Writing Genre Exercises Part One

Genre is going along alright, we've had an assignment added to the list of things we have to complete, but that's ok. We now have to write a 2,000 word creative piece and a write back piece in which we take a section of someone else's work and write back to it, again 2,000 words. I've decided on what I'm doing for that, so it's just a case of writing it now.

In the meantime - we have weekly tasks to complete before the next weeks lecture (Commonly called homework!) This week we had a list of trigger words. I remember, I like, I hate etc and we had to just unload the first thing that came into our heads. My list is below. Not sure if it's right, but that's what came out of my head when I read the 'trigger' words.

The other task is to just write for ten minutes. I feel like I've done this particular writing task over and over again! So I'm in no real rush to write it again, I should dig out some old ones and compare them, to see if I remember the same things.

Anyway - here is my list


I remember: holidays at the beach as a child, endless days in the sun, riding my brothers BMX along the beach, trying to learn to surf, playing cricket with other kids near our caravan, trips to the shop where twenty cents would buy you a massive bag of lollies.

I hate: people who can’t indicate on roundabouts, road rage in general, people who belittle others for their own enjoyment or from the need to feel satisfaction, animal cruelty, child abuse, the ill treatment of others due to gender or sexual preference.

I love: Saturday afternoons knowing you have another twenty four hours before getting back into the grind of daily life. My nephews and their innocents in this world and how everything to them is just so simplistic. My mum for being one of the most amazing women I know.

I never: understand why people are nasty to one another.

I always: treat others as I’d like to be treated. Wear a seatbelt. Drink tea everyday.

I can: play drums, and kinda write.

I wish: my nephews a safe and happy future. To travel overseas before I die. To experience what love is really like.

I hope: I manage to get one thing published, become a better writer, successfully complete my studies

I miss: my grandfather, cheap fuel, my youth.

I believe: for every nice deed done, an equally bad deed is done to cause a counter balance. Life wasn’t meant to be easy, but why complain about it?


Feel free to do a trigger list of your own if you like. Comment me the link if you do, I'll be interested to read them.

That's all I've got.

Post # 21 Achievements

I ploughed though so much Uni stuff today. I'm quite proud of myself. I've got one task left for Written Text and I'll be up to date with the online posting thing (Highly technical there) I've got one last major assignment left for that class and it's done and dusted (Other than the weekly posts)

Prose is plodding along alright. I got a credit + for my Sci-fi story. I'm happy with that. My punctuation once again let me down. I'm at a loss there. I try so hard to get on top of it, but it just seems to continually fall short. If I could sort out my pathetic punctuation skills, I'm confident enough in my writing to say I could get Distinctions with the effort I put into my writing.

Writing from the edge results are in also - I got a credit for that which I'm really happy about - this style of writing such as a novel in ten lines is all new to me - so to get a credit mark in that class. I wrote a prose poem about the visual disturbances of migraines. So to get a credit for that I'm very happy.

I've just got to catch up with my online stuff for Writing from the edge and Prose and I'll just have the essays due for those classes then I'm done for this semester.

Overall its been a highly productive day. The weathers shit (Cold, windy and raining) so I've not been outside at all, other than to collect the mail. I will have to brave to cold to take my dog for a walk - though from the look of him right now laying on the floor near me all snuggled up on his blanket. I'm thinking he'd be happy to forgo the walk/run today.

I'm off to stir the beef stew I put in the slow cooker this morning. Should be right to eat in about an hour from now.

That's all I've got.

Information Overload

So I'm doing three classes. I was doing four but dropped one. Why I can hear you enquire? Well the amount of reading was the main reason why I dropped a class. Myself and my friend Craig worked out that for each class there are 100 pages of 'course' material to read each week. So 300 pages for three classes. On top of that one class has compulsory 'book' reading. I got through the Tempest this week, though I'm still a little hazy on the details! Jane Eyre is on the list for this week.

I'm struggling to juggle my time to get all the readings done then on top of that participate in the online forums which consists of 'short, sharp and detailed' responses to the readings and also some other 'questions' the tutors feel are relevant to the topic that week.

No answer no participation mark - fail!

I'll get through it, however the information is coming so thick and fast that I can't remember the stuff I've just read not 20min ago. There's going to be a bus on it's way to struggle town in the next 3 months whilst I get this semester out of the way.

Was I under the delusion that Uni was a 'fun' experience?

That's all I've got

Procrastination

If there was a masters degree in it. I'd have that Phd bit at the end of my name. Just Sal Phd in Procrastination.

I start off with the best intentions. Then I get online and a void sucks me in and I just wander off and check out none related Uni sites kinda like this one ;P I just can't seem to find the motivation required to put my head down arse up and study. I've got those five books to get through and I'm slightly concerned that I just can't seem to get into it. When I say 'it' I mean Uni in general.

I've also got a 3000 word creative piece that I have to workshop in two weeks. I'm not 100% sure where I'm going to pull 3000 words from right now. Though the idea I have is quite solid in my mind, and the research I've done so far on the storyline is coming along nicely. I even managed to jot down some points at 2am this morning when I couldn't sleep due to the revealers in the park with their doof doof music playing at a high volume before a large fight broke out and broken glass seemed to be shattering a lot. Perhaps a volley of bottles where thrown at each group. I'm not sure. The street this morning is quite dishevelled and well the council was out cleaning the street when I checked the post.

So plan for this weekend:
Get the tempest read.
Get back into Jane Eyre.
Make Muffins. Mmmmm Muffins
Try and get some solid groundwork completed of the 3000 words creative piece.
Do homework for Prose class for Monday
Watch the kick arse movie on TV this evening called The guardian.

That's all I've got.

I remember list

So one of the tasks is the make a list of things that I remember mostly from my childhood in 5 minutes - short and sweet. So here it is

• Holiday's at the beach
• Breakfast with my Nanna
• Christmas as a child being more exciting than as an adult
• My parents putting in a swimming pool
• The first swim in the pool
• Summer days spent all day in the pool
• Family BBQ's at my Nanna's house up the road
• My first dog Zoe
• Various cats I bought home that I found
• Getting my first skateboard
• Weekends that never seem to end - riding my skateboard from dawn to dusk
• Hot chips from the shop around the corner
• Playing hand ball in the park across the road
• Playing 'Army', 'Doctor Who' or 'Starwars' in the back yard with my brother
• Running inside from hearing the theme to Dr Who and getting there in time to see Tom Baker's face fade off into the time vortex
• Watching Dr Who and getting excited if the episode had Darleks
• Teaching myself to play drums
• Spending every spare moment playing drums
• Hating school and the bullying I endured
• My mum coming to watch me perform at a concert and yelling out that's my daughter playing the drums
• My brother going to university in Brisbane and the house being different without him
• Failing my HSC and my mother crying over it
• Coming 2nd in the state for music (Drumming Major) in the HSC - but still failing overall
  
• Moving out of home on the day of my last HSC exam
• Coming home for x-mas
• Getting into computers
• Moving to Brisbane to study computers
  
• The anonymity that the city gave me
• New found freedom and loneliness of the city
• Standing on my own two feet
• Falling in love and have my heart ripped out

The next tasks it to write non stop for 10 minutes about 'I remember' which I will post tomorrow - If all goes well.