Check-in: Word count goal met while working on STS. Soak up the sanity here.
March is my giddy month so I'm trying not to post the blog equivalent of hysterical giggling. Been working on STS, minding my own business when all of a sudden the MC unleashed a crapton of backstory - now I see why she's been making so many dodgy choices. Have I mentioned how much I love writing?
I haven't been nabbing as much writing time as usual. Mostly because bedtime is taking up all of the freaking night. Right now, I can hear two kids having a show-down upstairs and the twins in the next room doing their best Charlie Bit Me impersonations. I'm hiding in the dark so they won't see me laughing. It's my fault for having five kids - babies are so easy, they just eat and sleep and poo and look cute all day long. Then they start walking and all hell breaks loose. If I decided to write Mammy Fiction, I'd have decades of material. :)
I was reading up about Enid Blyton earlier. She was (despite motherhood) scarily prolific and popular and yet panned by critics as being a mediocre writer. Her books are still being sold - not bad for a mediocre writer.
When I was a kid, I devoured her books - she made me think I could be a writer. Roald Dahl taught me that writing could be dark and fun. I know there's a lot of old-fashioned terms and ideals that people like to censor but I definitely didn't grow up racist or thinking that men should rule the world. Quite the opposite, in fact. Although I'm very firm on the cheating is awfully bad stance. :D
Blyton's books were quite preachy though (which is kind of amusing considering her personal life), and I'm not sure why I loved them so much - maybe the lack of adults was the draw. Maybe it was the fact I kept waiting for George to smack Julian. Maybe it was the homeless circus boys who owned friendly monkeys, the circus girls who could ride wild horses or the ordinary girl taken in by the circus who could tame anything. (I soooo wanted to join the circus). Let's not get started on the tuckboxes and the snobby posh girl at boarding school. And the Faraway Tree? Beat that if you can. That kind of book is absolutely one of the first stories that drew me to writing. Think of anything, create it, and there's a ready-made world for you to jump into. Anything can happen because you make it so.
That's great that you're having such fun writing!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're having a great time, I got visions of you sitting in dark places laughing hysterically now. LOL. I used to love Dahl, I keep threatening to read them again sometime.
ReplyDeleteLOL Katy, stop making me laugh! A couple of years ago, I bought a boxset of Roald Dahl books and pretended it was for my kids but it was really for me. :D I'm a huge fan of the BFG.
ReplyDeleteWriting is all about the discovery... both a good and bad thing, in my book. Sounds like you are having fun, which is all that matters!
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I'm not familiar with Enid Blyton...probably because I was a kid during the Dark Ages...LOL
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that you can still write with kids around...I had four kids (all grown now), and I didn't seriously start to write until they were adults. Some of them were still coming through that "revolving door," or living in my guesthouse, but I still had my privacy...most of the time.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
True Madison!
ReplyDeleteLOL Laurel, she was born in the 1890s. She was British so maybe that's why. Have you never heard of the Famous Five?
I write mostly at night or whenever my OH traps the kids in the living room with him for an hour. ;)
I've never read Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl but I see a google of Enid in my future.
ReplyDeletePower to ya for having FIVE kids. Oy! I'm exhausted with two.
I like your "March is my giddy month". That made me smile. I need to pick one to be mine. LOL
Ooh, I love Roald Dahl! Matilda's my favourite. I've only read a couple of Enid Blyton's though.
ReplyDeleteAnd March is your giddy month? Every year? Isn't that neat [bg]
Claire, I'm sorry you never experienced the awesomeness that is Roald Dahl. :D
ReplyDeleteDeniz, yes, every year. It's probably because my birthday and Paddy's Day are in March. :)
haah I remember the Magic Faraway Tree! My nan used to read it to me when I was little, but when I finally learned to read, I didn't want to read anything else, so she was forced to hear about Moonface and Mr. Whatsisname all day long lol
ReplyDeleteThe feeling of me now is very glad to be with everyone here.
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