WRITERS WITH NOTEBOOKS

You’re lucky if you manage to spot one of these rare specimens. They’re unique in that they’re found in every environment, come in all shapes and sizes with plumage from blonde ringlets to bald pates, and can generally be found engaged in their favourite activity.  Yes, you know who I’m referring to – writers with notebooks.  

Ideas can be sparked by anything, but as many writers know if you don’t write down that idea while it’s fresh in your mind, it’s often taken wing by the time you reach for it later. Today many of us use electronic devices of one kind or another to write with, but one important tool which shouldn’t be neglected is the humble notebook.

With notebooks, size doesn’t matter, although you might want to choose one small enough to carry around in a pocket or bag. I have half a dozen books of various sizes because at one point I kept leaving my notebook at home. Some writers enjoy indulging in the luxury end of the market, and without doubt there is a certain gratification in opening a notebook whose cover is an ornately designed piece of art, but currently a 50p exercise book suits me fine. Whenever I go out, I always check I have my trusty notebook and a couple of pens with me. In the matter of pens, never rely on one, because it will run out just when you need it most.

Developing the habit of jotting down observations, descriptions of people, and places is worthwhile cultivating. A good exercise to practice when you’re out and about is to spend ten minutes or so writing what you see, hear, and smell.  Notice any actions taking place and the different shades and shapes of objects. Are there clouds in the sky? What does the air feel like on your skin? (Although the latter may be easier in seasons when the weather is not too inclement.) Try to create a written snapshot of what is around you. Don’t worry over grammar or punctuation; think like an impressionist painter, it’s all about the moment.

Another use for a notebook is as a diary. Diaries can be used to explore your emotions, and develop a deeper awareness of your internal monologue.  Both Virginia Woolf and Somerset Maugham kept notebooks which they found invaluable for different reasons.  Maugham because he intended to use what he wrote as a resource, and Woolf often recorded observations regarding her own writing process. Writers naturally take a lot from their life experiences.

Notebooks are also good for morning writing, another practice advocated for improving your writing. The theory is that by writing as soon as you wake, you’re still in contact with your subconscious, and can access ideas and your imagination more easily. Morning writing is freewriting without clustering or a prompt. A warning – this practice needs discipline as groping for a notepad on a dark winter’s morning, and trying to function without coffee didn’t work for me. But I still do my best writing when I’ve made it downstairs to the warm kitchen, and after I’ve drunk my coffee!

The news, wherever you get it from, radio, tv, twitter, newspapers, is an endless source of inspiration. A story needs tension and conflict and you’ll find plenty in any newscast. A notebook is ideal for collecting ideas for later development. Even if you never expand or use much of what you’ve written, the act of observing and recording items which interest you feeds your imagination. 

You can use your notebook however you wish: freewriting, diary, morning writing, character sketches, beginnings and expansions of ideas, planning the chain of events for your novel – anything and everything. I know that for me, my notebook has become an invaluable tool in my writing journey.

Writing Update

Last week I was thinking about cutting back on my blog, and posting every two weeks, but yet here I am still posting. I must thank Anne, Carol, Vashti, Christine and Anita for their generous support and encouragement. I also read a blog last week which struck a chord as it pointed out that if you are serious about this writing business, then you should be in for the long haul. And that made me think again.

In the meantime, as I ponder whether to reduce to a bi-monthly blog or not, I’ll continue to post weekly. This week I’ve reworked another of my earliest posts which I believe is still of relevance, and ended up writing more than usual! My new blog resolution is to aim for cheery shorter posts!

I’ll finish my read aloud read thru of the WIP by the end of the week. More about this next week.

You may have noticed the new cover for One Summer in Montmartre. Giving birth to this book is like having your first child – that’s the one you learn most from because that’s the one where you make your mistakes. I changed the cover, not because of negative feedback, but because (diplomatic and thoughtful) feedback from readers said the cover didn’t indicate the genre clearly enough. I’d chosen an illustration because it resonated with the theme, but I took on board that this meant little if you hadn’t read the book.  

Derek Murphy’s posts on book cover design (including a tutorial on how to create covers in ms word) pointed me in the right direction, and I went back to scratch creating a mood board of the elements I wanted to convey to readers, et voila! 

I don’t believe people set out to make mistakes, but to err is in our nature. We, as human beings are imperfect, and our efforts will have flaws. While trying to be as professional as possible, things can go wrong. You fix them as best you can, and move on learning the lessons for next time. I do believe in this story, and with many prayers and hopes, am sending my book out once more into the world.

Today’s Haiku
AUTUMN
red throats and forked tails
swallows soar with wide spread wings
lured by southern warmth

Useful Links:
These lovely supportive people write entertaining, informative blogs that are well worth following. Check them out!
annegoodwin.weebly.com/
carolhedges.blogspot.com
http://vashtiqvega.wordpress.com/
cicampbellblog.wordpress.com
jenanita01.com
Here’s the link to Derek Murphy’s guide to book cover design:
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/10/20/book-cover-design-ms-word/
The following two websites are brilliant whether you’re designing your own cover, or just looking to get ideas to give an illustrator.
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/
http://bookcovers.creativindie.com/

I’d love it if you checked out my debut novel, One Summer in Montmartre, or popped over to Wattpad and read any of my posted stories... just click on the links to the right.

Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku   

Thanks for visiting my blog, and please do leave a comment.

To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.

WASHING DISHES & DANCING THE TANGO

Mornings, when I’m not fully awake, when the promise of the day beckons and the world has a hushed, dreamlike quality, are my favourite time of day. I sit in my cosy chair by the window in the kitchen, clasping a large steaming mug of hot coffee, watching the sun rise above the row of pine trees along the back lane. I relish these quiet moments as I gather my thoughts before the approaching day, with its pressing demands, impinges on me.

It’s in these moments I am genuinely grateful for the many blessings I have in my life; food in my belly, clothes on my body, and a roof over my head. When I think of the wars taking place in many parts of the world today, writing fiction seems an indulgence. But yet...

 

the kitchen's a mess,
the dishes are not done,
but I sit writing.

As far as my WIP goes, I’m on the read aloud edit which I’m really enjoying, and a title is emerging. Yeah! Writing my novel is the most important endeavour, and has to take priority. Despite the struggles and dramas involved in writing, I find creating and inhabiting a fictional world is a deeply fulfilling activity.

These days much of my time and head space outside of my WIP is spent on research about marketing - what achieves results and what doesn’t - particularly with regard to ebooks. As always with the internet there’s a plethora of information, and for every piece of do this, there’s an alternative opinion. The result is I’ve gained more knowledge, but am no wiser.

When I first started blogging, (Feb. 2013) I posted twice a week, but after three or four months this schedule ate too much of my writing time, so I reduced to a weekly post, which I’ve managed to maintain – though I’m not sure how. However, recently that pressure is building again, and as the activities surrounding the writing increase, I’m considering posting less often. Or maybe varying or changing the format, content or direction of the blog. I wonder if I’m running out of enthusiasm for blogging, but it’s more that I don’t have time to write a quality post, and don’t want to shove anything down. I have the utmost admiration for those bloggers who post regularly and have done so for years, but I’m not sure this is my route.

The trouble is blogging is addictive and I find it adds spice and variety to the working week; writing, posting, and responding to comments are more instant than writing and publishing a book, and that interaction is real and to be valued.

No matter what occupation or status we have in life, we have to choose what works best for us, and for me, although my novel is my main concern, promoting what I write is eating up more time than I’d like. And something will have to give. So this week it’s a short post, and I leave you with a poem written as a response to a prompt that requested using a cliché as a starting point – I’m sure you’ll spot mine! 

AFTERNOON DANCE

Inside imitation suns shed lambent light

on floorboards glossy with beeswax;

gilded mirrors poise on walls,

serene musicians seat themselves,

striking chords, plinking and plonking

till orchestral harmony arrives.

Outside the warm sun simmers the earth,

orchids raise their hearts;

a light breeze disperses summer fragrances

of rainforest rosewood and jacaranda

on sea kissed skin.

Dancers float in,

toes pointed, backs like boards,

arms extended, heads erect.  

Dresses revealing tastes of honey,

Arrowed jackets and trousers.

Assuming positions,

eyes spark in expectancy

as adrenaline streams through limbs aligned,

and partners sensuously synchronize,

ready,

in twos,

to tango.

I’d love it if you checked out my debut novel, One Summer in Montmartre, or popped over to Wattpad and read any of my posted stories... just click on the links to the right.

Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku   

Thanks for visiting my blog, and please do leave a comment.

To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.