Happy New Year everyone. I hope everyone has made their plans/or not depending on your preference. I have created my goals for the year – as stated in the last blog, so I won’t bore you again. ((Thank the blogs for small mercy’s! Happy New year from me, your favourite most entertaining brackets ever to be born from a blog)) Talk about big yourself up! ((Well, unlike you I provide entertainment to the readers))
I have sort of changed the idea I had for this week’s blog due to a fantastic meeting of my writing group last night. During the meeting; Nick – the Chair of the Fosseway Writers’ talked about blogging/websites, and I joined in and talked a little bit about all the different social media platforms. ((Oh please what do you know about blogging? Did you tell them all about me??)) A few days before this meeting I’d tweeted a message on Twitter and received some great responses about the benefits of social media. Some of the members don’t really use social media, so it was an informal/formal meeting ((That doesn’t make sense – already you’re making no sense in 2019!)) Anyway, the night went really well. We welcomed some new members, and they will hopefully come again. A few new people came along as part of New Year’s Resolutions, so it feels right to talk about this. I always feel very inspired when I’m with like-minded people. It’s great to see the enthusiasm and excitement when people decide to start a new venture. Hopefully, the group managed to inspire each other, and everyone went away with a positive view of blogging and social media in general. I really enjoyed it and came straight home to finish this blog. So, if you’re thinking about joining a group – just do it. If you’re shy – don’t worry. If you’re worried about your writing style – if you can write? Don’t – just join up. I’m sure most writing groups allow you to participate if you want to. I don’t tend to read out any of my work – others do. I find it inspiring enough to just be with other people that have similar goals to me. A writing group can help you set goals, encourage your writing, nag you – when required ((Oh man that’s what you do best!)) help with ideas if you’re struggling. Do something for you in 2019.
Over the Christmas period, I haven’t just been making merry, ((Tell that to the bottle bin!)) I’ve actually managed to do some writing. I’ve uploaded my fantasy story to Wattpad– The Voschan Chronicles, which is a working title for a fantasy story. For those that don’t know what Wattpad is, it’s an online site where you can read stories for free and upload for free. The idea is that you receive feedback on your story – which all helps in your development as a writer. They also have competitions etc. It’s early days yet – but I will keep you posted on how this goes as a mechanism for writing feedback ((Oh joy, please keep us informed – everything you say is soooo interesting. I just sit around waiting for your words of wisdom. My goal for 2019 is to be even more sarcastic…))
Next week I’m attending some courses in Derby; Creative writing, and How to write a novel. ((How to write a novel?? You’ve already written one!)) Yes I know, but that was a straight download from my brain to word document – how do I know I’ve done it right ((Oh lord – straight from YOUR brain – that’s very worrying! Especially after the feedback on your Horror story – maybe you should change genre??)) The last workshop is called ‘writing tales’. I will update you in the next blog on how these went ((Oh happy days – cannot wait)). If you’ve attended any good writing courses – let me know. I’ve always fancied doing one of those writing retreats – that’s definitely on my list of things to do.
Short and sweet from me this week. It’s the new year, and I need a little bit of time to get back into it. ((Well I for one am pleased you’re keeping it short and sweet – I’ve had enough of you already, this does not bode well for 2019! And I made a resolution to try and be nicer as well as more sarcastic – I’m not actually sure if both of those work!))
Just a quick note on my Christmas Novella ((shameless plug again – really??)) for those of you thinking about self-publishing and worrying about errors etc. I amended 5 errors in my story the other week – this was after publishing. I worried about this beforehand as naturally whenever I do anything in life, I wanted to do my best. But, also you don’t get anywhere in life if you don’t give things a go! So, I published – it was received better than I could have expected, I learned a lot about the process and feel like I’m in a stronger position if I need self-published my Novels. If anyone wants any help with self-publishing on Amazon, please ask – I will happily give you any tips to make it easier. ((Actually, it did do well, someone even said they couldn’t turn another page because they sh…)) that’s enough of that brackets.
Have a good week everyone 😊
C.L. Peache 