Finding the time... at last

Well, I didn't quite manage to post anything on Sunday. I think I was all out of words. One thing about doing an MA in creative writing is that, well, you do a lot of writing. I sat in front of my computer on Sunday night and just could not conjure up any words to fill the screen, so I thought I'd save it until my batteries had recharged.

Currently I'm sitting in the library at Winchester University. I'm on a computer situated by a long wall of floor to ceiling windows. The playing field is below me to my right. Normally there are groups of students running about, warming up before football or hanging around in the late afternoon sun. Today though, with the clouds hanging so thick and heavy, there's nothing but pink blossom, fallen from the trees that edge it, and scattered over the grass and worn mud.

I love being back at Uni. I get a rush of excitement every time I step in through the doors to the library. It covers 4 floors. My old Uni in Bath consisted of one floor... pretty much one room really. I don't know if it's just a distraction from real life and trying to avoid work but I think I could do this forever.

In my last post I mentioned that I was part of NANAWRIMO. Well, I've not got very far towards the 50,000 words yet. In fact, I've only done just over a thousand. This is mainly to do with finding the time and energy to participate. But, I'm hopeful I'll manage a few more thousand at least...  for now, here's an extract from the story I've started. It's called Spy Game. It's the result of a writing exercise in class. It's aimed at young adults:

      Amber felt stones and flint digging through her jeans and into her knees.
      Her hair was slick with sweat; she could smell the rancid scent of her body beneath her clothes. She trembled; her head a fog of disjointed memories. Her vision was blurred. Figures loomed around her. Voices blared through bad static.
      She could taste blood in her mouth; her hands were numb from the plastic bindings that tied them. She tried to remember where this had all begun.... it had started with ice-cream...and something... something...
       She had been scared.
       But even that feeling was so buried beneath weariness and pain that it no longer seemed to matter.
       In the distance she heard a jumble of click-clack noises. Her heart sped up; she groped her mind for clarity.
        A cacophony of shots.
        Her shoulder exploded with white heat. Her body jerked back. Warmth spread through her and she welcomed it.
        She felt herself hit the ground in a distracted way. The solidness beneath her head was comforting. She could fall no further.
       There was a dizzying brightness above her. The warmth was leaving. Seeping out onto the gravel. She would have smiled, but her mouth could no longer do that. So she closed her eyes and drew in the whiteness and thanked him for peace.

I'll keep you updated on my progress...

And finally...

Meanings to the words from my word collection below:

Jactation - a restless tossing of the body OR to boast and brag

Brobdingnagian - of enormous size

Frabjous - Wonderful, elegant, superb, or delicious.

Hobbledehoy - an awkward, gawky young fellow.

Fossick - to hunt, seek, particularly for an object to make gain (e.g. mining for gold).

Slugabed - One who stays in bed until a late hour; a sluggard.



Bye for now,

rb x