Monday, May 21, 2007

Writing Chapter One


The morning starts with a teenage fight.

That is a fight between two of the teenagers in the house. A sibling battle of wills. Both are right in their own way. Both are wrong in their own way. Both have a strong viewpoint. Both are indignant. Neither gives in.

The parents are trapped in the middle and accused of not listening, and I suspect not caring. Eventually it is school bus time and peace reigns once more. Fortunately, due to exam fever each is going on a different bus which avoids further confrontation.

Exhausted by the battles I go to find my blog, and put on my new CD on the computer, to listen, calm down and make a few comments on other people's blogs.

Hubby makes me some breakfast, and then it happens. Saddled by cold, and therefore not feeling completely myself I have a major crisis of confidence. The sort that aged 45 you have about once a week. The sort where all of a sudden having brought up five children, worked some of the time, but usually part time, at strange hours, you realise that you have probably thrown up all chances of normal types of jobs. You suddenly see that in the commercial world you are now uninteresting, unemployable and old.

No time to talk about it as it is time to get Gymnast Tinkerbell Mushroom ready for school.

Once they are gone, hubby is still there. Start to mention my crisis of confidence.

But he is late for work.

He must go.

Bad timing on my part.

Eldest Daughter currently doing her AS levels and therefore still at home, offers me a cup of coffee. What I really need though is some cold remedy. So, I indulge in the grandeurs of Lemsip. As my sense of taste is gone I only sense that it is sweet and hot, but I assume that it will make me feel vaguely human in a few minutes.

It does indeed, and whilst eldest daughter is on the phone, in my semi feverish cold like state, I suddenly have a flash of inspiration. Having been egged on by a friend last week to write it finally, on the back of a notebook, I plan it. The novel that has been going round my head in different forms for months. I need to write it.

Now.

ED comes off the phone. I tell her what I am going to do. "Can you wait quarter of an hour Mum? My bus goes then." Guilt. Mother guilt. Bad mother feelings that arrive on the birth of first child and stay ingrained in you until kingdom come.

"Sorry ED........."

I stay to have a chat with ED. I like our girly chats. Then I kiss her goodbye and wish her luck for the exam. 10.45 a.m.

I start.

I write 1000 words.

11.45 a.m. I have to stop as am late for my weekly physio appointment.

I rush in to the appointment ten minutes late. "I'm really sorry." I say limply. She smiles, looks at me slightly witheringly, looks at my leg briefly and decides to discharge me until Piers has seen it again on 6th June.

I apologise again for having been late. I know that it looks so pathetic. Middle aged woman unable to be on time. But unless you are planning on them giving you a different type of therapy, in a more secure unit, you can't exactly say:

"Sorry I was late. I was just a bit delayed, writing the first chapter of my novel."

Can you?

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sally- Sure you can, and f*ck them!
Good luck, I really admire you. I've thought so often about doing that and then had to admit to myself that I suck at writing! :)

enidd said...

ooo, sally, what's it about? enidd has chapters one two and three of her novel written, but then she got her contract and hasn't done any more.

sallywrites said...

Lisa - Not true. Your poem today is excellent!

Enidd - Contract. Is that a book contract, or is that a work contract?

Either way, three chapters is a good start..... Do chapter four today. We can write simultaneously.

Anonymous said...

Crisis of confidence... Sorry i had to go. The timing's never great.

But to quote - or possibly misquote - Jim Callaghan: "Crisis, what crisis?"

You're a gifted writer, broadcaster and actress ("actor"?). And most of all, a superb Mum.

The only reason you don't believe it yourself is because nobody is paying you to do any of those things... at the moment.

You never know what's round the corner. It'll happen sooner or later... because you're worth it.

meredic said...

A book ... way hay

Big space battles?
Vampires??
Hard men with guns???

Its gonna be big!

Anonymous said...

Sally- Excellent comments from hubby, good job!

FH said...

Sally,congratulations on your Chapter one!!That's a great news first of all:))
And then comes "Oh dear!! one of those for ya"!!;D
Look at your hubby admiring you there!That is so wonderful.I agree,you are great mum and beautiful young lady I might add.BELIEVE in yourself.You can do it all.
Hope you feel better soon.Take it easy.

sallywrites said...

Thank you Hubby..

Asha - I will take your words on board. Thank you!

Thank you Lisa too!

Will keep you all posted regarding the book!!

Meredic - I'm glad you have such confidence. Thank you. But as for the plot, isn't that YOUR novel that you have in mind?!

rose love said...

Sally,
i'm sure your novel will be brilliant!
From your writing so far and what i have heard on the radio;
it will be a complete success
and i know for sure i will be reading it whenever it does get published.
No need to worry at all,
if a 17 year old can find your blog totally interesting, witty and amusing, then i am sure many people will!
Rose
XXXXXX

Anonymous said...

Ah, nothing like a midlife crisis to prove some excellent blogging material! Next you'll be growing a full beard and riding a motorbike, although i suspect not until your leg is better. Hope the novel goes well :)

Anonymous said...

P.S, Good luck to all children taking exams. I had a three hour law exam this morning so I know just what they are going through!

Eliza said...

sally- i get that feeling of missing the boat nearly every day and i'm only twenty something! i think it's perfectly normal.
very exciting news about the book- and oh my good lord what a lovely hubby!

Unknown said...

Good luck with the book Sally! You sound like you have a star for a husband!

Akelamalu said...

He may have rushed off earlier but hubby's sure made up for it with those comments!

Good luck with your novel.

meredic said...

What none of those things....
Doh!
How about a mysterious disease that scientist fight with the aid of alien women from the planet Sappho....

I'm not going to be welcome if i carry on like this am I ...

Your husbands comment is spot on.

Anonymous said...

Yeah! Good for you! Keep going!

I actually finished my novel and now it sits waiting for me to edit it. Every time I look at it, I feel guilty for not taking the next step.

sallywrites said...

Dear Rose
That is such a lovely comment. It's great that I can appeal to a 17 year old!

Ig - I'll pass on the beard bit though!

Eliza - Cherish every moment of your 20's. You have missed nothing yet, believe me! And don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. Hubby was applying for a new job a few years back - aged 30 - and was told that he was too old by someone - and believed them. He regretted it later, when he realised how untrue it was!!

John - Thank you! And yes - indeed!
Akelamalu - Thank you and yes he did!

Meredic - Your first chapter by Friday please!

Karmyn - WOW!! I'm impressed. take it forward!!

pierre l said...

I am definitely with hubby. It is interesting to note that I wasn't really believing the people who were telling me that I would find a new job in IT at age sixty. But I have now been at my new job for 3 weeks, and it is playing havoc with my ability to write comments during the week!
You obviously had a very hard Saturday with the parent evening and writing comments at 2AM Sunday morning, not to mention the cold you hadn't told us about before.
It is good that you have made progress with the book, and still found time to write a new posting.

sallywrites said...

Thank you Pierre.
I actually went to bed earlier on Saturday, but woke again - possibly because of the cold looming, and couldn't get back to sleep, so did some "middle of the night" blogging - as you do...

It was a nice Saturday evening though, in spite of that!

And I have to thank you and another friend for last week - both of you - encouraging me to get going on the book. So it really was time to start - and I am very glad that I have.
Thank you!

ChrisB said...

Sally when you publish your novel you will have a lot of eager readers. Hope you get over the effects of the cold quickly.

Anonymous said...

Well Done!!!!! I

la bellina mammina said...

You're such an inspiration - do keep me updated on the development of your novel.. Am sure it's something juicy! :-)

Beccy said...

Sally, how exciting and well done for taking the plunge.

I'm intrigued by enidd as well.

headless chicken said...

SALLY!!!!!
I've only just looked at this and I must comment as you will probably read this before I get the chance to tell you in person. You must know that you really,most definatly do not need to be feeling this way! You are such a clever,kind vibrant person. You are certainly one of the cleverest people I know - right up there with my Dad and he is very clever and wise!
AND YOUR BOOK WILL BE FANTASTIC!!!
*By the way I found the missing Giant Jenky piece Tinkerbell M. went home without yesterday.So there you go,all is well and life is good!

sallywrites said...

Thank you Chris!
Thanks SOY!
La BM - you are very kind!
Beccy - I know. Tell us more Enidd!
HC - Thank you! Glad you found the piece too! TM will be pleased!

Alice Band said...

I so empathise with you that, well I don't know what, suffice it to say that I have had a terrible month, when not only have I felt crap, unfulfilled , shit at everything, mad mother, fat and now even friendless. That awful feeling when you think everyone out there is best friends and you are being left out. I'm ashamed of myself for it though. Do men feel like this I wonder? For God's sake I'm in my 40's, I feel as though I shoudl be serene by now! Keep typing Sal x

Victoria said...

Hello Sally! Thanks for visiting my blog - I hope that I may have the pleasure of receiving another visit from you again soon. Perhaps you wish to read my latest post?

Ahh...the number of times that I have tried to write a novel. My problem is that I'm too much of a perfectionist - forever disappointed with my own efforts. But I can already see that you're a very talented writer. I very much enjoyed reading your post, 'Writing Chapter One'. Family life, eh? Brilliant, isn't it!

X

Frog in the Field said...

Thank goodness someone else feels unemployable sometimes! We give it all up for our children and become part of a chaotic whirlwind before we know it. And you've had 5 children...I thought 3 was hard enough!
But you do a huge amount now! I agree with Lisa, I admire you getting so many accomplishments under your belt.

Anonymous said...

Yes you can say that, dammit!

And 1000 words in a day is pretty good progress, actually.

sallywrites said...

Alice - Thank you. Hope it's all a bit better for you now, after your holiday.
Victoria - Welcome to the blog! You'll probably find that the words come more easily after a few more years. You have youth and time on your side!
Frog in the field - Welcome to the blog and thank you!
Damian - Thank you! Then I will next time.