Category: Writing Adventures
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How to travel between the alternates
(This is an extract from my novel in progress Housewife with a Half-Life) Fairly Dave shuddered. He was already shuddering with the force and speed of his momentum through the temporal folds but his emotions sent another tsunami from his pelvis to the frontal lobes. He thought he had judged things right, that he should…
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The Forty Word
When that significant birthday comes along we all take stock, ask ourselves important questions, for instance – will we be an ostrich or a diva? Will we sit in a comfy chair with a lap blanket and document the body bits that are no longer in tip top condition or will we metaphorically see our…
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NaNoWriMo Celebration Blog Tea Party
I can’t believe it’s over! The challenge to challenge all writing challenges. This year almost 170,000 writers undertook the NaNoWriMo challenge to write a novel of 50,000 words in just one month. This entailed churning out a minimum of 1667 words every single day with no exceptions. But why? What communal madness infected all those…
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Back-Pats and Explosive Stats
Just back from a mother and baby conference weekend where the baby speakers had us enthralled and the mummies went ga ga over the plush surroundings. It was a meeting of the hardworking volunteers of the fabulous Cuidiu (caring support) organisation for parents, particularly of babies and small children. If anyone deserves an award it…
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Why I’m Missing 1970’s Wallpaper – Inspiration for Far Out Writing Dudes
I grew up in the 1970’s: the era of swirly carpets, psychedelic curtains, bed coverings and wallpaper. The wallpaper was flock, groovy, funky, floral, paisley, repeating geometric, colourful, clashing, kitsch. But you have to admit it, compared with the pared down smooth walls in neutral cream paint of the minimalist mode we have now, there…
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Writer DNA: Blood, sweat, nails and hair
The better my writing goes, the more of myself I leave behind. That is true for the story, where the stronger the impact of the piece, the more likely it is that I have imbued it with some authentic emotion, some recognisable evidence of common humanity, my version of it. It is also true of…
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Eulogy (tribute, acclamation) to my Thesaurus
I read a while back, when I was getting into writing more seriously, that the serious writer should beware of overusing the thesaurus function on their computer. The implication was that, if you were a writer of worth, you wouldn’t need to. Well actually, maybe I’ve just backed myself into a corner and proved his…
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Why I write.
What has been wonderful in the last few days is getting feedback from my published story Bog Body. Although I’ve had a couple of stories published in magazines before, this was the first time that – thanks to modern technology – I was able to receive feedback not only from friends and acquaintances but also…
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Underwater
Glug, glug, glug. Have gone under for a while, under housework, mainly 3 feet of ironing, under homework, teething, the whirlpool chaos that is a very mobile eighteen month old. I have managed to revise and tweek some entries for the Bridport Prize 2009 a very presitigious prize that is several steps up the ladder…
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Writing Endeavours
Since the children were born, I have been picking away at creative writing, finishing one (quite woeful) novel and still progressing another, with a third whirring away in my head (busy writing itself I hope!). In the last couple of years I have revved up a little and wisely turned my attention to short stories.…
Alison Wells Author 