 |
| Book 4 and the final in my Settlers series is coming in May. For links to all my books go to my BWL author page |
One thing we
writers know what to do when we are in forced isolation is, of course, write.
It’s strange, but we spend a lot of time sitting in front of our screen (or wherever
we chose to write) and in my case with only my dogs for company, but now that I
am being warned that I should stay home for my own safety I am, like many
others, becoming stir crazy. Difference is, that normally when I hit a snag in
my writing and just need a break, I nip down to the shops. All that is now at a
standstill while we order online and have our necessities delivered.
When I get
bored I mainly do one of two things—I move furniture that should be left where
it is, and I buy things. In this past week alone I have bought a new printer
which has just been delivered and set up, two lots of grocery shopping (Because
I forgot a few things with the first order), a new torch just in case the power
goes off in the middle of the night, and yesterday bought four items of
clothing which I do not really need but they were a bargain <big sigh
here> and I never could resist a bargain. I rearranged my study, moving my
desk and printers around to suit wintertime which is just around the corner. I
can now see out into my garden while at my computer, but unfortunately it seems
that even the birds seem to have gone quiet. Perhaps the braver ones have
headed north where it is warmer. No doubt they are wondering where all the
humans have gone.
Anyway, to
explain my heading. While rummaging through old files I came across a story
that I wrote many years ago, so thought I would revive it. Was I in for a
shock? I have never seen so many bloopers in my life and at times have thought
of abandoning it or changing genres. It might still get put back in that dark
corner where it probably belongs. To explain, one of the worst mistakes I found
was my overuse of words such as “he expounded” or “he exploded”, when a simple
“he said” would do just as well. What
was I thinking?
My hero was
not as heroic as he should be and in fact I started to dislike him when he
became a bit cocky. There’s a big difference between being sure of your charms
and just being downright big-headed. That would not do for one of my heroes and
how I ever wrote one scene I have no idea. Of course that has been trashed.
I had my
characters using a telephone when of course everyone uses their mobiles these
days. It came as quite a reality check when it hit me how times have changed in
the past 20 years. Most of the shops now have automatic check-outs, and the
shelves in the supermarkets give us so many choices I personally get a headache
searching for exactly what suits my needs. How my mother would have loved
having her shopping delivered. Having a large family to feed, she shopped most
days for food and necessities. The baker and the milkman were the only daily deliveries.
Upside of that was that the shopkeepers all knew her by name. As things are
currently, we barely get the chance to say a quick ‘thank you’ to the delivery
man as our shopping is left by our door because we must keep that safe
distance. My dogs barked at the open door a while back because someone walked
past our unit, and that was all the excitement for today—apart from the
delivery man and our daily walk around the nearby park.
Keep safe and
write up a storm. And if you have someone there that you can hug, do it as
often as you can. It’s becoming a sad world when our contact with another human
is being denied.
 |
| Visit my web page for excerpts etc. |
