A Sprinkle of Balderdash

M has another month of fab prompts that you can see here

Today it is A sprinkle of Balderdash.

For those of you who might have seen my blog in the last month you will have seen that I wrote a 30000 word story, day by day using M’s prompts. Given that my preferred medium of expression is the glorious 5 lines of a limerick, and the longest post I have ever done was about 500 words, I am not sure where the confidence came from but there you go.

Mostly it started out as waffle and balderdash but as the month went on I really rather enjoyed it and whilst it is not quite the 50000 words NANOWRIMO might ask of you it’s a start, so I thought I would share a few thoughts on the experience.

  • It was so important to make sure I wrote every day. I got behind after a weekend of enjoying the royal wedding and it was so hard to catch up so should I do it again I would ensure that time is put aside at all costs.
  • I discovered afterwards that there are two types of writers. Those that plan and the ‘pantsers’. ‘Pantsers’ are apparently people who make fly by the seat of their pants and plan very little. I think I lean more towards being a ‘pantser’.
  • Encouragement really matters. Those wonderful people amongst you who took time to read and comment, M for just doing the prompts, Dronsta who really helped with advice or people on Twitter who posted things on their own timelines which I found encouraging – it all really motivated me when I was struggling.
  • Editing can come later, this was pretty much a public first draft but getting the draft down became such a motivator. I can now revisit and do whatever I want with it but it is mine to play with at my leisure.
  • I had only ever written short flash fiction pieces before and the idea of writing 1000 words was massive daunting for me but day by day, line by line, I found that the stamina built pretty quickly and by the end I could churn out an unedited 2500 words in about an hour and a half.
  • When I completed it I wished I was a dog because It was such a thrill that I would happily have licked my own bollocks, and not just for hygiene reasons I tell you.
  • For a few days afterwards I have found it really hard to write. Oddly I found myself going through quite a few emotions having put so much into something over a short period. At times I felt stupid for doing it, others proud, and I really missed it which made doing anything else feel pointless. I did a bit of reading and this is apparently normal it seems.

So, if you’re wondering whether you can do it, absolutely you can just put some time aside, find people to support you and write, write, write…

Author: Michael

Husband, dad,(ex)programmer, comic collector and proud Yorkshireman. I have no idea why im here or why im writing but i rather enjoy it. no great fan of punctuation;

24 thoughts on “A Sprinkle of Balderdash”

  1. Pantsers, yup read about them, i think it is writing off top of head, mostly what happens i cant plan either! Yes we are now ‘missing’ reading 😦 ha!
    Oh and i have had the ‘joy’ of writing a bunch, then the desert appears, no words no words cant write…….Best wishes this month!

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  2. You too Sarah. Im just about back to normal now so looking forward to reading more and writing a bit less. The words will come you just gotta keep feeding the mind and looking for inspiration. Good luck!

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  4. That pesky thing called work I know the feeling I didn’t work today and had a great day writing and have done probably 13 posts and whilst they’re not heavy reading they were just good fun and I just enjoyed waffling on a bit

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  15. “Pantsers” is what I am becoming with the rest of my life … I seem to put everything aside so I can take a walk (as much as I can with this *&^% rain that we are getting … every day!), take pictures or write a blog post. I have to balance my priorities better … it seems the blog is coming first, and other things afterward … sleep, doing tasks around the house seem to be the very last … house looks like it too! Outside can’t be helped because of the rain, but I want to slap my wrists sometimes. 🙂

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  16. I think sometimes we just have to do the things that we enjoy doing and other things will inevitably suffer but I also think we put too much focus on things that have no real value and the bring no joy.

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  17. I agree with you Michael. I find myself enjoying blogging so much more now that I am interacting more and taking more photos – the rest of life is tending to get in the way … we need to enjoy our lives more anyway. The trivial things can wait. It is hard not to be a Pantser sometimes. 🙂

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  18. I too felt that way after my Happiness and Gratitude year was done… nice to know it is “normal.” I tend to be a pantser too. I hope you find time to do this again the series I felt was very good!

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  22. Yes, because life is too short to be pulled away from your passion by the ordinary and menial tasks … it is enough to have to occupy one’s time with your job day in and day out.

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  24. Pingback: June writing prompt participants – Putting My Feet in the Dirt

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