Specific musings?

When I was doing bits and bobs of writing a few years ago I decided I was going to write a book called "The musings of a 20-something chick" (yeah, well, maybe more than a few years ago!!). I fell in love with the title as soon as I conceived it. This gem was going to contain all sorts of writing by me - poems, short stories, essays, songs, random thoughts, you name it. Unfortunately I didn't really write enough at the time to fill more than a few pages. Call it stifled expression (a special skill of mine, but more on that another time). And then a friend of a friend told me that unless it was written by someone famous (which I clearly wasn't then, nor am I now), or it was a solid work of fiction, that I would have trouble getting it published. Despite this I couldn't let go of the name, or the concept. Hence the name of this blog.

It hasn't escaped my notice, however, that all I seem to be writing about is writing! Yes I am all fired up about it, but that isn't the only thing I was to discuss or muse on here! So I am now opening up the ideas and the possibilities, and giving myself permission to make this what it was originally intended to be: a collection of all sorts of examples of my creative or analytical thinking. In time I will also post the writings I did a few years ago, because I still like them and they continue to inspire me.

Two messages

There were two messages that came across to me very strongly a few days ago. One was that the creative energy behind writing, the spirit, if you like, comes from beyond - God, Spirit, a Higher Power or whatever you want to call it. I read it in two random books I have as sources of inspiration. No coincidence, of course. So... unblocking it and letting it come through is no different to unblocking energies in other ways, spiritually. Creative expression and spirituality... so many artists in history have claimed that a spirit moved them, or their inspiration came from 'somewhere else'... fascinating if you consider the energies of those who have passed (like Lois Duncan, one of my favourite authors when I was a teen, did in "Down a Dark Hall").

The second message was that I need discipline to write. God knows this is so very relevant to me! Self-discipline has never been my strong point. I was a procrastination queen at school and university. It was my intelligence that got me through most of the time, not hard work. And excuses... they're so easy to come up with! So... that's going to be hard. Especially since it's been two weeks or so since I kicked off and I still haven't managed to select a publication for my first writing assignment. Dammit. Well at least I have a fairly clear weekend coming up - might just make up for it!

I have in the interim, however, bought and looked through a wide diversity of London magazines - ranging from women's interest to spirituality to sci-fi to film to erotica to fantasy fiction. It's been very interesting! There are so many directions you can go in with writing. And looking through these magazines I'm really not sure what kind of writing I'd like to do, and for which publication! Erghh. I think I just need to bite the bullet and make a decision. It won't be the be all and end all of my career for God's sake, not an irredeemable choice, just the focus for my first assignment. But I so want it to be good!

I should also mention that when I bought my first lot of magazines from Borders, the girl behind the counter (who happened to be a freelance journalist) gave me some very useful advice. Not only did she tell me I needed to be disciplined (yes she was one of the sources of message #2) but she also told me that music magazines are great to write for as they offer a variety of writing opportunities like reviews, features and supplements, and they cater to both sexes. I still haven't bought a music mag. Maybe that's the next thing to do?

Happy New 2007!

Well, the new year is upon me. Despite it being a hackneyed sentiment, I really feel that this is an opportunity for a fresh start, a clean slate. I have now put weekly blocks of time aside in my Google Calendar for writing, and have spent the first of these (tonight) doing some reading and research. Yay me!

I am super determined to get this writing thing going. I really am tired of usability... every day at work is a reminder that it doesn't stimulate me, and it's not my passion. Every email re a new technology or reference is a reminder that I have no interest in keeping up with industry news. And every person that leaves is a reminder that there are greener pastures elsewhere. But I must be patient. Being the materialistic and security-valuing woman I am, I cannot conceive of going without a regular salary and living a lifestyle of relative comfort. So I must continue in this job, and try and find some positives to being there, otherwise I will go nuts. And in the meantime I will dedicate myself to nurturing my writing and completing my assignments in something resembling good time. In my own time.

I feel encouraged by what I've read about aspiring writers already; people do respond positively to my writing, be it my travel updates or my work reports. I've been told my writing is easy to read. And God knows I have an eye for things like grammar, punctuation and sentence formation! These are things already working in my favour. I must now put my Taurean tenacity to work for me here. It's no coincidence that a couple of people have told me recently that I am very determined and tenacious! And I must also remember what I read earlier at work today: good design is hard, and people who have achieved it have worked very hard and were prepared to throw out and/or revise their work frequently. The lesson - iteration! It's a leaf I can certainly take out of my UX book. Maybe I can continue to learn more in this job after all?!