A Writing Update #1

I keep a database of writing competitions and potential projects. It's been tremendously useful - I've been entering as many as I can over the last year, just building up practice.

I've just entered this writing competition by Dying Matters, a coalition of people raising awareness of dying, death and bereavement. I'm quite pleased with my entry, and I've learnt a few things as well (I have been tweeting them for later collection):

• Just write. Don't fuss too much with the first draft. Make all your mistakes, get the ideas down and then apply the following things.
• Tell the story. Don't explain it. Weave the backstory into the story, don't just plonk it down. 
• Grammar! I'm not very good with speech marks - got correct examples on a post-stick note now.
• Less is more. Don't cram too much into one sentence. Don't bother with a big word when a normal one will do nicely.
• Structure. I managed to structure this story fairly well, but it was a little loose at times. With a short story, each section/paragraph should count and stay strong.
• Feedback is awesome. Singularly the most important part of writing. Aside from writing

Then went into a slump for a week (and was rescued by KickthePJ, but more on that later) and have now moved on to this competition by the Benjamin Franklin House. Task is to interpret this quote by Mr Franklin;

"When the well's dry, we all know the worth of water"

Took me a little while to come up with an original idea, but I think I have a good one.

Music: I love listening to soundtracks and I am currently LOVING Transistor. It's the second game by SuperGiant, creators of the award-winning Bastion. I haven't played it yet, but I saw TotalBiscuit's intro/review and VintageBeef's Let's Play. The artwork? Amazing. The music? Just listen...

And finally - I've rediscovered KickthePJ. He creates beautifully awesome short films and spoken poems. His work is very colourful and *slightly* surreal, packed with imagination and a creative energy that's managed to pass through the screen into me. It woke me from that mid-projects creative slump  and just made me love creating again. This is my current favourite video of his:

"I then live within another world for seven or eight hours. And then I wake up."

Art creates art. 

A Room of One's Own - Nevers, Parents and David Tennant

"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write"

- Virginia Woolf 

I moved out of my uni room for the summer. It sucked, but at least I saw David Tennant at my uni (more on that later).

(My room restored to its generic self. That's the mattress
cover, by the way, not a deflated ghost)

I'm not too sad about losing the room. I mean, I was sad about the Nevers; I'll Never be in that room again, feeling at home. I'll Never sleep in that bed and wake up to that view. I'll Never have all the familiar things about it. But, I'm going to a better place in the Autumn Term, so the physical room itself isn't too big a loss.

It's the independence. You see, in order to measure my freedom, I ask myself this question; "If I wanted to, could I go for a walk at midnight?" I know, that's not a very safe or sensible thing to do (although, a friend once said "It's Exeter. What are they going to do, steal your hummus?"), it's very nice to know that you could just get up and get out.

I like living on my own terms. I am not judged, and if I am, I am not hurt. My decisions are my own - whether it's modules or grocery shopping. If I break something, I broke something that was mine. There is no one else to be told or to intervene.

An Online Portfolio

I'll be updating this page as time goes on (all links open a new window).

Stories, Competitions and Commissions :

• Dragonfly Tea short story competition 2016 (shortlisted)
• University of Exeter Paddon Award 2016 winner. Here is the short film I made.
• University of Exeter Paddon Award 2015 winner. Here is a video of me presenting my poem.
• Published in BedBoat magazine, Issue 3.
• 'Planet'. Sci-fi short radio play for Xpression FM
• City Guide - Exeter (my photography)
• 'Women of Colour Poetry Night'. Here are the links to two pieces I wrote and performed, 'Bystander' and 'Let's Talk' (27/Nov/2015).
• 'The Perfect World?' - A Guardian/Piccadilly Press short story competition I entered and was a winner of when I was little. Here's Jon Snow writing something nice about my work and the Piccadilly Press' announcement page.
• Titanic Poetry Competition - won 16-18 category (page 3)
• Lady in the Loft; 'Strawberry Money' - the theme was 'Escape'. I received a commendation.

All my articles can be found under my tag here. Highlights of my writing include:

• Interview with Rose and Rosie: Open, Loud and Proud
• Feature: Creators Talk Linda Blacker's Diversity Photo Series
• Recap: #StandupWithYT Live Stream

• 64 Squares - Bike Shed Theatre (20 May 2015)
• So It Goes - Bike Shed Theatre (26 May 2015)
• 603 Miles - Cygnet Theatre (06 June 2015)
• Extravaganza - Exeter Phoenix (27 Aug 2015)
• Beyond Expectations - Cygnet Theatre (16 Sept 2015)
• Flare Path - Exeter Northcott Theatre (23 Sept 2015)
• Mayor and James - Cygnet Theatre (26 Sept 2015)
• The Talisman - Bike Shed Theatre (30 Sept 2015)
• Homeward Bound - Bike Shed Theatre (4 Oct 2015)
• Mass - Bike Shed Theatre (15 Oct 2015)
• The Odyssey: Missing Presumed Dead (25 Nov 2015)
• Ensuite - Bike Shed Theatre (4 Nov 2015)
• The Tales of Hoffmann - Exeter Northcott Theatre (19 Nov 2015)
• A Christmas Carol - Exeter Northcott Theatre (8 Dec 2015)
• Avenue Q - Exeter Phoenix (19 Jan 2016)
• Imbalance - Exeter Phoenix (2 March 2016)
• Tonight I'm Gonna Be the New Me (21 April 2016)
• Jonny and the Baptists: The End is Nigh (17 May 2016)
• Green Day's American Idiot (19 May 2016)
• Lady Anna: All at Sea (21 Sept 2016)
• RENT (8 December 2016)
• The Voiceless (16 Mar 2017)

(Holly Smale. Credit: HarperCollins)

Books:

• Feature - 'So You Think You Can Read?' (page 33, 21 Jan 2014)
• Condensed Classics - 'Fahrenheit 451', Ray Bradbury (8 March 2014)
• Feature - 'Can You Judge A Book By Its Cover?' (18 March 2014)
• Review - 'Charm Offensive' William Thacker (23 March 2014)
• Interview - 'Dead Poets Society Slams It Down' (18 April 2015)
• Interview - 'Geek Girl - Challenging Fairy Tales With Holly Smale' (3 June 2014)
• Review - 'The Fault In Our Stars - Just Another Sad Story?' (24 June 2014)
• Feature - 'Summer Reads' (27 June 2014)
• Interview - '2014 Poetry Slam Winner: James Turner' (18 Oct 2014)
• Interview - 'Rapper's Delight: The Hip Hop Cookbook' (18 Nov 2014)
• Story: 'The Mid-Autumn Festival'
• News: 'NEW Harry Potter Short Story'
• Interview: 'The Ghost Apple: An Interview with Aaron Thier'
• Feature: 'Exeter Blogs for Bookies'
• Feature: 'Zoella and the Problem with Ghostwriting for New Authors'
• Interview: Joanna Kavenna

Features:

Bully - 'Feels Like' album

• 'YouTubers: Taking Advantage of "Celebrity"?' (26 April 2014)
• 'Halal Hysteria' (24 May 2014)

Screen:
Review - 'Fargo' (2 May 2014)

Music:

• Interview: David Craft
• Review: Emilie Nicolas - 'Like I'm a Warrior' (5 July 2015)
• Review: Mika - 'No Place In Heaven' (22 July 2015)
• Review: Bully - 'Feels Like' (26 July 2015)

Lifestyle: 

Credit: Jack Dean

• Feature: 'Waxwork Zoella in Madame Tussauds: has YouTube fame gone too far?'
• Feature: 'China: Through the Looking Glass - Met Gala Ball Outfits'

Arts:

• Interview: 'Exehibition: Emily McIndoe'
• Review: 'From Devon With Love: Threnody For The Sky Children'
• Review: 'Four Swords Perform Dr Faustus'

Games:

• Review: 'Machinarium'

Photo credit: Bethany Baker

• Column: 'Loading...New Game'
• Column: 'Loading...New Game: Minecraft, Mojang and Microsoft'
• Column: 'Loading...New Game: I Love Transistor'
• Column: 'Loading...New Game: I Hate Pac-man'
• Column: 'Loading...New Game: YouTube and Gaming'

Razz:

• Review: 'Exeter Comedy Club Night'
• Review: 'RENT by Shotgun Theatre'
• Column: 'Get the Look: Le Cirque Sombre I'
• Column: 'Get the Look: Le Cirque Sombre II'
• Column: 'Get the Look: Valentine's Day'
• Column: 'Get the Look: How To Look Healthy When You Feel Like Death Warmed Up'
• Column: 'Make Up: Something For Spring'

Culture: 

• Review: 'Fargo Season 1'
• Review: 'The Ghost Apple' - Aaron Thier
• Review: 'The Honeymoon Hotel' - Hester Browne

XTV:

• Advent Calendar Day 3: 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' (crew and cameo)
• Interview with Clean Bandit (runner and camera operator)
• The Venue: 'Ned Lam - Waves (Mr. Probz Cover)' (camera operator) 
• Bubble Booths (short sci-fi film, writer and director)

100 Things To Do

In no particular order:

1. Finish this list
2. Knit a scarf
3. Try 3 new recipes
4. Make ice cream
5. Have a picnic
6. Create a painting (acrylic) that I'm proud of 
7. "" but with watercolour
8. Write a screenplay
9. Write a radio play
10. Write a children's book
11. Volunteer and help the homeless
12. Write and sell a book
13. Write a letter to a politician
14. Go for one day away from screens
15. Go on a hike
16. Go to the movies by myself (2014 - Lego Movie!)
17. Visit a cafe by myself
18. Learn a song on piano
19. Play 'Syrinx' (Debussy) on flute
20. Play 3 songs on ukulele
21. Make a skirt/dress
22. Learn French to a conversational level
23. Learn Italian ""
24. Learn Japanese ""
25. Get a tattoo
26. Read the Bible
27. Read the Qu'ran
28. Read a Confucius text (bonus points if read in Chinese)
29. Perform a spoken poem (March 2015)
30. Create a collection of 20 poems
31. Go to a gig (bonus points if it's an Amanda Palmer gig) (Saw and met her in Bristol in May 2015)
32. Dye my hair (Put semi-permanent bright red dye in my jet black hair - had a nice red sheen for a while)
33. See a Shakespeare play in the theatre (MacBeth, March)
34. Be in a theatre show (in orchestra or on stage)
35. See the Northern Lights
36. Spend min 2 weeks living abroad
37. Vote
38. Swim in the sea
39. Swim in a river
40. Be part of a flashmob
41. Go to a convention
42. Have a sleepover
43. Go to the Hobbit (pub)
44. See Muse live (Fri 20 March 2015, and met the band)
45. See Regina Spektor live
46. See Einaudi live
47. Eurovision party
48. Hold a dinner party
49. Go inter-railing across Europe
50. Live in London for min 2 weeks

Make Good Art - Make Bad Music

(All photos courtesy of Beth)

Some friends and I went off to Wagamama's to celebrate the end of our exams and the academic year.

(I was too pro at chopsticks to even be offered a fork)

We ended up buying 2 tubs of Ben & Jerry's and 3 packets of Oreos (we looked like three teenage girls who had been simultaneously dumped) whilst the lady next to us carried her Ryvita crackers and whole wheat food.

Back at Beth's, we were going to watch a movie but ended up lounging around, eating melted ice cream and talking about music. Beth is pretty good at flute (to say the least) and plays viola, and Emily plays/ed the violin and piano. I used to have flute lessons and mess about with the guitar, whilst longing for a piano and a ukulele.