h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Naughty naughty Flame!

( Or should that be naughtie nightie!)

Blushing bride's nightie indeed! Phew...getting too warm in here...must open a flippin' window!

Ron

Good afternoon Ron,

Thank you so much for the review. I really do appreciate the time you have spared, and much more I thank you for your encouragement and support. I don’t want to keep harping on about this, partly in fear of embarrassing you, and partly afraid you will get quite bored from hearing me saying it. So, I’ll say it now and just let you know that those feelings are always with me, whether I mention them or not. I imagine that Zantief feels very much the same, but he’s a guy, so that explains everything, ha.

It’s quite strange that you should mention about exposing my work to the wider audience. I have thought about this and realized that by doing so I would receive both positive and negative feedback. Interestingly enough I also think that when I first began writing some of my work might have partly been coming from my ego. The kind of realizing that I could write and getting carried away with the whole thing!

But I also think I’ve somehow moved away from that, and that my writing now comes from a much deeper place. Therefore, although I might not like or agree with some of the responses, it certainly wouldn’t wound me to that extent where I would be losing sleep over it. It would just be something I would have to learn to accept, a bit like when I see or read about things I don’t agree with. It’s just life! Besides, if you provoke any kind of reaction in someone, be it positive or negative, it’s all good. That's what I want, some sort of reaction.

I read about acid throwing in a magazine article a couple of years ago, and I found it really disturbing. Of course at the time I had no idea I would ever be writing about it. And then about three weeks ago I saw a report on the news about the woman who had been flown in from Zambia with the most appalling injuries from acid burns. Her crime? Possibly it was because she was walking along a road unveiled, the acid was thrown from a car. There was something about her quiet dignity that really moved me. And at that moment I knew I had to write about it.

It reminded me of Annah Ahmed. I don’t know if you remember her from the Iraq war, but she was the young teenager who suffered terrible burns when the bombs dropped, when a candle fell on her bed and set her alight. I remember watching her walking towards a couple of American soldiers with an old rag across her face trying to find help. I’ll never forget that image. She must have been in excruciating pain, yet she still retained that same calm dignity. I’m not saying there were not other things that alarmed or upset me about the war, but there was something about this that really stirred something deep within me.

The ITV crew were trying to find her help, and there was none. I was so frustrated and upset about the whole thing. I wept buckets for days every time I thought about it. I emailed ITV every day begging them to keep her plight in the public eye, and I even wrote to our Tony, although that was a complete waste of time. She was eventually air lifted out and received some help in the USA. I saw her on the news a few months ago. She was in Scotland receiving further treatment for her injuries.

The other side of the coin is that I also remember the ecstatic feelings I experienced when I first gazed upon a painting by Jack Vettriano. There was something in his work that moved me to feelings of great joy. I don’t believe any of these things are connected to me so much on a personal basis, just something universal about both the joy and the despair I have seen in all of these things. And that’s what I truly believe.

I’m going to give you a link to my old space. If you ever find the time there are a couple of entries there you might enjoy.

I still feel this story needs a bit more work, but I’ve had to move away from it at the moment. It’s like I’ll read a paragraph/sentence and know I’m not satisfied with it for some reason or the other. But although I rack my brains I can’t quite seem to work it exactly what it is. If I give myself plenty of time and space it will suddenly come to me. (Usually).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/U645857

And now I’m off to correct those awful blunders. Thanks for that. You’re a star! and maybe an

Pauline

Pauline,

Please let me put you on guard with regard to thinking you need to revise your work even more! Pieces can be 'done to death' by over-revision...it is a common failure among writers of every hue.

It is that last paragraph of your reply on the other thread that has alarmed me a little. One can take the 'colour' and character out of a piece by chopping here and changing there! So, consider carefully every move you make; it often has an impact on the context elsewhere in the work. I've done it myself, so I should know! I've abandoned pieces for good after getting thoroughly 'fed-up' with revising and re-reading in ever decreasing circles until disappearing up...! (you supply the rest, you know the saying!). It can be soul destroying. And it can end in the dreaded writer's block...believe me...that is one of its triggers.

Your work has to be driven by your ego; that is its energy source. No ego, no composition!

Thank you for that link.I shall certainly use it, probably quite soon.

Your letter to 'our Tony' might just have been the reason why that little girl found herself in Scotland having plastic surgery. So, you may have achieved exactly what you wanted for her, but you'll probably never get to know!
By all means give yourself plenty of time and space, but don't leave too long a gap before starting another piece; use this upbeat moment to propel youself forward, use its energy...never leave long gaps between your writing. Do you jot down ideas as they occur to you? These are also good triggers to decisive action.

Listen to this: a little quote from an article by Raymond Carver in his 'Principles of a story' published in 'Prospect' magazine for September,
about the art of creative writing of any kind. He writes:
'In Isaac Babel's wonderful short story, "Guy de Maupassant," the narrator has this to say about the writing of fiction: "No iron can pierce the heart with such force as a period (full-stop) put just at the right place." Judging composition and punctuation to a nicety in your writing is truly a fine art. Consider!
Carver also says: 'I like it when there is some feeling of threat or sense of menace in short stories' So, there you go then... yours had oodles of menace and threat that you kept with us almost to the conclusion of your current piece.

Ron

Thanks for that Ron. No massive changes, maybe just the odd word here and there.

I do jot my ideas down, and sometimes even my dreams. I also have an unfinished story I am considering going back to.