Well, damn and blast it. After initial mad enthusiasm, I have failed dismally to update my Olympic Storyteller site with new stories.
The last story I wrote was in August. I am hanging my head in shame.
Then someone kindly pointed out the link to my profile page on the Olympic Storyteller site wasn’t working. So, for one awful moment, I thought I had been expelled from the site. But they had just moved the pages around. Whew.
I must do better…..
I had forgotten how wonderful it is to write, free and unfettered, against the clock. No time for editing. No time for self-doubt. And when it is done, it is done.
I heartily recommend the Six Minute Story site. Here you can:
You may choose a prompt and consider your story options in advance. But once you start typing, the clock starts ticking and you must continue until the time runs out. After 6 minutes, you are forced to stop. There is no second chance to add, edit or to tweak.
When its done, you can save your story and choose a Creative Commons License. Or – if you really want to – you can trash your story.
I prefer to pick a random prompt and I like to start writing without giving myself any time to think. I just see what happens and the only internal ‘editing’ I do is to try to bring the story to some sort of conclusion within the six minutes. Luckily I am a very fast typist.
Here is a link to my latest Six Minute Story: Choosing.
12 (and a half) rules for writing. If only I could stick to them.
I found this poster of writing rules elsewhere. It is not mine. I take no credit. It just made me smile.
Thank you to @Quotes4Writers for bringing it to my attention.
And, if you want a framed print, I suggest you visit AllPosters.com
Hamlet seems weird – being basically about a man driven mad by a ghost’s accusations. The plots and characters in the current crop of Vampire books appear far more believable.
In fact, I should have finished reading this play before the term started – along with the other pre-term reading; Uncle Vanya, Private Lives and Top Girls. I enjoyed reading the other plays – especially Private Lives and Top Girls.
But Hamlet? Well, I am still ploughing through it.
Of course, I could take the easy option and just watch the 1996 film. Actually, I have never seen Hamlet performed either as a play or film. But I am determined to read the damn thing first.
I keep measuring the pages left to go against the pages I have actually read. I reckon I am half way through. When I try to read it in the evening, I fall asleep. When I read it today – as I did on the train – I fell asleep again and almost missed my station stop.
Hamlet seems weird – being basically about a man driven mad by a ghost’s accusations. The plots and characters in the current crop of Vampire books appear far more believable.
(Actually, it is well worth a visit to Stephenie Meyer’s website to find out how she was inspired by a dream and sat down to write the best-selling novel, Twilight. I went there in the name of research for this blog piece and Wikipedia is currently ‘down’ as a protest against proposed new legislation – but I digress and will get back on track in moment.)
So, confession time: I hated Shakespeare at school and haven’t recovered from being forced to read Twelfth Night in class – very slowly over the course of a whole year. Of course I didn’t understand much of the language and I still don’t. In my informed opinion, as a fifteen year old, twelfth Night had the most ridiculous plot ever and generated slightly less excitement than watching snooker on an old black and white TV.
And now, having managed to offend most Shakespeare lovers – and all snooker fans – I will shut up.
Time to boast? So sorry, but yes, I won the Crime Story Competition in Writing Magazine and my short story was published in the January 2012 edition of the magazine.
I won the Crime Story Competition in Writing Magazine and my short story was published in the January 2012 edition of the magazine.
Ruth Livingstone 