It's been over a month since I last posted on here. I decided to take myself off the radar a little bit so I could devote my writing time to the great challenge of participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) 2012.
NaNoWriMo is a challenge, in which people undertake the commitment to write 50,000 words towards the first draft of a novel, during the thirty days of November.
For my own NaNo project, I decided to add 50,000 words to my existing novel - an historical epic about my family during World War II. Prior to NaNo starting, I had produced 33,000 words but most of these consisted of rather random odd sections. My big challenge for November was to work on producing the central narrative.
I am pleased to say that I found NaNoWriMo to be a thoroughly rewarding experience. I was successful in 'winning', completing my 50,000 words a full week before the end of the month. Even better than that, I carried on to the end of the month, producing 67,000 words altogether, which brings my overall word count to 100,000! I have a long, long way to go still but I am happy with what I have achieved.
There was a feed on the NaNoWriMo website, in which members were discussing what they had learned from the experience. Many of them had similar experiences to me. If I had to pick three things out, they would be as follows.
1. I definitely have the self discipline to write every day. More than that, I absolutely loved that I had to write every day. It was wonderful to give myself permission to make my writing a priority like that.
2. I can definitely finish this novel. It has been puzzling me for years now and I have finally reached a point where I know exactly what I am doing with it.
3. It helps to have company. The entire process of writing is massively enhanced by the company of like minded people. This was where WriteNight came in. As regular readers will know from previous entries, I am a member of WriteNight Colchester. Throughout November, we met every Monday night and worked on our respective novels. Not only that, we encouraged one another via Facebook so there was a good support network between meetings.
So, as you can see, the entire NaNoWriMo process has been fantastic for me.
Should you wish to take part next year, the website is available here and is well worth a look.
Showing posts with label E J Rudsdale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label E J Rudsdale. Show all posts
Monday, 3 December 2012
Friday, 26 October 2012
Journeys Through History
I love research.
I realise that might sound a bit odd. Until about 6 months ago, I was not the biggest fan of research. I was under the impression that it was a necessary evil which had to be overcome in order to achieve a goal. I cannot even begin to explain how wrong I was!
First of all, as regular readers will know, in August, I spent a lot of time in the Local Studies Area of Colchester Library, researching a young lady called Charlotte White (nee Smyth), who lived in Berechurch Hall, Colchester in the early 19th Century. The purpose of this was to write a story about her ghost, as part of the Colchester WriteNight anthology. This research led me on a fascinating journey, which took me on interesting field trips, introduced me to some wonderful people and resolved a ghost story, which had scared me since my childhood. I am still intrigued by this story and have many projects in mind which are linked with it.
For more information on my adventures in researching Charlotte White's story, have a look at the following links: PART1 - PART2 - PART3 - PART4 - PART5
Over the past few weeks, I have been conducting some research into World War II and more specifically, events which had a direct effect on Colchester during that period. I have been researching this for my novel - Midnight. I plan to add 50,000 words to 'Midnight' for NaNoWriMo this year. (For more information, click HERE.)
For a number of years, I have been interviewing my Grandad's siblings to find out what happened to them during World War II but I needed some more detailed information about events in Colchester during that period, in order to bring my protagonist's story to life.
First of all, I took myself back into Colchester Library's Local Studies Area. There, I found a beautiful home made book - 'Colchester at War' by a man called Bernard Polley, which was full of useful facts, dates and events which took place.
Second of all, I discovered my new research interest E.J. Rudsdale.
Rudsdale was a curator at Colchester Castle Museum, worked for the W.A.C. during World War II and also worked for the Royal Observer Corps during the times when the V1 and V2 bombs were causing mayhem across Britain. He was also an avid historian, who appreciated the merit of diaries in documenting events for future generations. As such, he kept a detailed diary of the entire war period.
As regular readers will know, I recently read Rudsdale's diary and found it a brilliant read. (Click HERE to read more) Despite the fact that I was simply using the book for research, I was so impressed with Rudsdale's writing and interested in him as a person, that I am now very keen to look into his history and read more of his writing. I am eager to do this as soon as I can.
I cannot say strongly enough how useful the information available in Colchester Library is. I have also been consistently impressed by the staff there. They are so helpful and friendly. I thoroughly recommend them.
For more information, have a look at the website for Essex Libraries.
So, as you can see, researching history for the purposes of writing a story can be completely absorbing and utterly compelling. The more I research, with the purpose of writing, the more I want to do. If you have a story in mind and research is putting you off, give it a go. You might be surprised!
I realise that might sound a bit odd. Until about 6 months ago, I was not the biggest fan of research. I was under the impression that it was a necessary evil which had to be overcome in order to achieve a goal. I cannot even begin to explain how wrong I was!
First of all, as regular readers will know, in August, I spent a lot of time in the Local Studies Area of Colchester Library, researching a young lady called Charlotte White (nee Smyth), who lived in Berechurch Hall, Colchester in the early 19th Century. The purpose of this was to write a story about her ghost, as part of the Colchester WriteNight anthology. This research led me on a fascinating journey, which took me on interesting field trips, introduced me to some wonderful people and resolved a ghost story, which had scared me since my childhood. I am still intrigued by this story and have many projects in mind which are linked with it.
For more information on my adventures in researching Charlotte White's story, have a look at the following links: PART1 - PART2 - PART3 - PART4 - PART5
To purchase a copy of 'Charlotte -The Lady in White' a novel based on the Life of Charlotte White, nee Smyth, please click the link below
Over the past few weeks, I have been conducting some research into World War II and more specifically, events which had a direct effect on Colchester during that period. I have been researching this for my novel - Midnight. I plan to add 50,000 words to 'Midnight' for NaNoWriMo this year. (For more information, click HERE.)
For a number of years, I have been interviewing my Grandad's siblings to find out what happened to them during World War II but I needed some more detailed information about events in Colchester during that period, in order to bring my protagonist's story to life.
First of all, I took myself back into Colchester Library's Local Studies Area. There, I found a beautiful home made book - 'Colchester at War' by a man called Bernard Polley, which was full of useful facts, dates and events which took place.
Second of all, I discovered my new research interest E.J. Rudsdale.
Rudsdale was a curator at Colchester Castle Museum, worked for the W.A.C. during World War II and also worked for the Royal Observer Corps during the times when the V1 and V2 bombs were causing mayhem across Britain. He was also an avid historian, who appreciated the merit of diaries in documenting events for future generations. As such, he kept a detailed diary of the entire war period.
As regular readers will know, I recently read Rudsdale's diary and found it a brilliant read. (Click HERE to read more) Despite the fact that I was simply using the book for research, I was so impressed with Rudsdale's writing and interested in him as a person, that I am now very keen to look into his history and read more of his writing. I am eager to do this as soon as I can.
I cannot say strongly enough how useful the information available in Colchester Library is. I have also been consistently impressed by the staff there. They are so helpful and friendly. I thoroughly recommend them.
For more information, have a look at the website for Essex Libraries.
So, as you can see, researching history for the purposes of writing a story can be completely absorbing and utterly compelling. The more I research, with the purpose of writing, the more I want to do. If you have a story in mind and research is putting you off, give it a go. You might be surprised!
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
E. J. Rudsdale's Journals of Wartime Colchester
I have just finished reading a fascinating book - E. J. Rudsdale's Journals of Wartime Colchester, which I discovered in Colchester Library while researching for my novel 'Midnight' - my NaNoWriMo project for this November.
Excellently edited by Catherine Pearson, the book features extracts of Rudsdale's journal, which he wrote in Colchester, during the course of World War II.
Rudsdale, a curator at Colchester Castle Museum, worked extensively in the Colchester area, manning the shelter in the vaults at Colchester Castle during World War II, working within agriculture and, towards the end of the war, in the Royal Observer Corps.
Historically, this book is full of interesting details of life in World War II. Socially, it gives an intriguing insight into changes which took place within society during that time period. Rudsdale expresses his opinions on the events he witnesses and I was quite surprised at the contrast between the romanticised version of life on the Home Front, which is so often portrayed in the media, and Rudsdale's description of the reality of living with the war and the changes it brought, on a day to day basis. As a Colcestrian myself, I found the journal even more engaging as I can visualise the majority of places described in a very different context.
Aside from all this, I was impressed by Rudsdale's writing. His descriptions are concise and to the point but also genuinely entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I cannot recommend it strongly enough.
Rudsdale's journal is being posted daily on this blog http://wwar2homefront.blogspot.co.uk/ where each entry is posted 70 years to the day after the events took place.
There are several copies of this book in Colchester Library or, if you wish to purchase a copy of the Rudsdale's journal or for more information, click here.
Rudsdale, a curator at Colchester Castle Museum, worked extensively in the Colchester area, manning the shelter in the vaults at Colchester Castle during World War II, working within agriculture and, towards the end of the war, in the Royal Observer Corps.
Historically, this book is full of interesting details of life in World War II. Socially, it gives an intriguing insight into changes which took place within society during that time period. Rudsdale expresses his opinions on the events he witnesses and I was quite surprised at the contrast between the romanticised version of life on the Home Front, which is so often portrayed in the media, and Rudsdale's description of the reality of living with the war and the changes it brought, on a day to day basis. As a Colcestrian myself, I found the journal even more engaging as I can visualise the majority of places described in a very different context.
Aside from all this, I was impressed by Rudsdale's writing. His descriptions are concise and to the point but also genuinely entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I cannot recommend it strongly enough.
Rudsdale's journal is being posted daily on this blog http://wwar2homefront.blogspot.co.uk/ where each entry is posted 70 years to the day after the events took place.
There are several copies of this book in Colchester Library or, if you wish to purchase a copy of the Rudsdale's journal or for more information, click here.
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