I mentioned Pat Barker's character creation method in another post. The podcast is part of a series called Write your novel. I haven't listened to them all but will do when I get some time (If I ever get any!).

Laura asked for a bullet point list of our basic story. By that point in the day my brain was mush but now I'm thinking about it I'm wondering how detailed she wants it to be. How many bullet points. I write in scenes so thought I'd do a bullet point for each scene. Do you think that's too much and that she may have meant something shorter? I have 28 scenes so far and I'm halfway through.

Oh Lydia, that is a wonderful story. I got chills, real shivery chills despite today's warmth. I love the suspense and oppression of it. That increasingly sinister beat of the walk from the farmhouse to the barn, the repetition used so effectively. The horror of taking babies from their mothers. One of my lifelong favourite authors is Alan Garner. I read the the Weirdstone of Brisingamen when I was 13 and have loved his work ever since. I think he's one of the best writers ever. The only author I have ever written a fan letter to :) Your work reminds me of his. The layering of it. So beautiful.

I completely missed it was the 14th too. Times goes so quickly. Well done for managing to get work done even with your routine changed. I'm still managing my 500 words or more a day goal, though some days are more of an effort than others. Today, for example, my daughter stopped by just as I finished work. She has just left so I'm going to start now. I've been wondering if I should be bold and up my daily wordcount to 550? I usually manage to write that anyway. I might try this weekend, not today though!

Hope everyone is ok. It's been a busy week all round I think. Your short story sounds interesting. I feel like such a slacker now :) all I do in my novel and not that much even of that.

Lovely to have your parents visiting. Have a wonderful time. the 19th works well for me.

Wednesday 19th of July works for me. Do you have a time in mind? I'm plodding on with my writing. I found setting a realistic daily word count did the trick though it took me a while to find one that worked. I overestimated my abilities at first. I have settled on 500 words a day. If I do more then that's wonderful but I don't push it. I'm am about a third of the way through my first draft.

Blurbs (such a funny word) seem to be important and I think we'll be covering them as part of the sessions this coming year. This link has some good information. How to Write a Book Blurb: A Guide for Novelists (reedsy.com)

I'm Christine. I was born and still live in Sunderland on the north-east coast of England. I'm married to a Dane and we have also lived in Denmark which was wonderful but we came back here as my mother lost her sight and needs significant care. I have two grown up children, one of whom has left home and the other still lives with us. I am an Atheopagan. We are a relatively small group officially worldwide, that is those of us who identify as such, but I suspect there are many people who fall under the heading without realising. It is an Earth-honouring way of life that is science based. Most pagans have some belief in gods of varying types but atheopagans do not. hence the atheo part of the name. This is at the core of all I do, the cycles of the Moon and the Wheel of the Year though not all of us do that. It's very individualistic. I am a Civil Servant. My current role is a trainer which I very much enjoy. I even more enjoy only working three days a week which leaves me a significant amount of time to focus on my writing. Prior to that I dabbled in bits and pieces but not with any real dedication. Since dropping the hours I have written two first drafts which might sound impressive but they are very, very rough. I wrote them to prove to myself I could. Neither are stories I want to expand upon at the moment. The story I want to write is the one I'm currently working on which I started in May. Now my children are grown up and I only work 24 hours a week at a job I actually like I have no excuse not to complete it. Which is actually terrifying.