Wednesday 31 October 2012

ROW80 - Check in 6

Progress, progress, why do you avoid me so.

I'm still hit and miss with my goals. Sunday was taken up by knitting class so was fairly tired when I got home in the evening. Poetry goals went out the window on Monday after I decided to do my knitting homework instead and started stitching up a journal cover.

Last night, I managed about 40 minutes of studying and think that this current section is going to hurt. I hit a rut with the research which I'm rolling back to Saturday as I'll be able to spend a good few hours online and digging through my reference books for comparison.

Also got about half way through the current exercise but the focus is on building character through dialogue and I hardly write dialogue normally. I'm also not entirely sure who these people are as I kind of plucked them out of thin air for a previous exercise. Decided to skip to the next exercise and that curled my toes even more.

Although I did start adding dividers to my course folder so I can refer to earlier sections more easily.

Reading has fallen by the wayside so I'll make that my lunch break activity for the next few days at least. It's only a short novel so I should get a good chunk of it read and then get back to reading some horror.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Sunday 28 October 2012

ROW80 - Check in 5

I neglected to check in on Wednesday, made a little progress since then:

began first drafting a new poem and made some editing notes after it needed to change direction slightly. Even worked out how and why I would want to use the "comments" function in my word processor.

Sent another crit to my poetry group although I need to get this up to 2 a week but as a newbie I'm still in my grace period. It's forcing me to actively think about what I read which is a good thing, it's easy to get passive rather than active. And I'm discovering new poetic forms as well. The simpler ones I may try myself. I still shy away from attempting to write in syllabic metre or using a heavy rhyme scheme as it feels restrictive.

Studying hasn't come along as much as I would have liked, typed up some more notes and read another chapter of my recommended reading. I did sign up for the study day my college are holding at Cambridge which is later next month. That should prove inspiring.

Still fighting a lack of energy which I'm putting down to the recent greyness and have realised I need to get exercise back on to my goals as yoga counteracted winter last year.

Hope everyone is well

Sunday 21 October 2012

ROW80 - Check in 4

Heehee, I'm starting to get somewhere. A quick flick through the current part of my course tells me I should be completing part 3 in around 3 weeks. At which point I'll sign up for an online course on English Literature as I honestly don't think my analytic skills and engagement with reading are high enough to tackle level 2 of my degree or at least not to a point to get decent grades. Also, as I need to choose my own subject at level 3 it might give me a better idea for my research paper  .

Goal: 1.5 hours studying on Thursday night.

Achievement: zilch on studying, I was a bit brain dead that night, my energy levels seem to be bouncing up and down all over the place this week. Although, I did send a critique through my poetry group and my poetry muse is starting to feel half starved to death due to lack of poeming. Which is a good sign, in a way.

Goal: Friday night off

Achievement: I met this one somewhat guiltily after skipping things on Thursday.

Goal: 3 hours of Studying on Saturday

Achievement: Around 2 - 2.5 hours studying. I created a new character to play with, typed up more notes, journalled and read a chapter of Muriel Sparks Loitering With Intent which I'm in two minds about. Also updated the learning log. Felt good to actually write something. So why so much difficulty staying on track?

Today's goals won't be met as I'm heading off to a suitably dark art exhibition. Perhaps study for an hour later depending on what time I get back and whether or not family are still visiting when I do get back.

Have fun.



Wednesday 17 October 2012

ROW80 - Check in 3

I'm still off schedule as far as my goals go although I am slowly moving forward:

Goal : 3 hours of studying on Sunday

Achieved: I spent an hour typing up old course work and trying to get my folder in order as well as updating my learning log.

Lesson learned: Don't sit down to a 3 hour session late in the day, split it into a morning session and an evening session.

Goal: Spend Monday night working on poetry related stuff.

Achieved: I joined a poetry critique group called Internet Writing Workshop. Still getting used to how it all works.

I've decided to work with Stephen Fry's An Ode Less Travelled. It seems to cover most of the mechanics and poetic terminology.

Goal: 1.5 hours studying on Tuesday Night

Achieved: Not a sausage and no excuse.

Goal: 1.5 hours studying on Wednesday night

Achieved: 1 hour of studying. Trying to keep everything typed up as I go along.

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Stitched Up on Tuesdays Week 3

I'm still stitching away on my current project. Although I think I may put it aside for a bit to do some smaller projects but I'm reluctant to leave it alone.

20th september 2012
15 October 2012
Last weeks Stitched Up on Tuesdays

Sunday 14 October 2012

ROW80 - Check in 2

This weeks been pretty much a wash out but there's always today and tomorrow.

I've fine tuned my goals a bit more:

Monday: Poetry Night
To join crit group
Sub 3 poems to market
Write one new poem
Read/work through a section of a poetry reference book (Either Stephen Fry's one or another one which I can't remember the title of)
Rewrite a poem
Read and analyse one poem for sound, structure and meaning.

If any of the above don't get done they'll roll forward to the following Monday

Study wise:

Tuesday: 1.5 hours of studying with 30 minutes reserved for supplementary actives such as journalling and freewriting.

Wednesday: As above

Thursday: As above

Friday: Night off

Saturday 3 hours studying with time for typing up work and updating learning log

Sunday: As above

Wednesday 10 October 2012

ROW80 - Check in

Well, I don't have much to report. Something I was supposed to do today had to be done yesterday so I still haven't joined that crit group. Plus I was knackered on Tuesday night as I'd just come down with a cold and it was easier and less mentally challenging to flip through my knitting books and decide on all my hobbyist projects.

I'm still ironing out my goals, I think I'm going to make my studying goals time based. An hour and half from 8pm on week nights except Monday nights. With Friday night being my night off. I can't really base them on actual things to be done as each part is broken down into projects and exercises and some will take me twenty minutes to do and others could take me hours to do. But I want my degree before I hit 40.

At least 6 hours studying on weekends unless I'm out at an art/photography exhibition. Although this weekend is going to be hit and miss as I completely forgot we have friends staying.

I'm designating Monday nights my night for poetry activities so the first thing to do here is sub some poems out and decide whether I make time to write new poems or work with one of my reference books for a refresher course in the mechanics of poetry.

Sunday 7 October 2012

Rejoining ROW80

Way back in the floating mists of time I only meant to miss one round of ROW80 but there was an epic derailment. My focus and goals have changed since I last took part. Not entirely sure what my goals are at the moment but they'll be study related and poetry related for the immediate future.

 I did meet one goal though which was to rejoin the challenge today after Ryan King's prodding on twitter. :)

My goals for Wednesday's checkin: To join a poetry crit group and figure out the rest of my goals.

How's everyone getting on?

Website Updates and Blog Updates

It's been a while since I did one of these.

On the main website:
Writing prompts updated
New issue of Dark Metre available


Recent blog posts you may have missed:
Stitched Up on Tuesdays Week 2
Stitched Up on Tuesdays
3 Horror Lunes