Fair plaised wi masel

Am fair plaised wi masel. Absolutely delighted and thrilled! I'd heard a few weeks ago that I'd been shortlisted in a local writing competition and yesterday on a crisp, sunny January day I set out for the awards ceremony in Belfast's Linenhall library.

This is the oldest library in Belfast and houses one of the largest Robert Burns collections outside Scotland. I've known his work for as long as I can remember, having heard poems recited at home and learned songs at primary school.

It was very fitting therefore that we gathered at the Linenhall library the day after Burns night for the 2022 Ulster Scots writing competition awards. 

My story 'Worth Hir Saut' took shape last year during a writing workshop I attended in Carrickfergus museum. I was inspired by the museum's exhibition 'A Most Proper Verdict' which examined attitudes to crime and punishment in 19th century Co. Antrim. A fact in the accompanying brochure about the prisoners' rations stuck with me and prompted my story.  

Changing the POV in an early draft of the story enabled my main character to come alive and I was very clear from the start how she spoke. Even in an early draft written in English, she spoke in Ulster Scots.  After having been in Scotland for around a month last autumn, I re-worked the entire story in Ulster Scots and submitted it to the competition. It was the first time I'd attempted to write anything in Ulster Scots and while that was challenging, I was so familiar with the language as older generations in my family had spoken it at home.

I was therefore thrilled yesterday to find out that my story was runner up in the competition's prose category. The judges provided very encouraging feedback which is very much appreciated. My story, along with the other winners is included in a beautiful booklet developed by the Linenhall library where copies are available to purchase.

New Year, New Opportunities

There's nothing like a blast of cold January sea air to blow away the Christmas cobwebs and stir the lethargy that developed over the holiday period. The bracing sea air and bright sunshine at Coney yesterday brought energy to our writing group.

We spent time catching up on news and doing some writing exercises, interspersed by apple and cinnamon muffins and coffee. I never fail to be amazed at the variety and quality of writing produced by my writing friends in Coney, inspired by a writing prompt - yesterday's prompts were old photographs. And often these little nuggets we develop in writing exercises are revisited and go on to grow into a bigger piece - a poem or story at a later date.

Getting back into a routine is good, and it's good to set some goals and build some structure to the writing year, whether that be specific annual, monthly,  weekly or even daily goals or putting dates in the diary for future writing workshops and events. It all provides structure. Starting strong in January can be easy. Maintaining the momentum throughout the year can be much more challenging. Inspired by meeting my writing pals again yesterday, when I returned home I started some planning for this writing year. Now the challenge will be sticking to the plan.

Looking back - Looking forward

I didn't make any specific writing goals a year ago, other than to continue writing and developing my craft. I'm pleased to say I achieved these, enjoying the writing journey along the way.

An added bonus was a little bit of success along the way with several acceptances and publications.  I had a number of poems featured in anthologies locally and nationally and continued to spot my poems on trees in local parks. 

2022 also saw several of my poems for children featured on the Dirigible Balloon's website. https://dirigibleballoon.org/

It also saw the return to more in-person meet ups with writers. I took part in a couple of online writing workshops but it was exciting to go to a series of in-person writing workshops in the spring in Carrickfergus museum and to write new stories. It was good to get back to meeting other writers to share, learn, have fun together and be inspired.

2023 looks to be an exciting writing year already. I’ve been shortlisted in a local writing competition and will hear more about that in the next few weeks. Some of my writing friends have new books launching this year and I'm really looking forward to celebrating their successes with them. My godson gifted me a very appropriate Christmas present which I've already started to use.

And although I'm beginning to pack away my Christmas decorations for another year, there is one decoration that I'm keeping out. 

Mr Owl was gifted to me by a writing friend and I've already decided that he's going to be my writing mascot in 2023. While he may be wearing a Santa hat, he will be very appropriate to me in my writing journey this year. The gold star on top of his Santa hat will inspire me to strive to improve my writing and his tangled Christmas lights will remind me to look for writing inspiration throughout the year and not be put off when I get stuck. As an owl he's the fitting companion as I take on a new voluntary role from tomorrow in the writing community with the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) as Ireland Regional Adviser.

Twixtmas

Does anyone know what day of the week it is, let alone what date? Every day over the holiday period seems to blend into the next, when the most difficult decision to make is what book to read or what cheese to eat.

I've been spoiled for choice with reading material- both festive books and Christmas gifts thanks to family and friends.

And I did very well with beautiful writing gifts too, thanks to my thoughtful godson.

Speaking of cheese, we were spoiled for choice with a gorgeous cheese platter when we got back for our annual Christmas theatre treat. 'The Shop at the Top of the Town' at the Theatre at the Mill didn't disappoint. And neither did the cheese platter. You'd have thought that by now we'd all be fed up looking at cheese, but clearly not, as it soon disappeared.

Let's hope that by the time all the cheese in the fridge has gone (which won't be too long) I'll be ready to get back to some writing.

Not all writing groups are like this...

At the weekend our writing group gathered for our Christmas get-together. As much as we look forward to our monthly meetings, our annual summer retreat and our Christmas party are the highlights in the year.

I made some writing fuel (cranberry and orange muffins) to help get our creative juices flowing before the party started.

As well as catching up on our writing news, we did a couple of writing exercises and shared them in the group. Then the party started.

I feel very blessed to have been part of this writing group for so long. We encourage each other and have become friends along the way. And not only do we have very talented writers in the group, we also have very creative people who paint and make their own Christmas cards,

 and draw, sing, play music, act, cook and bake.

Everyone brought something for the dinner. Our starter was a gorgeous goats cheese salad,

followed by three bird roast, ham, roasties, a seasonal red cabbage salad, sprouts, cranberry sauce, chutney and gravy.

We finished with tiramisu and berries for dessert. Our Christmas party was a lovely way to bring our writing year to a close. Here's to another good year with our very special writing group.

November highlights

I decided before November commenced to give NaNoWriMo a miss this year. Instead my writing goal was to catch up with some reading and to rest. This turned out to be a goal that was both achievable and rewarding. 

I managed to finish reading a couple of books and start a few new ones. These included short stories, autobiographies, crime and festive novels. I also managed to add to my 'To Be Read' list, purchasing some gorgeous books at The Secret Bookshelf.

I caught up with reading friends, sharing our news and early festive cheer. Their early Christmas gifts were (unknown to the givers) very appropriately themed - there will be more news on this soon!

Needless to say, the Mars bar squares are long gone. During the month I took part in a couple of writing Zoom calls - one was a SCBWI Ireland catch up. It was good to reconnect and hear news and the presentations. Later in the month I attended a Zoom children's poetry book launch - so many fun poems were packed in. I got a lovely surprise in the post a couple of weeks later when a book prize arrived from a writing competition I'd entered.

And in between, I managed to get some writing done, including a new short story and some new poems. I'm thrilled that three of my festive poems have been published on the Dirigible Balloon's website today. Here is the link to one of them Calendar Countdown

A writerly weekend

I've had a lovely writerly weekend, despite some horrible wet and windy weather at times. On Saturday I was back down at Coney Island catching up with my writing group. The weather gradually cleared up as we caught up on news, drank coffee, ate blackberry and ginger muffins aka writing fuel and did some writing. By the time we were leaving, the sun had come out.

And it was still warm enough to sit outside with a coffee and another borrowed copy of 'The Author' when I got home.

Yesterday I had a meet up with another group of writers, some of whom I hadn't seen since before Covid. It was energising spending time with these talented, creative people and sharing our writing news (some of which is VERY exciting) as well as tasty treats (some of my chocolate brownies and lemon drizzle cake below).

I feel incredibly fortunate to know so many writers who have also become good friends over the last few years. They are generous with their time and their encouragement and I feel very blessed being part of these creative groups. And now that I'm fired up with the enthusiasm that rubs off when you're around creative people, I need to get on with some writing....