Inky Little Sunbeams

I did it.... big smiles as I hit 80,000 words

Well my target of 80,000 words was reached with a cry of elation, and the superb bottle of chilled to perfection Pouilly Fuissé was finally guzzled in honour of the occasion. 

I have a list of a few extra events that need to be written into the story and then the process of refining and chopping begins...

This will no doubt see me tearing my hair out and sleeping with my thesaurus under my pillow, but then without the frustration there would be no ultimate satisfaction so bring it on! 

Thank you to everyone that has sent me so many lovely encouraging messages over the past six weeks. It's been the most incredible experience to finally do something that I dreamt about for years. I'm sure I'll write about the whole process in more depth but for now I'm going to give my numb fingers a well-earned break and top up my glass.

Brand Spirit gives us 100 days of pure white...

Have you heard about Andrew Miller's latest project Brand Spirit? Every day for 100 days he's sourcing a product that has a value of under $10 and stripping it right back to its purest form by painting it brilliant white. This concept really heralds the genius of iconic design to see if people can guess the product just by its form - some are more obvious than others, keep up-to-date with his work here...

Wild, wild horses... couldn't drag me away

Let your imagination run as wild as the horses of the natural world...

Had to share these because they're beautiful, simple really.

Cherry x

^{As always click on the link to take you to the source}

Win signed Shepard Fairey notebooks from Obey and CS Editions

I've just discovered Obey's notebooks and added this one to my wishlist. However, if you want to be in with a shot of winning an autographed one from none other than the man himself, Shepard Fairey, then check out the link by clicking here and entering before March 27. I've just entered but what the heck there's still four more right?!

Cherry x

 

57,000 words and counting...

Well I hit this today - got to do another 3,000 to be at my target of 20,000 words per week. 

Storylines and characters have evolved and I love the things they do that surprise me. It's been a mental battle some days to overcome my own emotions and ensure that the characters are talking for themselves, whilst injecting a little of the Cherry philosophy into them of course...

I've never written this much in my life. I saw this on Pinterest and re-pinned it but just in case you haven't seen it I thought I'd share it. Making your dreams a reality is all about how you approach achieving them...click on the image and it'll take you to the rest of my board entitled 'Wisdom and smiles.'

Cherry x

 

What is life without love and bubbles?

Stunning. Writing about love and pulling scenarios out of thin air - as free and as beautiful as the spectrum of light cast through this image. 

As always click on the link to take you to the source...

Cherry x

FOUND: I Heart Sharks 'Summer' - a magical find!

This video is pure magic - Grace and Emily Young make it absolutely sparkle by starring in it, they're sisters and are utterly beautiful too. Good music to make me dream, write and create fairytales to this week... enjoy!

Cherry x

 

Rock. Mood. Board.

Working on a concept that I've been commissioned to do for a wicked magazine. All will be revealed closer to deadline - got to keep schtum for now...however here's a taster of a mood board that I've put together for inspiration.

Week one milestone reached!

Well today has been a fantastic day - at 15:50 I reached my first 20,000 words. I was hoping to do this amount each week. Yesterday I couldn't get focussed and I was stressed out. Suddenly looking down and seeing that I had surpassed it today, felt amazing!

 

 

This week I've spent time developing my main characters, thinking about where they're from, their pasts and the effect that they're going to have on each other in the story. I spent a day and a half detailing this all out in a map form. I then started writing. I have a big notepad next to me at all times to write down extra bits that I need to remind myself to work into the original story.

It's funny realising more and more that you want to include - it feels like the more you write the more you have to say. It makes me smile as I am acutely aware that this is a brand new process and I'm just so happy to be doing it.

In the past when I've summed up my plot line it's only taken me thirty seconds and 100 words to cover it - to take that notion and broaden and develop it is quite a challenge. It's such an interesting concept to develop these characters and make decisions for them that I believe they would take themselves.

To celebrate my first milestone I enjoyed some scrumptious smoked salmon, cream cheese and olives in the sun on the balcony and gave myself an hour off...

For the week ahead I need to embellish on their thought processes to further develop how a potential reader would bond with them when they're placed into the situations that I'm giving them to deal with.

I saved this image in my Pinterest board ages ago and it's very true - lose any doubt and get cracking on a dream...

Till next time folks...Cherry x

Bit of news... about me!

It's time to share a decision that I made recently with you...

I've been writing since I was little girl - whether it was stories for my mum and dad or filling notepads with fairytales and fantasies.

Life dealt me a curveball, well a few of them actually, in December and last month posed the perfect time for me to escape to a warmer climate to hideaway in a beautiful villa and create an idea for a story that came to me eight years ago. 

Sometimes you just have to look at what life throws at you, turn grey blotches into silver linings and leap at opportunities whilst taking a big breath.

I don't know how it's going to turn out but after just one week of writing and figuring out plotlines and developing characters I can honestly say it's turning out to be one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. Even if it never finds its way onto book shelves I can know that I've done it and that, in essence, bodes well for a contented life.

I'm going to chart my progress, share my process and above all my inspiration to actively fulfill a dream, and who knows, maybe it will push you to going for it yourself. You only live once you know and life is short...

COLOUR CRUISING: Sepia - the evocative tone...

We all know that a picture captures a moment in time but sepia seems to take that particular moment and make it all the more evocative. It's as if the time that the image was captured was moving in slow motion, or standing still completely. It makes me want to whisper so as not to ruin the moment enjoy...quietly.

As always click on the image to take you to the source.

Cherry x