Elle

  • Wow! Came across some notes I scribbled down about 5 years ago: events in the life of a character in a book I’ve put aside. Not prepared for how guilty it would make me feel. It really seemed as though I abandoned somebody important – almost like a real person. What are my life lessons here? Stop scribbling stuff down? If I do, don’t read it…[Read more]

    • Perhaps the last question is the right one. Or return to the character if not the same story. It sounds as though the character has life or you wouldn’t feel bothered about them. Someone to come back to when the time is right?

      • I’ve got two notebooks full of random notes on characters or ideas. Most of it will never turn into something, but they’re great for when I’m feeling a bit blank – looking through and seeing what wants to be written. If you’re feeling that guilt, then perhaps that idea wants to be written enough for you to spend a little bit of time expanding on it?

        • I’ve written a fair amount of this character, but killed her before her history unfolded later in the story. It was during that unfolding that I began to like her. I was feeling bad enough about having done her in, but then I came across a load of notes about a chance encounter she has with an old friend after a separation of several years. I have…[Read more]

  • Thanks, all. I think from now on I won’t reply to form rejections. Certainly I shouldn’t have done it so long after I received them. It was just that tweet making me think I’d been rude! Perhaps she wasn’t talking about form rejections.

  • Hurrah for the fulls, Hil. A great sign, even if they don’t lead anywhere (yet). I’ve heard the ‘don’t reply to a form rejection’ from a lot of agents, so I’ve never done that. If the rejection is noticeably personalised, then I’ve sent a quick thankyou, and I always thank them after a full MS rejection. After moping for a bit!
    I’d also guess that…[Read more]

  • Squidge posted an update 6 years, 9 months ago

    I know we’ve had an issue with bots at the mo – I’m getting the ‘I’m not a robot’ thing every time I log in, but I thought once we’d done it once, it meant you should be OK to log in without after that?

  • Do you mean that you sent a ‘thank you’ to the agents after they declined? I haven’t done that in the past. Not that I’ve made many submissions lately.

  • What’s your experience? What are your thoughts?
    I’ve been submitting to agents this summer and had a few full requests (all subsequently declined) and several other declines. Initially I replied (just thank you) to the ones who’d requested the full, and one or two others I’d met, and not to the others since I’d read somewhere that agents don’t…[Read more]

  • Fantastic @woolleybeans. Thank you so much for this.

  • Spot the person with lots of actual experience structuring study programmes! Thank you so much @woolleybeans this is just what we needed, and sounds like it should accommodate everyone’s needs.
    I say we go with this & if we need to review how it’s working after the first few 3 week blocks, then by that point we should have a much clearer idea of…[Read more]

  • Wow, WB – that’s really comprehensive! Thank you. Also makes me realise I need to print out Andrew’s course outline and read it through properly…

    I’d be glad of an October start, cos I’m trying to set new routines around an empty nest, and it’ll be good to focus on something other than the lack of guitar playing and a deserted bedroom… ;)…[Read more]

  • Oh yes, 373(ish)

  • Tortoiseshell Specs

    I wear tortoiseshell specs. My dear old mum did too. And Dad. A family tradition that I hadn’t really thought about. I mean, we had so many things that I hardly even noticed. Family traditions, that is. There were words we used that I thought were just normal. Mum called me dinny if I did something daft and lairy when I was n…[Read more]

  • Ok, I can understand that. I guess it’s a balance, isn’t it? Between providing a timetable for those of us who like structure (I prob count myself there), and not excluding people whose other commitments make that timetable unfeasable. … And getting caught in an infinite loop of trying to decide a timetable that fits everyone! … AND not…[Read more]

  • I think I like Squidge’s idea, because I’d be better with some discipline.

  • The only issue with doing multiple units is that we could end up with people later on having no buddies to do that unit with? I’d rather it was ‘organised’ in that there’s a definite time for each unit to be completed over, simply because that means I can be more disciplined about an approach, rather than wondering what’s on and whether I want to…[Read more]

  • Tick tock! Songs of Innocence & Experience.

  • Yeah, the time commitment/coordination is the challenge with something like this. I’ve been thinking about how it might work, having jumped in enthusiastically without doing any thinking first! I guess for me, the best way seems to be to look at it as a series of group exercises, rather than a whole MA.

    Maybe the way to do it would be if someone…[Read more]

  • Squidge posted an update 6 years, 9 months ago

    Just a reminder that there’s a week to go for September’s monthly competition…and for you to prove to me that ‘beige ain’t boring!’

    • I’m sorry I’m having to pass on this one Squidge. Combination of holiday and having work done at home. I did like your paint chart idea for prompts.

      • No worries – I know September’s busy for most folk, especially after York. Mean I won’t have such a difficult decision judging 😉

  • Well, here I am looking out at the Haymarket tram stop in Edinburgh from a cosy AirBnB. It would have been nice to catch up with local Denizens but I have my family with me and it’s been a packed weekend around a family wedding so not much opportunity. Flying back to Sussex by the Sea later this PM so won’t be feeling much like doing responsible…[Read more]

  • If I do commit to this, I would definitely prefer group interaction, including giving and receiving feedback. It’s true, though, that co-ordinating timing for a group, over two years, will be tricky.

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