Foggy Inside & Out

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Well, it's drizzling again. Constant mist shrouds the mountain tops and the weather bods report that we'll have no more SUNdays for 1 month, due to constant rain. Oh well, I'm fairly used to that living here. It's quite common to have a great April/May and for the weather to go downhill after that. Looks as if we're all in for a bit of a washout.

My day has flown over but sadly I haven't reached my daily target of 500 words. I was willing but the brain wasn't having any of it. Sometimes it's like that - my mind has been so hazy today, a jumble of other ideas, fresh ideas and different problems all intermingling, vying for a hearing. So, switch off has taken place and I'm cooking dinner. Hopefully I can start afresh tonight.

Recently I realised that my reading list has been heavily concentrated upon material from the WW2 period and I feel the need to branch out once more and pick something entirely different. I'm edging towards 'Mother America,' by Nuala Ni Chonchuir, an award winning Irish writer & poet. Her book is a collection of short stories and, having already had a sneaky peek via Amazon, I'm making this my next purchase. 


Reading out of your comfort zone is something many creative writing classes/postgraduate programmes ask you to do. I suppose that many of us do this anyway but I must confess that I have always leaned towards specific genres. It wasn't until four years ago that I bothered to read Shakespeare's Henry IV. This I followed with the video production starring Kenneth Branagh as the Monarch. It was for me a literary revelation and one which I never imagined I'd enjoy. I hadn't bothered with Shakespeare since my school days which if I remember correctly consisted of Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. Certainly appreciate his work far more now I'm older.

I recall starting the MA Creative Writing last year, and our reading programme consisted of reading 1 book per week - I think we had around 12 books or so on the list. It was tough going at the time not because I had to cram in the reading, but because I also had to do the analysis to be able to contribute to group discussions. So, reading 1 book per week is definitely an achievable target and to prove it I've just completed my last book in 3 days (The Soldiers Wife). Slight confession here though -just remembered that my copy of Wolf Hall is only half read and I got that 6 months ago - what can I say, things just get in the way. Blame it on the novel






Comments

  1. Unknown10 July 2012 at 22:28

    I'm too embarrassed to admit the stack of unread novels next to my bed! Reading is a luxury as well as writing at his moment-priorities, right?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Suzy Henderson10 July 2012 at 23:02

    Hi -thanks for airing your thoughts. I know what you mean though -writing is a priority but I always have that nagging voice in the far distance because I'm not reading enough. That said, I guess I do read quite a lot because I've had to do so much research I've been dipping in and out of various autobiographies etc - it all counts. All the best and good to hear from you.

    ReplyDelete

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