NaNoWriMo 2012 Idea 1

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Ileandra Young

This will be my third year taking part in NaNoWriMo. I hope for it to be my third year completing it, but realistically I know that I may not be able to. That aside, I really plan to have fun this year, hammering out a first draft and reminding myself of just how much I love writing. You guys, if you missed my last post on the subject, are going to help me choose what to write.

This idea came about after a quick workshop with Star Base Leicester. It was the first time I’ve met with the group, but the second time I’ve met Alex Davis who ran the workshop.

Long story short (hehee), I came out of it with an idea bubbling away that isn’t fully formed but, at some point will need to be looked at. Its too funny not to.

I’m going to use the same format for all of these posts, so that you get an even (ish) look at all my ideas: working Title, genre, one line premise or summary. Then later, you can pick.

Without further ado, here is idea number one.

cartoon ghost from OpenClipArtWorking Title: Peep Show
Genre: Comedy Horror
Summary: An erotic dancer debates whether or not to quit her job when stalked by the ghost of one of her biggest fans.

I don’t want to give away too much more than that – otherwise I’ll be here forever – but I will say that the ghost character I have in mind reminds me somewhat of the geeky teenagers from the Inbetweeners. The dancer, in my mind, has an attitude like Whoopi Goldburg in Jumping Jack Flash. If that isn’t a combination suited for yuks aplenty, then I don’t know what is!

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Six Sentence Sunday 14/10 #36

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Ileandra Young

October. Yikes. The year has gone so fast and so much has happened that I can hardly stand it. Thinking about it almost makes me feel that my life has spiralled off like a high speed film reel and there’s nothing I can do to slow it down. I’m nearly 30. I have two kids. I have all these plans and ideas and jobs to take care of while I still have the will, strength and stamina to do it.

But first…!

Today is Sunday. You know what that means; another six sentences from my WIPs to tease your literary ear. Hehee. I have been caught slightly off guard this week, though. My A-Z of Flash Fiction is done, insofar as Six Sunday which means I need to find some other work to give you. I wasn’t quite ready for that.

Fortunately, I’ve been hammering away at Silk Over Razor Blades for the past three weeks so I should give you something from that! In fact there is one line in particular that I read to Dave today because I’m particularly proud of it.

In this scene Detective Inspector Brad Thorne has fallen asleep at his desk whilst working on the ‘Harrison Homicide.’ He tries to leave but ends up in conversation with one of the volunteers who has lifted some vital evidence from a broken laptop against all odds.

Brad paused. “Tech said it was useless. They couldn’t retrieve anything.”
“Please, those idiots?” Keith twirled a piece of hair around his finger. “They couldn’t find syphilis on a street corner prossie.”

Colourful, huh? Keith knows well enough to be proud of a job well done. 😉

That’s it for this week. Next time I may well give you another sample from SORB, though by then I might be sick to death of it. Hehee. We’ll see when the time comes. In the meantime the banner below will take you to the main Six Sunday website. You know what to do.
Six Sentence Sunday

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NaNoWriMo 2012

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Ileandra Young

black notebook and red pencil from OpenClipArtI LOVE this time of year. Everywhere I look people (of the blogging world) are talking about NaNoWriMo and what they plan to do. Should they attempt it or not? What are other people doing?

I’ve been so wrapped up in my editing project that I’ve barely given it a scrap of thought. Its been mental. Now however, with the last hurdle in sight, I suppose its worth trying to decide whether or not I should even attempt it this year.

In truth, my brain is fried. So filled with vampires, Egyptians, knives and blood that even when I’m awake I’m seeing scenes from the novel. I suppose that’s just how it goes sometimes. The fact that it really does look like I’m going to finish in time is also exciting me and keeping it at the front of my mind.

But would writing just for the hell of it, be a nice break? Probably. I love writing first drafts. I find it so easy and NaNoWriMo is so freeing. No need to edit or critique yourself, just go and go and go and go. You have to admit there’s something beautiful about having complete freedom like that.

The twins have settled into a routine of sorts; in bed by six and a couple of feeds during the course of the night. I’m not as tired as I once was and I could actually see myself managing to do it without having a meltdown. I don’t have work to worry about, because I’m still on leave and there are no other deadlines or writing commitments looming. Not that I know of, anyway. All of this means that so long as I am realistic about my expectations then there’s no reason why I shouldn’t make the attempt this year. Ha, did you see that? Talked myself into it.

One problem though.
I’ve no idea what to write!

I had this problem last year, but I fixed it easily enough by choosing to write up a dream I’d had which gave me the final scenes. That novel isn’t even finished, but this year I want to finish the novel. Even if I don’t reach such a massive word count (like I normally do) I want a complete story. I think that’s a more realistic goal than trying to reach 100k. Particularly since my story this year might not need to reach that far.

I don’t have anything in mind. I have a number of somethings. This time, however, I have a plan. I’m going to let you guys pick! ^_^ Bwah ah ha ha ha hah a ah ahaa!

Over the next two weeks I’m going to give you an overview of the stories I have in mind. I’ll give you an idea of characters and plot (though no spoilers of course!) as well as genre. Then I’ll post a poll asking you guys to vote for your favourite idea. The idea with the most votes will be the novel I write for NaNoWriMo. That interactive element will make it even more fun and I like the idea of not knowing what I’m going to do until the time comes. Yes, I know, I’m crazy!

So stay tuned. Come Tuesday, I’ll be posting the first of my ideas. Hope you like them!

What about you guys? Any of you joining the crazy this year? 😀

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Back To School!

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Ileandra Young

back to school girl with apple from OpenClipArtOkay, not really, but it feels like it. Today is my fourth outing to the Novel Writing Workshop run by the Leicester Writing School and Writing East Midlands. Rod Duncan is taking the course this term and I am grouped with a small cluster of talented individuals all with the same goal in mind; to write a novel.

I’m so pleased to be going; it was a little treat to myself. Spend some money and learn some new skills to better my writing and take me closer to my goal of publication. So far, so good. I’m picking up tips left, right and centre, reinforcing what I’ve learned through other channels – mainly you fine bloggers out there! – and exposing myself to the writing of my peers.

I love this group. I haven’t been able to return to the Phoenix Writers with any sort of regularity, but the push is there with this class, mainly because I’ve paid for it. The experience is very different too and I look forward to the point that I can regularly attend both. I like to think that as well as getting plenty of help for myself, my words can offer help to others.

One thing I find that is certainly improving is my critiquing ear. I used to find it incredibly difficult to listen to a piece of writing with a mind to critique it. These days, though I still prefer to see the words before me in black and white, the way I listen to words has changed considerably. I pick up repetition, clunky sentence structure, tense and tone. Things that not long ago would have flown straight over my head. I like to think that as this improves, my ability to spot it in my own writing is also getting better. Since that is what we all strive for – constant improvement – I’m really pleased to say that I can see it happening.

I’ve read portions of SORB to the group and feedback has been very positive. I’m pleased to say that some character changes that I’ve introduced have worked rather well and in some cases too well. Some comparison, to a well known vamp loving damsel in distress, who shall remain nameless, means that I need to do a bit of fine tuning, but its nothing that will stop me meeting the deadline for HarperVoyager. Its all coming together now. With the weekend behind me and a good chunk of the work done insofar as major changes, now I’m applying the grammatical and spelling changes that came up from various readings.

Do you guys take any writing courses? Or attend any workshops? I know lots of you attend conventions, but are there any regular groups you visit to help you with your writing? What sort of things do you take away from working in/with a group?

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Six Sentence Sunday 07/10 #35

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Ileandra Young

I love this time of year. The weather does crazy things and the leaves go all sorts of pretty colours. ^_^ I’ll see if I can get some pictures.

Now the mad hump of September is over as well – with all those birthdays! – I can concentrate on whether or not anybody is going to get any Christmas presents this year. Oh and deal with my sister’s birthday too.

Anyway, as Autumn marks the close of the warmer months (yeah, as if we had much sun this year!) this post is the last post of my A-Z Flash Fiction samples. We’re now on ‘Z’ and the trigger word for this piece is ‘zebra.’

I can’t tell you what was in my mind when I wrote this. Sorry. I don’t even think I like it. I’m starting to feel that I was just so desperate to get to the end that I just wrote anything, and with that craziness in mind, this really WEIRD piece of writing came out. o.O I think its about someone actually conducting a study on why the chicken crossed the road.

*sigh* Yeah… I was tired that day.

~James really can’t believe what he’s hearing…

Reclined on the sofa, Andrew looked up from his newspaper. “Someone did a study.”

“A real study?”

“Yup.”

A small cough of laughter spilled from James’s lips. “On why the chicken crossed the road?”

Well I wouldn’t believe him either. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get chickens to do anything on cue? :p

Enjoy the other authors taking part this week (use the banner link) and I’ll catch you next time!

Six Sentence Sunday

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