01.01.12
Posted in Writing at 12:06 pm by Natalie
Well, we have just embarked on our last year (don’t forget the end of the world come December 21st) so I think it would be a good idea to make it a great one. Now is the perfect time for setting some realistic as well as ambitious goals.
Before I went to sleep, but after I crawled into bed (midnight is not so easy to reach as I get older) I wrote down my list of ten things in 2011 for which I was grateful, and then ten things I would like to achieve in 2012. The achievement hopefuls will set my monthly and weekly goal sheets for the rest of the year.
As a goal-setting, list-writing addict the beginning of the year is like another Christmas. I’ve updated all my Excel writing plans and word count target files (and let’s not forget the associated graphs), and I’ve run all the statistics on the closed out 2011 files with all my final data (of which there was very little post-July).
While it does smack a little of procrastination, I cannot help but wonder if my change in tact midway through last year from opening my goal sheet the moment I sat down to write, to just sitting down to write might have been a mistake. Seeing what I had committed to each time I sat down reminded me of the big picture, and where I wanted to be.
This year I’m going to do better than just opening it up, I’m going to print it out and put it on the wall, so everyone who comes in here can also see what I’ve committed to. Also when it is printed out I’ll be less tempted to spend time fiddling with it.
Anyway, my word count sheet for the year is looking sadly bare today, so I’d better get back to that novel and add another five hundred words to earn myself an Escape to the Country tonight!
Happy New Year, and Happy Writing!
Word count this week; 1,500+
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12.25.11
Posted in Photos at 9:37 pm by Natalie
I hope you all are having, had or will soon have a very merry Christmas!
But not too merry 
Be safe and appreciate the ones you love.
Word count this week 1,000+ words! Yay!
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12.18.11
Posted in Journal at 1:18 pm by Natalie
It was a very sad week this week for my family. My grandmother passed away after 90 amazing years of being active and social and always exploring life. She packed a lot into those years so while it was sad to let her go, it was great to rejoice in the memories of the adventure that she had lived.
Naturally, as I’m sure we all do when faced by the realism of our own mortality, I thought of what I would be leaving behind. The song of a hundred unfinished stories filled my head and I realised that I really am wasting too much time. I know I have finished and published some stories, but next to the ones that are partly written, I can promise the best is yet to come!
I know last week I talked of well wasted time, but the truth is, much of my time recently has been wasted in front of the television, and much of that television was reality TV (house buying, house renovating or racing around the world). I can’t help but think these reality TV shows are just a poor substitute for doing it yourself? And if I’m honest with myself, I have collected enough material on these subjects now to satisfy me for life.
It’s time to do.
I think it will be harder than my chocolate-free months, but I want to give up all reality TV between now and New Year; documentaries, news, renovation anything, all gone. If it didn’t employ a writer of fiction to create it, I am not watching it. I know that sounds like I’m not cutting my options by much, but there are only a couple of fictional programs I like, so most of my evenings will end up being TV free.
If I want to leave behind more than a dent in the lounge then I need to start getting up off it and sitting at the desk instead. And I will also be turning off the internet, there is more reality TV on the net to trip you up than there has ever been on TV.
No more excuses, my writing starts again now!
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12.11.11
Posted in Journal, Writing at 3:00 pm by Natalie
I’ve written about writer’s guilt before; the feeling that any spare time spent doing anything other than writing is wasted time. I suspect most driven people in any pursuit, be it business, the arts, or anything that requires a lot of time probably feel the same.
But every now and then you get a reminder that not all frivolous actions are wasted time.
I have been lucky enough to be much closer to my family in the last 12 months after over 16 years of living out of the state (and sometimes the country). My writing has certainly suffered over the last year, but my relationship with my family is stronger than ever.
You can’t just order that up and get it delivered. It takes time. And sometimes that time feels like it is being wasted. Long chats over the dinner table and sitting watching a favourite TV show with those you love can be very rewarding, even if they leave you with no words in the novel bank. They are also moments you will cherish when you no longer have the opportunity to slip into them at will.
Remember, everything is material when you are a writer. The way I see it is that I’ve just spent a lot of time on research this year. And I’m very at peace with that.
Word count this week: zero.
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12.04.11
Posted in Writing at 1:58 pm by Natalie
There is nothing that compares to being lost in a good book. I am currently reading ‘A Game of Thrones’ by George R. R. Martin and am thoroughly loving it (thanks Leif for the recommendation). I have nearly missed my bus stop because I’ve been so engrossed, and in less interesting meetings my mind will wander to speculating what might happen next (note to boss or colleagues; my meetings with you guys are always interesting).
Clearly I am under the spell of this book.
Whenever I am like this I think about the power the author has over me. What they can teach me, what they can make me passionate about, or hate, and what I, as an author, would love to arouse in my readers if I were to be able to cast that spell of an un-put-downable book.
There is a league of tweens, teens and women old enough to know better who are in love with pasty boys after the magic of one particular series. Many kids know what basilisks and all manner of ancient magics are thanks to another (wonderful) series.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to marry a fantastic novel with a great message without sounding preachy? Imagine if young Harry made a point of always putting his used cans in the recycling bin, or Edward boasted of how his raw-food diet and great night vision helped to lower his carbon footprint. Okay, fell into preachy straight away, but I’d love to see it done well.
Better yet, I’d love to do it! Time to get writing…
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11.29.11
Posted in Photos at 12:19 pm by Natalie
Can you believe, even as I’m loading these pictures up now, a koala is in a tree outside my window. We are so lucky in the Adelaide hills.
That's not a gum tree!
It's a hard life doing nothing all day
Koala ball -it was a bit cold on this day
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11.27.11
Posted in Writing at 8:39 pm by Natalie
I’ve just finished reading Kelvin Cruickshank’s autobiography Walking in Light, which (being a big fan of Sensing Murder) I found fascinating. The strange thing is, I cannot shake the feeling that I’ve gotten to know Kelvin by reading it. I feel like I should say hi if we were to bump into each other on the street –which seems to me to be just a little bit crazy.
That’s when I realised the real difference between an autobiography and a biography. When someone else is telling the story the belief systems and/or prejudices of the author (which will always come through) have no real bearing on your feelings toward the subject.
Yet when you read an autobiography everything said, even the phrases used to say things are all from the subject (Kelvin regularly uses the word ‘choice’ which took me straight back to my youth in the 80’s and always made me smile). It is more like sitting down for coffee with someone who just opens up and lets it all flow out.
To be honest it feels a little bit strange.
It reminds me of how I felt when talking to an author at World Con last year and I made a comment about the beautiful view near her house. Now yes on first pass it sounds like I’m a stalker, but the fact is I enjoy reading her books, so I started reading her blog and she keeps posting pictures of these amazing views from her house. But the creeped out look she gave me made me wonder who she was actually writing these blog entries for?
Which obviously begs the next big question; who am I writing this blog for? Perhaps a post for another day…
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11.20.11
Posted in Writing at 8:48 pm by Natalie
I am a great lover of magic. You will never hear me beg a magician to tell me how they did their trick; I want to believe they actually did it. I would rather consider the possibility that their years of practice had brought them to an enlightened power over the physical world, rather than a power over every muscle in their body so they can shift, sort and switch things without me seeing.
That’s why I wrote ‘The Amazing Salvador’.
I know a lot of people won’t like this story; a lot of people who beg the magician to tell them ‘how they did it’ and who Google the explanation behind David Copperfield’s amazing walk through the Great Wall of China or Criss Angel’s superb disappearing Lamborghini stunt (so good I’m going to insert it rather than reference it).
So thank you Title Goes Here for seeing the magic in my story, and not telling me magic is ‘so yesterday that it is in the same category as vampire stories’ – I hope you all enjoy it.
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11.13.11
Posted in Writing at 5:13 pm by Natalie
Okay, I’m going to get a bit existential here, but do you ever wonder why we want so much stuff? Every day we get catalogues pimping lost of shiny, colourful new stuff, and we bring bags of it into our houses, bought both on-line and in person. Our houses are overflowing with stuff, but we still need more.
Don’t you wonder if maybe, just maybe, what we actually have is an emotional gap that needs filling? And because we are so time poor or so stressed we try to plug that gap with stuff instead of substance.
I wonder if I spent more time writing and less time trawling websites to get the right price for that vital stuff that I need, then perhaps I wouldn’t actually need so much stuff?
After all, the stuff of today is generally the landfill-clogging waste of tomorrow, but I know my words will be cherished, even if only by me.
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11.06.11
Posted in Writing at 8:27 pm by Natalie
This is not the blog post I was going to write. To write that one I needed to read a story I have had published previously, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
That got me thinking about why I didn’t want to re-read it. It is a bit of a no-brainer; as the author you will always find something you want to change, and once it is published it is too late to do so.
But the explanation is not that simple, because I don’t like to re-read my story when it comes back to me before it is published as a proof. That is the time when it can be changed, indeed you need to find the errors, so you are forced to read it. So with gritted teeth I always look through it, trying to put as much distance between me and the work, after all, by the time the story has got to proof status it is very annoying for the publisher to change it, so semantics are not well tolerated.
I also hate re-reading my stories before I send them out for consideration. Again, this is another must. You need to make sure that if there is anything a reader might stumble over, you identify it and fix it before you send it out. So again with the gritted teeth (and often out loud) the re-read begrudgingly occurs.
Post final-edit is also a pain for me. I’ve already read it what feels like a million times (and some paragraphs surely do come close to that), so once I get to the end I don’t want to look at a word of it again. But you have to. Gritted teeth…
Pretty much the only time I’m happy to do the re-read is after the first draft is completed and you write those magic words ‘The End’. Probably because at the end of every first draft I’m convinced I’ve just finished the best piece I’ve ever written.
The first re-read usually cures me of that misconception.
Maybe that’s why I don’t like re-reads?
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