Patricia M Osborne

Sorry to have been so neglectful. It’s been a rough few months. The Research module is finally finished and it’s on to pastures new…

A new module, Prose Fiction – Part of the criteria is to keep a blog. So I thought I’d best get back to mine.

Prose Fiction

Week One

Tuesday 9^th February 2016

Because I’d planned to meet a fellow student for lunch, I left the house around 11:00am and power walked to the station. I used to be able to run part of the journey but since my hip broke I’m limited to fast walking, not just to get there quickly, but to keep warm from the chilled wind.

I arrived at the station to discover my train was delayed by almost half an hour. I’d still be on time to meet my friend but I didn’t fancy sitting in the cold shelter for that long, even if I did have a novel to finish before class.

Luck was with me, the earlier train was also delayed and due to arrive in two minutes. The train pulled in and passengers boarded. I got settled on a window seat and took out Doris Lessing’s, novel, The Grass is Singing. It was a slow train, giving me more time to try and get through the book.

Once at uni, my friend and I checked books into the library before making our way to the Student Union cafe for a light lunch, jacket potato with cheese and black coffee.

It was time to meet our new tutor, Umi Sinha. It was in a room we used last year when studying Narrative. This brought back fond memories. Students arrived and we introduced ourselves.

Part of the criteria for this module is to include a 3500 word piece in prose fiction. My plan at the moment (although subject to change) is to use sections of The Heir of Granville, a sequel to House of Grace, but can be read as a standalone. Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about Grace, I’m hoping to use the next few months to find an agent or publisher and get her out into the big world.

Our first task today was to discuss The Grass is Singing. Have any of you read it? It took me a while to get into it but once in, I found it enjoyable, although ‘enjoyable’ is probably not the right word. We discussed settings and Doris Lessing certainly manages to achieve this with her visual descriptions of the world she creates in the story.

We looked at the conscious and unconsciousness processes of writing and discussed dreams. For me I see a dream as a gift as most of my writing is derived from when I sleep. If I’m having problems with a scene in prose or a particular subject in a poem then I think about the idea before sleeping which sows the seed. During the night the idea sprouts and starts to blossom once my pen hits paper.

It’s was then time for practical work. I always get a bit apprehensive at this point. What happens if I can’t do it? Silent panic stirs within me. Umi announces that she would like us to do a piece of writing about a familiar place—

but wait for it…

‘Write it as a blind person,’ use all senses except sight. Have you ever tried this? It’s really hard to write without using sight but it makes you concentrate on the other senses. It was fun and I relaxed because I had a subject to write about. I turned to one of my favourite places, a park close to my home.

Write about a familiar place without using sight senses.  (A first draft without edits.)

I strolled along the crunching footpath; my nose itched as I took in the fragrance of  spring flowers. Children shrieked with laughter whilst lads roared ‘goal.’ Something pounded at my knees. I bent down to lift it up and threw it back into the field.

‘Thank you,’ returned the yells.

Heat from the sun forced my cardigan off my shoulders. Raindrop Prelude echoed in my ears. Chopin’s storm was a complete contrast to now, it was so still with no sign of breeze. The taste of pineapple swilled around my mouth and quenched my thirst.

By doing this exercise I am homing in on the conscious, concentrating on senses other than sight. This has taught me to make sure I make use of all senses and not just sight when writing in future. Why not have a go yourself?

Following completion of the task, it was time to take turns reading out our work. Nowadays this isn’t an issue for me but I remember when I first started creative writing with the Open University that I sat silent and just listened to the other students because I was too scared to join in.

Oops, I got so engrossed in writing this blog that I almost burnt tonight’s dinner, Spinach Lasagne. Phew, thank goodness it was only almost.

Back to Prose Fiction Session…

The next exercise was to ‘describe a character waking up, they don’t know where they are and it’s pitch black. What do they do next? The idea here is to create tension and a hook. Well that was eerie, as quite often the way with prompts my writing turns dark. Maybe I should give up writing family saga novels and start writing horror. Food for thought.

Describe a character waking up – they don’t know who they are – It’s Pitch Black – What do they do next? (again unedited)

I opened my eyes but all I see is black and hear a trickling sound. A cold drip hits my forehead. My arms are tied? My head throbs.

‘Where am I?’ I shout but no one comes.

Something scratches the walls. My God what is it? And what’s that running up my legs? I can’t lift up to see or shake it off. It’s so black and chilled. I want to go home.

A door slams. Heavy footsteps crunch towards me…

This exercise brings home that I need to make sure that I leave the reader with a hook to make sure they turn over the page. I aim to end each chapter of my novel with a bit of tension to keep the reader interested.

The final exercise was a choice. We could either ‘describe a room where the occupant of the room is absent.’ Or the other option was to write a journal entry for the day’s session. I chose the first option:

Describe a room where the occupant of the room is absent. (unedited)

The rich plum drapes hung down from the pelmet, brushing the skirting boards. My fingers sank into plush fabric. You don’t see curtains like this anymore…

I perched on the bed. Softness of the matching eiderdown beckoned me to lie down, the pillow hugged my head. The sun reflected on a glass box on the dressing table. Curiosity got the better of me. I rolled off the bed and lifted the lid on the box. A ballerina danced as Brahms Lullaby played.

I gazed into the triple vanity mirror but didn’t recognise the face that stared back. My eyes were drawn to the oil portrait on the wall. I stared back into the glass. The faces matched. I touched my face, my skin was smooth. I ran my fingers through my hair; it was still short and spiky. This mirror lied. Here in front of me was a woman with lines on her face mapping her years. Her faded, almost grey hair, snatched back in a bun.

Who owned this room? How did I get here? Had the woman in the glass, stolen my soul?

And that was the end of the exercises. Here’s a breakdown of what we covered during the session.

What we covered:

 (Supplied by Umi)

1. Finding the balance between control and allowing your writing to flow. Balancing the conscious and unconscious processes.
2. Creating a world for your story – geography, rules, social mores and attitudes, way people speak.
3. Building tension and suspense – how to keep the reader hooked.
4. Using the senses.

Not bad for the first session, eh?

And that was the end of the first seminar. I enjoyed meeting a new tutor and students as well as old friends from last year.

I had a good journey home with only a few minutes to wait for the train. It was pouring with rain by the time I reached my destination so I shot up my umbrella and started to power walk, arriving home wet, cold and hungry.

The day wasn’t over, I had reading group. Here, we discussed Colm Tóibín’s novel Brooklyn, a much lighter read than Doris Lessing’s.

As promised I’ve posted the first five chapters of House of Grace. This consists of 7285 words from a total of 88,500. House of Grace is in two parts and the first half looks at Grace as a young girl and the second as a married woman with children.

Unfortunately the format isn’t correct and I will try and get this rectified but I’m not the best at technology. Still you should be able to read the story without the occasional bold text interrupting. I don’t know why it has done that.

Enjoy.

It’s been a while since I posted but quite a lot has happened. I am now back on my two feet without any aids, other than the occasional use of a fold up walking stick when I get tired.

I was lucky enough to get dressed up and wear a hat, yes even a hat, and went off to the races with the girls at Royal Ascot. We didn’t do ladies day as it gets a bit busy and we weren’t lucky enough to be in the Royal Enclosure or Grandstand but in the Silver Ring instead. But hey you know what? I reckon it’s better to be down on the track where you really get to feel the atmosphere.

The girls were great and looked after me on the train and protected me from crowds and walking down the steps. And yes, there were a lot of steps but it was great to be out and about again and feel normal.

We picnicked and drank champers whilst placing our bets. Unfortunately this year I wasn’t able to go and stand at the track and watch the Queen’s procession so had to make do with my friends’ photographs plus the big television in front of me. I didn’t get a win, not even a place which is quite unusual for me, but hey the main thing is that I had a grand day. Good company, good food and good sparkling wine.

The poetry module at Brighton is now finished and I’m waiting on the result which should be any day. I’ve now completed my first year of the Masters. Where did that time go?

I’m hoping to start getting back into the novel writing. After Bucharest I found my concentration levels were too low to allow me to write any prose. However, since the poetry module finished three weeks ago, I have been re-writing some short stories to get me back into the swing again. I think I’m getting there. I still need to plan out George’s life so I can carry on with the sequel. Of course those of you that haven’t yet read House of Grace will be wondering what I’m talking about, but hopefully you won’t have to wait too long as I’m trying hard to get Grace out into the big wide world. Believe it or not this part is harder than actually writing the novel.

As a special treat for not posting for so long, I’m going to try and post the first few chapters of House of Grace so you can see what it’s like. I may not be able to get the formatting right so you’ll have to forgive me on that score.

Nine weeks ago tomorrow I had the dreaded accident in Bucharest.

For six and half weeks I was unable to put any weight on my left leg.

Two weeks ago I was given permission to weight bear – I had to learn to walk again.

Today I had physiotherapy and came out of the hospital using only one crutch. I have a feeling that where everything moved slowly up to now, suddenly I’m going to be back to normal in no time.

Being without the use of a leg, the necessity of a wheelchair and other disability aids, certainly makes you appreciate your body. The fact that many people are out there facing what I have on an everyday basis and not just temporary certainly makes you think. It’s been good research for writing but I think my husband would prefer it if I didn’t take my writing commitment quite so far in the future.

With a bit of luck in a few weeks I’ll not only be back to brisk walking but working my way to Zumba and running exercises again too. If the weather is fair over the weekend, I’m going to try and take a walk around my favourite lake.

I’m feeling positive in a big way. Although there’s only the slightest chance I’ll get back to campus this semester, I’m pretty sure, I should be in ship condition for my trip to Royal Ascot with the girls’ middle of June.

I have a hat to buy. ..

After more than seven weeks of barely moving out of the house due to my accident, things have changed. A week ago I was given the go ahead from the consultant to become weight bearing with crutches. This has given me a lot more freedom, although not total independence yet but I’m getting there.

The other night friends picked me up and off we went to a Word Fest quiz. Have you ever tried one? This was our third year running. I’m not the best at quizzes, I never seem to hear what the question is. If I do I find there’s too much noise for me to equate an answer. I know, excuses, excuses. I still find it great fun, offering moral support to my team and confirming that an answer is correct. Hmm, how come I always know the answer when I see it? A multiple choice for me would be better.

For my second outing I was lucky enough to attend a piano recital by Warren Mailley-Smith. Mostly the repertoire was Chopin, but that didn’t bother me as I could listen to Chopin all night. If you get the chance to go and see /hear Warren, go for it, he’s a fantastic pianist. You can find out more about him and where and when he’s playing, below.

http://www.warrenmailley-smith.com/

In the meantime when I’ve not managed to escape the house, I’ve been studying poetry theory and creating poems towards my poetry portfolio for the Master’s Poetry, Theory and Craft, module. I’m afraid some of the poems content are on the dark side. I blame that on me being stuck inside for too long.

I hope you are enjoying the bank holiday weekend and having better weather where you are than here. If it’s not raining it’s windy and cold. Come back summer weather – I missed you the when you arrived last time.

Well once again it’s been a while since I popped over but getting around on one leg takes its toll. I have however been very busy writing poems for my MA Poetry portfolio which is due near the end of May. We won’t talk about the essay that has to go with it. The poems are of mixed variety, from dark to light and fun. I’ve scraped the barrel and resurrected some old stuff and taken them to the next level – that began with giving them a good cull.

My poetry tutor pointed me and my fellow students to the direction of Roy Marshall’s blog and what he has to say about drafting a poem. Excellent information, why not take a look for yourself. You can find it here. https://roymarshall.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/drafting/

On a different front, have you ever tried changing a king sized bed on one leg? Well today I did exactly that and apart from a small amount of help to fit the corners of the sheet in the far side I managed quite well. That includes wrestling with the quilt and cover, hard enough when fully able but I wasn’t going to be beaten. It would have made for a great video as when not hopping I was rolling around on the bed to get to all areas.

Three more days for my appointment at the hospital fracture clinic and I’m hoping the consultant will give me the okay to start back on two legs fully weight bearing.  I’ll know a lot more after the visit. I’m missing uni with all my creative peers and getting out and about with my friends at home. I’m even missing housework!

It was poetry theory yesterday at uni which was very interesting but I do find it quite heavy at times. However, I loved it when we looked at what the poems mean. We looked at T S Eliot, Gertrude Stein and Hilda Doolittle (HD). What do you think of the above poets, are they to your taste? T S Eliot’s writing is something that doesn’t seem to go out of date, loved Gertrude Stein, only just getting to know her work and HD – well I think my writing style could be very similar to hers.
How about you? What do you prefer – Theory or Craft. Who is your favourite contemporary poet?

What a beautiful Tuesday morning. The sky is blue and the sun is peeping through.

Apart from writing, my other love is music. This afternoon I have my first piano lesson after a three month break. I’ve bought some new music to try and inspire me to move away from my pen and paper to hit the keys. With recommendation I’ve purchased Mendelssohn’s Song without Words as well as treating myself to Etudes by Philip Glass. None of these are going to be a breeze, I can tell you that. This means that today amongst the theory reading of Walter Benjamin’s, Modernism, and Poetry and Grammar by Gertrude Stein, trying to add words to George,  House of Grace sequel, somehow this morning I must fit in at least half an hour to spend on the piano. I love my piano but I love my writing more. Are you ever torn between two arts?

Another great creative writing session at uni on Friday. One of the things we discussed is what different poets have to say from the Bloodaxe, Strong Words. In particular what drew me in was an extract from Robert Graves where he states, ‘The outward ear is easily deceived.’ What he appears to be saying is that even if poetry is bad or fraudulent but read with a beautiful voice, the ear would be deceived to think it was good. What is your theory on that? Do you agree? By the same cloth how do you feel about a really good piece of poetry being read out aloud by an inexperienced reader? Would it still sound good? Food for thought. I’d love to hear what you think.

Following the theory side of things in class, we moved on to the craft workshop, my favourite part. We read out our own poems and then offered each other critique. The group has a diverse range of age but everyone fits in well. Lots of homework to be completed this week including writing a poem that can be read horizontally or vertical. Quite a challenge.