Blog 7: Would you be happy kissing a frog?

Hello there! Yes, the title is very weird, isn’t it? Bear with me, it will all make sense shortly, I promise you.

Well, last week’s Valentine’s Day did not go according to plan at all. My husband was ill, so the cinema has been postponed and the Chinese takeaway we ordered as a treat took over three hours to arrive! I think it’s the latest we have eaten an evening meal, as it got to 10pm! But as I said last week it is also our wedding anniversary this month. So, you can go ahead and congratulate me because yesterday, we celebrated our 11th year of marriage. Although perhaps you should just congratulate my other half for keeping his sanity this long, or send commiserations, or whatever you feel is appropriate—perhaps a large bottle of whiskey.

We share the 20th of February with an insane number of unusual, celebrated events. Just a few of these are: National Proposal Day, World Frog Day, Alien Abduction Day (yes really — so good luck to anyone with that ambition), and the International Day of Happiness. So, to make the most of the day you could propose to a frog, get abducted by Aliens, and then be very happy about how it all went.

I wonder who comes up with all of these celebratory days? Do you need to have specific qualifications? Does it go to a panel for a vote? It reminds me of the comedian, Michael McIntyre, who decided a Silent Letter Day would be a good idea, where everyone must pronounce all the silent letters in their words. Now that would be a fun one to participate in.

Anyway, back to the anniversary theme. It got me thinking about you and your writing. I know, what a shock; me circling back to your writing! Who would have thought it? How long have you been creating your worded masterpieces? Perhaps you began when you were just a little nipper at school and you have all sorts of stories piled up over the years. A couple of my creative writing friends from university confided in me that they cringe when they look at their older attempts. So, how about you? Have you got some older pieces of work that need a little love and the breath of new life blowing into them? Maybe you have some that you finished long ago and they are just sitting there, waiting for a new home and a purpose in life. Poor things! I confess I am right there with you, having numerous play scripts, short films, poems and stories that are sat in the corner of my laptop, covered in dust and wondering why I have abandoned them. My intentions, when I can find the time, are to enter them into competitions. I tried my luck last year with one of my short stories and managed to get third place and a cash prize!

Keep your eyes open for opportunities, have a Google and see what pops up that has the right criteria for you. There are numerous ones you can enter, some have a fee but there are quite a few free ones. Even if you just make the shortlist, it’s all extra credibility to prove your skills as a writer to future agents and publishers if you choose the traditional route, or readers if you prefer to self-publish. It can be quite nerve-wracking sending your work out into the world and waiting to see what people make of it. So, it’s all good practice getting your work out there, and a boost in confidence if you get recognised. In addition, some competitions will offer a critique that can assist in how to take your story to the next level.

So come on have a dig around and see what hidden gems you have just waiting for you to polish them off and put them on display. And I will be standing by, as usual, waiting to hear how you got on.

As I’m writing this while my hubby is still a snotty mess and it’s our anniversary in three days, I’m hoping that he will recover soon and not pass it on to me in the meantime. I know we are supposed to share everything but I draw the line at nasty bugs. Hopefully, we will both be fighting fit and can actually get our romantic evening out. But we will be going out for a meal, even if it is delayed a few more days. I can hear the curry and poppadoms calling me and it’s just rude to ignore them. Catch you all next week.