WOTW - Challenge

I recently wrote about a challenge I had come across which involved writing a short story every week for a year. The basic premise was that it is virtually impossible to write 52 disappointing stories so there is bound to be something that is good or that you can work with.

I wondered aloud if it was a good challenge and if it was something that I should go for. The response was a resounding YES! so I have decided that I am going to 'go for it'. Starting in Septemeber I will write a short story every week for a year. Good Grief! Sounds daunting when you write it down like that...

What I don't know is whether I will keep them all safely on the old hard drive or whether I should share them on the blog. I know that if I do share them then there are some publications which won't accept them as they have already been published online but I don't know whether that is enough of a reason to not pop them up here for your perusal.

So this week, in the interest of getting it all out there, I'm linking with Jocelyn again after a summer break and making my Word of the Week 'Challenge'

A Writing Challenge - Should I Accept?

Sometimes Twitter is a nuisance, a real pain, getting in the way of doing anything productive. Maybe that's just me? Anyway, I have wasted more hours than I care to remember wandering aimlessly around Twitter, finding more pictures of kittens to retweet (sorry!). But sometimes you stumble across a piece of gold. This happened to me the other day so I though I'd share it with you.

Someone I've recently started to follow is Jamie Hoang who tweeted a piece of advice from Ray Bradbury. Here's the link:

https://twitter.com/HeyJamie/status/766663625033515008

I love the idea of doing this! I sometimes/frequently have doubts about how good I am as a writer. I think that everything I write is terrible, not worthy of reading, pants etc. I shy away from sharing too much in case all my fears are realised. I've started to dip my toe in the submission process and so far it's been painless. However as most of these places don't give any feedback I avoid the pain of being told I'm no good. I also avoid being given any constructive criticism but you can't have it all, so I'm told.

Back to the point! I love the idea of writing a short story every week. It seems like such a great challenge - so much better than tipping cold water over yourself or shaving your head (I've actually contemplated this!). And I think I agree that it's not possible to be terrible over a whole year, you must end up with something of merit or something that you can work with.

So the question is, should I do it? Should I pick up that baton and run with it? Will I discover some gold or trail in last with a pulled hamstring? (Gosh I'm going to miss the Olympics!)

Watch this space ...

Some Random Things

Renee over at http://www.mummytries.com/ challenged some of us to share some random facts about ourselves. She shared some very personal and poignant things about herself in the spirit of getting to know her better. I thought I'd have a go but I don't think my life has been as interesting or troubled as Renee's. So forgive me if this is frivolous but then sometimes I am like that...

I'm a proud Brummie exile, living in the softy south (well, Oxfordshire) who has ended up living only a few miles from the village where my mother was born. I've spent some time looking into my family history and found plenty of agricultural labourers but no serial killers or nutters. Must look harder.  

I have no boundaries when it comes to my greed. I have been known to sit on the bus and eat a whole packet of Thornton's coffee chocolates rather than share them when I get home. I also hide chocolates so no-one else knows they are in the house then scoff them all and make myself feel sick. Crisps are a real problem - I will sit and binge on several 'sharing' bags then feel bloated and cross. I shudder to think what the psychology of it is but I'm a greedy cat.

I have several claims to fame. I kissed Gary Shaw in Birmingham City Centre - ok it was as part of the European Cup Winning celebrations and there were several thousand other people there queueing to kiss him or shake his hand. I went to college with Justin Hayward's cousin. And Andrew Castle mentioned a tweet of mine on BBCOne during coverage of Queen's Club. Bet you're all jealous...

I was scared stupid by a Dalek as a small child at Bingley Hall in Birmingham.

I find it hard to act my age. I still get giddy about beautiful men - I'm looking at you Lawrence and Benedict - in the same way I was about David Cassidy and Steve McQueen. I love girly pink, glitter, nail polish, all the things I should have grown out of by now. I enjoy silly things like Pokemon, Hello Kitty and Miffy - I don't even have the excuse of 'It's for my kids' anymore. I worry that I'll be one of those dotty old ladies that everyone jokes about yet I secretly long to be just like that.

I'm a bit of a snob about music, films and books. I have definite ideas about what is 'good' and 'bad' and can be rather dismissive of things that I think are 'bad'. I blame my mother for this - she thought duffle coats and coloured socks were 'common' and some of this rubbed off on me.

Family is really important to me. My sister is my BFF and my husband is my rock. I lost my parents in 2000 and miss them both every day. I still hear my mother's disapproving voice in my head when I do something I think she'd hate - usually revolving around what I'm wearing or eating. I want only the best for my family and will always put my wants and needs behind theirs. In my mind I'm a bread baking, basket weaving, serene Earth Mother; in reality I'm just doing my best!

I used to be outgoing and confident but several bouts of anxiety related illness have made me more cautious and inward looking. I suffer from anxiety before a trip or event and would rather cancel than attend. However I make myself face these anxieties and usually find that I enjoy myself once I get there. But the little voice can be powerful; she insists that it will all go wrong, I will have a dreadful time, I can't do it etc. She's hard to drown out even though she's small. She morphs into my inner critic when I write and she's a noisy soul when wearing that hat.

I have a shadow identity, an invented 'me' who lives an alternative life to the one I live. She is tall and slim, fit and healthy, successful and content. I should hate her but she stands as a testiment to how my life might have turned out if I had taken different turns and decisions to the ones I did. I might use her as the basis of a story one day...

So there we are, a few things about me. Told you I wasn't very interesting.      

How important are images on a blog?

In the spirit of procrastination - I should be getting on with that first draft - I've been wandering around the Internet aimlessly. I stumbled upon an article talking about the importance of updating your blog and including images. It got me thinking: how important are images on a blog?

I confess that I like looking at people's pictures on their blog. It's nice to see where they've been, how their kids are growing, what they've been baking. Maybe I'm just nosey... Anyway, I do enjoy a nice picture. So why don't I put any on my blog?


I used to put pictures on my blog but then I was made aware that by including images I found on the Internet I might be infringing the copyright of the person who took the picture so they were all deleted. Having to use images that I had generated seemed too much effort as I'm not a competent or confident photographer (despite having taken rolls and rolls of film while at college and even developed and printed my own pictures). Maybe if I had a funky new camera to use I'd get into it more but our old camera is bulky so tends to be ignored. 

I'm really bad at remembering to take my phone with me when I'm out and about. I often joke that I have the least mobile mobile phone, it spends all its time sitting on the coffee table! So if something catches my eye I have no way of recording it. I also think that when I'm out and about I should be enjoying the experience not pulling out my phone every 5 minutes, living in the moment and all that. Plus it's a faff to get my glasses out, find my phone, try to remember how the blooming camera phone works - you get the picture. So opportunities to take pictures pass me by and the blog stays image less.


But does that matter? Would my blog be enhanced by some pictures? As I'm trying to keep it as a blog about writing what images would enhance it?  So many questions and I'm not sure I know the answers.