Busy weekends and NaNoWriMo updates...

I have a confession to make - I haven't written a word for NaNoWriMo since about this time last week.

There are a couple of reasons for this - we went to see our friends in Cheltenham last weekend (my lovely friend Jess is also a blogger - check out her amazing food blog here! Be warned though - it will make you very hungry) and I had such a good time - we saw a firework show at Cheltenham racecourse, went to an organic farm shop and made chocolate apples (mmm....)

The only thing is, we were also away the weekend before that too, which meant I've had two weeks with basically no breaks - I'm not complaining because I've had such a good time catching up with people, but I've definitely noticed a difference in my mood this week. I've been so exhausted when I get back from work that I barely have the energy to make supper. It's been a struggle not to just fall asleep where I am on the sofa every night.

But I have some good news - I'm off work tomorrow! At the start of November, I booked a few days off with the specific aim of getting a load of writing done - and I'm planning on spending the whole day in a small coffee shop somewhere scribbling down my words for NaNoWriMo. I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this - not just because it's a well-needed break from my day job, but also because it'll be the first time in years (since uni in fact) that I'll be able to a) dedicate the whole day to writing and b) get out of the house to do my writing. I'm so excited!

So even though I'm down on my word count, I'm still happy. Am I going to give up because I've fallen behind? Nope. I'm going to keep writing, and see what happens - maybe I'll complete NaNaWriMo, but if I don't, well, I'll still be several thousand words ahead than I was in October. And that's all that counts.

I have all my notes, I have my notepad, and I have my laptop. Let's order in the coffee (and maybe a cake or three) and let's get writing! We can do this!

Happy NaNoWriMo, everyone! Keep going - you're all amazing xx

P.S. To keep you going, here's a photo of me meeting Batman in my workplace this week. Not gonna lie - it was awesome...

How is your writing going? Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo? What are your plans for the weekend?

Three writing updates

Hey everyone, hope you all had a lovely weekend! It's Monday, it's cold, it's rainy and so I thought I'd just share a couple of updates with my writing that happened over the weekend:

• I'm still working on my social media content posts. I've managed to write about half of my notes up for work, but once I'm done, I'm going to have then decide how to present them on my blog. I think there's a better way than me just randomly writing down what happened during the day, but I need a bit of time to figure all that out. So although I was planning on having my first post out wither tomorrow or Wednesday, it might actually be closer to the end of the week (if not next week).

• Over the weekend I managed to write 1,600 words of my current WIP. It's not the sequel to Synthetica unfortunately - it's my 'throw-all-the-rules-out-of-the-window' WIP. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying writing this book. Having no rules when it comes to writing is actually incredibly liberating!

• I didn't get quite as much writing done as I would've liked over the weekend, as me and the Engineer ended up having a long hard look on Sunday at what we want out of life. He wants to start his own business and I want to make a career as an author (so essentially, we both want to work for ourselves). On Sunday we started to put our ideas into practice by, not only making a plan of what we want to achieve over the next few years, but by actually starting the process of implementing what was in our plan. It was incredibly exciting, and enthusiasm for our ideas is essentially what got me through work today. So although I didn't end up working on my WIP on Sunday, I did get to create and write content for the Engineer's business, which is still writing at the end of the day, and that's what I adore doing (and will still look good on a portfolio!).

So that's it for now - hopefully I'll be back later on in the week with the first of my social media content posts, but as I'm also trying to dedicate more time to my writing, don't be surprised if it ends up being next week instead.

Have a great week!

What did you get up to this weekend? How is your writing going? Have you ever sat down and written a plan to achieve your goals in life?

My (not-so) Dreamy Office Space...

As I mentioned in my previous post, today was my first day back at work after a week and a half off. It didn't go as badly as I was expecting, but I can honestly say it hurt getting up at 6.30am again. One thing that I did decide to do on my time off is to try and become more serious about my writing - I'm not just talking about writing novels, I talking about freelance writing too. And today it just really hit home for me how much I would simply love to work from home and write all day for a living. But what's the one thing an aspiring writer/author/freelancer needs in order to be super-duper productive? A nice snuggly/jazzy/comfy home office of course!

At the moment, we're currently halfway through renovating our house (it sucks - trust me on this, if you're having building work done, go and see if you can kip on a friend's sofa for a few days - the dust alone will drive you mad) - we've got the stairs in, new kitchen lights and we've plastered over all of our horrible artex ceilings. So it's coming along, however, the one area that is being seriously neglected is our spare room.

I'm almost too embarrassed to show you a photo, but here it is in all it's glory:

  

Mmm, don't you just love the sight of brown, unpainted ceilings? As you can tell, my spare room is currently a dumping ground for everything we don't actually have a proper place for yet.

However, it's now my mission to ensure that my spare room will be transformed into a place of beauty, calm and serenity (unless of course, I'm listening to classic rock or something on Spotify). So here's a kind of mood board of what my ideal home office space would look like, if I had a) the room and b) when I have the time/motivation to do up the spare room:

First of all I'd LOVE to line one of the walls with bookshelves - obviously so I could go and browse my collection for inspiration, not just procrastination...I also love the colour scheme used in this office - I'm a sucker for pale pastel/country colours and this blue would make a really relaxing workspace. The sofa would also be amazing to have, if I needed a break from the computer screen, without having to go downstairs and resist the temptation of TV. 

Again, I primarily chose this photo for the colours. It looks beautifully calming - and the table for the teapot and cakes is a must for any writer too. I especially love how this office is clearly outside. If I had the money, I'd definitely build my own separate office cabin (or buy a shepherd's hut) at the bottom of the garden, so I could look out over the fields as I write. Although my budget sadly won't allow for that, I do like the white desk and the desk lamp, so perhaps I can incorporate some of this design into my own office after all.

I adore Cath Kidston, and this whole set-up just reminded me of her designs, and I knew I had to include it. I'm still in two minds about what colour to paint the spare room, but I am strongly leaning towards a pale pink - I don't tend to wear pink much at all, but I find it to be an incredibly calming colour on walls. I love this wallpaper and how the desk lamp matches in with the decor. The bookcase is a must-have, as are the storage boxes (for the stack of notes/notepads I've accumulated over the years), and I particularly like the fancy pin board, where I could plan out my latest novel in all it's glory. 

Okay, so I don't actually like all the filing cabinets in this particular office, but I do like the colours - I like how calming (are you noticing a theme here? Writers need to remain calm AT ALL TIMES) the white is, but the pops of bold colour really make it personal.

And finally, I'd love to have a swinging bubble chair just casually hanging from my office ceiling (for guests to sit on obviously, not just so I can take a nap...), and I absolutely adore the brightly coloured rug in the second photo - I think it really makes it stand out. So if all else fails and I have no space to build my bookcases, maybe I'll just paint the whole room white and get a really bright rug instead. Sorted!

Overall, I guess I'd just love my office space to be calm (there's that key word again), but also a place that'll encourage creativity, be full of light and most of all, make you want to stay there and work. After all, that's the key to being a good writer - actually staying at your desk and writing.

This blog post was inspired by the fab people over at WeWork, a community of shared office spaces across the world. If you're looking for a space outside of your own home, feel free to check out WeWork to see if they're in your area. They've got shared office space locations all over the world and offer all sorts of amenities, benefits and discounts to freelancers, startups, remote teams, and more. You can read more about WeWork and their mission here. 

Do you have a home office? What's it like? Do you enjoy working there? What would your ideal home office space look like?

Happy NaNoWriMo day!

Today is the 1st November, which means not only is Christmas (and my birthday) now only mere weeks away, it's also the start of NaNoWriMo!

For those of you who are new to writing, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and the idea is that by midnight of the 30th November, you'll have written 50,000 words. Its a tough task, but definitely achievable. If you're just getting started with your writing, I would highly recommend giving it a go - it's invaluable in terms of teaching you about vital it is to write every day (or at least, getting into the habit of writing regularly), as well as giving you the opportunity to reach out and connect with fellow writers all over the world. If you'd like to know more, check out the NaNoWriMo website here.

Although I love the concept behind NaNoWriMo, this year I've decided not to officially participate. However, I will be there in spirit if not in person - I'm going to attempt to get the bulk of my latest WIP down on paper, as well as maybe try and get another project off the ground, but we'll see how my WIP goes first.

Also, I just thought I'd give you all a heads up - I'll be making a few changes to my blog/other social media sites over the coming week, one of which being (provided it all goes to plan and I don't mess it up) my blog URL will be changing. At some point over the next couple of days, it'll be changing to rachelpattinson.com. So this is just a warning in case your can't get onto my blog for a day or two (because knowing me, it'll go wrong somehow) - but fingers crossed everything will be up and running by IWSG on Wednesday!

So that's it! At the moment I'm just trying to tackle my huge to-do list that I wrote while on holiday last week, as well as mentally preparing myself to go back to work tomorrow after a week and a half off.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Are you taking part in NaNowriMo this year? Why/why not? Do you use a custom domain name, and did you find it easy to set up? Let me know!

E is for...Exceeds Expectations

Welcome back to the A-Z blogging challenge 2015! Hope you all had a lovely day off yesterday :).

Today's post is all about the letter E...

There are a lot of nice words that begins with the letter E. Excellent, exceptional, exemplary, exquisite, egotistical...oh wait.

As a writer, I don't think I've ever written something and then thought 'OMG, this chapter I've just written is EXQUISITE!' Hahahaha, no. It doesn't happen like that. At least, not for me.

But I'm here to tell you something...as a writer (and in everyday life, now that I think about it), I'm generally extremely self-conscious, have very little confidence, and I can be a nervous wreck. There are so many things that I agonise over when I'm writing - am I getting this character's description right? Am I telling rather than showing the reader this important piece of information? Is this character relatable? Is my villain actually a villain, or just a cartoon character with a twirly moustache? Will anyone actually read AND LIKE what I've written??

But here's the thing. You don't have to hate everything you've written.

Sometimes you're going to have days when you want to cry and chuck your computer/notepad in the bin. And other days, you're going to write something and think, 'y'know what? This isn't so bad. I can work with this.' And that's great! So often in life we're forced into thinking that we don't deserve X,Y & Z. We don't deserve to feel good about ourselves (why else would the gym/dieting industry be booming?). But you know what? Quite often, that's just a load of bull.

Suffering from extreme anxiety means I quite often hate what I've written. Or I like it for a while, but then I manage to convince myself it's actually terrible and I have no business being a writer. But that's just my own personal demon that I have to face. I face it everyday, and everyday I keep writing. I keep trying to improve on what I've written. I keep practicing and I keep going. And maybe, just maybe, at the end of the day I'll be able to sit back and think, 'this doesn't totally suck.'

So, what I'm trying to say is - it's okay to love your writing. Hell, if you didn't love and believe in you're writing, I very much doubt you'd be writing a novel or whatever in the first place. It's that belief, and that love for your world and your characters, that keeps you going. If you believe in what you're doing, your readers will too.

So the next time you write something that surprises you, or you manage to exceed your own expectations - go with it. Don't beat yourself up about it. Don't think you're a fake, or a sham. You're not. You're a writer - and you, more than anyone, need to believe in your own words.

Quiet scenes...how quiet is too quiet?

I received an email yesterday morning from a website that gives tips on how to write. I'd completely forgotten I'd signed up for this mailing list, but it was nice to have a little something to read that I wasn't expecting.

Anyway, the topic of this email was all about how to transform your quiet scenes into exciting scenes. Have you ever read a book where the characters all suddenly stop whatever it is they're doing and have a cup of tea? Or they all sit down and talk about their feelings? Or the author describes in loving detail how their MC makes Spaghetti Bolognese; from pulling out the long, thin strands of golden pasta and placing them lovingly into a pan of water that bubbles and boils, mirroring the inner turmoil of the MC's heart; to sprinkling that freshly shaved parmesan on top of the mound of rich, red mince and inhaling deeply, all their worries fading away as they breathe in the scent of a thousand Italian dinners past...

You get the picture.

There is nothing wrong with having a few well placed quiet scenes throughout your book. It gives the reader a chance to breathe, and reflect on what's happened and what's to come. The main issue with quiet scenes is that - as you can tell from my horrendous example above - sometimes scenes are a little too quiet. How many of you switched off while reading that above passage? I know I switched off, and I was the one writing it.

Quiet scenes don't have to mean that there's no action going on. There might be tensions underneath the surface between two characters, which should come across in their dialogue. Depending on your POV, one of your characters might know something another one doesn't - or maybe your MC knows something that no one else does - and you have to ask yourself: how does this change the scene? Will they be nervous or scared? Or angry? Or maybe your MC is completely oblivious to the tension, and keeps chattering happily, while everyone else is looking dagger at each other? Or maybe there could even be small, subtle hints throughout the conversation that hints at a bigger picture?

What about the setting? It's fine if you want to have a conversation taking place between two characters over dinner, or a mother and daughter having a heart to heart over a cup of tea - but don't forget what the point of this scene should be. It should be moving the story along. You only have a limited amount of time to keep your readers interested; every single one of your scenes should contain vital information for keeping your story flowing. It doesn't always have to be some huge revelation - it can be something small, but which may have bigger consequences later on. (But be warned, don't take this too far - quiet scenes aren't for info-dumping. An info-dump will more than likely lose a reader's attention just as quickly as my Spaghetti Bolognese story did).

Quiet scenes are great. I actually like it when I read a book and the author gives me a moment to think about what's happened so far and how the MC is feeling. Sometimes I think that, in YA books especially, authors feel as though everything has to happen at breakneck speed. All the action happens in quick succession BAM! BAM! BAM! and there's no time to explore how the characters are feeling (insta-love doesn't count. That's JUST AS BAD as not explaining anything at all! Ahem, sorry...), or what the consequences of their actions might be. This, to me, feels even more unrealistic that everyone suddenly sitting around a table and having a good ol' catch-up. I find it extremely difficult to get into books where the heroine or hero flits from danger to danger, without pausing for thought. I feel as though I never really get to know any of the characters, or what their motivations are.

All in all, quiet scenes don't have to mean boring scenes. They can be a fun way for getting subtle (or maybe not-so-subtle) information across to the reader. Just remember - you can have tension in the most normal of circumstances and it's up to you, the writer, to capture the reader's attention throughout.

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

Blank page, blank mind

So you may have noticed (or not, depending on how much my blog interests you) that I've been away for a little while.

I finished the very first draft of my novel in August and, as much as I wanted to dive straight back in again, I've been forcing myself to take a step back. It's been pretty much a month to the day that I finished that draft and during that time, I've barely done anything writerly at all - including blogging.

I just wanted to take a complete break from everything - my novel, my blog, authonomy - and at first it felt fantastic. Reading all day, baking, bingeing on TV shows online, playing the sims (not to mention going back to my day job) - ahh, that was the life for me. But over the past few weeks...I just haven't been feeling it. I've been picking up books, reading a page then dropping them again. I've been firing up the sims, only to stare blankly at the screen, wondering what the hell I'm doing. I've been feeling...restless.

As soon as I finished Synthetica, I wanted to begin work on the sequel while it was all fresh in my mind. However, in the end I forced myself not to, and I tried to work on a completely new idea instead. But as soon as I wrote down my initial thoughts, I panicked, managed to convince myself that I'm not a writer and that I shouldn't even attempt to try and write anything new (that would've made a great depressing IWSG post).

It was only this weekend that I finally snapped.

I am not good at doing nothing (reading doesn't count as nothing btw). I'm happiest when I'm busy. And so, on Sunday I began to write down an outline for my new novel, telling myself that I could do all this (i.e. planning/writing a novel from scratch) again. And to my surprise, it didn't go quite as badly as I thought it would. Scenes began to pop in my brain as I idly wrote about possible settings, new characters forced their way out of the woodwork, and by Sunday night...I couldn't wait to get started properly.

Ideally, I'd like to get the detailed synopsis done for this new WIP before I start the edits on Synthetica but as I was going to start working on Synthetica this week, somehow I don't think that's going to happen. So we'll see how it goes. But most of all, I'm simply going to remember to not stress out and just have fun with whatever it is I'm writing :).

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

What to do, what to do...

So, as you may have noticed from this excitable blog post, I finished the first draft of Synthetica on Sunday. And to celebrate, yesterday I made THIS:

It took me the best part of four hours, 12 eggs and 3 different types of jam. I'm a tiny bit ashamed to say that I haven't even had a piece yet (I've been fobbing it off on everyone else - I didn't quite realise it would be so big...), but I'm going to save my bit for elevenses today ;).

I also dyed my hair, and sanded down a bit of the dresser that's been my ongoing project since about Easter. 

And now I'm sitting here this morning thinking...what do I do now? I've already looked up some info on mine and the Engineer's possible trip to Budapest later this year. I've put a wash on. I've (kinda) cleaned our kitchen. I've had a second breakfast (because I'm secretly a hobbit). And now...I'm a bit lost.

But I'm getting the strangest urge....it's like a voice in my head that simply won't turn off, and it's saying 'WRITE, WHY AREN'T YOU WRITING?!' I would've thought that voice would've left me alone for a while, so I could bask in the glory of actually finishing something. But no. Apparently writers don't get breaks from the voices in their heads.

So it looks like today, I'm going to be sketching the outline for a possible new book...oh well, could be worse...I could be doing something useful like cleaning the bathroom instead...

How's everyone's day going? How's your writing going so far?

Happy writing!

August IWSG: Same old, same old....

Welcome to this August's Insecure Writer's Support Group!

IWSG was set up by Alex J. Cavanaugh (you can view his blog here) and the group now was it's own awesome website here. Make sure you check them both out!

I'm afraid to say I'm going to be rather boring again this month. My project over the last month was the idea of keeping my novel 'open' - i.e. I don't forget about it, and I try to work on it every day, even if it's just thinking about how a new scene will go.

Overall, it's been fairly successful....or at least, if I haven't been able to work on my novel for whatever reason, it's been enough to guilt trip me into writing extra hard the next time I can access my computer.

To be honest, this month I'm just going to try and keep going with this idea. As I have a lot of time to fill until September, my initial idea was to have the first draft completed by the time school starts again. I'm already freaking out that I won't get it done, as I haven't been able to write much over the past few days (Since Monday, I have broken two cars, smashed my mobile up and broken a set of fairy lights...so much for things coming in threes...but naturally sorting these things out has taken time!) - and my friend is coming to stay with us today until the end of the week.

So, I think my main fear I'm going to have to keep under control this month is my anxiety that I won't get my book written at all. I've already been freaking out this week because I haven't been writing as much as I wanted too, but I just need to calm down and tell myself that even if it doesn't happen immediately, it will happen eventually. Just like my herb garden ;).

Oh, and if you're a member of Authonomy, I've posted up the first couple of chapters from my book if you want to check them out :) - the link is here. I'm still open to CP offers btw ;)!

Happy writing!

March IWSG: But is there any substance...?

Guys, just going to apologise now if this post is a little short/rushed!

Welcome to the Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG)! On the first Wednesday of every month, authors from across the world/interweb post up their fears and insecurities about their writing, and we all provide support/tea/cake/virtual hugs to encourage all your lovely authors to keep writing.

IWSG was set up by Alex J. Cavanaugh (you can check out his blog here) and there's now an official IWSG website, which is full of helpful tips, tricks and encouraging posts – you can check out that awesome site here.

So this month I'm focusing on my actual plot line – I'm currently halfway through writing a proper detailed synopsis for my NaNoWriMo novel (which I'm praying will turn into my first actual real novel) and something struck me as I began to flesh out each scene: do I have enough substance in my story?

I'm pretty sure I know who my characters are, what their motives are, where it's going to be set etc, but as I wrote out each scene, I began to wonder which of my scenes were essential to the story (which I'm hoping will be all of them) and which ones were 'filler'.

I hate the thought that 75% of my book might be made up of those awful, stilted dialogue scenes, or scenes that describe in minute detail of how my MC got up, stared out the window, made breakfast, ate breakfast, put on her socks, had a completely random argument with her parent(s), brushed her hair exactly 100 times, put on her shoes, picked up her bag, stared soulfully at her reflection in the mirror (enter convenient description of MC's physical appearance here) before finally running out of the house and catching the bus to school. Or something along those lines. You get the picture.

Are there some scenes you should leave in so the reader gets a bit of a background of your MC, or should every scene have a specific purpose? I personally prefer the latter option – but I'm just hoping that my opinion on what's essential to the storyline doesn't differ too much to my reader's!

So that's it for now! Hopefully I'll get a chance to blog more often this month – there's a couple of book reviews I'd love to write up for you guys to read :).

Until next time - happy writing!

NaNoWriMo....Day 5!

This is just a quick update, to let you all know that I'm still alive and drinking lots of tea to get me through NaNoWriMo ;)...

It's day 5 of NaNoWriMo, and I'm pleased to say that I've passed last year's word count - hooray! Not that that was very difficult, mind you - last year I wrote about 1,000 words then gave up. This year, I've currently written over 8,600 words :), which makes me very happy! I was hoping to break through the 10,000 word barrier over the weekend, but I went to see a friend on Sunday and ended up hanging out with her later than I thought I would. Not that I mind - it was nice to get out of the house after writing all day Saturday!

What I've written so far is a complete mess. I'm not afraid to admit it - it's appalling. If I was writing this normally in any other month, I would have burst into tears, deleted everything, then thrown my laptop out of the window long ago. But this November, I am determined to turn off my inner editor and just write - it's so hard though - I'll think that I've managed to ignore what my inner editor is saying, but then I'll realise that I haven't written anything for five minutes, because I'm searching for the perfect way to word a particular sentence....but I just have to remember that NaNoWriMo isn't the time for editing and getting everything perfect - it's about writing.

So that's what I'm going to focus on this week - simply getting the words down onto paper. There'll be plenty of time in December for me to edit and rewrite to my heart's content, but for now I'm just going to box up all my doubts and shove them into a dark and dusty corner of my mind...

I also received some unexpected news this morning - when I turned up to my first class of the day, the classroom was empty and the teachers were stripping everything off the walls. Turns out some of the kids are suffering from the 'hands, foot and mouth disease' - don't you just love it when things get lost in translation? I'm pretty sure that means chicken pox...but anyway, the whole class is off school for the next two weeks, which means I now have even more free time in the morning. Don't get me wrong, I hope all ,y cute little Chinese pupils get well soon, and I can't wait to see them again, but I'm not gonna lie - two weeks worth of free mornings, right when NaNoWriMo is running (when I actually only have 3 weeks instead of 4 to write 50,000 words, as my sister is coming to see me at the end of November), - kinda seems like a very odd blessing in disguise ;)....

So, how's your NaNoWriMo coming along?? I'd love to hear what you're up to!

It's almost here!

The countdown to NaNoWriMo has begun!

In just one and a half hours (if you're running on Beijing time that is), NaNoWriMo 2013 will begin! Although on the one hand, I'm completely psyched to get going on my novel, at the same time, I'm terrified! All I can think about is - have I put enough work into planning my novel? What if everyone hates my characters? What if I hate my characters? What if my world isn't believable...? Wait...stop, stop, STOP!

I'm actually having to try and mentally shut my brain down before it goes into overdrive - NaNoWriMo isn't about having the perfect plot or story arc, or characters....it's about writing. So that's what I'm going to try and do - from tomorrow, I'm going to stop worrying so much about the nitty gritty of my story and just simply...write! Who cares if the background to my world isn't complete yet? Who cares if I don't know every little thing about my characters yet? NaNoWriMo will give me the chance to discover all these things - and once I've written my 50,000 words, that's when I can go back through it all properly and edit it. But for now, I'm just going to have fun letting my creative side out!

I'm off to bed now so I can get a decent night's sleep before the craziness of November kicks in tomorrow. Good luck to everyone who's participating this year - I know you'll do great! And if you fancy having someone to cheer you on/cry on, feel free to add me on the NaNoWriMo website - my username is REPattinson1 :).

Good luck!

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