All change - writerly decisions!

I have made a momentous decision this week and I wanted to share, so here's a short blog post.

Quick drum roll...

 I have put Trafficking aside for the moment to write a new story!

Trafficking was part of my PhD but it is virtually unrecognisable as that story now. I am not giving up on it but my new story is time sensitive so I need to focus on that for the moment.  This is all with the blessing of IC, thank goodness. I am not sure I would have had the courage otherwise.

In a way it was a tough decision because I had been working on Trafficking in various forms for four years but in another way there was a huge sense of relief. The new story is something totally different and will take me into a new area of writing. It is very exciting.

The new story is partly based on a real event, hence the time sensitive comment, plus it just lends itself to being made into a wonderful story. I am managing to combine two of my passions too. You are looking at one happy writer here. It will give me a great escape from the pressure of writing and researching an academic book that I have been commissioned to write, which you will no doubt hear more about on here as this is a good place to explore ideas. (A brilliant nugget of information handed to me by a friend and then reinforced by a blog post by Mark Carrigan)

Sometimes as writers you have to make these decisions. You have to have to walk away for the time being and try something new. Who knows what it might turn into when I go back to it. Writing is all about making the write [sic] decisions, whether it is about the big story or the specific word, they all have to be considered. For all you writers out there, good luck with your writerly decisions and trust your gut instinct. It is invariably right!

Today is a beautiful day at the start of an enormous week for all of us in my family. And this is a perfect song by India Arie

New Beginnings...

Happi-Ness

It is all about new beginnings at the moment. Yesterday I was doing an Open Day at the University of Winchester. Two weeks tomorrow is the start of a new academic year and, lastly, I have two brand new stories buzzing around in my head.

Open Days are always fun to do particularly if you are part of a double act. You have a room full of beaming potential students with their slightly less beaming parents. It is always a relief to see at the end of the talk to see that the parents smiles are just as wide as their children when they realise how useful a creative writing degree can be. Also I have to say it is hugely satisfying when at the end of the talk the parents and prospective students clap and cheer. We had lots of students come through our four sessions yesterday and it was a joy if a bit exhausting. Hopefully we will see many of them next September.

Talking of which, as I said, two weeks tomorrow will be the start of the new academic year. An exciting time but also a time of fear even for the lecturers. I am in the midst of lesson planning and ensuring that all my work is up to date so I can hit the ground running when the teaching starts....hmmm...that's the plan, will it be the reality remains to be seen!

The most exciting new beginning for me is the fact I have two new stories buzzing around. Trafficking is off with the editor and I decided it was time to start something new. But then it was like buses, two stories came along at the same time. Both pretty well formed but one requires a huge amount of research (including travelling abroad in order to do it) so I think that one is going to have to sit and wait on the back burner until I have the time and the money to do it justice. Luckily, I love the other story, it is another thriller for YA but quite different from Trafficking. The ideas for it are just dancing around my mind. I can see the plot and as always it is basic but I know I can build it up with some thrilling twists and turns. I am going to try and get a bit of it written before the start of term because once it starts the writing will have to take a back step, which to be honest is quite frustrating, but I might take a leaf out of Marcus Sedgwick's book (excuse the pun) who used to write every other Saturday when he was working for publishers and writing his books at the same time. I will set a day aside a week dedicated to writing. I know some people would sit back and wait for the feedback on Trafficking but I want to move forward. I never feel complete unless I am writing and I have a story flowing through my head that needs to be put on the page. Definitely a case of Happi-Ness!!

This is irrelevant to this post but I think it is beautiful, I have no idea how it is done but I thought you would enjoy it too.