I love Cathy’s writing and so even though I don’t have any particular desire to write a memoir at the moment (definitely one of the people described within who thinks they have no specific story to tell), I wanted to read this book. And I’m glad I did because I think firstly, it’s just a nice uplifting book to read about powering through and getting on with your craft. And secondly, I think it can apply to all kinds of writing, and by extension, all kinds of endeavours really. A nice book, lots of advice and pointers to get you started, not hugely structural but more of a cheerleader to keep you on the right path.

I have always, always been a cheerleader for blogging in any form. I think the spirit of sharing things, writing things down, just having an outlet and tiny corner of the web for yourself is a brilliant and important thing. In the past, I’ve come up with challenges to help encourage people to read and comment on blogs, and taken part in other experiments to share thoughts and feelings about various topics. Ultimately, I talk too much and I want to encourage other people to do the same!

The Guardian published an interesting post last week about audiobook narration and the impact artificial intelligence could have on it. The post talks to an author who was working with Apple on a secret project that allows AI voices to provide the narration on an audiobook - and evaluates whether it’s any good or not.

I was very intrigued to see this series of How To books published by Stormzy’s Merky Books imprint. Short little books with guidance on a variety of subjects, this first one is about writing, publishing and getting the best out of your creativity. It took me a while to get used to the style of book - it’s not a writing guide, although it does have some exercises to try. It’s not a step by step to getting published, although there are some tips, lists and links to help.

I’m writing this post in the Ulysses writing app which, I just learned, can connect to Wordpress and publish posts directly without having to interface with the awful Wordpress app. This is potentially the final stage in the “using the iPad for pretty much everything you need to do”, for which I have written a post previously and intend to write an update on very soon. And just to fully test, here’s a recent picture from the beach.

I’ve heard people rave about this book before and have kept it sitting on my Kindle bookshelf for a long while before dipping in. I’m not really in fiction writing mode at the moment, although I do have some ideas bouncing around my head. I’ve got too many hobbies as it is and I’d want to give writing a good portion of my attention.

Maggie, aka Mighty Girl, is one of the reasons I started my own Life List many moons ago, and I’m always interested to see her take on resolutions, goals and achievements to undertake. Whilst her resolutions this year may be minimalistic, they are none the less inspiring, particularly this one about putting pen to paper/finger to keyboard. Write and write and write and write. It’s like talking, as much as you want, about whatever you want, but no one has to listen to you!

Recently, I’ve noticed a few people lacking motivation when it comes to writing – specifically in this instance about blogging. I thought I’d share a few of my favourite tips on getting back your writing mojo, whatever the project, because it’s a new year and a good time to blow the dust off that keyboard. I’m not an expert, by any means, but I’ve written and I’ve had writer’s block, and these are the tips that have helped me. If you’re struggling to get the motivation to write, try one or more of these on for size, and see how you get on!

I’ve been following the progress of Ghost, a new Kickstarter-funded blogging platform, for a while. It just recently went live for self-hosted blogs, which I briefly considered signing up to. I really want to try out and encourage new blogging formats, rather than the same-old, same-old, but having been through the pain of self-hosted, I decided I’d wait for the hosted solution instead. This week, the brilliant Ghost folks gave me beta access to the hosted platform, so I immediately checked it out. There are three things to note straight away:

I’ve kept a diary on and off for years. The first diary I remember writing was in one of those exercise books where half the page is blank and half the page is lines with enormous spacing. We would draw and write about our day. I don’t draw well, but I probably didn’t write very well in those days either. I also recall later keeping a diary in the back of one of our English exercise books. We turned them upside down and wrote more about our day at school and at home. I can’t say that I was leading a particularly exciting life back then, but it probably seemed like it at the time.

Last time I checked, the new Formula One season was still something like 80+ days away. The beautiful off-season stretched luxuriously ahead of us and there was all the time in the world to knuckle down to some projects. Then I blinked. Now there are 20 days left. That’s like, three weeks. The off season is all but over and what do I have to show for it? Well, actually, I have a book. I wrote a new book all about the upcoming season. We’ve publicised it all over the place, but if you haven’t heard about it yet, do check it out - Pocket F1 Handbook: Guide to the 2012 Grand Prix Season

Way back in February, I left the comfort of a good job with a vague idea of changing careers. It felt like the right time to do it and I knew I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to leave one job with time to look for another one - the right one - to come along. I went for a couple of interviews here and there, but was not particularly enamoured with what I found. I was worried that my dream job didn’t exist. I still think it probably doesn’t.

As if I wasn’t already taking over the internet enough, I’ve set up another domain and site. If you head over to christineblachford.com you will find a quite sparse, but in progress website. That is the place where I’ll be specifically posting updates about books and writing and that kind of thing. Don’t think I won’t talk about that stuff here too, but it felt sensible to nab the domain while it was free.

Recently, I have talked a lot about writing. I talked about the process of doing it: I’m quite lucky in that what I’m doing has specific sections so I know how far I am through it. Seeing the percentage creep up each day is really motivating, although the days when it stays the same is less so. It’s also good to say, when I get to this percentage then I can have a reward. I haven’t decided what my reward should be for finishing the whole thing. Maybe cake.

With this writing lark, I’m sort of at a stage where proofreading comes into play. I’m pretty good at proofreading. I’ve spent the past several years sub-editing posts on Sidepodcast to check for spelling and grammar and that kind of thing. I’ve spent plenty of time reading and re-reading posts on here to make sure they at least flow, if not make some kind of sense. I even spent a couple of months professionally proofreading, which was very enjoyable, if exhausting.

At the moment, I’m busy, busy trying to write the most lengthy thing I have ever written. No specifics, you know how it is, but writing something like this is a process I’ve read about so often and never really got this far with. Things that help: Being in a different place. I was writing whilst I was off on my alphabet adventure and at the end of the day, I would sit in my room and type type type. Equally, just moving away from my desk and taking the laptop towards the sofa makes a huge amount of difference. It’s not like there are any less distractions when I have the entire internet at my fingertips, but being away from the regular place makes it easier to do something different. Rainymood. A sudden influx of sunshine means people like to do things like mowing lawns and having loud conversations in the garden. This is where earphones and rainymood are very useful. I did find the site was glitching for me at one point, so instead I tuned in to the SleepMachine app that I mentioned here a while ago. That works just as well. Far better than listening to the spoken word, and I find my playlists very distracting because it just makes me want to sing along. Percentages. I’m quite lucky in that what I’m doing has specific sections so I know how far I am through it. Seeing the percentage creep up each day is really motivating, although the days when it stays the same is less so. It’s also good to say, when I get to this percentage then I can have a reward. I haven’t decided what my reward should be for finishing the whole thing. Maybe cake. I’m not too far off the end now which is fabulous, although, of course, I am procrastinating by writing this post. It’s such a fascinating thing that in the midst of this, it feels as though I can’t think about or do anything else until it’s done, else I’ll break the motivation and never get back to it. I pine about actually having a life again.

Sincere apologies for the delay in getting this final part up, I wasn’t trying to drag out the ending in a reality show results style, honest. Here’s how the last voting of this series went: Sometimes we like to play it safe, sometimes we like to take a risk. Mitch watched as both the cars in front of him peeled off the racing line. In his mirrors, he saw Bruno leaving it late, but then the Shuttleworth also jinked right and was heading towards the pit lane.

Can’t quite believe this is the penultimate part already. Time flies. As Ian mentioned in the comments, I am still chasing that second unanimous vote but it was not to be this time. Here’s a bumper edition to see us into the final part nicely. “Come on,” Pierre said, pushing Mitch back towards the car. “Do you want to give Mason more reason to consider Diaz?” “What?” “Get back out there. Now.”

I was secretly hoping for a repeat of the unanimous vote achievement, but this one was not quite so straight forward. A couple of people are concerned for Mitch’s welfare, but most want to see him back behind the wheel. “I’m in!” Mitch yelled, bursting back into the motorhome with glee. He stopped abruptly, when he realised a group of fans were being shown around. Melissa hurried over to him, grabbed at his arm and pulled him out of the room.

I thought I would throw this poll open as it was great fun when we did that last time. You guys didn’t disappoint. Sandro was the top answer, the obvious choice really, I suppose. I do love the options, although I’m not sure Mr C has a super-licence at the moment. Also, I’m quite intrigued by Mason’s cousin. Would that make him Uncle Mortimer’s son, and what kind of family dynamic would happen if he tried to move up to a new formula? Or is there another secret Mortimer brother, and does he bear any grudge to the sport? Interesting. All that is for another time, though.

Party people! It’s only right to celebrate, no matter what kind of a headache you’ve got! See? Let us see what a Mortimer celebration is like! Mitch sat at the hotel bar, watching the celebrations going on around him. Mason and Bella were entertaining a large group of mechanics, regular bursts of laughter drowning out any other chatter. He sipped at his orange juice. Melissa appeared at his side, and she hopped up onto the stool next to him. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

I’m not sure we’ve ever had a unanimous vote before, how exciting! I hear ya! Mitch brought the car in, stopping perfectly inside the Mortimer GP pit box. He was hoisted up on jacks, the crew changed his tyres, and out of the corner of his eye he spotted an extra mechanic having a closer look at the rear end of the car. It felt like he was stationery for hours, but in reality it was about ten seconds - longer than a pit stop should normally take, but not so long that he would lose the lead.

Here are the results of the gridwalk poll: As noted in the comments, Mitch is normally painted as the good guy, and I had thought the gridwalk would be a sure thing, but as a die-hard racer, Mitch is more professional than that, and Pierre wins his attention. So, on with the chapter. Mitch waved a hand at the cameras and offered a positive thumbs up, but turned his attention to Pierre. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the crew turn away disappointedly. Mitch knew Melissa was going to be mad at him for passing up a promotional opportunity, but the numbers on Pierre’s clipboard looked far more important.

You’re all so adventurous! I will not chatter too much now, except to say the wiki page is pretty much done, so head over and have a look at everything you could possibly need to know about Life in the Fast Lane. Don’t go yet, though, we’ve got a chapter to get through. The dry tyres were on, and Mitch’s car was lowered to the ground. He could see the mechanics from the team in front eyeing his car warily.

Ahh, I missed this. Mitch and Mason and them all. As my favourite lady of the moment would say: Such fun!I must point you towards the brand new section of the wiki dedicated to Life in the Fast Lane. It has all kinds of crazy information about characters and plot points, plus some fantastic livery designs from Lukeh. It’s a work in progress but it’s going to be excellent. Anyways, it was a bit of an off-beat poll to begin with, no harm in trying something different, and it sets us up nicely for the rest of the series. But, which way did the votes go? Drum roll please.

“WHERE IS IT?” Mason roared. The mechanics nearby jumped, and rapidly turned their attention to minute tasks. Mason glared at them, but getting no response, he began stomping around the car. “What’s going on?” Melissa asked, approaching Mitch with his drinks bottle. They watched the spectacle from their side of the garage. “Mason has it in his head that he needs his lucky wristband,” Mitch shook his head. “It’s a crazy idea that he just dreamt up over the last few races. Like he hasn’t been lucky enough without it in the past.”

I’m currently in the process of sorting out and organising my writing notes. This sounds a lot grander than it really is. When I used to write, I started dozens of notebooks, scribbled on scraps of paper, and created quite a few Word documents. They were saved all over the place, both in terms of hard drives, and boxes. When I started writing again, I began a new system, and now it’s all a bit messed up.

Sorry this final part has taken so long to appear. Perhaps sub-consciously I just did not want to say goodbye to our characters. Either that or I was really quite busy. However, we must say goodbye, and here is how we’re going to do it - the results of our final vote. Melissa’s future caused quite a bit of discussion but we have a definitive answer: Mitch sat in the garage, helmet in hand, his eyebrows furrowed. Mason crossed the garage, pulling his race suit up around his shoulders. “What’s up with you?” he asked Mitch.

Well now, that was a really fun experiment! For a long time Mitch was leading the vote, but Bruno snuck up from behind and took glory. Only Mason was chosen twice out of the various Other suggestions. I am intensely curious where the idea of Damon Hill came from. Anyway, on with the story. “Bruno,” Melissa sighed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “What are you doing?” “I just wanted to see you,” he said. “I didn’t think you would come if I asked.”

I am very impressed with how good and honest you all are: Let’s see how she takes it! Also for today’s poll, I thought we’d try out the “fill in your own” option. Much fun! “Come with me,” Mitch said, taking her by the arm and leading her through the crowd. They slipped out into the corridor and Melissa followed Mitch as he rounded the corner and walked ahead. He slowed outside a door, knocked lightly, peeked inside, and gestured for Melissa to follow him in. As she passed through the door, she saw they were entering an empty Conference Room B.

I needed a few days for this one to come to fruition, but we’re getting there. Now we are on part seven and beyond, I know where I’m going with each outcome. We have some end goals in sight, people. Here are the results for the last vote: I thought it might be closer than that, but interesting voting, nonetheless. Now for part 7: “I’m not going to race you, Bruno,” Mitch said, and his voice had a definite edge that couldn’t be ignored.

We’re entering into the second half of our story now, and things are hotting up. Old rivalries come to the fore, and new relationships are tested. There, that ought to look good on the back of the book. Here are the results of the vote: That Mitch, he does like handling things himself. “Don’t make any calls, Mason. You sound like you’re in the mafia.” “You never know,” Mason chuckled.

Certainly a very tricky situation, and how will Mitch try and get out of it? Mitch slammed his foot on the brake but knew that stopping wasn’t an option. The track was slippery and grip was almost non-existent. Bruno was inches away. Mitch jerked the car left, as hard as it would go, and held his breath. Bruno steered the other way, but his out of control Shuttleworth continued sideways. They touched wheels. Mitch found himself bouncing away and he shifted the steering to avoid a spin. The car skidded to a halt on the grass. Bruno finally regained control and stopped just as his front wing touched the barrier.

My timing seems to have gone all wonky now. I closed the poll late, and this post has appeared later than I’d hoped. I can only apologise. Here are the results for the poll on Part 3: Quite the majority! Awww, you guys. “Wow!” Mitch said, hugging her quickly. “Congratulations. I’ll have to take you out for a celebratory drink.” “I turned it down,” Melissa said. “A commiseratory drink?”

Oh, wow, I have wrestled with this next section. I wrote it. Then I wrote it again with about six different endings. Then I went back to the original ending. It may still not be right yet. But let’s go with it. “This is nice,” Melissa said, as the waiter offered her a menu. Bruno smiled. “Wine?” he asked. “No, no, just a sparkling water for me. Can’t drink on duty.”

Yay for the return of Mitch and Friends. If anyone wants a quick catchup on everything that has happened so far, or wants a reminder of which character was which, I created a Life in the Fast Lane page with all you need to know. Now, the results of the vote for Part 1: I am glad that everyone on the list got some votes, I thought it might be a one horse race as only one of the characters is known to us so far. I’m also glad Uncle Mortimer retains some mystery. He has not yet had a speaking part!

So, here it is. The return of Mitch and his friends. I wanted to write a ten-step story on a different topic but I wasn’t inspired by anything else, and I missed Mitch. Marilene sent me a tweet and suddenly the sequel was there in my head, as though it had always been there. So thanks to Marilene, and thanks to you for reading. I hope it’s okay! Melissa took a deep breath and pushed open the gate. It creaked, reassuringly, and she made her way up the crumbling path towards the church. Her toes were already protesting about the new shoes they had been forced into, but Melissa ignored the pain, pasting a smile across her face.

I can’t quite believe we’ve reached the final part already, and yet, so much has happened to Mitch in just nine short chapters! This final vote was a very interesting one for me, and as ever, I was surprised at the voting. Not necessarily at the result, but at the margins and at the fact that the lead didn’t change hands once. I want to thank everyone who took the time to read and to vote (or just to vote if you are Mr C). We averaged around 35 votes per section which was more than I could ever have hoped for. Thanks for sticking with it, and I hope the end does the story justice.

Once again, the voting on the last poll really surprised me. For a long while, the daredevil answer was winning - don’t listen to the team, just go for it. However, a more sensible approach seems to have won: So, Mitch is ready to do what the team wants, but on his own terms. Where will that lead? Today’s vote will be the last one, and whilst I’m sure it’s not a surprise - we’ve been heading here for a while now - it’s the big one. You get to decide how the story ends - and whether or not there will be a sequel. No pressure!

The vote for part seven was interesting because the conservative approach was winning to start with, but then all the rebels appeared and gave us the answer we now have: I had to explain the difference between the two qualifying approaches to my mother who said she can’t wait until I have a less motorsport related story going on. For now, though, we’re about to qualify in Monaco.

I really enjoyed the last round of voting. Instead of a moral decision, or something that defines Mitch as a character, it was simply a “what obstacle shall we throw in his path” and you got to make that decision. The voting changed drastically throughout, but there could only be one winner. It seems as though Mason has got under everyone’s skin, whether it is for good or for bad! Apologies to all who wanted it to be Melissa at the door. We will have to do a more romantic story soon. For now, on with Part 7.

And thus we begin the second half of our story, and part six is here. The voting was down a little for the last section, but I am not surprised. It’s not really a difficult choice between partying and studying, is it? Ah, it was closer than I suspected. Good stuff. However, it is party time in Monaco, and Mitch and Bruno are ready to hit the town. Please note there is added green screen in Part 6, just for Gavin. Let’s go!

We have reached Part 5 of our story, halfway through, and I still have no idea how it’s going to end. I’m starting to get a vague sense of direction though, which is always good. Fun, isn’t it? The voting picked up again for Part 4, which was lovely to see, and the winner was also quite an outright favourite from the start: It’s interesting that Mitch didn’t get to confront Mason after the first race, but now he’s had time to cool off, and actually see a chequered flag, he’s ready for the conversation.

Here we are with part four of our story, a day later than expected. Sorry about that, there was podcasting to be done. So, how did the vote go for part three? I was quite surprised with the result: I thought perhaps the voting would be more adventurous, this is fiction after all and anything can happen! It seems as though reality was more convincing though, and we all know overtaking is nigh on impossible. Instead, Mitch has been instructed to pit early.

Here we are with Part 3. The pattern seems to have evolved to a chapter being posted, voting for a day, and then a day-ish for writing. I hope you’re enjoying the story so far, I’ve certainly been impressed with the voting. Speaking of which: I thought love was a bit of a long shot, but with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, you never know. Anyway, rivalry it is, and here is part three:

Hi, my name’s Christine and I’m a blogaholic. My global dashboard in Wordpress is looking pretty scary right now. I started a brand new blog called Ten Step Stories [link defunct], and it’s fiction. This is quite a big deal, although I don’t know why. The basic premise is a story, told in ten separate parts, and at the end of each, you get to decide what happens next via the medium of an embedded poll. I’m two parts into the first story, which is about motorsports (they do say you should write about what you know), and already the voting has been great fun! I went to sleep on the first day with one option in the lead, and woke up to find the second choice had not only overtaken, but galloped away into the distance.

Thank you to everyone for all the encouraging feedback following Ten Step Stories’ debut. I haven’t really written fiction for a couple of years so it was a bit of a push to hit the publish button. I’m glad I did though. Thank you. The voting was close. On the first day, it looked as though Mitch would be heading over to beat the living daylights out of his rival, but in the end, sense appears to have won out, and it’s a debrief for our rookie. The votes were as follows.

This was it. This was the moment John Mitchell had been waiting for. His heart was thumping, he could feel it in his temple, could hear his pulse echoing in his ears. A crackle of static interrupted the rhythm. “Don’t forget to breathe, Mitch,” came the raspy voice of his engineer. Mitch gripped the steering wheel tighter, his gloves hiding the white of his knuckles. From fourth on the grid, he had the chance to make up places at the first corner. He had the opportunity to make records. Headlines. He could do it. He could win his debut race.

I have found myself analysing blogging a little too much recently, but one thing has occurred to me that I hadn’t really thought about before. The blogs, or entries therein, that are based around a specific structure are very, very interesting. For example, on this very corner of the interweb, I have a couple of ongoing projects - the Film Watch live blogs, and the Great Gardening Adventure. Now, I am bound to say these are interesting, I am biased like that. However, I have seen similar ideas on other blogs, and really enjoy reading them.

Don’t you just hate those blogs where people analyse what they’re doing to such a degree that they actually talk about little else? Well, I apologise in advance for this post, which is just a quick thought about why people blog. As far as I can tell there are three reasons, and these are quite general categories. To connect with people. You want to find people that are interested in the same things you are. You want to share links and sites that you find interesting. You want to start conversations. To learn about a subject. Blogging about a specific subject helps you to learn as you write, and share what you know. To practice writing. Whether it is non fiction, or creative writing, blogging is a great way to practice, and get in the habit of writing often. As far as I can tell, this blog falls under the first category, and the now-defunct BBC blog fell under the second. I used to do a little of the third on my personal blog, but gave that up when I realised my creative writing just isn’t very good.