Anne of York, Sister of Edward IV and Richard III, Aunt of Queen Elizabeth of York, Great-Aunt of Henry VIII and his siblings, with her 2nd husband, Sir Thomas St. Leger (Photo credit: lisby1)
No see…..
Gosh it has been a very long while since I last gave my blog any attention. Life gets busy doesn’t it? I’ve never been too busy to write but I have been busy enough to realise I have to prioritise what I write and unfortunately the blog had to go on hold.
Some amazing things have been happening over the last few months,
Finding Richard III – OK I can’t claim to have ‘done’ that, but it was a fairly major piece of news in my life. It was only a few years ago that I became so very interested in this enigmatic character and began to attempt to write about him – a fact I mainly kept to myself and those I knew had an interest themselves. It seemed strange to see him suddenly propelled into such a spotlight. Before the discovery of his body I had come to the conclusion I was not a good enough writer to create the kind of work I feel would most aptly, in my own eyes, portray the complexities of his character. I still feel that way, but the ambition is not lost, just set aside to grow quietly in the background, until I’m ready to attend to it again.
More script writing – I never had any ambition to write film scripts and yet that’s what I seem to have spent most of my time doing, certainly in the last six months. One script, ‘Watching over you’ is in production – the casting has taken place I believe and another, shorter film (probably 7mins long) is now in pre-production too. We’re having difficulty finding a convenience store or petrol station shop willing to let us film there – so if you know of anywhere (esp in the Nottingham area) please let us know!
The novel – I just don’t know what to do about this ‘thing’. It is so close to having being finished and yet I’ve stalled. Partly due to my attention being taken by the script writing, but that’s not the full story. I intend to send some pages off to a competition, but the closing date is drawing near and I haven’t submitted. I’m also going round in circles in my own mind about whether or not to send it for a second full critique – which will cost £100s – but might be the final push I need to get it good enough to send to agents etc. But I don’t want to waste money – Ive already spent a fair amount on it, in writing courses and the first critique – but then I should have faith that its worth it. So what should I do? Stop faffing I imagine!!
When do you know it’s ready to show the world? If you’re a published writer, let me know. If you’re not, let me know if you have a theory!
Keep going writers, never give up, never surrender 🙂
Related articles
- Dean of York calls in police over Richard III hate mail (yorkshirepost.co.uk)
- Friendly face of Richard III unveiled after remains find (thetimes.co.uk)
plantageneta 
Hello again. Interesting news re. Richard and yourself. No bright ideas about finalizing novel but will give it some thought.
Hi Anne, yes new about Richard III was amazing – and so lucky they found him in the first place they dug – put ‘Time Team’ to shame!!
Hope your writing is going well?
How great to hear from you again. You have been missed. I did watch the unfurling Richard story and it made me think of you.
You sound a bit down on your tome, or maybe directionless in general. I would say in my greatly unpublished opinion; get some beta readers. If you don’t have a circle of willing volunteers (and they are hard to get hold of) then source out other writers. It helps if they have similar genres, It helps if they can be trusted not to steal your storylines, but a quid pro quo deal could thrash out the answer for you.
Technically it should be a case of stand by your work etc etc etc but, and I know this from exerience, that gets harder to do when a manuscript has been on the go for a while.
I was using writerscafe.org because its easy and free but I don’t really trust the level of critique that goes on there.
Good luck with every thing you decide.
HI Jackie, thanks for your comment.
I think I did experience a bit of a lack of faith regarding my novel, but I did end up sending it off to the competition – probably not the right competition but still, its out there for the first time ever.
I think that’s the worry with requesting reviewers is getting good quality reviews. When I had my first one, which I paid for and subsequent ones which I got during a week long writing course, I felt I trusted the feedback – exposing myself to allcomers feels a little scary.
I’ve since regained a bit of faith in the book and there was a successful published author who requested to see a copy of the final draft before I got it published, so I’m thinking of taking the plunge and sending it to him. He thought I should have a ‘in a galaxy far far away…’ kind of preface to it so am trying to write that before I send it – even though I’m not certain if it will really ‘go’.
Thanks again for your comments. Hope your writing is going well?
Grr bah humph! is about all I have to say about my own writing at the moment, or maybe not my writing but my own motivation towards it. Enough of that.
You have excellent qualified and professional feedback that should more than outweigh untrained amateur help… It is of no help to you that five people are blown away by the fact that you can string a sentence together (sounds harsh but it’s the level of critique that is out there). In fact I would be very interested to get your opinion on critiquing services because I’m not sure what else to do with my own written words.
I think its natural to go through times when you feel no motivation for the writing. It’s old advice, but write other stuff – any old nonsense will do, ideally a completely different genre or something. I’m sure you’ll gravitate back to your WIP soon enough.
I used TLC literary consultancy and they are very expensive but I did find the feedback very useful (they also had an offer with 25% off fantasy novels at the time) I think the prices have gone up recently as I was put off.
I went to Arvon and got to meet published writers and have them look at my work as well as other ‘amatuer’ writers who also shared their work with each other.
I think if I was rich Id probably get addicted to paying for feedback – I cant get enough! But you have to draw a line as you cant please all of the people all of the time.