First really windy night of the season. Really blowy rain, and the trees really moving. But the trees aren't ready to let go of their leaves quite yet. Perhaps we're still in the Summer-feeling-Autumnal rather than Autumn-but-still-quite-Summery. We do have plums, yes, in abundance, and blackberries, but the real glut seems to be runner beans and courgettes - every year there's a vegetable that the locals are offering to each other. I shall bring the cast-iron table and the two cast-iron chairs in to the covered space outside the back door. Warm enough to enjoy the weather; covered enough not to be part of it.
Three girls and a dog came to stay last night, although the dog (and one girl) went home shortly afterwards because the dog had chased the chickens. Lots of laughter, talk, energy, cooking of cheesy chips, cooking of popcorn. All very polite, totally self-contained, even the washing up got done. Several films watched, I think, and how pleasant it is to be past the age at which there's even a pretence of taking me seriously on the subject of bedtimes. No, dad, of course we won't stay up late. Good night, dad. Their turn to start school tomorrow, so I guess that was the last sleep-over.
To return to the original purpose of this blog (see under 'Visitors' and 'Homework', left), I know where I'm going now with the story in 'Thursday's Child', although there was a bit of a hump there (and if you don't mind, it's very fiddly to upload). Lots of dialogue to work out what's going on, most of which for cutting but not now. Kath talks about making notes on the characters, but I think they come up with their best surprises in the writing, not the note-taking. Keep that for later. Patricia talks about initially writing a 0th draft, as opposed to a 1st draft, full of everything that falls onto the page, as though you're disgorging a pile of bricks, some usable, rather than attempting to build a first version of a house.
That metaphor kind of holds up. Thingley Press will soon be publishing Patricia's 'The Poetry Diet', which is a diet book with poetry and a lot of chocolate-based recipes (truffles, etc.), and I hope after that, with any luck - well, I know there's talk of publishing her notes and emails on 'How to Write a Novel'. Might even have finished my 0th draft by then.
Three girls and a dog came to stay last night, although the dog (and one girl) went home shortly afterwards because the dog had chased the chickens. Lots of laughter, talk, energy, cooking of cheesy chips, cooking of popcorn. All very polite, totally self-contained, even the washing up got done. Several films watched, I think, and how pleasant it is to be past the age at which there's even a pretence of taking me seriously on the subject of bedtimes. No, dad, of course we won't stay up late. Good night, dad. Their turn to start school tomorrow, so I guess that was the last sleep-over.
To return to the original purpose of this blog (see under 'Visitors' and 'Homework', left), I know where I'm going now with the story in 'Thursday's Child', although there was a bit of a hump there (and if you don't mind, it's very fiddly to upload). Lots of dialogue to work out what's going on, most of which for cutting but not now. Kath talks about making notes on the characters, but I think they come up with their best surprises in the writing, not the note-taking. Keep that for later. Patricia talks about initially writing a 0th draft, as opposed to a 1st draft, full of everything that falls onto the page, as though you're disgorging a pile of bricks, some usable, rather than attempting to build a first version of a house.
That metaphor kind of holds up. Thingley Press will soon be publishing Patricia's 'The Poetry Diet', which is a diet book with poetry and a lot of chocolate-based recipes (truffles, etc.), and I hope after that, with any luck - well, I know there's talk of publishing her notes and emails on 'How to Write a Novel'. Might even have finished my 0th draft by then.
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