I was incredibly excited to attend (and equally nervous) but I focused on what an amazing opportunity it was. Mum accompanied me as my PA and wheelchair pusher and as we entered the vast, echoing marble corridors I felt humbled and full of awe. For the past six years I’ve worked on my writing and here I was, not just with a toe in the door (or should that be wheel), but the whole of me and part of my story was inside the building.
When I was little we had a big box of Christmas books we got down from the loft every year but the one I remember most was Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore (1799 - 1863) looking at the pictures and falling in love with the lilting words. I decided to create my own picture version and here it is. I hope it gets you in the festive spirit.
When you write it's easy to get caught up in your story. I know that I'm too close to it now and need somebody impartial to read through it and give me some suggestions on how I can improve it.
Part of me is a little nervous - it's a big step to show my work to anyone, I've only rececntly entrusted it to two friends and they like me, so chances are they will be kind in their feedback. A stranger... now that's completely different. My hope is that their response will contain positive suggestions of things I can do to make my story better. I want to feel empowered and excited to add some new elements. My aim is to write the best novel I can and this is one step closer to doing that.
Publisher News: Still nothing and the whole Brexit/Recession/EU Who-ha has me concerned that publishers won't be investing in new writers. At least there are other alternatives and I shall wait and see what the next few months bring.
Writing Progress: I got distracted by my tax return but I've discovered that Camp NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month's little sister) is starting again in July so I am going to use that to spur me on to finishing my next draft. I'm really excited about it. The countdown is on to 50,000 words in 31 days.
Writing is easy, right? Ok I'm not talking about writing a novel, anyone who's ever tried knows it isn't. What I'm talking about is the physical act of writing, of putting pen to paper.
Five year old kids can do it. Ninety-five year olds can do it. So what would you do if you suddenly couldn't write a word? Worse still you couldn't read either. That’s what happened to me. I was bed bound for six years with ME a.k.a. chronic fatigue syndrome. Don't be fooled by the name, it's not just feeling tired. I was too ill to do anything apart from lay in a darkened room, 24/7. I went from reading anything and everything to being too ill to focus on a page of writing. It just looked like black and white lines. I couldn't watch TV or listen to music either. It meant there were no distractions, no escape; just pain, fatigue and frustration. Of all three the frustration was the worst. I felt trapped in my body and the only escape I had was my imagination.
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I discovered National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) by accident .
If you haven’t heard of it, NaNoWriMo is an international programme that encourages participants to write 50,000 words in 30 days. That’s 1,667 words a day! |
I'm an ambitious optimist, so I decided to go for it.
I liked that it had a set start and end date. A trial I could go for, then give up if it went horribly wrong.
Best of all? I never needed to admit to anyone that while my stories had been growing inside my head so had my desire to become a "real" writer.
Not an ‘I only write I secret’ author but a real honest to goodness, ‘I have books in a book shop’ author.
I liked that it had a set start and end date. A trial I could go for, then give up if it went horribly wrong.
Best of all? I never needed to admit to anyone that while my stories had been growing inside my head so had my desire to become a "real" writer.
Not an ‘I only write I secret’ author but a real honest to goodness, ‘I have books in a book shop’ author.
And so it began...
On 1st November 2011 I sat down to my laptop and started to type and I haven’t stopped writing since.
I ended up doing two first draft novels during my first NaNoWriMo - 107,000 words!
One was brand new and the other was my favourite of all the stories stored in my head. It’s a story I still adore and one I want to come back to, to revise and publish.
I ended up doing two first draft novels during my first NaNoWriMo - 107,000 words!
One was brand new and the other was my favourite of all the stories stored in my head. It’s a story I still adore and one I want to come back to, to revise and publish.
But I got distracted
Shortly after completing NaNoWriMo I came up with another idea for a story and its this one I’ve been working on for the past few years.
The act of physically committing my stories to paper is a joy I can only attempt to describe.
It’s like flying free but being able to touch down and share the amazing sights I’ve seen with the people I love.
The act of physically committing my stories to paper is a joy I can only attempt to describe.
It’s like flying free but being able to touch down and share the amazing sights I’ve seen with the people I love.
My novel
Seeing is Believing
While I work on getting published I’m writing a serial story called Seeing is Believing.
It’s a FREE story delivered via email in 200 words a week.
It’s a FREE story delivered via email in 200 words a week.
Seeing is Believing is a Crowd Sourced Story that means you, the reader, get an input in the plot.
You vote on what happens next, the decisions the characters make and where the story is heading.
You vote on what happens next, the decisions the characters make and where the story is heading.
What's it about?
As I'm a fantasy and sci-fi girl at heart, my story had to have a twist to it.
Jess is losing her sight and with it her identity. After a series of unsettling incidents she starts to question everything. How can she be who she always was, when she can no longer trust what's right in front of her?
I've never done anything like this before. I've no idea what's going to happen but that's part of the fun of being a reader and a writer. All I know is it's an adventure. I'd love you to be a part of it. You can sign up here and receive the first instalment today.
Jess is losing her sight and with it her identity. After a series of unsettling incidents she starts to question everything. How can she be who she always was, when she can no longer trust what's right in front of her?
I've never done anything like this before. I've no idea what's going to happen but that's part of the fun of being a reader and a writer. All I know is it's an adventure. I'd love you to be a part of it. You can sign up here and receive the first instalment today.
My Lifeline and Yours...
My imagination saved me. It was my light in the dark and now it's the guiding light to my future. Writing is a deeply personal activity but if you're like me it's not a choice, it's a part of who you are. Don't ever let someone tell you you can't be a writer. Who are they to judge or decide your fate? It's your life and your choice. Be brave and don't let anything get in your way - even if that's being too weak to pick up a pencil.
In honour of International Happiness Day I thought I'd choose happiness as my wonderful world.
Happiness is an odd quality, it's something we spend our whole lives pursuing. We often have a very fixed idea of what it looks like, how it will be, what to expect; but life never turns out the way you expect. Plans go wrong, things change and you're left trying to pick up the pieces. I have a tendency to stomp my foot and demand it turns up now. Right now. Not tomorrow. Now. It doesn't often seem to work.
Happiness is an odd quality, it's something we spend our whole lives pursuing. We often have a very fixed idea of what it looks like, how it will be, what to expect; but life never turns out the way you expect. Plans go wrong, things change and you're left trying to pick up the pieces. I have a tendency to stomp my foot and demand it turns up now. Right now. Not tomorrow. Now. It doesn't often seem to work.
Today I've chosen a very writer-ly word - verisimilitude. It is a term that writing tutors love, agents look out for and writers strive to capture.
Verisimilitude means the appearance of being true or real: 'the detail gives the novel some verisimilitude'.
I love the way it sounds; but it can be as difficult to capture in a novel as it is to spell.
Verisimilitude means the appearance of being true or real: 'the detail gives the novel some verisimilitude'.
I love the way it sounds; but it can be as difficult to capture in a novel as it is to spell.
I recently received an email from someone asking how I stayed positive despite living with a chronic illness. I thought I'd share my response in case it helped others.
The truth is it's not easy. I do get down and really frustrated. It's normally triggered by hearing what other people are doing, comparing my life with theirs and wanting more. I have such BIG DREAMS and I want them NOW!!! Right now. Not in a year or two (or three, or four). It's very hard to be patient. I am not a patient person.
There are days I want to scream, to shout and maybe kick something if only I had the energy. Those days I just try to weather the storm, not try to be smiley-smiley, Pollyanna; but I hate feeling like that so I've found the best way for me to cope is...
The truth is it's not easy. I do get down and really frustrated. It's normally triggered by hearing what other people are doing, comparing my life with theirs and wanting more. I have such BIG DREAMS and I want them NOW!!! Right now. Not in a year or two (or three, or four). It's very hard to be patient. I am not a patient person.
There are days I want to scream, to shout and maybe kick something if only I had the energy. Those days I just try to weather the storm, not try to be smiley-smiley, Pollyanna; but I hate feeling like that so I've found the best way for me to cope is...
Distraction. Distraction. Distraction.
I try not to give myself too much time to think about the bad things. Instead I focus on what I can do. Even if it's something teeny, tiny. When I was very poorly it was sticking one sticker on a card. Now it's editing a hundred words of my novel. Or writing a short blog post. I find it helps to have something I can see at the end of the day, physical proof of my achievements and progress.
Browsing Facebook or watching TV doesn't help me when I'm feeling down, it's like time and energy gets swallowed up with nothing to show for it. I need to have a project to concentrate on, something I can think about when I can't actually work on it. I can plan my novel out in my head, or workout what changes I need to make to my website for when I do have the time and energy.
Browsing Facebook or watching TV doesn't help me when I'm feeling down, it's like time and energy gets swallowed up with nothing to show for it. I need to have a project to concentrate on, something I can think about when I can't actually work on it. I can plan my novel out in my head, or workout what changes I need to make to my website for when I do have the time and energy.
How do I decide what to do?
You have to choose something you enjoy; but you need to be able to break it down into smaller stages. That way you can do a little and then go back to it another day. That can be really hard when you're already feeling frustrated. You want to do it all. Get. It. Done. At least I do; but there are some things that nobody can do in a day, no matter how much time or energy they have - that's what I tell myself when I've only edited one paragraph and I feel the weight of all I still want to do and achieve.
Help someone else.
If you can't help yourself, sometimes helping people in a similar situation can be almost as good. I set up survivingsevereme.com and easytoswallow.co.uk for that very reason. I used all my awful experiences of being ill to help others and in doing so I found it much easier to cope. It felt like my time and suffering wasn't wasted.
It really is one day at a time...
It's not the answer you or I want to hear; but it really is a day by day process. Not looking any further into the future than this day, this hour, even this minute. It's the best, and maybe hardest, way to cope with limitations.
What one thing could you do today that would be fun and feel like an achievement? Focus on that, no matter how small it is. Concentrate on that and let tomorrow take care of itself.
How do you stay positive or cope with having limited energy? What one thing are you going to do today? Pop on over to Facebook and let me know...
What one thing could you do today that would be fun and feel like an achievement? Focus on that, no matter how small it is. Concentrate on that and let tomorrow take care of itself.
How do you stay positive or cope with having limited energy? What one thing are you going to do today? Pop on over to Facebook and let me know...
I discovered the word emacity while I was wandering around an online dictionary, what can I say, I like words and they tend to lead you down a rabbit hole, one leads you to the next and the next. Wait that's called reading...
Okay, so I spotted emacity and it struck a chord, I'm known in my family for having expensive tastes. I like to think its a sign that I appreciate quality. Hopefully my spending isn't uncontrollable. Unless of course I'm around jewellery, or clothes, or shoes, or craft bits, or kitchen items, or.... Wait a minute...
Okay, so I spotted emacity and it struck a chord, I'm known in my family for having expensive tastes. I like to think its a sign that I appreciate quality. Hopefully my spending isn't uncontrollable. Unless of course I'm around jewellery, or clothes, or shoes, or craft bits, or kitchen items, or.... Wait a minute...
Emacity
Emacity is an uncontrollable desire or fondness for buying things. It comes from the Latin word emacitas (fond of buying), from emere (to buy).
Language is a gift, something that is hugely overlooked. Can you imagine a world where you couldn't communicate? Couldn't share your joys and sorrows, express yourself and understand those around you?
Words can be carried around the world, recorded for all time in so many ways now, both through voice and print. Without language we wouldn't have books, films or songs. There would be a void in our lives, that's why I'm going to pay tribute to some of my favourite words that I discover during the course of writing my novel.
To start off...
Words can be carried around the world, recorded for all time in so many ways now, both through voice and print. Without language we wouldn't have books, films or songs. There would be a void in our lives, that's why I'm going to pay tribute to some of my favourite words that I discover during the course of writing my novel.
To start off...
Serendipity means a "fortunate happenstance" or "pleasant surprise".
I love the melodic sound of Serendipity, it's a joyful word to say. The fact that it means a happy accident is even better. Who wouldn't want a life full of serendipity?
It was invented by Horace Walpole, the 4th Earl of Orford, in 1754 who said that a hero in the fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip had this quality.
"I once read a silly fairy tale called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of"
You can read more of his story here...
I wish you serendipity today and every day.
I love the melodic sound of Serendipity, it's a joyful word to say. The fact that it means a happy accident is even better. Who wouldn't want a life full of serendipity?
It was invented by Horace Walpole, the 4th Earl of Orford, in 1754 who said that a hero in the fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip had this quality.
"I once read a silly fairy tale called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of"
You can read more of his story here...
I wish you serendipity today and every day.
Claire Wade
I'm an author, disability activist, winner of the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition and The EABA for Fiction 2020 and founder of Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI).
The Choice is available from:
DETAILS:
Title: The Choice
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409187748
Title: The Choice
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409187748
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