Tennis and Monday Blues

Disappointing tennis result yesterday. Poor Murray. But then it wasn’t as excruciating as matches were a couple of years ago, because he can do it, and he fought so well yesterday. It was a fantastic match, and they’re both brilliant players. And I like Djokovic. If he hadn’t been playing Murray I would have been rooting for him! The commentators were saying that the big rivalry is now between these two, now that Federer is waning a bit, and Nadal has still not made his return (sorry, Nadal who?). 

It made me feel very summery though, all this tennis. I love it. Makes me long for the summer even more though. Warm days, bare feet, Wimbledon, swimming, reading outside... *sigh*. I watched the Wimbledon film afterwards which I adore, but probably didn’t help. Although it did make me feel better. Strange how dated that film is (it’s nearly ten years old, gosh?! Really?!) what with no hawk eye, no roof on centre court and the fact that then a British guy int he final was wistful thinking. HA. Not so anymore. This has to be Murray’s year!

I seem to get a lot of ideas too from tennis which is excellent. Lots of notes made. 

Feeling rather flat today though. Delayed case of Sunday night blues I think (going back to school syndrome) which I haven’t had in ages, normally because I’m busy on a Monday. And this week I’m not, which is rather odd. I don’t like it. 

And what doesn’t help either is that I FINISHED my draft (third?) of Love-All yesterday, which being tennis themed was fantastic to be writing yesterday, I think the matches being on helped a lot! Helped me get in the mood. I love listening to the commentaries, even if I’m not that bothered about the match. So I finished that off. I was giving myself until the end of January so I’ve been left with a few spare days now. What?! I feel a bit lost without it, I just want to open it up and do stuff, but I know I should leave it for a few weeks so that I can look at it again with a fresh eye. It’s difficult though. I made so many big changes to it, it was quite a challenge and i don’t think I realised quite how much it was affecting me. I feel much lighter now, but at the same time I don’t.... because I feel lost. And I guess that isn’t helping my feeling today. 

Technically I have lots of other stuff to be working on, like an assignment for this week, but I just don’t feel motivated at all. I am also wondering what project to work on next. I hate inbetween projects. I have something to type up I wrote last summer, so I will do that and I had a new idea the other day so might see what comes of that, but still.

Hmph. 

After such a great few days (especially writing wise) and a lovely quiet weekend hiding at home I just feel sad now and I have no idea why. 

But I am going to London this weekend, which is exciting because JOHN GREEN IN SIX – SIX – DAYS!!! Eeek. Very excited!

Murray Final.... eeek!

Sorry about the moaning post last week. This week has been much better. I got that story done (yay) and as I guess often happens when you are so immersed in something and hate it, I was surprised to receive nice comments from my class and very helpful feedback. Looking at it in a different way now!

I also managed to get to grips with the story I was editing and suddenly got it. Suddenly realised what I needed to do in some chapters I wasn't sure about, which made me very happy.

It's been a busy week, so I'm glad to have a very quiet weekend with nothing on so I just can just focus on lots of writing and reading (yay!). I am currently listening to the women's singles finals of the Australian Open on the radio. I am not that bothered about the women's matches, but I like having the commentry on in the background and it is an interesting match! Listening to tennis makes me feel very summery. Of course the most exciting news is that Murray is through to the FINAL! EEEEEK! Best news ever! It was such a tense match. I couldn't properly watch it as I was at work, but work was so quiet I was able to keep up with it, which was good, just a little nerve wracking! So elated though. Can't wait to watch the final tomorrow morning, going to be VERY exciting, and VERY tense. Eeek. I don't know if I'll cope, ha! Anyway, I'm excited about that. I like that it is timed so that it is perfectly acceptable to be able to watch it in the morning live and not in the middle of the night like the US Open was. Yay!

What else?

So editing is going well. I am working on the next exercise for class, which is going well so far. And an exciting story idea just occured to me too. Yay! I have a huge stack of library books too, and I went book shopping yesterday (shhh... totally for my course, of course.....). Lots of reading to do! Right, I guess I better get on, rather than rambling away here! Have a wonderfully creative weekend everyone.

P.S EIGHT DAYS TILL JOHN GREEN. EEEEEK.

Frustrated

Guuuuuys.  I have to go out in about twenty minutes, I've been in all day, I'm not ready to go, and it's now I decide I NEED to do this. Of course. Typical.

Anyway. Had my first fiction seminar last Wednesday, which was good. It's certainly different from the poetry module and will be much more work, but I'm looking forward to it. I think it'll will be good. Except we've been set an exercise to do this week, and I seem to have frozen. I guess because I have to step out of my usual style a bit, and do something I'm not used to. Create a host of characters, that you dont' have to do in poetry in quite the same way. And it's frustrating me. I can't get this story right. It's just so irritating. I'm hoping to crack it tomorrow; but I guess part of the problem is I've got other things I want to work on! We have to email it round as well, and so I want to get it right I guess.

We have to keep a notebook too - which I've done before and I do that anyway, I was expecting that anyway, but I've started a new notebook with a bit to go in my other way to keep everything together and that upsets me. And I haven't really been writing anything in it yet. Mainly because I've been editing Love-All and doing other things, and I feel like they don't really fit. But that will all come together I'm sure. Excuse my babbling - only a short post, but I just wanted to get my frustrations off my chest. I better go get ready!

Edits are going well though - quite a lot to still do and lots of plot detail to be added and worked out, but I think it's going alright. Went through and worked out which chapters still need lots of work and it's quite reassuring to see it all laid out like that. Need to do some brainstorming though!

RIGHT. Better go!

Poems and Classes

So guys look at this! It's a poem by me, on the blog of our uni's arts magazine site. So the poem isn't perfect and looking at it again now I would probably change things about it, but still! Exciting to see my poem on another blog and for them to chose it. Yay :) The start of things to come? Who knows.

Spent today in the company of some wonderful people from my poetry seminar and Maxine Chernoff, an American writer and professor who is visiting the university this week and I went to a masterclass run by her, and then a poetry reading. It was really good and great to get a different perspective on things and meet some new people!

I have my first fiction class tomorrow morning (9am) so I really need to get some sleep, and I am looking forward to it, but having enjoyed the poetry more than I ever thought I would, perhaps not as much as I did before. Still, would be good to do something different again. Although I miss my poetry class already! Luckily most of the same people are going to be in it, but it's going to be very different.

My story draft (Love-All) is going well too - have been making the big change to it that I was afraid to make, and now I'm really super excited about it all again and keep getting so many new ideas for it. It's a lot of work, but I'm enjoying it so I think that's good. So much editing to do, but I'll get there. Of course! Loving working on this too. I'm still working on my other story as well (George's Garden) trying to make the first chapter super snappy and intriguing. Phew! Busy, busy!

Feeling postive about things though at the minute. Yay!

Editing and Redrafting Woes

Struggling a bit. Well, in the sense that I'm redrafting a story and editing it and adding lots of words and good things like that, and have been getting really into it, but in trying to make characters better having the problem that I have far too many chracters -  but then it's a school. It has to have all these characters. How do I balance that?

Maybe it's that I need more plot. I don't know.

And I keep thinking, 'ooh I should put a scene in in this classroom or where this happens', but then I'm very concious of scenes needing to further the plot. You know what I mean?

Does anyone else struggle with this? 

Any advice?

Other than that things are going well - despite my worries about this draft, I'm loving editing this story. And I handed my poems and essay in (yay!). Things are looking good this term. Busy but good.

Back in Exeter!

Back again. Christmas is over again. I'm glad to be back. Although it's always strange to adjust back to another way of living, much as I wanted to get back. And I have a deadline on Wednesday, for an essay and poetry portfolio, so it's straight down to that (supposedly). Although I think I'm getting there. If you follow my twitter you may have seen that I was getting a little stressed out about the essay and at that point where I was just so frustrated.

I'm hoping today isn't going to be the same.

On the other hand, editing is going well with the story I wrote over the summer and I've finally got it - it always takes me a while to get into editing, and now I've got it with this one (and I'm wondering why it took me so long to write a school series, I mean come on, I love those books and this is awesome). So I'm happy with that at the moment.

Right, time to go tackle the essay, just a quick update.

Although at the moment 2013 is looking pretty cool - John and Hank Green, JK Rowling and Mcfly. AWESOME.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone and thank you for reading my blog over the past year. It's been a strange year, and a good one, but also a hard one in many ways, and it has sped by so very quickly. I'm startled to find us at the beginning of a new year again. It's been a year full of sporting triumphs, a summer of sport, the jubilee, and more personally graduations, new courses, moving and many chances.

Here's to the new Year, and all the adventures that it will be bring, all the hopes and dreams and excitments and everything.

I am going to quote the oft quoted and much wiser Neil Gaiman:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

Go here to read more.

Happy New Year everyone.

Goodbye 2012.

Hello 2013.