Friday, April 29, 2011

Inspiration, Part 6

More images that I've used to help inspire the YA novel I'm working on.











Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

It's All in the Name


I've been talking to a few people who've commented on the name of this blog.

They said that it was a strange name, and that it made me sound of kind of sadistic. As though I go around stepping on ants in my spare time (which I don't, honest!).

Actually, the name is from a zen saying. It means to take notice of the small things, to see things in a different light. I know that doesn't really relate to writing and books and the like, but I found it an interesting title at the time.

Not as interesting as sadistic-ant-killing, but not as disturbing either.

In other news, I was interviewed by fellow blogger Romi Foster recently. You can read my fabulous answers and her even more fabulous questions here.

What do you think of this blog's name? A simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down motion at your computer screen should suffice (but seriously, let me know in a comment--you know you want to).

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Inspiration, Part 4

Here are yet more inspirational images I've been using for the YA novel I'm writing.

This one's kind of special, because I've overcome the first small hurdle: 10,000 words.

Which is your favourite?








Monday, April 18, 2011

The Blogger Next Door Series, Part 1

Interview with Romi Foster

A picture of Romi...or, at least, her shoes.

Photo sourced from her blog.

Blogging is such a lonely experience sometimes. So lonely in fact that I've decided to interview some fellow bloggers to see why they do what they do. Below is a copy of my chat with Romi Foster, the first blogger interviewee in this series. She maintains a blog here, another one here, and likes writing, animals and life with a dash of quirkiness to keep things interesting.

BC: Firstly, why do you blog? 

RF: I'm not even sure myself, I love being able to write about the things I love, on WTWCTW (where the writer comes to write) I just adore being able to write about books that I love, sharing amazing covers, talk about my writing with a wider audience ect. and being able to do Q&A's with authors both new and well known is such an amazing opportunity, I never want to loose this part of my life; and with TDT (The dreamy tree, my other blog) I really just love finding amazing pictures and sharing them, talking about what's happening with my life....it's so nice to be able to do something like that- plus, I've gotten to meet and talk/connect with so many amazing people through it, I'm not just stuck in a round of the same people that I've always known, I get a wider range of people to talk to, and I think that's just terrific!

BC: On your blog you have recently celebrated finishing your manuscript (which you intend to submit to the Text Publishing Prize Competition). Congratulations! How does it feel? Could you let slip a few ambiguous words that may or may not relate to your writerly baby?

RF: Oh thank you Broede, that's lovely of you! I'm still very excited about it, I probably will always still be a little excited! It feels absolutely amazing, I keep thinking, oh, I still need to do my final revision, but so far I keep forgetting to do it! I'll start tonight I think.

So anyhow, it feels terrific to have one of my novels finally (almost) finished and ready to enter a competition with it... it's just amazing!

Hum... It's about a girl who has an accident that opens her eyes and starts to make her question things that had previously happened... vaguely!

BC: You've certainly got me intrigued there Romi--sounds like an amazing plot! Tell me, what inspired it? What kept you motivated during the writing process?

RF: Really? Well that's good! Hopefully, if it's one day published, the back of it will intrigue others alike! That would be fantastic!

Um... well I'm honestly not sure, things lead on from other things- but it started off with me spinning on a chair ( a important thing that occurs in the beginningish part of the story) and from there it just came to me in joints I guess.

Well to that I'm not sure either, what keeps me motivated... apparently I'm a very motivated person, always doing my school work of my own accord ect. (well mostly) so it's easy for me to keep things going- especially because I am home educated so I can just sit down basically at any point in the day and write for a few hours and just let everything flow from my mind and onto the paper in front of me.... and I'm not the sort of person who has really gotten writers block before, I think because I have so many ideas that it's not really possible for me!

But when I write, things seem to just flow, and I occasionally listen to music and that keeps me inspired (I did that a lot for this particular novel).. so really, the more I wrote, the more I kept going... I could never really leave the story and the girl, they became a part of me I suppose, and you can't leave a part of yourself behind, can you?

BC: Very true! So where do you see yourself in 10 years time? What do you want to achieve and experience?

RF: I see myself helping animals, doing re-rehabilitation work, preserving rainforests, working against poachers and helping save animals, probably in Indonesia... but still writing, loving what I'm doing and looking forward to living in Corfu...

BC: Thanks so much for the interview Romi, and of course best wishes for the future.
  

Friday, April 15, 2011

Inspiration, Part 3

Here are some more inspirational images I've been using for the YA novel I'm working on.

Which do you like? What inspires you?









Thursday, April 14, 2011

Superior Words for Inferior Occasions, Part 2

All words are sourced from my copy of The Superior Person's Book of Words by Peter Bowler, which is actually much less pretentious than it sounds, and is quite funny to flick through on a rainy day. If you love big words, complex words, interesting words, or just words in general, I suggest you buy a copy.

1. Labrose. Means "thick lipped".

2. Mucilage. Refers to (or anything similar to) chewing gum, glue or paste.

3. Sempiternal. Basically a fancy way of saying "eternal".

4. Suffumigate. "To subject to smoke or fumes".

5. Macrology. A long and tiresome talk or conversation.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Inspiration, Part 2

Here are some more inspirational images I've been using for the YA novel I'm working on...










Friday, April 1, 2011

Writers and Their Dreams



Has the verb "to dream" a present tense? ~Wittgenstein

Clearly, it has. But I guess the real question is: "Can we ever use it?"

In a correct, meaningful context that is. Let me explain using all-powerful (and aesthetically pleasing) dot points:

  • You can say, "I am dreaming" to someone and not really be dreaming--you are awake (hence talking to them...unless you are one of those weird people who converse in their sleep). 
  • Or, you can say, "I am dreaming" in a dream to someone, but technically you're just talking to yourself. So maybe that doesn't count as saying something (as it is in your head); combined with the fact that it isn't really a question, as a question (if your one of those especially weird people who use complex logic to prove complex stuff) doesn't really exist unless it has an answer--otherwise the entire point of a question is undermined. 
I must apologise: I'm in a bit of a philosophical, slightly incoherent mood today. Mainly because it's Friday. And then I read a blog post by author Steph Bowe (which you too can read here) about dreams and writers and writers who use dreams in their acting out their writerly writer-ness.

My answer to Steph's question is thus:

Yes, I do dream a lot. Yes, I remember a lot of them (presuming what I remember is a significant portion of my dreams, because I don't exactly recall the ones I don't remember).

Have I ever turned a dream into a piece of writing? Not directly. But I do use some of my dreams in inspirational ways, such as writing down a particular image I dreamt about, etc. and then incorporating that into my writing. 

Although, when you read up on a lot of writers (particularly famous ones, as they're the ones who are most often written about) they often do (or did) use their dreams in direct ways. The poet Gwen Harwood articulated many of her dreams in her poetry, sometimes turning an entire dream into a piece of writing, or a sequence of pieces.

Why is this?

I'm not quite sure whether or not it's because writers dream more, or recall many of their dreams (however it is largely accepted by society that writers, and indeed artists etc. are much more sensitive to the world.)

I think it pivots instead around the fact that creative people don't dream more, don't recall more: they simply use more of their dreams in their creative output than non-creative folk--whether it be using the dream directly as a source of material, or simply using it as a springboard to further ideas, further inspiration.

What do you think? Perhaps you'll find your own opinion expressed in a dream.

Then again maybe you already have; you simply don't recall it.