Recently, I read a blog post by fellow blogger, AliB where she made the analogy of being a writer to the Roman god, Janus, who faces both ways. With one eye looking outward, and the other inward facing. 
And through it all, this story has been maturing on my hard drive, various pen drives and in hard copy, thoroughly rotting away in a large folder file.
The reason I’ve not gone further with it is because I’ve been stuck on the rewriting. I had never really fathomed out the process of putting together the strands of story to make a complete whole.
So, while I’ve had practice in writing, I’ve not had the necessary skills to pull it together. I’ve undertaken to fix that, and this week has been my first full week, writing and re-writing as a writer, instead of just writing stories.
I have a plan. I know where I’m going with it. And in the words of Jim Butcher, I’m desperately trying to make my way through that ever ‘swampy middle’.
After a short break, whilst spending some precious last few weeks with a dying relative, it seems strange to be sharing my writing life and my thoughts again. Although it feels as if I've been away for such a long time, in reality it's only about three weeks -- just as long as some summer vacations! Normal service is being resumed, and I have a couple of posts in the pipelines about books I've been reading, and what is helping me (finally) in understanding the writing process.
Writing is heaven writing is hell, writing is work.
There's a reason I was completely absorbed with the Santangelo saga when I was fifteen years old. (See for example Chances by Jackie Collins). Lucky Santangelo was (and still is) the ultimate heroine; she had class, style, sophistication and many male admirers. She didn't teeter in her heels, she strode with purpose, she played business roulette and won because she had balls. She knew what she wanted, and most of all, she knew how to get it. I love heroines who are fearless in the face of death, and can expertly turn the tables on those who attempt to manipulate her. But does this mean in the good old-fashioned romance-kind-of-way the girl will always get the guy?
This week, I’v e been at a training course for research and interview methods (among other things), and although the course was very good, there were a few people there who didn’t last the three days. As the days unfolded there was much deliberation, because people come to the course from very disparate directions, and there were moments of real bathos. Out of eight people who were to start, only four of us managed to complete successfully. 
Although the title of this post may be suggestive of some writing guidelines, it really has nothing at all to do with the craft, or the how-tos and wherefores of writing. It’s more about personal goals and achievements, and I suppose, there is just a little bit about intertwining life with writing.
I have two sets of to-do lists. One is for my writer goals and achievements, and the other is general life goals and achievements. My intention at the beginning of the year was to make a blog post at least once a week. Why? Because I wanted to add this to my list of writing goals. After a flurry of deadlines throughout January, I’ve pretty much kept to it.
This post, then, is about making your own general rules and guidelines and applying them in your life. I’m so used to making these for myself, I tend to forget there are other people around me, and sometimes, I reckon that can make me insular, but it’s also what helps me focus time around writing.
Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.
It happened while coring and cutting up apples ready for the process of stewing. My muse issued forth in a very small whispery voice, 'write me.' And so the conversation began:
'No. Not now, can't you see I'm busy.'
'But that's not as important as me. Write me!'
'Busy.'
'Imagine the picture of your novel when you've finished, got an agent, publisher. Doesn't it look nice?'
'Yes. Lovely.'
'Write me.'
'Muse. Behave yourself. I'll write you, but I only have one pair of hands.'
Frequently, the Muse strikes when we’re minding our own business, getting on with the small tasks we do in our every day life: vacuuming, washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen floor, cutting, and chopping. It also happens when it knows we are indisposed, when shopping for instance or driving. It will never come so easily when sitting down with a cup of coffee, pen and notebook in hand.
What to do when the inconvenient Muse appears is just to enjoy the 'drifting madness,’ and try to remember its ideas when you are able to sit down and write.
He eyed the distance from the drainpipe to the ground. It was an easy jump, but he appeared to want to flatter himself by exaggerating the difficulty of the leap. He balanced his hindquarters, looking fierce and confident, swept his long black tail across the drainpipe and, ears pulled back, leapt forward, landing on the freshly tilled earth. he hesitated for a moment, then buried his muzzle in the ground. Now he was in the very black of night, at the heart of it, and the darkest point. He needed to sniff the earth: here, between the roots and pebbles, were smells untainted by the scent of humans, smells that had yet to waft into the air and vanish.
