Peace

The mayhem commonly referred to as the school holidays has finally come to a close and I'm left with the question "What should I do now?" I had plans of what I would spend my time doing once my daughter had returned to school. The fact of the matter is, I miss her more than I thought I would and so today was spent in idle reflection of the last seven weeks. I don't consider this a waste of my time, all too soon she'll be grown up and it won't be cool to be seen out with me anymore. Though I do want more children in the future, ideally I'd like to spend some time writing this novel out and enjoying being mum to a six year old.

Moving on......

My work in progress is tough going, it hasn't begun to flow yet. I think that's largely due to the holidays and not having more than five minutes day or night to put a paragraph together. It promises to be fun I just need to get to the "zone" and I'm away.

And so it begins

I should title this post "Once more, with feeling" but I believe that title is already taken.
After so many false starts (hence the suggested revised title) I have taken steps that should prove fruitful in the coming months. I'm taking part in a critique group and a writing challenge group. The critique group has been running for a couple of months now and is proving helpful. We're a small group of six which keeps things nice and intimate. The challenge is a whole different animal and is exactly what it claims to be, a challenge; as I found out with my first assignment which was to write my novel in two sentences (no more than 50 words). Have you ever tried condensing that much information? My Psychology exam was easier than this!
My first attempt:-

"Upon discovering something mysterious at an archaeological dig in England, Dr Caitlin Brown’s world shatters around her. Unsure of who to trust she embarks on an adventure to uncover the truth behind the artefact taking her to Cambodia and the ancient temples of Angkor Thom."

Reads like a back page blurb so I gave it another shot here:-

"Caitlin discovers an artefact and her husband commits suicide. Friends cause upset before Caitlin can unearth the truth and uncover the artefacts ancient secret with deadly consequences."

Now, this one doesn't read much better; there doesn't seem to be a conclusion here, probably because I haven't decided which way to take the plot...yet. I haven't considered plotting before, rather I like to see what the characters want to do but I suppose even the best laid plans are subject to change. Perhaps I'm just avoiding it and assuming that I'll never finish it like so many other unfinished projects I have gathering cyber dust.