I don't think I'm cut out for this!

That is, I don't think I'm cut out to write short stories for magazines. I find the guidelines too restrictive for a start. Perhaps I should concentrate on short stories for competitions. I have written a short story for my latest WB assignment and am quite pleased with it although it took several almost complete rewrites and lots of editing. That means each story I tackle takes me a very long time to complete. I certainly can't dash them off every few days (if only it were that simple).

I'm going to see what happens with my latest effort and then decide if I'm going to do any more for a while. I really want to concetrate on THE NOVEL and I also have a number of ideas for magazine articles.

Last week I had another break from writing because I went to see my cousin in Southport who is recovering from a serious stroke. He is now at home so that's good. He has a wheelchair which he is determined not to use and also a stick and he is managing to walk quite well with it. He has been approached to be a sort of 'mentor' to other stroke victims in his health authority area and he is very keen to do this. This should be giving me some ideas for short stories and articles but so far I haven't come up with anything worth putting to paper.

The shops on Lord Street in Southport are looking very christmassy already and it was fun walking up and down this famous street window shopping and stopping for coffee. Now I'm back home and busy in the study in front of my laptop.

No Excuses

It's tuesday afternoon and since last thursday I haven't put pen to paper. Let me explain. Friday brought bad news that my cousin had suffered a serious stroke and was in hospital. The weekend saw me and my brother and his wife make a 260 mile round trip to Southport to visit him. I truly believe that in times like this you have to put certain things on hold and the family must come first. I am no stranger to driving up the M6. Southport is my birthplace and I am always happy to go back there. My cousin is paralysed down one side but has regained his speech very quickly with only a slight slurring. He expects to be in hospital for 3 months, may be more and I have promised to visit again. Sunday was spent recovering from the long drive and very late night.

Monday came and went and no writing. I don't know what was the matter with me but I could think of a thousand things to do and writing wasn't on the list. In fact, by the end of the day I asked myself did I really want to commit to it anymore? There's no excuse not to open your laptop for even half an hour and write gibberish if you have to. The point is, you are writing something. I have only submitted one article to Bukisa and am procrastinating on what to subm it next. I am dithering over assignment 6 for the WB and waiting for assignment 5 to come back. Not a good day for motivation.

Today is different. This morning I went to the hairdressers for a much needed restyle and colour. That was uplifting. This afternoon I have written for two hours non stop (THE NOVEL) and I am in the process of making a list of possible articles to submit to Bukisa.

I realise I have no excuses when it comes to writing. Yesterday I should have been back on track after a busy weekend doing other things. Today I am making up for lost time and really quite enjoying myself.