So what went wrong?

I could probably give you a dozen reasons, but basically they're just excuses. I just couldn't hack it and that's the truth of the matter. So when one of the tutors told me there seemed little point in continuing with the course I simply agreed and walked away. I think she was trying to wind me up, but I was already having too many problems at home to put up with that, so now I'm back in Yorkshire and struggling to string even half a dozen decent words together.

No excuses, so don't ask my reasons for quitting. Suffice it to say that I don't like myself much right now. The ability to write is still there, I just need to find the inspiration to kickstart my motor again.

Sorry to let you down...

Chris

The writer at work? Most likely he's simply staring at a blank screen and wondering how he can possibly mar the appearance of that pristine whiteness with words that he knows will never quite say what he wants to say. Actually the picture is somewhat, misleading... I was editing a series of photographs I'd taken as part of the course, another useful skill for the writer to master.

As far as the novel goes the first 60 pages were submitted on time, and even now are probably being torn to shreds by the editor. That's fine, after all it's what first drafts all about isn't it? To be ripped to shreds and scattered to the four quarters of the planet by the winds of history.

Again, I think that's what this course is about. I've probably said it a dozen times already, but the way I see it is that the course demands the impossible of you and stands back to see how you react. There was panic a plenty in that last couple of weeks I can tell you, writers seeking high buildings or tall granite cliffs - (plenty of them in Cornwall) - from the top of which they could hurl themselves and their manuscripts. And yet when the deadline arrived, all five manuscripts were sitting on the table.

Tuesday evening I'm heading for the Falmouth Townhouse and 'Telltales' 19:00 - http://wordslikepictures.com/telltales/ to read an extract from the opening chapter of my novel. Yes the one I haven't been able to look at since last Tuesday... Ah well, isn't that the reason I came to Falmouth? To learn how to be a successful writer. Come along and listen, make your own mind up.

Marching on...

‘He’s back...’ The words weren’t Shelagh’s, but Marie’s. Even in the near darkness of the cell she’d spotted Eli the moment he’d slipped in through the door. Now she dug an elbow into Lizzie’s back, ‘it’s Eli Lizzie, he’s back...’

----------------------------------------------------



Four names in 29 words is something I usually try to avoid, but sometimes you just have to go with it. It's been a difficult couple of weeks to be honest, 60 pages and an outline of the story opening. It's the research that's proving to be a problem, though this exercise was simply 60 pages, and then we're given the thoughts of a professional writer.

It's hard this Masters business, harder than I expected, though I guess that says a lot about my arrogance. I've really struggled this term, and at one point I really thought I wasn't going to make the 60 pages. Strangely the three girls had the pages complete a week ahead of schedule, the two guys are still working on it today, less than 24 hours before hand in.

Can't relax just yet though, still got work to finish and hand in, but completing the 60 pages is such a huge relief.

Searching for Structure

"Albert Francis Makepeace Elliott was an unusual man for his time. The second son of a middling wealthy Bristol tobacco merchant he was a well educated man, and as a qualified physician could have made a decent living in any reasonable sized town in the country. Yet for reasons he preferred to keep to himself he’d chosen instead to offer his services to the government, and take his expertise to the far side of the world."

*******************************************

And so Chapter 2 gets under way, or rather is promoted from its original position of Chapter 5. It's surprising how often that kind of thing happens, at least it still surprises me, though I really ought to be used to it by now. His name might well change but I suspect his character could well play a leading role during the voyage, and that being so I felt it might be prudent to introduce him a little earlier than originally intended.

Chris (Oz)

Allies and Enemies...

When it seems the whole world is against you, what you need most is powerful allies. Question is, will Hannah Moreton prove to be the right choice?

***************************************

‘As I live and breathe... Red Lizzie McCabe.’ Hannah's smile had a jagged, uncertain edge to it. ‘So you been chosen for this trip as well have you Lizzie... last I heard you were due to hang at Tyburn, so what you doin’ here then?’

‘I got lucky,’ was Lizzie’s reply, a brief one maybe, but honest enough.

Things change...

Consuelo shifted slightly before spitting a single word at the back of Eli's head.

'Porco!'

He smiled before replying, 'sim Consuelo, e voce e una prostitute pequeno...'

Lizzie didn't understand a word, but the exchange seemed amicable enough given the translation that followed.

‘She called me a pig,’ said Eli, ‘ and I told her she was a whore, cos that's what she is... But she’s my whore and she knows I loves her, why else would she be in my berth?’

********************************************

Like I said things change, and if you write like me they change more often than I sometimes feel happy with.

I have an outline in my head, now I have to put some flesh on it's bones and that's proving a problem. Eli is one of the guards on the vessel 'Diana' and he's talking about his dark haired Portuguee lover Consuelo. They have a fiery relationship which will shortly be terminated when the young lady gets a knife in her gut... not from either of the two characters in this scene I might add, though it could well result in a relationship developing between the two later in the story.

Red Lizzie is a devious character, she can be a good friend but you really wouldn't want her as an enemy.

Chris.

Slow progress...

It isn't exactly 'writer's block', at the moment the story is simply taking its time, maturing like a good whisky, and I don't see that as a problem. On the contrary I see it as a positive thing.

This is a relatively new story for me, and the historical connections require a large element of research. How can I include an accurate description of an 18th century three master without actually exploring one? Actually I can't, so I think a visit to Charlestown is called for, a 20 mile trip up the Cornish coast. Last time I was there they had at least two old sailing vessels in the harbour so I need to talk my way on board and take a good look round. Maybe that will help loosen up the little grey cells! In the meantime...

'By the time the seaman got to the struggling women Susannah was the only one he could reach, and she took several punches before he was able to drag her away from her victim. Even then she seemed unwilling to let things be.

‘Bitch...’ she screamed, ‘I’ll make you sorry for this; you just see if I don’t.’

Read on...

Chris (Oz)

PS Actually that extract from the story was amended within 24 hours !

Twittering and tweeting...

And so the novel finally sets sail, heading downriver from the Pool of London towards the open (and doubtless stormy) seas of invention. Okay, it's not the novel I thought it would be, and nor is it the story it might have been, but it's fresh and it's new. I have the format, I also have some of the leading characters and an opening scene. What I don't have is any real idea what will happen next.

"The barge ran downriver from Puddle Dock on the last of the ebbing tide, its cargo subdued as the sleet ripped across the river in short, vicious bursts. Lizzie McCabe had heard many tales of the Thames, but this was the first time she’d ventured out onto its fast flowing waters and she was far from happy."

The story will change of course, they always do. It will take me to places I've never been before and introduce me to people I neither know nor like, and people I will fall in love with. Yet every journey must have a beginning, and for Red Lizzie McCabe that moment has now arrived.

Less than 300 words so far, yet already I can feel the excitement and the fear resting heavy in my heart and my stomach. Now I must go and write whilst you keep an eye on my progress via http://twitter.com/ozthewriter

Chris (Oz).

Bubbling under...

There are days, sometimes weeks, when the stories won't cooperate, when your characters seem to shuffle uncertainly on the edge of your consciousness, hinting at a rich vein of promise without ever quite delivering. When that happens the only thing you can do is keep going back, reading, rereading, researching, building the characters and their options in your subconscious. Oh I scribble things on paper every day, but they're poor, sickly things and even I have no compunction disposing of them with a flick of my wrist.

Which is why I've stayed away from my blog the past week or so, and why I'm back tonight. Because it's close, maybe tonight maybe tomorrow, but it's coming and that's what matters.

Can't remember whether or not I mentioned it, but I'm going with the story of Red Lizzie McCabe, and her journey to Australia on board the Lady Penrhyn in the year of our lord 1787.

Chris

Guess what ?

Yes - I changed my mind again. I spent a couple of hours in The Maritime Museum library on Saturday researching the history of Thomas Pellow, captured when 11 years old by Moorish privateers in 1715, and forced to serve as a slave for the next 23 years.

That bit was fine, only while I was there I also took a look at the books covering 'The First Fleet', when the first female convicts were transported to Australia on the 'Lady Penrhyn.'

I got a bit of a roasting for always tending to take the easy option in that first term, and it was tempting to follow that line and work on polishing 'Long Journey Home'. I even submitted the first 35 pages, all neat and tidy, only to change my mind again. I'm resurrecting the First Fleet story I did for Nanowrimo in 2007, though I haven't really worked on it since.

So if I needed a challenge, there it is. I'll print off the first 35 pages, present it to Derek tomorrow and wait for the explosion. Watch this space!
















We also had the Bloc launch on Friday evening, the short story contest relaunched along with the Profwriting.com website. Networking they call it, though I did get the chance to snatch a few shots of my fellow students, Samantha, Tom and Ben this time.

Well, time to go. Doctor's in the morning and then up to Tremough to see what Derek makes of my decision.

Oz.

Goldilocks 2...

...the bitch is back!

We shared a great three days with the second year students on the Digital Animation BA (Honours) course. Split into five groups, we each had three days to write and produce a two minute animatic to help improve the public perception of NUFSED (National Union of Fairies, Sprites, Elves and Druids).

Our group chose the tragic reunion of Goldilocks and The Three Bears, in which both parties come to a sticky end, while others did the same to stories such as Rumpelstiltskin.
















It might sound crazy, but as you can see above, things did get a little tense in that final hour or so as each group patched things together, matching the animations to the sound.

































Three days wasn't really long enough, but even if they'd given us longer who's to say it would have added anything to the course? We all learnt a lot about working on joint projects, and I think that was the point of the exercise. Writing can be a lonely profession, so learning to work with others is another unexpected bonus I've gained from this year.

Oz.

LONG JOURNEY HOME.

Well, I've decided on the project... now all I have to do is write/rewrite the story of Caittlin Kirby O'Connor. The tale of a late twenties Irish folk rock singer and her battle to escape not only an abusive relationship, but also the cocaine habit which together threaten ruin her life.

It's a sort of hard edged romance I guess, written in the first person from Cate's POV which probably seems a strange decision for a guy in his mid sixties. All I can say is that this is the way the story worked out, just like the main settings for the story turned out to be Galway in Ireland, and Chalon sur Saone in Burgundy.

Wish me luck.

Oz

The decision is made...

... This morning I spent a couple of hours in the Stannary up at the University. It was crowded but I found myself a table tucked away in the corner close to a plug point, loaded up and started writing - well editing really. I worked on 'Long Journey Home' and for those two hours the story flowed sweet and strong. I cut and edited like you wouldn't believe and it felt so damn good.

Tonight I switched targets and tried to do the same with the 'Lady Penrhyn,' only it wasn't the same - so the approach didn't work and yet it worked perfectly. It made my decision easy and now I'm going to write the story I came to Falmouth to write in the first place. It's there, I can feel it talking to me, hear it whispering into my ear 'Write me... write me...'

How can anyone resist a request like that?

Chris (Oz)

Blue skies to grey...

... sunshine to snow in only two days, but hey, this is England remember. We should be opening up for the second term tomorrow but the forecast is for more bad weather. Still I remain positive, sitting here working away on the novel as I listen to the likes of Dylan (Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts), Rod Stewart (Mandolin Wind), and Eva Cassidy's brilliant 'Fields of Gold'.

Been without my music far too long, we couldn't fit it in the car when we first came down to Falmouth :o(, so the Cd's will be taking a real battering for a while.

The writing is going okay, a lot of amendments of course but I can live with that, the good stories always evolve when they begin to draw breath. I still reckon it will be 'Long Journey' in the end though the final decision still has to be made. Talk about cutting things fine, maybe I should take up the script writing option after all - BAD JOKE !!!

Take care,
Oz.

Blue skies...

... and bottle ice. That's Falmouth today, sunny and biting cold as my fellow students begin to gather again in this beautiful part of the country. There seems an element of panic in some of the messages I'm getting, which is no great surprise - it's a feeling that's been growing inside me as well.

I still haven't decided which of two stories to concentrate on for this coming term - the long term novel 'Long Journey Home', or 'Lady of The First Fleet'. The former tells the story of Cate, a twenty something Irish folk rock singer as she tries to escape both a cocaine habit and an abusive relationship. The latter is a fictional story based around the voyage of 'Lady Penrhyn', the transport vessel that took the first female convicts to Australia in 1789.

I finally dropped the Fantasy Humour novel 'Peter Parmesan'. It was too similar in style to the writings of Terry Pratchett, only nowhere near as good of course. Still, it's always there in the background - I never throw anything away.

New Year, New Determination.

Chris.

A New Year begins...

... actually it began a few days ago, but things have been pretty hectic here since we got back to Cornwall. The country seems blanketed in snow and here we are covered in blue sky and sunshine. I've just taken a walk round the headland and now I'm watching Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of The Ring - Disc 2. Still reading Joolz Denby's book 'Billie Morgan', and trying to decide just what story to submit for the start of this second term.

Now for something different, a photo of my grandkids, Lewis and Evie Rosie. How my daughter got them to sit together and smile long enough to take the photo I'll never know.



Life is strange. I'm sure I've said that before, many times probably, but I still can't decide which story to submit. 'Long Journey Home', the story of Cate, an Irish rock chick trying to escape both a cocaine habit and an abusive relationship. Then there's 'Lady of The First Fleet,' a story based around the voyage of the Lady Penrhyn, the vessel that transported the first women convicts to Australia in 1787. Finally there's 'The Story of Peter Parmesan,' a kind of fantasy story that pays a passing tribute to Douglas Adams 'Hitch Hiker's Guide...'

You'd think I'd have something more definite for you by this time, but I'm afraid that's not the way things are going to work out. This is going to be a tightrope walk right up to the very last day - but since when has my life been any different. I wouldn't want it to be any other way.

Happy New Year to you all.

Chris (Oz)