Dreams Into Stories or Books

Being a writer, I've often been a person who has been told 'jeez, you're so creative! Where do you get your ideas from?' 

Well, everywhere. But I hesitate to tell people that a lot of my ideas come from my dreams I have a night... and this is why I love to get my butt to bed and sleep at the right times. And I hate to be woken by anything outside my house - anyone who isn't part of my life - as that interrupts my dreams, which may make it into my books or stories. 

I have often been able to wake up and write down my dreams into Dream Journals and wait for the right time for the mojo to hit me and the dream to turn itself into a story - then the fun happens! I have the fun and games of getting my dream which is all written down from my imagination and make it into something which everyone can read.

So, my question to you out there is: do you do the same thing? Do you write down your dreams and at some point in time, have the joy of writing them into stories or books, like I do? Well, it's always a lot of fun doing it this way. Until my next post, happy reading and writing!

Working Hard

You know, no matter what a writer works on, it's never an easy task. You may be working on a fantasy novel, and you still have to do research into costume, food, historical fact and weaponry. 

With my Grandpa's journals/diaries, it's the same thing. I've had to Google a lot of things he's mentioned in the 1930's and yet am still learning about farming equipment which has been updated over time. This also includes everyday terms which were used back then and aren't used now.

For example: 'Flicks' or 'Pictures' is now called 'the movies'. It took me a little while to get used to those first two terms, but it's something people did on Friday nights. However, 'Eisteddfods' were around then more than ever; and my Grandpa and his mouth organ band took part in them all the time; so long he put in the entry forms in time. 

I'm finding that I'm forever looking on YouTube about how they're using fencing equipment - like strainers and struts (and for somebody who's never put up a fence in their lives, I'm learning new things about all of the things my Grandpa used to do for a living). 

In between the gardening work, fencing, cattle herding, and biking between Warwick, Allora and Cecil Plains (yes, all on a bike), he's was dating my Grandmother, going to fellowship, church twice on Sundays, Band practice on Thursdays, and following the cricket on the wireless (radio) as well. He also went out to a few dances, yarned to a couple of friends and enjoyed his early mornings. But my Grandpa was a hard worker. 

He put a lot of humour in his diaries too; something I missed out on when I was a youngster, but I'm seeing now. I now wish I could have spoken to him more. But, it's a good thing I'm doing this - and learning so much about his life and him as person now, as well as how life was back in the 1930's. 

So, how is your writing going - if you write as well? Do you love research, or do you love the invention part of the book? Until my next post, happy reading and writing.

Haven't Been Around... I know.

I'm sorry... really.

But the reason why I haven't been here - or any of my other blogs (go and check, they're kinda blah too) - is because I have been busily writing something.

Yes, I'm writing again - but not what you think.

I'm looking at getting my late-Grandfather's diaries computerised. I tried this before, and my computers crashed each time... this time, I've been going for a few weeks, and typing faster than ever, and it's all been going better than the last two times I've attempted it.

I think it's because the technology is better than it was years ago, and I'm more confident than I was before; and I have some idea of how it will look as a finished product. 

I have learned so much about my Grandpa in his early years. He was such an innocent teenager when he came out to Australia... and yet, he worked his heart out to get where he did in the world. He was so far from home, from family, from his Mum and his brothers and sisters and his Mother Country - England - and yet, he never forgot why he came to Australia: to carve out a better life for himself.

I've had to use magnifying glasses to read some of his writing - as a bit of it is so tiny and he wrote in pencil (which has faded over time) and fountain pen (which blots at the worst of times) and ball point pen (which was very expensive in the 1930's). So, using a magnifying glass has saved my eye sight a lot. I'm also writing out 2 diaries out at the same time. There's one I'm writing during the day - which is really small and I can only see in the daylight - and then there's a bigger one I can see better at night with the bedroom light behind me. I still have to use the magnifying glass on the bigger one at times because I can't always make out words.

And speaking of words, I'm learning new words. For example: Sundercutter. No, that's not a spelling mistake. This is a machine which ploughed fields and was built between 1926 and 1932. It wasn't a very expensive piece of machinery, but it was useful... however it broke easily and had to be fixed all the time; thus the reason why it was discontinued. Then there was Shiftshanking - which sounds either rude or made-up, but it's not. It's a machine which is now called Hay Baler. It did the same thing as it does now, but it was the first models way back when. My grandpa used these two machines - along with a combiner - and he built fences, gardens, bird cages, mended watches, bought a motor cycle with a side car and did many other things. And like I said, it's a real education learning about somebody who lived out in the middle of the country and yet I live in a city. 

Have you learned something new like this about a relative or family lately? I find this kind of thing fascinating. Until my next post, happy reading and writing.