creative writing | Sleep is for the Weak

Writing Workshop: Red Shoes

Posted by Josie on Nov 25, 2009 in Me, Writing, Writing Workshop | 25 comments

Welcome back to the Wednesday Writing Workshop link-up! At the bottom of this post you’ll find the widget to post the link to your workshop posts. But first, I guess it’s my turn. Now I had been excitedly planning to do prompt #1 but we’ve had nothing but rain, rain, rain and everywhere looks so grim and miserable. So I’m going to save that one for another day, and instead I’ve picked prompt #3 and found a picture of some shoes that I think reflect my personality pretty well…

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With thanks to Fete et Fleur for the image

The owner of these shoes is comfortable in her own skin, liking the feel of it and the way she seems to have grown into it, just as the soft leather of her shoes has moulded and knitted itself to the shapes and curves of her small, narrow feet.

The owner of these shoes burns as hot as they do, full of spark and passion and fire and drive. She feels connected to the blood that flows through her veins, blood of her ancestors and of the land beneath her feet.

The owner of these shoes is not afraid to wear them with stripy socks under flared, faded jeans, even though they may not match, or to team with long, slightly awkward legs and too-short skirts. They reflect the easy smile and bright eyes that eagerly meet your own, although may sometimes be hidden behind a frown and twist of her lips as she bites down nervously, or in concentration.

The owner of these shoes knows that there is no place like home, but knows too that home is found not in the too-small house or not-good enough neighbourhood, but in the way they tuck just perfectly under the leg of her beloved as she sits on their worn, leather sofa.

The owner of these shoes adamantly refuses to grow up or wear ‘grown up’ shoes. She cannot be trusted in heels, and may throw a wobbler if she is required to trade them in for a more appropriate alternative. She does not like dress codes, or ‘work wear’, or power dressing or fashion of any description.

The owner of these shoes is quite adept at getting them stuck in her mouth, tripping over her words as much as she does her own feet and somehow managing to never quite verbalise the words she would like to, although she can write as eloquently as you could wish to.

The owner of these shoes has a tendency to run and skip when she excited, enjoying the freedom of her muscles and the bounce of the ground under her feet.

The owner of these shoes has walked a hundred thousand miles, some admittedly slower than others, but always with a spring in her step and a sense of discovery. She is not afraid to let her feet do the walking and her head catch up a little way behind, or to take the road less travelled, venturing down forgotten paths and unexplored turnings.

The owner of these shoes does not take short cuts, preferring the scenery of the meandering path and knowing that she will always get there in end. They are used to being splashed through puddles, kicked through leaves, propped up on park benches as their owner sits with book on lap. They are not concerned with looking slightly worn or well-loved as their owner is both these things, having faded and been polished back to life over and over.

They will last a lifetime, just as she will.

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So now it’s your turn! What prompt did you choose?

1. Pictures of home: Go for a walk near where you live, and take photos of the things that scream ‘home’ to you.
- Inspired by Kelly and her beautiful early evening walk.

2. Blog about a button you pressed that you weren’t supposed to.
-Inspired by Laura ‘Are we nearly there yet’ and her Phantom Beeper

3. Find a picture of a shoe that best sums up your personality.
-Inspired by the lovely Gabfran and her shoe-related blog, and Jo Beaufoix’s ‘Special’ Shoes

4. Tell me about something precious you gave away.
- Inspired by the very inspirational Muddling Along Mummy who has become a breastmilk donor.

5. Write about the best (or worst) piece of advice you have ever been given.
- Inspired by ME! and all the fantastic advice you gave me this week.

Leave your name and the URL to your post in the MckLinky below (the URL should be to your post not just to your blog) andleave me a comment to let me know you’ve taken part. If you have the time it would be great if you could try and read and comment on at least two other entries. And be kind! It’s supposed to be a bit of fun – we’re not looking for the next Booker Prize winner here!

If you haven’t had chance to respond yet, then you’ve still got today! Or just wait till next week, when there’ll be five brand new prompts to get you thinking.

This Writing Workshop is brought to you in association with Mama Kat’s Losin’ It – who’s lovely author came up with the concept and runs her own workshop over in the U.S.

Breaking into Freelance Writing

Posted by Josie on Nov 23, 2009 in Writing | 21 comments

For a while now I’ve been wondering whether there was a way I could start making some money from my writing talents attempts . Money is, quite frankly, in rather short supply and a little extra here and there would come in very handy. It was a very definite decision of ours that I would spend the first couple of years of Kai’s life at home with him while Ant went out to work, and one I am happy we made, but it is tough. Very tough.

Writing is what I love. It’s what I think about most of the time. It’s the thing that feels the most natural to me; the most right. When I am writing I finally feel like I’ve found my calling and my place in the world, that I have discovered my purpose. It’s exhilarating, addictive, and terrifying in that it seems to come with so much emotional investment. It’s only natural that I would want something I love so much to be able to earn me a living.

Increasingly I’m beginning to think that freelance journalism ISN’T for me: I don’t know whether I’ve got what it takes and fiction is my real dream, and where, I think, my particular skills lie, or, at least, I hope they will once I’ve practised a bit more.

But when lovely Linda from ‘You’ve Got You Hands Full’ contacted me telling me about a new column she was running on her blog offering freelance writing tips and asking if I had any questions to start the ball rolling, I immediately thought of about half a dozen. Because I know that there are lots of you that ARE keen to break in to freelance writing and that, like me, you find the whole field a little overwhelming and wouldn’t know where to start.

Linda has provided a wonderful advice-filled post in response to my (many) questions that offers a great insight into anyone thinking of trying to get some paid writing work. From Linda’s response it seems like the opportunities ARE out there, but only if you have the right skills to offer and know how to market yourself.

I’ll be honest, the more I learn about the freelance writing market, the smaller and more out of my depth I feel. I’m not sure I’m the kind of writer that would be good at networking, at selling yourself, at finding an angle. And that makes me wonder what kind of writer I am, or if, in fact, I am any kind of writer at all.

But these are my issues, not yours, and you may feel braver and more confident about making your forays into the field.

I’d really recommend you give Linda’s post a read and check out the advice she offers – as someone with a lot of experience in the field she is definitely a voice worth listening to.

What Josie Did

Posted by Josie on Nov 21, 2009 in Me, Writing | 20 comments

So… yesterday…

Actually, no. Back track. To last Sunday. When I finally managed to swallow a huge elephant sized chunk of pride and asked my Mother-in-Law whether she would like to have Kai over to play for a few hours every Friday afternoon. Kai adores her, they have a dog called “DEEEE” (Eddie in Kai-speak) and a back room full of toys. It was always going to be a win-win situation. I’m just not very good at asking for help… but… I did! And it felt good! (once the huge chunk of pride had worked it’s way past my windpipe anyway).

We can scoot forward again now. It’s Friday afternoon, I have waved Kai off happily sat in the back of Grandma’s car clutching his digger in one hand and a police car in the other and grinning like loon.

I have four hours. Four whole childless, peaceful hours.

What on earth do I do?!

Well for starters I have made a deal with myself that these four hours each week are NOT going to be spent doing housework. Absolutely not. I also made a deal with myself that these four hours would be spent outside, or, at least out the house.

So I packed up Clive and my notebook and my many pens and I put some gloves and a hat on and I went out. ALONE.

It was so weird. I did crazy things. I crossed the road when the red man was still showing. I carried a bag that did not contain a nappy, wipes, three toy cars or emergency raisins. I walked past people thinking “they don’t know I’m a mummy! I could be ANYONE!” and tried to look mysterious and alluring.

I bought a cheese sandwich and I sat on a bench in the middle of town with my legs on the arm and I wrote until I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.

And then I sat in Starbucks and ate the cream off my grande hot chocolate with a spoon and wrote some more. And then I went to MacDonalds and stole their free Wi-fi while rebelliously not ordering ANYTHING but setting up camp next to a rubbish covered tray in a genius undercover stake-out maneauve.

And then I went home.

It was glorious.

And I learnt the following things:

1. I absolutely, unconditionally, obsessively love PEOPLE. Not to the point where I actually want to talk to them, but just to watch them all go about their busy little lives, overhearing snippets of conversation, noticing their funny little gestures and weird clothing choices. I am addicted to them and their randomness. I could sit and watch them all fricking day. Or all afternoon anyway. I am not sure how writers ever run out of things to write about when there are six and half billion of the wonderful weirdos to write about.

2. The prices for WiFi in Starbucks are criminal. I’ve just paid nearly £3 for a drink you evil multi-national corporation. How dare you try and charge me over a fiver for 90 effing minutes. Humph.

3. Clive is heavy.He could do with loosing a few pounds.

4. I can both miss Kai and be very grateful for his temporary absence at the same time.

5. Sometimes I really, really like not having to talk to anyone for a few hours. To not say a single word. It means I can hear the words in my head a bit easier. And that makes it easier to write them down.

6. I love Freedom Friday

Thanks Wendy x

P.S. Today, on my wanderings across the interwebs, I completely ‘accidentally’ happened across a rather cool and extremely interesting and brilliant blog. You should probably check it out… you know, if you like… Dunno who she is. But she seems pretty ace. Whoever she is…

Writing Prompts #5 – We’re back in business baby!

Posted by Josie on Nov 16, 2009 in Writing, Writing Prompts | 16 comments

That’s right folks – the writing workshop is back with a vengeance! Yeah! *virtual high-fives and ninja kicks*

Now, I’m not feeling altogether better, but I really missed it last week, I don’t know about you. So what the hell, let’s do it.

So for all your newbies (and it’s never to late to join in), here’s how it works… I’m going to give you 5 writing/blogging prompts. Pick one, pick two, or do them all if you’re really keen – it’s up to you. How you respond is your choice. You could share a real-life story, or make one up. You could write a poem or just free-write without thinking too hard and see what happens. It can be funny; it can be serious; it can be emotional. It can be whatever you want it to be. The only rule is to have fun with it!

Prompts each week will take their inspiration from blogs, current affairs, daily life, or just whatever everyone happened to be talking about that week. If you’d like to suggest a prompt then send me an email or catch me on Twitter – I would love to hear your ideas.

So here they are:

1.Write about what you hope for ‘one day’
- As inspired by Not Such a Yummy Mummy’s beautiful post last week.

2. Imagine a familiar household object is self-aware and concious. What is it thinking? What would it say? My hoover is judging me, I just know it…
- A very excellent suggestion by Eileen at Stuff and Things.

3. What would you like to see in your ideal hospital? I’d have Johnny Depp as my personal nurse, that’s just for starters…
- Inspired by the wonderful Troutie’s post about a trip to the hospital this week (hope your boy is recovering well), and because I just happen to live down the road from what has been considered one of the worst hospitals in the country.

4. You’re packing your bags and going off on an adventure with your children. Where are you going? How are you getting there? What would you pack, but more importantly, what would your children pack?
- Inspired my one of my favourite blog posts this week by Rosie Scribble who took her daughter off in search of some excitement.

5. Write about a deep and dark fear.
- Inspired by…ME! And all my worrying last week.

Now here’s what you have to do. Write your post and publish it on your blog between now and Wednesday. On Wednesday come back and use the widget that will be up to paste in the URL of your post to share. Then take some time to read some of the other entries and leave some comment love! We’re not here to critique – just to have fun and support each other in our writing experiments. So be kind please.

Anyone who would like to submit something via email, or even anonymously will be more than welcome to do so. I’ll post them on the site here and include the link in Wednesday’s round-up.

Feel free to use the Workshop badge on your blog or as part of your post if you like. Code is here:

Note: I’m told Blogger does something a bit funny with the code so you’ll need to copy and paste it and then retype the quotation marks (“) as Blogger changes them for some reason.

See you Wednesday then!

P.S. And if you fancy plugging this workshop on the social network of your choice? Then that would be fan-frickin-tastic.

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This Writing Workshop is brought to you in association with Mama Kat’s Losin’ It – who’s lovely author came up with the concept and runs her own workshop over in the U.S.