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Hi everyone!
So as January draws to a close I thought I'd update ya'll on how things are going in my writerly world. This week has been jam packed with editing and rewriting of prose poems, mainly. Really getting into them, it's true what they say about having to be a good reader before you are a good writer. Before I started reading 'No Boundaries' I had very little idea about prose poetry, but now the stuff just rolls out of the pen and onto the page, which is awesome! In our sudden prose module we are starting starting short stories, so look out for some of those soon!
Other writing news - i have started writing the first in a series of childrens books, inspired by the David Attenborough 'Planet Earth' series. The one I've been writing today is about Pip the Penguin, ahhh. So I'm glad I've finally got stuck into that, the idea has been rolling around for quite a while so I am very ready to start writing it now!
Novel..umm...yeh not so much. Maybe I'll do a bit more this weekend. What with assignments, etc, it's taking a bit of a back seat right now, but hopefully I'll get back into it soon.
Anything else I've done with my day? I submitted some stuff to Magma poetry magazine, so fingers crossed I get a prompt and positive response! What else? Cake baking...Mmm :) Also been setting up a website and facebook group for my fund raising attempts. I'm going on a mission trip to Uganda this July and so have started raising some money. If you're interested, check out the website: www.justgiving.com/Celia-Jenkins

Prose Poetry

Hello, hope everyone is well and having a grand start to the year. Nearly February already - isn't it going quickly?
Well, so far this year my writing has been dominated by prose poetry, which I am really getting into at the moment. I am reading 'No Boundaries' which is a collection of prose poems by 24 American writers. Almost every time I read it, I come away inspired to write my own... which I do :D I really like Russell Edson, he is one of the best prose poets of our time. A fair few of the poems in the book are quite abstract and don't make a whole lot of sense. Some tell more of a story. I like the ones in the middle, that tell a story by sort of hinting at it rather than detailing every little things, the poems that encapsulate a mood or feeling. Oddly, I've noticed that loads of them include Eucalyptus plants... strange!
So, some works in progress? Not sure if this is a prose poem or just a poem, until I've edited things to death I'm never really sure, but this one is fresh of the page:

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Camomile tea was rare and exotic. It came in ornate tea cups, thin handles flecked with gold. Pure as raindrops. Honey dripping from a spoon. God nectar.
Then I grew up. Camomile tea was bought in boxes, square tea bags. Drunk often until the taste is no longer there. Just a sour sense of regret.

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What else have I been writing? Still working towards some travel writing, I have two pieces in mind. The first is a short (500 wc) piece for a competition that is run weekly, and that one is going to be about Wales, where I spent a week at the start of this year. I have a first draft, but it needs much work as I've never written travel stuff before, so it's pretty sketchy at the moment. The other will be longer, more of a feature, for a magazine I quite like called 'The Peoples Friend'. I haven't started that one yet, I'm currently just deciding what to include in it. I'm writing it about my home so, it's difficult to pick out just a few things to mention!
The novel has been on hold for a few weeks, just because I've had essays and things to do. I'm hoping to get more done very very soon, I really want the first draft finished by Easter, then onwards with redrafting. Feeling a bit deflated about it really, in some one of my creative writing seminars I was reminded how authors tend to write a few rubbish books that never get published before they write the good ones, and although I've already written a novel that I consider to be my 'rubbish novel', it just got me thinking, what if this is my rubbish novel too? What if I have two rubbish novels before my good ones, and this is all just a waste of time? Then I think, what if I only ever write rubbish novels and never a good one, what then?
These are my thoughts.

Trying New Things

So it's still 2010, I figure that it being a new year I should probably try some new things. So what have I been writing recently? Turning my hand to travel writing at the moment, just short pieces, target markets I will be submitting to are a magazine that mainly publish short stories but tend to have one travel feature each issue, and also there is a continual competition I've found for travel writing, which picks a winner every week, so looking promising :)
Also been writing a bit more prose poetry, think I've got another one fixed for my next publication, hurrah! Only...say...20 more to go :D

And a Happy New Year

Hello hello, hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and a fantastic New Year...onwards into 2010. What does the year hold for my fantabulous writing career? Well, this shall be the year I finish writing my novel. It may even finish it much much sooner if all goes to plan, I've written about 2/3 of the first draft, so depending on how long editing takes...who knows! Also this shall be the year that I find myself an agent to promote and guide me in writerly things, and this year I will be publishing my second collection of poetry, prose and other fun things, hurrah.

Didn't quite finish Dawkins in time to make it onto my 2009 list, but there are indeed many other things that did so, keep your eyes peeled for my soon to be appearing book review list from last year. Lots of children's books in the latter months - judge me not! I study 'writing for young people' so its'...err... research? :)

Have a grand start to the year and all the best