OCA Part 4 Project 2 Ex 2

Re OCA Part 4 Project 1 - Perfect Gentleman

George:

Aged 38, brought up in a working class household on a council estate in a nicer part of

South East London. His father was a plumber, his mother worked in a local fish and
chip shop part time. After leaving school he went to work at an accountants as a clerk
and has been there ever since. Educated at a mixed sex comprehensive he was bullied
by both girls and boys, as he wore very thick lensed glasses. Had corrective laser
eye treatment 5 years ago. First girlfriend in his late 20’s, he worshipped her but
she dumped him. Lost his virginity to that girl. Finds it hard to relate to women,

doesn’t like them, thinks they’re all out for what they can get. His mother left him
and his father when he was 5, she ran off with another man. His father abused him
physically and mentally until at the age of 18 he walked out and never went back.
Socially inept, due to mistreatment in childhood, women are attracted to his good looks
and piercing blue eyes. Smokes roll ups, drinks cider and bites his nails when he’s
nervous. A loner at work, he lives on his own in a bedsit above a bookmaker's. Very
calm and calculating, almost emotionless, he trusts no one.

The smoke from his cigar curls round his fingers and swirls up to the ceiling, fogging the
room. He takes a deep drag and blows the smoke skywards, as he stands at the bottom of the blood spattered bed. The purple silk bed covering lies in folds on the floor by his feet. I can taste
the smoke and I realise just how badly I need a cigarette.
I watch, as he walks towards the bedside cabinet and taps his cigar on the crystal ashtray.
His black pinstripe suite looks expensive, handmade in Saville Row perhaps? I can tell by the soft black leather brogues on his feet that he is a very wealthy man. Just the type that come into the office with their designer brief cases, thinking they own the place. I try to keep my breathing short and shallow. Sweat is beginning to gather at the back of my neck and on my upper lip. My heart is pounding in my chest as I try to stay silent.
He reaches out and places two fingers on the ivory skin of her neck and sighs, then turns, and
looks around the room. His slicked back hair reminds me of a 1950’s gangster, and there is something familiar about his tanned face. I screw my eyes closed as he glances in my direction, as if closing them will help conceal me. My legs are aching and I’m determined not to faint. He picks up her red patent clutch bag that she had placed on the coffee table only an hour earlier and removes her mobile phone. He checks the screen and then places it back inside the bag, which he
tucks under his arm, inside his suit jacket.
Glancing around the room one more time he moves towards the door and places a gloved hand on the brass handle. He pauses. I’m willing him to leave. I’ve got to get out of here. I swear he can hear my heart beating. I cover my eyes with my hands and wait, expecting the worst, but instead I hear a soft click as the door closes behind him. I breathe deeply and lay my head back against the hard wood, the relief overwhelming me.
Tentatively, I push open the wardrobe door. My legs have gone to sleep making me struggle to
my feet. I move towards the bed and stare down at my work. Not one of my best, a bit too messy, but then, this is what happens when I have to rush. It wasn’t an ideal scenario from the beginning, but I was desperate.
I shut the wardrobe door, and grip the door handle, anxious to leave, aware that the police could be here at any moment. I leave the plush hotel room as silently as the previous visitor and make my way down the corridor towards the lifts, with a smile on my face.

OCA Part 4 Project 2 Ex1

This exercise was about writing for a particular audience.....who is my audience? I tend to write what I would like to read, is that a bad thing?

I wrote a short story entitled "What Lies Beneath" which is about a 40+ woman who is married to a successful, charismatic and attractive author. He's just about to publish his eagerly anticipated 9th novel....and I'm afraid I can tell you no more lol ;) I've decided to use it in a competition.....

At the moment it's just over 1000 words, so I need to pad it out a bit ;)

I think I have already developed a distinct voice. My husband can always tell stuff that I've written, and if I try to write differently, it stands out as not feeling quite right.

I'm practicing 1st person narration quite a lot (as I tend to be most comfortable in 3rd person) and that's working well :)

OCA Part 4 Project 1

Trying Out An iPad Post

Isn't modern technology brilliant!

Sitting in bed, posting this from my iPad.....it makes me realise there are no references to modern technology in my recent Nano novel, apart from my MC checking her phone for an e mail.

Definitely something to consider in the re-write ;)

Finished!!!!!! :o)

Yep, that's right, 50000 words in 28 days :o)

At one point it was looking very dodgy lol, probably

because I'd made life harder for myself by actually

wanting to have an ending at 50000 words. I didn't

want to end up in the position I was last year ;o)

Sooooo, what now? Spell check? Re-write, editing......

but not quite yet eh.....I need a break! ;o)

Past The Half Way Mark

Well, I'm up to 35110 on my Nano novel. I guess I should be pleased, but, I dunno, I'm just not feeling it this time lol..... I guess the subject matter I'm writing about is a bit too close to home for comfort lol and trying to juggle 1667 words a day whilst trying to do a creative writing course with an assignment due on the 20th December was never going to be a good idea was it? Lol

My husband thinks that this Nano novel is better than last years but I'm not convinced. Last I wrote 65,000 words from the omniscient POV. I didn't mean to, I didn't intend to, it was the first thing I'd written since leaving school, I didn't even know it was omniscient until I started learning about creative writing lol...... This current Nano is 100% 3rd person. Everything that happens is only seen from the main characters POV, you don't know whats going on anywhere else, and I'm not sure I like it. Have I changed my style of writing because I now know more about the right and wrong ways to do it?

It's Nano Time Again :o)

I haven't used this blog for a long time have I? I feel slightly guilty that it's been neglected. I seem to spend most of my life flitting from one thing to another. Is that because I get bored or because I can't stick at anything? Lol

So here I am, in the last few days of October and this time last year I was doing exactly what I'm doing this year.....waiting for Nanowrimo to start. Now last year, when I started typing my novel on the 1st November I hadn't written a thing since leaving school. I ended up with 65,000 words of a novel. A very crap novel, but a novel none the less :o)

This year I'm more organised :o) I've been building up character sketches, working on a basic story, getting things straight in my mind as to where it's gunna go, what's gunna happen and how it's going to end. My only problem this year is how the hell I'm going to drag it out for at least 50,000 words! Lol

I'm going to use this blog to record my thoughts, feelings and progress with my 2nd Nano adventure. Last years adventure has led me on such a journey...... Let's hope this year leads to even more exciting times :o)