Tag Archives: Writing Practice

Mar6

Panic it’s Sunday

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Panic it’s Sunday

This has been one of those weekends where need another two days off to recover. Saturday was back to back scheduled appointments, from early tennis, to open house, to guitar lesson, to family commitments. The spaces in between were filled with cleaning, house hold chores in preparation for the open house (as the house is for sale), and relentless shopping trying to find all the missing items for my daughter’s upcoming camp trip.

Cap this off with an evening of re-reading the same 2 books to my nephew three times each, whilst he intermittently remembers his mother and bawls his eyes out, poor kid still adjusting to new surrounds and overcoming jetlag.

Move to Sunday and there are a couple of items still missing for the camping trip. These items take up longer to find than all the umpteen items the previous day. Oh at least get to share this with my sister and nephew who are back from India for a few months. Love the little two year old who gleefully shouts out “Car!!” every time he sees one, or a picture of one, or a toy, or just for fun. 

Then there is the usual Sunday rush, supermarket, cooking, preparing for the week ahead, the Modern family on TV, and last minute homework, and ooh “Mommy” I need this for next week.

Add in the mix a missing soon to be ex-husband just returned from a 6 week holiday, claiming he is too tired to come visit his daughter. I am exhausted…

Mar1

Writing Practice: Day 2

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Writing Practice: Day 2

March 1, 2011 11:01pm

Ok day two of writing practice, again an attempt to write without over thinking or analysing the words. Feeling dead tired at the moment but would like to set aside this time slot daily for writing.

Commented earlier this evening that one of my favourite things growing up was to visit my grandparents house.  Was reading to my nephew at the time, and recalled that I looked forward to their book collection every school holiday. There were kids books and teenage to young adult fiction for all age groups, books that belonged to older cousins, uncles and aunts, books that my mother read in primary school and as a teenager, even books my grandmother read when newlywed at age fifteen.

 My mama’s prized comic book collection of Phantom, Archies, Josie and the Pussycats, Tinitin and Asterix. My mother’s Nancy Drew and Famous Five collection. Mausi was fond of Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse. Nanu let me read her leather-bound Charles Dickens, Barbara Cartland and Mills and Boons collections. The M&B books were the old-fashioned ones printed in the 50’s or 60’s. There were fabulous older books that I loved as a child, like Noddy (the ones where Big ears and Noddy could share a bed and hot cocoa), Amelia Jane, the Bobbsey Twins, the Secret Seven, the Mallory Towers series and Trixie Belden novels.

There were also many picture books that I read when I was younger, and continued to revisit when older and looking at the artwork or reading to younger siblings. Some of them cannot even recall the names, as they have been lent, lost or misplaced since, but I can remember the story lines and illustrations. There was a picture book about a giraffe with a really sore throat who visits a Hippo doctor in Limpopo to get the correct medication. Another beloved book was about a famous sweet maker, who is able to concoct and construct entire cities with his confectionary.

My daughter was sorting out her books over the weekend into piles; ones she could donate, those she loved and would keep, and others which she would love to share with her cousins. She has just completed primary school, so there are books for toddlers, pre-schoolers, young readers, and novels. The books she wants to keep, we are moving to my mother’s house to add to the collection of our books as children, so the tradition continues with Samarvijay my little 2 year old nephew who will read some of the books his big sister and Mausi’s loved.

Mar1

Writing Practice: Day 1

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Writing Practice: Day 1

Ok so this is all part of the exercise, am supposed to practice putting thoughts on paper for the next fifteen minutes. My mind is rushing, where can think of a lot of things but can focus on nothing. Not sure if this is futile or will actually help towards developing good writing habits. What do I want to achieve:  to become a writer.

Not a better writer, which would be based on the assumption, that I am already writing something meaningful. Just to write regularly will be sufficient for the moment. Something written everyday to affirm that I am committed to becoming a writer.

Reading books and writing reviews on other people’s stories is one thing, to actually be able to capture moments in one’s own life another. These days I enjoy fiction, however the writing I gain the most from is true stories, whether travelogues, biographies or autobiographies.

Would like to be able to research, and discover some more about the women in my family. From my Dadiji who I only have vague memories of, as I lost contact with my father and his family in 1987; my mother in law who’s life story was quiet intriguing full of hardships, family and political upheavals and  good food, she was passionate about her children, cooking, gossip, old filmi music and religion; my Naniji’s mother to discover more about my family history and how Nanu and my mother grew up;  my Nanaji’s mother just to discover who she was as a person; and would love to capture my Nanu’s life on paper if possible.

The fifteen minutes are up, not sure what to think have only written four short paragraphs, and well it’s a start.