Edited by Sarah Louise North, Saturday, 22 Apr 2023, 19:55
Hello,
It has been 13 days since I last wrote.
Last weekend I went to the day school in
Cambridge. I brought a dictaphone to record everything, and I am so glad I did. The first half before lunch was about essay writing which I
found helpful because I will be able to use that in my next module.
After lunch, it was the EMA option, so I was in the class Creative Writing,
and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was given so much advice, it gave me food for
thought and how to write other books that I want to start writing. The hotel
was nice, I had a room that had a bath that was also a jacuzzi, and a sauna
that was out of this world. The breakfast in the hotel came with the room,
which was lovely, and I did enjoy it, I had a meal on Saturday, I had a lasagne
and although it was nice, it felt more like a microwave meal, and it cost
£13.00 I didn’t have a desert because I was full up. I was meant to have a meal
on Sunday but had a migraine. It started on Thursday, so I called in
sick, it carried on right until Friday, but today I have another migraine which
is starting to annoy me because I feel like I can’t get on with
anything.
My TMA 05
came back from my tutor, and I got a 75, I have started to go up apport from
when I got a 45 because I only did half of my assignment. She did give me some
really good pointers so when I do my commentary reflection, I will be able to address
all the advice she has given me.
I have from
today, not including the 18th of May, 26 days until my EMA is due. I
have got Word docs in my EMA file, characters, atmosphere, settings, senses, outline, scenes, dialogue, show not tell, and history. What I am doing, is reading
from the archives, for instance, dialogue then when I have finished reading practice it with my story. Is it hard? Yes. However, for me, that is the best way to do
it. It is more to do with that I am having memory problems and because of that, I need to be able to keep it in my head so that is how I am doing my EMA. I
have a notebook in my bag that I keep with me and that is where I write what I
see, where I am, how I feel, and what I hear or taste so I can practice writing the
5 senses. What I think is funny is that it seems so obvious to do it but
that is where I was going wrong. I didn’t know how to write. I know I
wanted to write and yeah OK I may have a good idea about a story but, it was
more than just putting pen to paper, I didn’t have a structure and that
is what I needed. There was no structure on how to go about writing as such; I needed
structure on how to tackle it. What this module has done for me is show
me that I need to tackle the 5 senses, show not tell, and all the others. It
showed me in Bitesize how to tackle writing a book. When you have all of
that down, you can put it all together and that is your story. Then go back to
it and read it as a whole. Also, what is a good idea that I got from the module
website, is to put the different areas like dialogue, settings ect all in a
different color so your story will look like a coloring book but, when you
want to tackle each one on different days, you will know what color you are editing
so you can miss all the other parts and edit that color. When you have edited
your story, you can go back to it and read it as a whole and when you are happy
with it, get other people to read it to see what they think and get their opinion
on it. See if they all say the same about the same thing and if they do go
about changing it, or get them to write down what they think needs changing and
why and if they understand what the story is about and not forgetting that the
story has to be about a place of home, whether that be a person, like Gaige
will be for Cassie and Delphi will be for Gaige and Cassie when she starts to
let Delphi be a place for her. When she does that is when she will hear Apollo’s
voice and bring Cassie back home.
What I have
found interesting is The Writers Bureau. I have had ‘The Creative
Writing Course’ for years and have not looked at it. I saw it under my bed so
I thought I would get it out and have a bit of a read and wow! I can’t believe
I have had this under my bed, and I have not at all looked at it, but it
is exactly what I need. It has helped me in the sense that it has shown me how
to see dialogue and other bits that I never thought I needed to look at, but it
is, so I am now using it. I am mostly using The Open University materials I got
with Cultures A112, the module website, and using the archives that I need to
continue with because 26 days are not that long at all. Also, I need to study this
week’s materials on the website, but it has been great writing it says I
need to write about 6 hours a week, but I will be trying to write 12 hours on weekdays,
Tuesdays, and Thursdays for 6 hours each day. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday’s
using as research days. I may need to take a trip to the library but, one of
the tutors said you should be able to use the materials that are available to
us but I am not sure if she meant that on the essays and creative writing or
just the essays but I am not taking any chances so I will be using my research
as well because I need to write some history about Delphi because I can’t think
that the people marking my work will know about Delphi, I need to write it as if
the reader knows nothing about Delphi so I need to make sure I get my facts straight
about the place before writing it. Thanks are why I have brought books about
Delphi and the Pythia so I get some info on her so when I get to the part where
Gaige tells Cassie and gives her a bit of a history lesson, the reader will
know about the place and I want the reader to grasp just how special Delphi is so
when Cassie and Gaige arrive at Delphi, the reader will not only be grateful that
they are there but, will know the place and fall in love with it. What I am
having problems with is that I have 2000 words to write all of this, I do get 10% over
but I do not know how much 10% is after 2000. I don’t know how many words 10%
is so I will have to ask Sarah because I don’t want to use the calculator and
get it wrong, I do not want to get penalized for the word count.
I am going to
start reading first and when I have done that is when I will put it into
practice because otherwise, I will forget. I am so looking forward to it and I
have the week of the 18th off so I will have all day. I am still
getting up at 4:00 am so I can write for 1 hour before work or before I start
my day because I want to get into that habit and finish reading or writing about
9:00 pm at the latest so I can go to bed at 9:30 pm because if I go to bed early,
I will wake up early and I mean before 4 am like I did today. I woke up
at 2 am and then went back to bed at 6 am only to get up at 10 am. It’s a pain
because I feel like I have wasted a day. Tomorrow, I have to do some housework
so I am going to do what I can at 5 am even if that is tidy up, polish, or clean anything
before 8-9 am so I can start hovering then when my chores are completed, I can
then get back to writing or at least start writing at about 12:30 pm.
Going to bed
at 9:30 pm is not that bad it means I get 6 ½ hours of sleep. I am excited to
start writing my story and getting prepared for it, at the same time I am
nervous as hell but…I can’t wait until I write. Do you know what scared me
the most? That I have a good idea, but I can’t execute it in the way that I want
and can’t express it in a way and it comes across as something not very good or
a sense of place & home does not come it. But I guess that is what feedback
is.
Saturday 22/04/2023
Hello,
It has been 13 days since I last wrote.
Last weekend I went to the day school in Cambridge. I brought a dictaphone to record everything, and I am so glad I did. The first half before lunch was about essay writing which I found helpful because I will be able to use that in my next module. After lunch, it was the EMA option, so I was in the class Creative Writing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was given so much advice, it gave me food for thought and how to write other books that I want to start writing. The hotel was nice, I had a room that had a bath that was also a jacuzzi, and a sauna that was out of this world. The breakfast in the hotel came with the room, which was lovely, and I did enjoy it, I had a meal on Saturday, I had a lasagne and although it was nice, it felt more like a microwave meal, and it cost £13.00 I didn’t have a desert because I was full up. I was meant to have a meal on Sunday but had a migraine. It started on Thursday, so I called in sick, it carried on right until Friday, but today I have another migraine which is starting to annoy me because I feel like I can’t get on with anything.
My TMA 05 came back from my tutor, and I got a 75, I have started to go up apport from when I got a 45 because I only did half of my assignment. She did give me some really good pointers so when I do my commentary reflection, I will be able to address all the advice she has given me.
I have from today, not including the 18th of May, 26 days until my EMA is due. I have got Word docs in my EMA file, characters, atmosphere, settings, senses, outline, scenes, dialogue, show not tell, and history. What I am doing, is reading from the archives, for instance, dialogue then when I have finished reading practice it with my story. Is it hard? Yes. However, for me, that is the best way to do it. It is more to do with that I am having memory problems and because of that, I need to be able to keep it in my head so that is how I am doing my EMA. I have a notebook in my bag that I keep with me and that is where I write what I see, where I am, how I feel, and what I hear or taste so I can practice writing the 5 senses. What I think is funny is that it seems so obvious to do it but that is where I was going wrong. I didn’t know how to write. I know I wanted to write and yeah OK I may have a good idea about a story but, it was more than just putting pen to paper, I didn’t have a structure and that is what I needed. There was no structure on how to go about writing as such; I needed structure on how to tackle it. What this module has done for me is show me that I need to tackle the 5 senses, show not tell, and all the others. It showed me in Bitesize how to tackle writing a book. When you have all of that down, you can put it all together and that is your story. Then go back to it and read it as a whole. Also, what is a good idea that I got from the module website, is to put the different areas like dialogue, settings ect all in a different color so your story will look like a coloring book but, when you want to tackle each one on different days, you will know what color you are editing so you can miss all the other parts and edit that color. When you have edited your story, you can go back to it and read it as a whole and when you are happy with it, get other people to read it to see what they think and get their opinion on it. See if they all say the same about the same thing and if they do go about changing it, or get them to write down what they think needs changing and why and if they understand what the story is about and not forgetting that the story has to be about a place of home, whether that be a person, like Gaige will be for Cassie and Delphi will be for Gaige and Cassie when she starts to let Delphi be a place for her. When she does that is when she will hear Apollo’s voice and bring Cassie back home.
What I have found interesting is The Writers Bureau. I have had ‘The Creative Writing Course’ for years and have not looked at it. I saw it under my bed so I thought I would get it out and have a bit of a read and wow! I can’t believe I have had this under my bed, and I have not at all looked at it, but it is exactly what I need. It has helped me in the sense that it has shown me how to see dialogue and other bits that I never thought I needed to look at, but it is, so I am now using it. I am mostly using The Open University materials I got with Cultures A112, the module website, and using the archives that I need to continue with because 26 days are not that long at all. Also, I need to study this week’s materials on the website, but it has been great writing it says I need to write about 6 hours a week, but I will be trying to write 12 hours on weekdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays for 6 hours each day. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday’s using as research days. I may need to take a trip to the library but, one of the tutors said you should be able to use the materials that are available to us but I am not sure if she meant that on the essays and creative writing or just the essays but I am not taking any chances so I will be using my research as well because I need to write some history about Delphi because I can’t think that the people marking my work will know about Delphi, I need to write it as if the reader knows nothing about Delphi so I need to make sure I get my facts straight about the place before writing it. Thanks are why I have brought books about Delphi and the Pythia so I get some info on her so when I get to the part where Gaige tells Cassie and gives her a bit of a history lesson, the reader will know about the place and I want the reader to grasp just how special Delphi is so when Cassie and Gaige arrive at Delphi, the reader will not only be grateful that they are there but, will know the place and fall in love with it. What I am having problems with is that I have 2000 words to write all of this, I do get 10% over but I do not know how much 10% is after 2000. I don’t know how many words 10% is so I will have to ask Sarah because I don’t want to use the calculator and get it wrong, I do not want to get penalized for the word count.
I am going to start reading first and when I have done that is when I will put it into practice because otherwise, I will forget. I am so looking forward to it and I have the week of the 18th off so I will have all day. I am still getting up at 4:00 am so I can write for 1 hour before work or before I start my day because I want to get into that habit and finish reading or writing about 9:00 pm at the latest so I can go to bed at 9:30 pm because if I go to bed early, I will wake up early and I mean before 4 am like I did today. I woke up at 2 am and then went back to bed at 6 am only to get up at 10 am. It’s a pain because I feel like I have wasted a day. Tomorrow, I have to do some housework so I am going to do what I can at 5 am even if that is tidy up, polish, or clean anything before 8-9 am so I can start hovering then when my chores are completed, I can then get back to writing or at least start writing at about 12:30 pm.
Going to bed at 9:30 pm is not that bad it means I get 6 ½ hours of sleep. I am excited to start writing my story and getting prepared for it, at the same time I am nervous as hell but…I can’t wait until I write. Do you know what scared me the most? That I have a good idea, but I can’t execute it in the way that I want and can’t express it in a way and it comes across as something not very good or a sense of place & home does not come it. But I guess that is what feedback is.