Bea-ing Zed

Z. It’s the 26th letter of the alphabet and is an indication that you’ve reached the end. Except this isn’t an end, just a temporary halt. A pause. Used in a series, zzzz, is an indication that you've fallen asleep.

I began blogging in February 2015 and each of my posts has followed an alphabetical prompt. This is the second time I’ve been through the list. So I’ve completed 52 posts to date. Not quite one per week but close to it.

I like blogging. It’s an interesting discipline, forcing me to write even when I haven’t always felt like sitting at a keyboard. I suppose in that sense I write mainly for myself but I love it when others stop by and leave a comment. Thank you to those who take the time to read my posts.

 

I may not update this page quite so frequently in the near future. Real life sometimes gets in the way of the virtual world. I hope to return soon. In the meantime I shall catch some zzzz.

Bea-ing Yellow

It’s such a beautiful colour, isn’t it? It’s reminiscent of spring: daffodils, crocus, primroses.

I find it strange therefore that the colour has negative connotations. A yellow-belly is a cowardly person. A hospital in quarantine would fly a yellow flag. For many years there was a xenophobic fear of eastern races labelled the yellow peril. Someone with a yellow streak has a tendency to dastardly behaviour.

An older meaning, and not one I recognised, was that yellow can mean sensational. A yellow-back was a cheap, sensational novel common in the 19^th century.

Yellow press meant newspapers abounding in exaggerated and sensational articles. I can think of many magazines today which fit that description, albeit not many of them use the colour yellow as part of their branding. I’ve recently taken out a subscription with Readly which provides access online to hundreds of different publications. Some are highly sensationalised, others not so.


They may not all be magazines I would choose to read but a little research reveals many will pay for readers’ letters, photographs and helpful hints. So on the days when I find it difficult to focus on longer pieces of writing, I intend to send in my contributions. I may even win some prizes for doing so. Now wouldn’t that be sensational!

Bea-ing Xenial

Xenial means being hospitable, especially to strangers. Which is exactly how I find the writing fraternity to be.

It is often observed that writing is a lonely occupation. It is not a group experience. Even if we choose to write surrounded by other people, such as in a coffee bar, we nevertheless must exclude from our consciousness the world around us and focus only on the words we are writing.

In a normal office environment people pass by one’s desk, and there is a staff room or canteen to share coffee and chat. As writers in our metaphorical lonely garrets we do not have the benefit of that interaction.

Which is what is so great about social media. On both Twitter and Facebook I meet fellow writers who form a welcoming, supportive, informative and fun group. Facebook is my lunch hour chat; Twitter is my coffee break; #writingchat 8-9pm each Wednesday night is my weekly after-work social.

So today, I wanted to say hello to my writing buddies in the virtual staff room. Even though we’ve never met, thanks for being xenial.

Bea-ing Wicked

Most of what I write is intended for the women’s magazine market. Generally those stories are warm and uplifting. They are ‘nice’ stories, intended to make the reader feel better for having read them. Even the murder stories they publish are classified as ‘cosy crime’.

In contrast, I have recently written two short stories as competition entries. In each case I have chosen a wicked main character: one is a thief, the other a murderer. They both get their come-uppance in the end.

Getting the balance

Of course, people are not wholly good or entirely evil. We all have shades of good and bad. So as writers our challenge is to create characters who display that real life balance, whether the story be a wholesome tale or a crime thriller.  

The baddies should show some good traits - the gang boss who loves his mother. And even the sweetest character in the womag should demonstrate a failing or weakness - the loving grandmother who has no patience with other people’s children.

Any thoughts on writing realistic characters?

Bea-ing Vain

We writers are insecure creatures, aren’t we? It’s partly because an inevitable part of our working life is rejection. When we submit a piece of work we have to wait and see if anyone else likes it enough to buy it for publication or to shortlist it in a competition.




Perhaps it’s those rejections which make the successes when they come so sweet. Today is one of those golden days for me. I have two short stories on the newsagents’ shelves, one in The People’s Friend and the other in Yours. I’m really chuffed about this week’s double success.

 

But before I get too big headed, I would do well to remember my adult daughter’s opinion of one of these two stories. ‘It’s a bit boring.’ (I shan't tell you which one, of course.)

Oh well, that will help keep my feet firmly on the ground!

Bea-ing Uncertain

One of my New Year Resolutions Bea-ing Resolved was to join a writing group. So far I have discovered three groups that meet locally. I have visited one, am due at another next week and still have to decide whether to look at the third. What seemed like a good idea at the beginning of the year doesn’t feel that way now. Why am I so uncertain? And how will I know when I find the right one?

One of my reasons for being part of a writing group is to socialise with like-minded individuals; the other is to seek advice on whether a particular piece of writing is good enough for submission. I already achieve both of these online.

I am a member of an online writing group, Fiction Addiction, which is wonderfully supportive. Mostly the stories we share and critique are intended for the womag market. Because they understand that market, I trust the members to tell me whether a particular story is working.

Socially, I ‘attend’ a weekly Twitter meet-up with fellow writers. (Each Wednesday evening, from 8pm to 9pm UK time, use the hashtag #writingchat to find us.) We talk about writing topics generally. There is usually a theme to start the conversation. It’s rather like walking into a crowded party where there are dozens of conversations happening. With Twitter you can flit in and out of them all. It’s fun, interesting and usually makes me laugh out loud.

So if I already have a critique group and a social circle, what extra benefits am I looking for by attending a local group? It would be good to meet real people who understand what it is to be a writer; to know that I am not alone with my computer; to be challenged and stimulated; to stretch myself and my writing beyond its narrow genre confines. I know it will take me time to feel comfortable with new people, enough to lay bare my sensitive writing soul.

I’ve never been a member of a local writing group before so am not sure what to expect. Are you a member of a writing group? If so, what benefits do you find there? Any advice for me?

Bea-ing Tutored

I have some exciting news to report this week. I am a runner-up in The Writers Bureau 2016 Writer of the Year awards! You can find the link here.

I became a student of The Writers Bureau by chance. In November 2013 I entered a competition on their website to write a 500 word factual piece about Guy Fawkes. I won, and my prize was a free subscription to their Non-Fiction Writing course.

Completing the various assignments and taking on board the feedback from my tutor (the excellent Simon Whaley) has helped to improve my writing skills, not just limited to non-fiction writing. I am grateful to The Writers Bureau, and to Simon for his patience.

But being taught how to write is not enough. It has to be more than a passive exercise. The challenge is to apply those lessons: to write and submit, to accept the inevitable rejections, then to write and submit again.

The great thing is, the more I write, the more I learn. And if I have fun and earn some cash whilst I’m doing it, then what’s not to like?