Stumbling on a murder

Photo by S. Tsuchiya on Unsplash

 I have my character

I have her voice

I have her location

So why can't I tell her story? 

Is it fear, is it procrastination or is it just laziness? I don't know, all I know is that on days when I had no Alpha deadline or any other writing to do, I'd spend my time doom scrolling on news websites rather than telling Mother's story, which isn't going to get a book written. So that's when I decided enough was enough, so I've begun a writing course. 

It's called Couch to 80k Boot Camp and it's by a chap called Tim Clare, who's a poet, author and musician. 

I discovered the course after reading Are You Okay, Elliot Hart? by Kate S, Martin - a book that should be in every school and may well change the way that you view bullies. Anyway, in Kate's acknowledgements, she mentioned Tim's podcast and how it helped to start her writing journey, so I decided to check it out. 

Now, I'm not a newbie writer but I was feeling burnt out and lacking in motivation and confidence, which is why this seemed a good idea. It's eight weeks, and it covers all kinds of writing techniques and according to the blurb packs in everything I'd learn on a fiction writing MA, which is pretty cool. 

The format is that Tim does around 8-10 minutes of talking, and then you write for 10 minutes. And I'm writing longhand which I don't normally do. This is what I've learnt so far: 

Week 1 was lists:

lists of character names

Lists of words I love or loathe

Lists of problems my characters may face

List of personality characteristics

Lists of books I've always wanted to read or felt I should read.

Week 2 is time for free writing, but with a difference:

Normal free writing for the first day, but then we were writing in different locations - Tim travelled to the locations and recorded, I was able to stay at home, thankfully. These included; the woods, a midnight drive in a car and a cemetery - don't worry, there was no spookiness - what was freaky though, was that I'd watched the movie Pet Semetery the night before! So I was a tad surprised when I heard that.  

Today I wrote a letter from one of the characters from the list of names to another character from that list. It was different, dark and involved the founder of a brand of confectionary. It's amazing what comes when you have to keep writing. 

As for tomorrow's free write, I have no idea what will come. 

Week 3 sounds a little bizarre but I don't want to give anything away

  I'm nearly two weeks in, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to stick at it, and that in my blog post next month, I'll be able to let you know how I've been getting on. Unless, a different topic pops up demanding to have it's story told. 

In other news... 

I have three books on the go at the moment, and all immensely different. 

It by Stephen King, which I pick up from the library. I had the book taken off me at school when I was in my teens. The teacher said I was too young, and he was probably right. I've read the sample on my kindle, and I'm hooked!

The Body by Bill Bryson. It's subtitled An owners manual, and it is absolutely fascinating. Nearly every paragraph has a jaw dropping fact in it. Please do read it if you can. 

God on Mute by Pete Greig. Started reading this ages ago, and last read it in Nov 2019. Felt the need to start reading it again, and it's helpful. 

Would love to hear what you are reading, in the comments or on Facebook. 

Keep writing and or reading, and I'll see you next time. Thank you for reading :) 

Martin is a writer, baker, photographer and storyteller. He's been published in the ACW Christmas anthology and Lent devotional. He's currently honing his craft at flash fiction and you can find him on Twitter here.