Creativity: in which I'm writing a novel.

The title says it all, really.

In the last few years I've written mainly poetry. I wrote a lot of fiction in my earlier teens, even into mid-teens when I got 80% through a long novel that I wrote over a couple of years, and then scrapped completely. I've never had much luck with longer creative projects. But I'm hoping that'll change.

I haven't written any poetry since the turn of the year. Nor, strangely, do I have any desire to, at present. None at all. Not even a lingering thought at the very back of my mind. Right now, I would be perfectly content never to write a single poem again. I find this strange, but not as disturbing or upsetting as I would have done in the past. Possibly because my creativity seems to have migrated over to fiction.

This might be because I've been reading a lot of fiction in the last few months, both published books and manuscripts at various work placements. Or it might just be because I've found an idea that I really want to run with. Either way, I'm currently writing a novel.

It's been in the planning stages for a little while. I've worked out an outline and written the prologue, and am currently taking that first big step into Chapter One. I'm reasonably happy with the prologue as it is - I started with a good idea of what I wanted those 1000 words or so to say. The first chapter is proving a little more difficult. I've had an interesting idea that I want to introduce as it would explain a lot of things that I want to bring in later in the plot, but I can't quite seem to get it right.

Possibly because there has been a house full of screaming girls (my sister's school friends) this afternoon when I've been trying to write. But who knows. With some peace and quiet now I might have another go.

Either way, I'm writing. And I just wanted to share this fact with someone because I'm excited about it!

Wish me luck!

Flat-hunting

This is quite an exciting (terrifying) time for me, all things considered. I have (unofficially) completed my university education, pending graduation in July. I am currently seeking full-time work in the publishing industry, preferably London-based, preferably an Agent's Assistant position. And if all that wasn't enough, my boyfriend and I are planning on moving in together.

I'm not sure when we first discussed it, but it's something that's become more and more likely as the months have gone on. It'll be a big change - while I was at university in Norwich, he has been doing his final year of study in Bath. And right after our relationship started a couple of years ago, he moved to London on a placement year. Closer than Bath, but a two-hour train ride between us still made things tough...

But we've talked about it a lot. And we've recently been looking at flats, which makes the whole thing all the more real/exciting/scary. We might have found the one we want, though, after all of this. Well, actually we found two, but one of them was just... in the wrong place. We'll see. As it is, of course, my boyfriend will be living there on his own for a while, because I'm unemployed and don't want him paying for me to live there.

But it's exciting to know that even if my job-hunt has ground to an unsuccessful halt because I've not found any jobs to apply for in the last couple of weeks, at least my search for somewhere else to live is going better. Who knows: maybe this means things will start turning around for me.

I'm feeling good. I'm feeling like pretty soon something will turn up, job-wise, and I'll be able start on this whole new chapter in my life.

Fingers crossed.

Simple Pleasures: My Book Wrap

As I mentioned in a previous post, my wonderful boyfriend got me a book wrap as part of my birthday present. (Inside the book wrap was a copy of The Seas by Samantha Hunt, which was on the Orange Prize longlist and has now been fast-tracked to the top of my To Read pile. But more on that another day...)

"What a great idea," I thought, as I opened the present. "One of the books I brought back from Norwich with me got its cover creased on the journey. Now I've got a nice way to protect it."

Today I went to London. Today I also took my book wrap out with me for the first time. A few days ago I finished The Swimmer by Roma Tearne, so was in need of a new book to read. I decided on Grace Williams Says It Loud, another novel picked for the Orange Prize longlist, and one I bought in my book-haul last week. As it travelled all the way back from Norwich with me, I thought I'd read that before The Seas which, as far as I know, hasn't travelled as far.

As it was, I didn't get any reading done on the train. But Grace Williams Says It Loud sat there in my bag, waiting patiently, snug, secure and uncreased in its pretty book wrap. It wasn't until this evening when I felt like doing some reading that I finally got it out of my handbag. And it wasn't until that moment that I realised the other great thing about this book wrap. Sure, it's very practical and will save many of my books from the torturous chaos of my handbag. But what I didn't recognise until that moment was the beauty that it adds to the reading process.

So: I take the wrap out of my bag and place it in my lap. The piece of ribbon is unwound from the button, and then once, twice, three times around the book. Then the fabric is folded open to the left, and then the other side is opened to the right. Grace Williams Says It Loud sits there, in the middle of the fabric, with its beautiful cover and the sea and the brooding sky... And that's it.

The beauty of the extended moment, perhaps. After all that I could finally pick up the novel and begin reading. Perhaps it just heightens the anticipation of starting a new book - that might be all it is. But there was something wonderfully pleasing about unwrapping that book before I could begin reading. Something that I'm sure most people wouldn't really appreciate.

My thought for today: it's the simple things in life that make me happy. I forget that too often.