I've set myself a reasonable list of goals, and one of those is to finally publish the blog post regarding the storyline of my work. I'm looking forward to sharing that with everyone and see what people think, fingers crossed it'll go down OK!
In terms of actual progress on the project this week, I'm hoping to re-read the prologue that I had originally written over summer. I was pleased with it when I initially wrote it, but having read it a few times since, I've realised it's a bit clunky, and a bit too long-winded, so I'm hoping to make it flow much better and be more punchy and engaging.
It's funny, this is the same note I get on my essays for University, so actually, I should think that if I can change it in my writing for this, then it should have a positive effect on my uni work as well, which is never a bad thing.
I've also discovered that the best place for me to work on this is a little cafe in the Parkinson Building at Leeds University. I find that there I can really think about things, and most of the actual content and ideas that I've had, have been devised while I was there. And because my timetable is so lax this semester, I think i'll be able to spend quite a lot of time there and really progress with this.
Another thing I've managed to focus on since I've finished exams is reading: I spent an hour looking around Waterstones with a friend of mine this week, and since then I've been very excited to start reading again, The book I've decided to start reading is Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks.
This book has been on my shelf for quite a while now: I bought it around Christmas 2011 when I was working at Waterstones. I'd heard good things about the series, but after buying it, it took me a while to convince myself to read it because it's not my usual genre. I'm usually into Fantasy and Historical Fiction, so Sci-Fi is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I've heard that this book is more like an Epic Fantasy book set in a Sci-Fi context, rather than a Sci-Fi book with hints of adventure/fantasy.
After 60 pages or so I am enjoying it a lot. I'm still waiting a little bit for the main plot to kick in, but I'm being drawn into the characters and setting. I also like that the book doesn't spoon-feed Sci-Fi ideas to the reader, but instead just casually explains them over the course of the book. So for example, the basics of space travel, and the effects of planetary gravity etc. are not overly explained at the expense of flow, but are rather gradually, and smoothly explained.
I'm hoping that I carry on enjoying it just as much, and I hope that the fact it'lll encourage me to work on my own writing, and hopefully let me pick up some good habits!
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