_zmOqYVdZmVc/s1600/292391_10151133841573833_446465324_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLon6U_hSbbJ96YUvKle7MjsI3BOibLzesD34_DgZCNIxA2GsPhvSBxRNcyshOuLt5R2EPEwJPTEefwyjTPp8wbN5q_Pou7ux2k0Uym_ckbmBjQu3S5-7u-j8rXYcVpt_zmOqYVdZmVc/s320/292391_10151133841573833_446465324_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow plastic is all the rage!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bruce started his set with </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thunder Road, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the song that inspired me to write my next YA novel, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finding Cherokee Brown, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">so that was a very poignant moment. It took me right back to the day when I was listening to that track and got the first seed of the idea for the book. Back then it seemed like such a huge challenge - how to turn one vague idea into a 200-and-something-page book. But I got there in the end, and hearing the song live brought a great sense of completion.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">***Writing Tip***</span></i></b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you are thinking of writing a novel but are put off by the sheer enormity of the work involved try taking it one chapter - or even one page - at a time. Novel writing can be laborious and daunting and there are times when you just don't think you'll ever get to those magic words, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><b>The End</b></span>. But if you keep on showing up at the page you'll get there in the end. And when you do, nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction! I just finished my seventh novel but I can remember when I was about half way through my first seriously despairing that I'd ever get it done. And seriously considering giving up and going to watch EastEnders instead! I'm SO glad I didn't.</span></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<h2>
Writing Prompts</h2>
<div>
Last week somebody asked me if I can start giving writing prompts on this blog, so here's a nice fun one to get you started. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Try writing a poem or piece of prose that includes all of the following words (in any order):</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<!--StartFragment-->
<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
Hope<o:p></o:p></h1>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dream</span></span></div>
<h2 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold;">Wish</span></div>
<h3 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><i>Today</i></span></div>
<h4 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;"><i>Tree</i></span></div>
<h5 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></h5>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Purple</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
If you'd like to send me your piece of writing or post it here that would be great.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<h2>
Last Call for Dear Writer Competition</h2>
<div>
The Dear Writer Competition closes on Friday 20th July. So if you'd like the chance to win me as your writing mentor for a month and some signed books, then please email me your entry entitled: Why I Love Writing. (For more details please see earlier blog).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I really look forward to hearing from you.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Till next week,</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Happy writing!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Siobhan x</div>
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<!--EndFragment-->
</div>Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-81116459651534704922012-07-12T02:39:00.000-07:002012-08-14T07:58:06.259-07:00Read to Write<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, it’s been a busy couple of
weeks for me since I last blogged. In Fun and Random News, I went to a
sleepover with my niece, got invited to go and see one of my all-time heroes,
Bruce Springsteen, and got attacked by a dog whilst out running! And, in Work
News, I’ve been putting the finishing touches to my next YA novel, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finding
Cherokee Brown, </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and preparing to start work
on a screen adaptation of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Dylan. </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also, thankfully, got some time to read. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Reading is such a crucial part of
being a writer. To me it’s like putting petrol in a car – reading someone
else’s beautifully written words seems to help fill up your own writing tank. And
every once in a while I come across a book so mind-blowingly powerful and
well-written it makes me want to leap up and down and tell everyone about it –
and then go away and raise my own writing game.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last weekend I read one such book –
so please take a moment to picture me leaping up and down. And waving my arms
about. And holding a banner reading: BUY THIS BOOK!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The book in question? The YA novel,
</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Code Name Verity</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> by Elizabeth Wein.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_hlqUOFHN7Zi2gWj9D7zQHnnWcoBdUyNLuG5_KBAkULJ99BHL3ym_gSlfVlhxap8BMqgva1VVt0_Irlooiiu9suo4_PM-QvC-r6wZGlZ5ugQcXKbIzGUSmA9RuhcgRhdwyAeg9yI1LYs/s1600/CNV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_hlqUOFHN7Zi2gWj9D7zQHnnWcoBdUyNLuG5_KBAkULJ99BHL3ym_gSlfVlhxap8BMqgva1VVt0_Irlooiiu9suo4_PM-QvC-r6wZGlZ5ugQcXKbIzGUSmA9RuhcgRhdwyAeg9yI1LYs/s1600/CNV.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are many, many reasons why I
love </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Code Name Verity</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. Here are just a
few:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is a celebration of friendship<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It has two wonderful central characters<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It features brave and interesting girls in action
roles – there is no sappy ‘waiting for Mister Right / Mister Vampire’ in
this book!<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It perfectly recreates the drama and tension of
World War II<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The plot is full of twists and turns<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It made me laugh out loud </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> cry my eyes out because I became so emotionally
attached to the characters<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At one point, when I’d got to a
particularly harrowing scene and was blubbing like a baby, my son came in. When
I told him that I was crying at the book I was reading he stared at me in
disbelief. ‘Books can’t make you cry,’ he said. But oh, yes they can. If they
are well-written enough and if the writer is able to create characters that
leap off the page and straight into your heart, then they can make you laugh
and cry and gasp and shout. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Elizabeth Wein did all of that and
more. And that’s why I’m saying that all budding writers should read her book –
it’s the best, most riveting masterclass in writing I could possibly
recommend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
Competition</h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There’s now just one week to go
before the very first Dear Writer competition closes. So, if you would like to
win a signed copy of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Dylan</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> – or me
as your very own writing mentor for a month – then take a look at my previous
post for details.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And, if you would like to know more
about the fairytale story behind </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Dylan </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and how it went from a self-published experiment to winning a national
award and going to auction – and ultimately leading me to set up this very
website – then check out this article I recently wrote for <a href="http://welovethisbook.com/features/pen-page-publishing-contract">We Love This Book</a>. I
hope you find it inspiring…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Till next week,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy writing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-42131566117505831162012-06-28T05:29:00.000-07:002012-07-05T02:23:36.558-07:00Why Do You Love Writing?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Please note: there is a very exciting competition
coming up in this week’s blog, with signed books and the chance to win me as
your writing mentor for a month up for grabs, so don't flick back to Facebook - KEEP READING!)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How are you? I hope you’ve had a good week and have had
plenty of opportunities to write.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you read last week’s blog then hopefully you’ve found the
whole ‘writing for the bin’ thing helpful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bin on My Desk- reminding me it's OK to write rubbish!</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This week, at one of the workshops I run for young people, I
actually put a bin on the table in front of them to really ram the point home
(a small, waste-paper bin, not a huge, smelly refuse bin, just in case you’re
trying to picture the scene – I think a huge, smelly refuse bin might have been
a tiny bit off-putting). Anyway, after reminding them that whatever they were
about to write could be chucked straight into the bin if they didn’t like it, I
got them to </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">free-write*</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> for ten
minutes. I told them to write about whatever was on their mind, in order to get
it off their mind so that they would then be free to focus on their fiction. I
joined in too and it ended up being a really powerful exercise. We all ended up
writing about issues that had been bugging us and most people said that they
felt a weight had been lifted from their shoulders afterwards. The best thing
was that the bin ended up staying empty – everyone was really pleased with what
they had written and ended up reading their work to the rest of the group. It
was a great reminder of how heartfelt and powerful your writing can be when you
just let it flow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>*</i></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Free-writing</i></span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i> is
like free-running, but with words. It’s where you just let your words spill
onto the page without censoring them in any way. When you are free-writing it is
OK to make spelling mistakes, forget punctuation and to get angry, emotional
and rude!<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let Your Words Flow as Fast as They Can</td></tr>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Writing Exercise<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">If you want to write really heartfelt, powerful fiction, try
doing a free-write to tap into your own emotions first. For example; supposing
you’re writing a story about a person who wins the lottery, falls in love </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">and</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> gets the job of their dreams all on the very same
day. Now, I’m pretty certain that hasn’t ever happened to you before (if it
has, what are you doing reading this? Why aren’t you off having romantic moments
on your yacht?!), but that doesn’t mean you can’t write convincingly about how
it would make your character feel. Hopefully, at some point in your life you
have felt really, really happy. So sit down, close your eyes and take a moment
to relive that moment and then write really fast, without worrying about
grammar or punctuation, about how it made you feel. Write as much as you can,
then re-read your work. Hopefully there will be at least a couple of great
lines or details in there that you can apply to your fictional character. And
of course, you can use this exercise for any emotion – happy, sad, angry,
jealous, excited, scared, depressed etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<b>Dear Writer Competition</b></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Drum roll, please!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This week, I’m delighted to announce the first ever<b> Dear
Writer competition</b>. I thought long and hard about what the theme of the competition
ought to be and then it struck me that, as this blog is all about the joys of
writing, that ought to be the focus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m looking for entries entitled: </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why I Love Writing</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Entries should be up to 300 words long and can be prose or
poetry. The title is fairly self-explanatory but here are a few pointers to
help you:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You
can write about what your own writing means to you<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Or you
can write about what a piece of writing by someone else means to you. Maybe
there’s a poem or book or short story or song lyric which has really made
a positive difference to you in some way.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What
I’m looking for is a real passion for writing so try free-writing your
entry first in order to really tap into your emotions<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rules<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Entrants must be under 25<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Entries should be emailed to:
contact[AT]siobhancurham[DOT]co[DOT]uk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The deadline is Friday 20</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> July 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Prizes</b></h2>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First Prize – </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a
signed copy of my book </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Dylan</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I will become your </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">writing mentor for one
month </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">– offering you personal advice and
feedback on your writing via email.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You could Win Me - as Your Writing Mentor!</td></tr>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Runners Up – </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Second
and third prize will be a signed copy of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Dylan</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and emailed
feedback on </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">one</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> piece of your written
work (maximum 3,000 words).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMu64txN7JfHWS9-2hvhjMj_Zy1dUyVTA2KOOAVH-gKWADvX1cx48B_ML8SSGPpDIMtDLNvoDPVo6ECb69YTPCePRgZ7cBd010inD0fUEObFqKi5hWVgraSXjXs-GM_V3n5FlmjJMGos/s1600/IMG00766-20120304-1843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMu64txN7JfHWS9-2hvhjMj_Zy1dUyVTA2KOOAVH-gKWADvX1cx48B_ML8SSGPpDIMtDLNvoDPVo6ECb69YTPCePRgZ7cBd010inD0fUEObFqKi5hWVgraSXjXs-GM_V3n5FlmjJMGos/s320/IMG00766-20120304-1843.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signed Copies of Dear Dylan Up for Grabs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">really</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> look forward
to reading your entries.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Till next week – happy writing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9090130208680724762.post-27290952536376753032012-06-21T01:40:00.000-07:002012-06-21T01:55:20.170-07:00How to Think Like a Writer<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Welcome to the very first </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> blog! Please imagine a dramatic drum roll, a
trumpet fanfare and maybe some fireworks erupting from the top of your screen.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, what will I be talking about in this very first </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">blog? Well, it just so happens that
this week I started running a </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> course for some young people in Camberwell, London (and that’s in
England for anyone reading this in say, Outer Mongolia). Anyway, I thought that
the topic we covered in our first workshop would also make an ideal first blog:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b>HOW TO THINK LIKE
A WRITER</b></h3>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What came out of the workshop was just how many negative
thoughts a writer can have. I’m not kidding, when it comes to thinking about
writing, people can get very down-hearted indeed! Let me give you an example…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You
have an idea for a poem or short story – or maybe even a novel. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You
think – </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">that’s a good idea, I’d better start writing it down</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Approximately
one hundredth of a second later you think – </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can’t start writing it
down because…<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
have too much else to do<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’ll
do it tomorrow<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
don’t have enough time<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
need to do a bit more planning first<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
have too much homework<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’m
too tired<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’ll
probably be lousy anyway<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
need to tidy my bedroom<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I
need to polish the cat<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is truly amazing the excuses we can come up with to stop
ourselves from writing. One time I even cleaned attic (THAT NOBODY EVER SEES – </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">EVER</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">!) rather than write.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Okay, so that’s the bad thoughts that writers have. The good
news is that even the most successful authors have thoughts like these. I bet
there was many a time when JK Rowling sat in that café in Scotland, writing her
first Harry Potter novel, and thought to herself, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">why am I bothering to do
this, who’s going to want to read a book about a boy wizard, I really should
just go home and polish the cat </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(or
something). But she didn’t give up because somehow she managed to overcome her
fearful writing thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, how can you do that too?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Easy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Write. For. The. Bin.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No, I haven’t gone nuts, and I’m not saying you should dedicate
your novel to your wheelie bin – unless of course you’re particularly fond of
your wheelie bin – in that case, I'm very happy for you and go right ahead. But what I’m trying to say is,
instead of worrying that your writing is going to be crap and letting that stop
you from writing anything at all, think to yourself that whatever you write is
going to be for the bin and the bin alone. That way, if what you write does
turn out to be rubbish, no-one will ever know, your friends won’t ever laugh at
you – and at least you won’t have had to polish the cat.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Writing is like running or any other physical exercise, in that the more you do it, the
better you become. So you have to find a way of shutting up your negative
thoughts in order to allow yourself to actually start writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And when you do start writing for the bin – or the delete
button – a funny thing happens:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">WHAT YOU WRITE ISN’T NEARLY AS RUBBISH AS YOU THOUGHT IT
WAS GOING TO BE!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Try it and see. And if you are impressed with what you end
up writing – and you’d like to share it in a follow-up blog on this site, drop
me an email – I’d love to hear from you…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<b>EXCITING COMPETITION COMING SOON!!!</b></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In next week’s blog I’ll be giving you details of the first
ever </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dear Writer</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> competition, with
signed books and the chance to win me as your writing mentor for a month up for
grabs.</span></span></span></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’ll also be writing about the power of words and how we can use our own life experiences to create powerful pieces of fiction. To make sure
you don’t miss it, click on the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Follow by email</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> button on the right hand side of this page, and it will be sent
straight to your email address as soon as it’s posted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Until then, happy writing - for the bin!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Siobhan x</span><o:p></o:p></div>Dear Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956831507949039644noreply@blogger.com2