A Change Of Design-Need Some Help

I'm thinking of changing my blog design and have seen some really nice designs on some of the blogs I read but have no idea how to get something like that on my blog. If anyone can help me out and tell me how I can do it I would love you all forever. My currest design just feels a bit plain and boring right now. Thanks in advance.

Why Is Editing Such Hard Work?

I've been trying to edit my ghost story for my writing course for a few days now and I haven't even started. Every time I go and read it through to edit it I'm at a loss of what to do with it. I know it needs editing but I just can't do it. Why does everything in life have to be so difficult? Not just editing but finding a job, trying to sell people teddies no-one wants, chores. Why can't life be like it is when you're a kid? Anyway, must be off and get back to trying to edit. Just needed a little rant.

Ghost Stories

I love ghost stories. I love how the best ones can make you jump no matter how many times you read it or see it. And now for my writing class I have to write one. And that's gonna be hard. Mostly hard in making it original. Ghost stories are amongst the oldest stories in the world. A lot of ghost stories have been done so many times before that making it original is bound to be hard. Ghost stories today seem to need the twist in it's plot way before the end. Anyone got any tips to make a good, original ghost story?

Dialogue, Dialogue, Dialogue

In my creative writing course last night we talked about dialogue and how to make it natural. The dos and don'ts of it. One thing we talked about was slang and how with street language contently evolving how would you make it up to date when by the time the book is published it could be outdated and many people might not know or even remember what it meant. A thought I had was to make up your own slang if you wanted a character to use it. But then you would have to explain in the book what the word meant anyway. And yet I still like the idea of having my own bit of slang.

Also we talked about ways to make dialogue natural. We talked about how sometimes reading it out loud could help, how not making it too long would make it sound realistic and about not drawing too much attention to the said bit at the end because that would distract from what is being said.

What does everyone else think about the use of slang? Would you make up your own or use slang that's already out there? Also what tips do you have to make your dialogue natural?

Must Get Writing

I've had a few good days to just sit and write and I haven't got very far. What a time to have a block, when you get a few good days to do a lot. I'm so hoping this block doesn't last very long because I might end up with another few good days to write soon. Fingers crossed on that one. At least tonight is the first day back on my creative writing course after five weeks. It was meant to be four weeks but the snow and ice ended up causing it to be cancelled last week. Maybe being back on the course will help me get over this block. Anyway, should be off to see if I can get myself over this block. I'm gonna go and force myself to write!

This Weather Is Getting Annoying Now.

The snow is no longer fun. It's ice mostly now. I can't stand it. I want the snow and ice to go so I can have the shopping trip I planned for Wednesday. I can't really take a bus to one of two good shopping areas in weather that they're saying that you can only go out in if it's really important. Not that I've seen people taking that advice. Work would be a lot quieter if people were. New clothes are not exactly a life or death thing. Not like food and drink and something to read if there's nothing in the house you either feel like reading or have already read loads of time already. Or to rent out a movie you really want to see because the digital TV signal has gone and you risk dying of boredom if you don't have something to do right away. Please snow, ice and this cold weather, go away!

I Must Do Something!

I must stop sitting on the sofa doing nothing. When I'm on my laptop and want a break from writing I must stop playing games and do some sort of work into finding a job or getting me out of the house. I just don't know where to start. I did a little bit of searching on jobs in publishing and found a website from one that let's you sign up to e-mail alerts for jobs in whatever field you'd like to work in. So I signed up for jobs in admin. Nothing yet though. I always want things now instead of having to wait though so maybe I should take time on it. But I just want a job now. I can't stand working part time in retail anymore. It's moments like this that I start to wonder if that's all that I'm ever gonna do and want to cry. Maybe I should send out more cover letters to anywhere and just hope someone will want to give me a full time job soon. Maybe I should beg them to give me a full time job. Oh why can't getting a job just be easy for once? Why can't it be one letter with a CV, one interview and that's it?!

Happy New Year!

So, it's 2010. The start of the twenty-tens. Does sound much better than the Teens. Can't believe I'm agreeing with the Trendmetor from the Daily Express. Anyway, it's 2010. A new year, a new decade, and hopefully the start of a whole new me. And so to the resolutions to make this happen:

1. Do everything I can to get a new job. Flood my local area with cover letters if I have to! Also on the same sort of thing, do something about finding myself some sort of challenge. Find a job that doesn't sound so boring because even admin work sounds a little on the boring side. I'm not sure what, but something that could be interesting. Would a publishing company take a cover letter from a girl without much in the way of good grades but with a love of writing for a job?
2. Do more to keep fit. And I don't just mean using the Wii Fit more. I mean getting out in the fresh air. Try to learn to swim maybe, get outside for some running, take up a sport. Something like that. Ok, so this probably will never happen, but I can at least try.
3. Find some time to watch more films and TV shows. Catch up on all the films and the TV shows I have on DVD that I have yet to watch. Maybe get my butt out of the house and get down to the cinema and watch the films I wanna see there instead of leaving it and having to watch it on DVD anyway.
4. Read more from the library. I don't have much room on my book case at the moment for a lot of books so I really should get more out from the library so I can catch up on my reading list of classics.
5. Be more confident. Join more clubs, just get out there and make friends.
6. Learn to love the way I look. But do try to do all I can to stop my face from being a shiny spotty mess.

So, that's my list of resolutions. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to them. If not, then they'll end up being used for next year too.

My 100th Post! And A Little Thought

Ok, this really is my 100th post. I did want it to be a review of my year but I've already done that and by the time I realised that wasn't going to be my 100th post I'd already published it and it was too late. So as I spent this evening finally getting round to watching Harry Potter 5 I've started to wonder that if after you watch a movie you get straight onto your computer and start righting your own work without any sort of moments of those movies seeping in somewhere does that mean you didn't enjoy the movie or even take that much notice of it?

That is what I have just done. And ok, I only wrote one or two lines of Tori Susan Evans 2 and even then it was mostly about the wonders of spending some time curled up on the sofa watching a DVD, but still, is that bad to do that after a movie instead of spending a few minutes or so reflecting on a movie. I've always said I could not watch more than one movie in a row just so I have moments to reflect on the movie. Maybe after a few minutes I might watch another movie of the series, like with Harry Potter or Star Wars or the Narina movie. Does anyone else like to reflect on movies and find it strange to go back to writing nearly straight away after watching one and not really reflecting on it?

A Review Of The Year And Decade!

Ok, I wanted to get to 100 before the end of the year. I thought this was the 100th post until I looked and saw I had an unpublished post around that I hadn't deleted yet. Hopefully I will get to 100, but anyway, on with the post.

So I’ve decided that at it’s the end of the year I’m going to do a review of my year. But then I realised it would probably not be a very long and interesting post. All I’ve done all year is work, look for a new job and fail at it, edit Power Of Friendship 1, complete and edit Power Of Friendship 2, write Saving Christmas, write Tori Susan Evans 1, do some work on other stories, organize my story plans and stuff. Not exactly an eventful year. The best thing that happened this year was finally going to see Backstreet Boys in concert, seeing McFly and going to the Film and Comic Con. And discovering the coolest and funniest website in the world. That Guy With The Glasses.com.

As it’s also the end of the first decade of this millennium, I’ve also been thinking about my decade. Ten years ago I was 13. I was in high school, doing my SATS and choosing what I wanted to do for GCSE’s. Within ten years I’ve done my GCSE’s, went to college to do child care, got thrown off the course in the second year, did a few months of an E2E programme before going to a different college to do IT and GCSE English and Maths retakes. Then it was a year of Unemployment before I got a job in retail. And then three years in retail. In these ten years I’ve had ideas for some of my stories that have been written and rewritten, written loads of fan fiction and realised that I wanted to be published. And to think that at the start of the decade I had a huge block and didn’t think I’d ever write a story again. It’s strange to think of the things you can’t imagine life without and realise they weren’t around at the start of the decade. Things like IPODS, IPHONES, You Tube, Facebook and Sky+. Shows like the X-Factor, Top Gear and Doctor Who. All started or were brought back during this decade. It makes you wonder what will happen in the next ten years and what we’d have then that you couldn’t imagine life without that right now we’re living without.

I really need some sort of challenge in my life. 2010 is a new year and a new decade, and it’s about time I did something to change my life. To get me out of the rut my life is in. Get out of retail, out of living with my parents and get out there into the world. I have no idea what I’m gonna do, but I’m gonna do it. I hope.