karen
55 years old
Female
Location
Guildford
United Kingdom
Current Status
Very excited - booked my place on self-editing course in June which means second draft of novel is now on hold............but this means I can start on my latest idea - I have had the new characters following me round for weeks, can't wait to bring themInformation
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Are you a ...?Unpublished writer (so far)What genre do you primarily write in?General fictionIf you write in more than one area, what is your next most favoured genre?Historical fictionAre your reading habits ...?OmnivorousWho is your favourite author(s)?Joanne Harris, Kate Mosse, Bridget Jones, Nora Roberts, Emma Darwin, Joanna Trollope, Mary Wesley... at the momentAnd your all time favourite books? (You can change these at any time, by the way ...)Lord of the Rings, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, A Spot of Bother, Chocolat, The Lollipop Shoes, Labyrinth, Sepulchre, The Alchemist, Five Quarters of OrangeWhat are your working habits when you write?ProcastinatoryAre you the edit-every-sentence-ten-times type, or do you prefer to let rip?Prefer to let rip and edit afterwardsYour ultimate writing ambition?To give as much pleasure to readers, through my own stories, as the pleasure I have had reading other peoples books. Does that make sense?Your worst habit?Self-criticism, lack of self-esteem, thinking too much instead of just writing and over-using exclamation marks!!!!!!Your opinion on the books industry?Too much celebrity and hype, but good books still get throughWhere do you write?At home, on the computer because I can get more words down in a short space of time, looking out of the window at the countryside, listening to music.What else do you want Word Clouders to know? eg: do you have 9 cats / like paragliding / eat nothing but tinned fish / work in the bath / live in Kettering?married to a sheep farmer, live in a beautiful place. I have one cat, one horse, three dogs, ten chickens. I have an imaginary soapbox that I use regularly.
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02/10/2010 09:30AM12Attendees
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karen Very excited - booked my place on self-editing course in June which means second draft of novel is now on hold............but this means I can start on my latest idea - I have had the new characters following me round for weeks, can't wait to bring them to life..........29 days ago -
"RichardB" commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".And I, having arrived with a skinny first draft, am in the process of adding a good 20,000 words incorporating a whole new plot strand, which means quite a bit of rewriting. I'm sure the thing is going to be a whole lot stronger, as a direct result ...
1 month ago -
"karen" commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".
Thanks Peter S - that's exactly what i was thinking. I've been working on this particular novel for four years now - it's all been a learning process and I want to get it as good as i can before I move onto the next one rather than just abandon it ...
1 month ago -
"Peter S " commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".Karen - just re-read your original post. If you're going to do the Self-Editing course then I'd strongly advise that you don't send your MS off quite yet. You'll have a totally different view of it as a result of the course and will almost ...
1 month ago -
"Peter S " commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".
Excellent decision, Karen - from another Self-Editing "graduate".
1 month ago -
"Debi" commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".That's wonderful to hear, Karen! Thanks so much to those who have commented. It's always going to be better hearing this kind of affirmation about the course from those who have taken part in it, rather than from Emma and me. We've had wonderful ...
1 month ago -
"karen" commented on Diesel's Blog "Who would you cast?".
This is great fun - Squidge - Richard Armitage is indeed the same Mr A who married the Vicar and wore a lot of black in Robin Hood - more recently in Spooks and Strike Back! I think for my next work I'm going to choose all my favourite ...
1 month ago -
"karen" commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".
As the beneficiary of Emma and Debi's advice in the past and all the testimonials from LinsP, RichardB, Jaxbees and JK for the self-editing course, looks like my course of action has been decided for me! All being well, I'll be putting my name down ...
1 month ago -
"LinsP" commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".I also add my recommendation of the self-edit course if you have a completed MS - revolutionary! Who knew the power of 'voice' and narrative distance! I am astounded at what Debi and EmmaD managed to teach us in such a short space of time. The ...
1 month ago -
"RichardB" commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".
Yes, JK, I will back you up, and Jaxbees too. Another great thing about it is being in the company of like-minded people. Some of the best ideas I came away with came from shooting ideas back and forth in the discussions with my 'classmates'. And ...
1 month ago -
"Jody Klaire (JK)" commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".I would say the self-edit course will be the best thing you can do for your writing. I'd go as far as to say it revolutionises the way you write. You'll learn, in six weeks, everything you need to not only be a better writer... But the tools to ...
1 month ago -
"Jaxbees" commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".Helpful? Life-changing (I hope :)) Seriously, I whole-heartedly recommend the WW Self-editing course. It's a full on six week on-line course which requires quite a commitment both to the tasks set but also to feeding-back on other people's work. But ...
1 month ago -
"Debi" commented on karen's Blog "Creative writing courses".
Ooh, if we're giving a shout out for WW courses, can I mention that Emma and I run the self-edit one? Like Suze, we also have one on the go right now and another in June. (There are four a year.) Many regular Cloudies have completed the course and ...
1 month ago
About
Not enough hours in the day to do all I want and need to do. I am a musician also and write songs and I am torn between song writing and my novel...........
I love to cook, especially cakes, I love music - listening and playing, I love my garden - finally have a veg patch, growing peas, courgettes, lettuce and tomatoes at the moment - mmmmm.
I love to cook, especially cakes, I love music - listening and playing, I love my garden - finally have a veg patch, growing peas, courgettes, lettuce and tomatoes at the moment - mmmmm.
Latest Blog Posts
25 Blogs...
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9th April 2013
Creative writing courses
creative writing/courses/study/learning
22 Comments -
13th March 2013Bearing all!
age, boobs, underwear 26 Comments -
27th February 2013The passing of a sheep
sheep 14 Comments -
29th April 2011wedding tears
weddings, tears, love and laughter 11 Comments -
9th March 2011Leaving the past behind
life, death, moving on, unfamiliar ground, family, love 35 Comments
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by Jen 1 month agoOhhh decisions! I haven't done any courses apart from the Cardiff uni one but before that I did English lit at uni and it was totally different to creative writing. All about reading and essay writing about the books - which was great in one way but it's a real leap to them write fiction of your own! I am writing my first novel and then I might do the self editing course on here - I've only ever heard great things about it. So hard to find the right path to take! best of luck with it all :) -
by Jen 1 month agoIt is the Whitsunday Islands! twelve years ago, when I went travelling around Australia :) Must go back one day - it's like paradise. Have you been?! Have you thought anymore about the courses? It's really hard to decide, I guess it depends on what you want to do it for. If you want to get into that academic world and you really feel like you need that kind of indepth study then the MA is best - but for just doing creative writing for the fun of it, while getting better at writing, maybe the six week course is best - and you could then do the MA if after that time you really felt like you want to make that committment. Have you seen what the modules are for the MA? or could you speak to a current student to help make up your mind? decisions, decisions!!!
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by MinxieAD 1 month agoThanks Karen. I don't think many of us get through life without falling in the dark hole at some point! I think I may be confusing my weddings! I'm going to a young couple's Lego Wedding this weekend. In October I'll be wearing my red dress as I'm chief bridesmaid at mate's wedding, then next year, my son's getting married and I'm making the cakes! When's it going to be my turn? hehe x ps: love your song choice ! -
by Liss 1 year agoThank youuu :) & yes please, I'd like you as a friend again! & thanks for the positivity, I shall keep on trucking with the job situation xxxxx -
by Ali 1 year agoHi Karen glad you enjoyed the piece. Learning the bass is on my list.
My daughter is learning guitar at the moment and the embarassment may be too much for her to take. -
by Mcallan 1 year agoHi Karen...I haven't been around much lately either! Playing the guitar a lot and working too hard! Ta for dopping by and hope you're well x -
by Stefanie Leona Baylee 1 year agoHi there karen
Yeah good old chertsey, i remember most of chertsey before it change. I was like about 7 at the time i think. I liked the old chertsey, so much history. Guildford has too, i did research on some of it. Nice to meet you though, hope all is well. And thank you for the welcome! -
by Mcallan 1 year agoIt was brilliant! I love the midget..he is so cool! To be honest, when the dragons appeared I thought they had runied it lol. I like stuff best without the silly bits hee hee.
29 days ago