Viewing prospective homes has begun in earnest. As a past-time, it can be a smidge... shall we say, bleak? However, gotta figure the right place for me is out there...
In Writing News, I'm back in front of the laptop. Phew - it's been way too long. And I shall be frequenting the Irish Writers' Centre in the coming weeks. I've been given a place on Dermot Bolger's novel writing workshop (which the IWC is hosting tomorrow), *and* I'll be one of the Centre's in-house writers for the month of November (which is National Novel Writing Month - all very appropriate). Excellent news. Feeling very grateful indeed :-)
Showing posts with label writing matters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing matters. Show all posts
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Worlds within worlds
I feel like I'm coming up to the surface, after a day of writing.
Then again, writing feels like coming up to the surface too :-)
Out to sit in the sunshine and savour the cool breeze. In the meanwhile, here's an image of one of the mermaids at Weeki Wachee that I seem to post every year or so... Just the right level of 'cool' suggested:
Then again, writing feels like coming up to the surface too :-)
Out to sit in the sunshine and savour the cool breeze. In the meanwhile, here's an image of one of the mermaids at Weeki Wachee that I seem to post every year or so... Just the right level of 'cool' suggested:
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Old fiction, newly online
At one of the Nosey readings this year, I was asked about the first story I wrote: I chatted about 'Louisa and the Sea', about a girl who met the sea one day.
I'd been intending to add it online in the Great Website Overhaul, but since I'm currently at a steady oscillation between an organic, rounded look for the site and neat straight lines, not to mind colours & fonts - I thought I'd just put it up there for now, and worry about formatting later.
You can read it over here: http://orlaithosullivan.com/louisa.html.
I'd been intending to add it online in the Great Website Overhaul, but since I'm currently at a steady oscillation between an organic, rounded look for the site and neat straight lines, not to mind colours & fonts - I thought I'd just put it up there for now, and worry about formatting later.
You can read it over here: http://orlaithosullivan.com/louisa.html.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Imagining the unwritten
People like to receive information in different ways.
Let's say you're moving offices. You tell some members of your team "the new place is gonna be great - light, spacious, easier for us to communicate; our work life will be enhanced in myriad ways" - and you'll have some of your team right there, from hello. For others, those words are the verbal equivalent of one of those weird entities that the Enterprise was always running into: a nebulous cloud spouting gobbeldeygook. You're not sure yet if it's evil, but it's not encouraging a fuzzy warm feeling.**
If you approach it from the other end of the spectrum: with maps and architects' charts and little dotted lines leading to transport connections, toilets, the stationery cupboard - you'll win other people over straight away. But those nebulous cloud folk will wonder how they ended up working for a loopy fascist crazy person who probably counts paperclips, since she seems so concerned with the whereabouts of the bleedin' stationery.
Which brings me to writing the synopsis of a novel. Little sigh. You get 500-1000 words (the book itself will be 100k-120k) in which to sum up everything. The length necessitates that it's Big Brush Stroke land, but do the brush strokes represent the feel, the tone, the atmosphere of the book, or do they suggest its hefty cast of characters, its twistey-turney plot...
I'm guessing it's both, but it takes some finessing. It feels a bit like sweeping from an epic landscape shot to tiny fine detail, and can produce a Writerly equivalent of seasickness.
I wonder if Absolut is like the Writers' Dramamine...
**Unless it's a tribble. Tribbles are, of course, all about the fuzziness.
Let's say you're moving offices. You tell some members of your team "the new place is gonna be great - light, spacious, easier for us to communicate; our work life will be enhanced in myriad ways" - and you'll have some of your team right there, from hello. For others, those words are the verbal equivalent of one of those weird entities that the Enterprise was always running into: a nebulous cloud spouting gobbeldeygook. You're not sure yet if it's evil, but it's not encouraging a fuzzy warm feeling.**
If you approach it from the other end of the spectrum: with maps and architects' charts and little dotted lines leading to transport connections, toilets, the stationery cupboard - you'll win other people over straight away. But those nebulous cloud folk will wonder how they ended up working for a loopy fascist crazy person who probably counts paperclips, since she seems so concerned with the whereabouts of the bleedin' stationery.
Which brings me to writing the synopsis of a novel. Little sigh. You get 500-1000 words (the book itself will be 100k-120k) in which to sum up everything. The length necessitates that it's Big Brush Stroke land, but do the brush strokes represent the feel, the tone, the atmosphere of the book, or do they suggest its hefty cast of characters, its twistey-turney plot...
I'm guessing it's both, but it takes some finessing. It feels a bit like sweeping from an epic landscape shot to tiny fine detail, and can produce a Writerly equivalent of seasickness.
I wonder if Absolut is like the Writers' Dramamine...
**Unless it's a tribble. Tribbles are, of course, all about the fuzziness.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Sneaking online...
In brief: the Tyrone Guthrie Centre is fantastic. And work is going great. And in this rarified atmosphere, we all seem to feel guilty for checking twitter or facebook or email or texts. Amazing how much extra space - extra air - there is when you limit or excise all the e-talk from daily life.
So the blog may be scanty this week, but I will try to get some photos up. In the meantime, keep an eye on the twitter feed for mini-updates from my mobile.
And the writing - oh my writing is going great! Speaking of which, I can get another hour in before supper :-)
So the blog may be scanty this week, but I will try to get some photos up. In the meantime, keep an eye on the twitter feed for mini-updates from my mobile.
And the writing - oh my writing is going great! Speaking of which, I can get another hour in before supper :-)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Google-eyed
I am gradually getting my head around Google Book Search Partner Program.
I wanted to make some previously published stories available online, for free.
I've started with A Tall Tale, which is now live on Google Books; you can download the story, read it online, or just enjoy the pretty tag cloud that Google generates (featuring the word 'wiggle' - who wouldn't smile...) - anyhoo, it's available over here.
The process takes a few weeks, so more stories coming soon. Baby steps :-)
I wanted to make some previously published stories available online, for free.
I've started with A Tall Tale, which is now live on Google Books; you can download the story, read it online, or just enjoy the pretty tag cloud that Google generates (featuring the word 'wiggle' - who wouldn't smile...) - anyhoo, it's available over here.
The process takes a few weeks, so more stories coming soon. Baby steps :-)
Friday, June 5, 2009
Weekend Ho!
I am on the mend, for sure for sure. Just back from catching up on life in general with the village in general. And broadly speaking, all's well.
In other news, there's a new short story of mine published today in Danse Macabre which you can read, without signing up for anything, just over here.
Have a scrumptious weekend :-)
In other news, there's a new short story of mine published today in Danse Macabre which you can read, without signing up for anything, just over here.
Have a scrumptious weekend :-)
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