RavenMusings

There was a small delay before I could get to this activity. Mostly because the starter was meant to be turning on a radio and basing either a short story or beginning of a story off of the first thing we heard. Well I have just opened the BBC sounds app to a story about the difficulties people are facing managing to keep work forces running when they are pinged by the NHS Test & Trace app. I've immediately changed this to a lateral flow test. I don't know if that was cheating, but I was immediately struck by a joke I've made a few times about the line system being like pregnancy tests. And it was this image and missing out on work that I wanted to base this exercise on.  Donna grunted and then sighed in disbelief. Two lines. Two red lines. Not too long ago a similar set of lines had been the cause of wondrous news and celebration. How was she going to tell Stacey? Checking her watch Donna knew Stacey was at home, feet up watching Countdown. Since going on maternity lea...

 So in this update I am trying to return to the previous Character Sketch I had put together for Mabon, the main character in the book draft I have been working on (well actually not working on but hope to return to working on). The exercise is essentially to flesh out the character with additional detail. As I initially read over the sketch I was wondering what sort of things to add. Initially I was drawn to adding details around his surroundings to try and make use of Mabon's senses and awareness of his environment, though I think that would be missing the point. I suppose it might add into his thought processes and how he thinks about the world. But It would be a lot of detail around things that weren't him and I'm not sure that would really be adding too much to the character sketch.  I am sure I will be adding in some of that detail but I also want to flesh out a little of his description, but I also worry about a density of introduction leaves little to be discovered...

 The course is talking about writing rituals and building those up. I find it so bizarre that they're called rituals, for me the word has a strange spiritual tone. Like you're putting together the pieces of a spell or ceremony with the idea of the things you put into place then summon the writing into being. That the story is already out there waiting for you to call it forth into the world from some other dimension. Perhaps that is how it feels for some. I suppose when I was getting into the flow state of writing it does feel  somewhat akin to that. But I don't know if thinking of it as a ritual adds a superstitious element for me rather than thinking of writing as a skill and craft that you practice. I am aware I am saying this as someone with a grand total of zero published works. But, hey, I wrote like a fifth of a first draft. That's got to count for something? No you say? You're probably right. However for this activity we were to write about what we felt woul...

 I found even the title of this activity an interesting prospect. While I have obviously read a lot of book in my time, and had had a bash at writing something in the not too distant pass, I hadn't come across these character introductions and descriptions being called sketches. While I was writing the second of my book I already have I had taken the decision to try and avoid having anything that was a large character description or introduction. Instead I was planning on slipping in small character notes through the story as they felt relevant as this felt more organic.  In the character sketch I did for the course I did use one of the character's (the main character for the book) to build the sketch. I was aware I still wanted to try and stick to my choice to avoid anything that felt like it was too 'exposition-y' and so have tries to make all the details that are mentioned tied to some piece of activity or action in the scene. I do quite like the outcome, so I din...

 For this exercise we were challenged to write two paragraphs. One should contain 3 factual and 1 fictitious elements and a second with the ratio inverted. I found that by just thinking of something from my own personal experience for both and then twisting a different number of things was the easiest approach but here's what I have come up with. I'm not going to say which is which paragraph; I'll leave it to you to guess. I am vainly saying that like anyone will ever read this, or indeed be bothered to have a guess.  She stood at the top of the stairs, peering down at the front door. It would be about an hour till it opened again when he came home. As she watched, the conversation they’d had replayed over in her head yet again. She teetered on the top step, wondering what he’d feel, if he’d feel, if she were at the foot instead when he got home. ~| |~ The sky flashed angrily over head, followed shortly afterward by growing growl that bashed at the ears. But even the storm ...

 Okay so three years ago, in something of a fit of pique, I started trying to write book. The going was good and I managed to write just over 20,000 words in a few months. And spending the time getting it all out of my head was great. However I then had a few life hiccoughs get in the way. These included going through a breakup, moving back in with my parents, deciding that I didn't want to be going through this pattern of yo-yoing to and from my parents' depending on my relationship status. So I left my jobs and moved to Wales. Around this and starting a new job I haven't been doing that well at writing. And the draft has gone untouched pretty much ever since.  I recently have begun playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends weekly and have ended up as a note taker for the party. And I have been a bit of a prolific note taker. I had half a mind that I was going to use the notes to effectively write a narrative version of our adventure to then get me back into the headspace ...