Observation Exercise

We've been set the tasks of getting a notebook and making notes of things around us, people etc., which catch our attention. We've also got a video to watch and have been asked to make a few notes about the people in it in our journals. Her is the extended version of what I came up with:

• Man in the bookshop, wearing a worded T-shirt. The first part of the motto says 'Super...', but super what? It' red print on a black background, so unlikely that it says 'Superman', it would be the classic red and blue of Superman if that was it.

• Tapping her teeth with her pen. A white pen. Making notes in a little book, much like my own.

• He's wearing a soft-looking blue jumper, cashmere maybe? It makes me want to stroke it to see. Is it okay to go around stroking men you don't know? Probably not. Shame.

• That pale blue, cashmere jumper he's wearing seems an odd choice for a business meeting. It clearly is a business meeting, they have variou charts, colourful and complex, scattered across the table between them and Mr. Blue has a very expensive-looking smartphone by his left elbow, poised precariously on the edge of the table, all set to tumble any moment now.

• She was wearing a beige, woollen hat with rings around it in various shades of red and pink. For some reason he looked like she belonged in a now-bound New York,

• Tapping away of her VAIO. It made me think of James Bond. The product placement in thoe films is masterful.

• Her keychain was just that, a beaded chain with numerous keys and other bit and pieces attached, including a couple of USB sticks and a veritable managerie of small, plastic, animal toys. The ensemble must weigh a ton. Personally I hate carrying more weight in my handbag or pockets than needs be, I just don't get people like her.

• Reading 'The Guardian'. His blue puffer jacket and long red scarf make him look like Superman. I wonder if he is someone's Superman? Is he their hero, their rescuer, their alien prince? What sort of person dates an alien prince? I'd choose to date Loki, the Agardian Prince from the Avengers, if I had the chance.

• Two women sit opposite each other. The older one taps a page of her open book with her pen. What is she emphasising?

• Combat jacket and dirty-blond hair, caught up in a rough know using a pink hair band. Did he steal it off his girfriend when he left her flat early this morning?

The video is about a minute and a half long. There was a lot more one might have taken from it, but these are my notes and reflect the aspects of it which I registered as interesting.

This course already has me writing a lot more than is usual for me. I guess that's a really good sign.

Writing exercise #1 - Fact or Fiction

 My name is Tony. I currently live in a village in the North of England. The population of the village is made up mostly of 'dinkies' - people with a double income and no kids. I stand out, as I am a single father; my son is called Wlliam and he is two years and four months old. I have some mental health issues, mostly depression and suicidal ideation, so our little family has a support worker who helps us out three times a day, seven days a week.

Our support worker is called Hayley and she is a little older than myself. She's a really kind woman and incredibly helpful. She lives in a suburb of the nearest city to us. On her estate the population is mostly made up of single parent families and retired people. Hayley doesn't have any children but she and William still get on like a house on fire. She helps me get William up and dressed and fed in the mornings, at tea time she helps me make our dinner and comes back a bit later to help me get William settled down for bed.

The brief for this piece was to write two paragraphs of between 50 and 100 words, one containing three truths and one fiction and the other containing one truth and three fictions. I over-did it a bit, because paragraph one contains five fictions, two truth and a half-truth. Paragraph two is mostly truths, except there is no William!

I've re-done this exercise, to bring it closer to the original brief. Here's my second attempt:

Kay is a 51 year old, unemployed woman who lives in Manchester. She has brown hair, hazel eyes and a cute nose. I first met Kay at our local library; we both work there on a voluntary basis, doing general library work like shelving books and working on the checkout desk.

You wouldn't think it to look at her, though she is pretty, but Kay used to work as a stripper. She told me this over dinner in a local restaurant, Orson's. I was pretty shocked and startled when I found that out, but I don't think it's changed our friendship. Kay works very hard at the library, but she can be a bit abrasive so she isn't universally liked by our co-workers. I guess you'd call her 'an acquired taste'.

Writing Samples Ahoy

I've joined an online writing course via the Open University this week. It is an eight week course, with a minimum commitment of three hours a week. Having already done one of these courses, though, I know I will probably be spending twice that much time on it because of how fascinating some of the background reading can get if you follow all the optional links.

The course is run by a company called FutureLearn. The courses are all free, though if you want a certificate of participation (not really worth the paper its printed on, to be honest) it will cost you £24 plus an undisclosed amount of P&P. Clearly the courses are funded at least partly via this system.

Needless to say, part of the requirement of the course involves completing writing exercises;.there is a 1200 character limit for submitting via the FutureLearn website, so they recommend using a blog for longer works. I shall be using this particular blog.because it links to one of my newer writing pseudonyms and doesn't as yet have a real 'shape'.

This blog is primarily intended to look at 'evil' characters, their motivations and psychology etc., but not all of my writing exercises for this course will follow this theme.I'll do my best not to write about petunias and fluffy clouds though. I hope you will enjoy travelling with me as I participate in this course. Please do feel free to provide constructive criticism. 

I write in a variety of genres, but one of these is erotica, so please note the warnings on each entry, and be aware that this blog is intended for adults only.

I also tackle themes relevant to being a fat, ageing, bisexual woman with mental health issues. Haters, don't bother hating, just go elsewhere.