Ruth Livingstone

Poems published

Last summer I had three poems selected for publication in a poetry journal.

It always comes as a shock when people like my poems, because I don’t consider myself a poet. And I think writing poems is – for me, anyway – a self-indulgent exercise.

The anthology is packed full of wonderful poetry, and is available for downloading as a PDF file. It’s free of charge! 45 Square 2015

And you can listen to a couple of my poems here.
Acorns Falling and Final Track.

Further information, including recordings of other poems, is available on the 45 Square website.

November = NaNoWriMo month

Why am I doing NaNoWriMo again?

Last year I sat down and started writing during NaNoWriMo month. Was I a NaNo winner?

Yes, I achieved the 50,000 NaNo words.
No, I didn’t finish the manuscript.

In fact, there are 4 unfinished books sitting on my hard drive.
I’m not exactly a completer-finisher.

So last year I decided I would definitely not begin another manuscript until I’d finished at least one of my previous NaNo projects. Continue reading “November = NaNoWriMo month”

5 year writing goal: October Update

5 Year Writing Goal: October update

I’m taking part in Misha and Beth’s Five Year Project and my five-year goal is to write a novel and get it published.

It’s two years since I joined the project. My first task was to finish the manuscript for my historical novel, The Reluctant Scribe, and lick it into shape through several rounds of editing. This I’ve done.

Now, I’m supposed to be looking for an agent . But, after several standard rejection emails, with no requests for the whole manuscript, I’m finding it hard to keep motivated
Continue reading “5 year writing goal: October Update”

The unexpected downside of an ISBN number.

I dipped a toe into the murky pond of self-publishing a few months ago.

My aim? Not to sell a book, but to see how easy – or how hard – it was to convert a document into a printed book, using Amazon’s CreateSpace service.

The final result is a 36 page non-fiction booklet of 8,000 words, based on one of my walking experiences. Soggy Socks is not a masterpiece. But it’s OK. As I said, my aim wasn’t to sell any copies, but to experiment with the process.

I did order a single copy for myself.
(Well, OK, two copies actually.) Continue reading “The unexpected downside of an ISBN number.”

How blogging improved my writing.

You never know what will happen when you start publishing your thoughts to the world. Some of the unexpected outcomes are…

Blogging is a strange art.

It’s a form of self-publishing, but without the extensive editing and revision that most authors inflict on their self-published prose.

As a result, the content and quality of blog posts can be scrappy and variable. Poor grammar, dodgy spelling and clunky structure are commonplace. And, all too often, blog posts are prime examples of unrestrained egotism, being supremely uninteresting to everyone except the blogger themselves; acting more like personal diaries than public publications.

And yet, blog posts can be riveting, giving insights into topics you would not otherwise consider, and presenting intriguing snapshots of other people’s lives. The instant aspect of publishing a post also gives blogs an immediacy, a vibrancy, and a topical relevance that makes blogging more like journalism than other forms of writing. Continue reading “How blogging improved my writing.”