Stu vs. Changes

Forgive me blog its been two months since my last confession... I mean blog post. In my defense 2012 has been a crazy year so far. I landed myself a short term teaching post in a year 4class and to say its been an eye opening experience is an understatement. In just 6 weeks I 've learnt more than in the past 18 months and I have a fantastic class to boot who'll jump through hoops for me. This, however, will end in just over a week which leads me onto the next reason for a crazy start to 2012...

In Feb the truely unthinkable happened, my wife was made redundant from Orange, something people were telling her couldn't possibly happen. Well it did and as a result we are upping sticks and moving out of Bristol. Just today we found a house in the lovely town of Crewkerne in south Somerset. We move in 10 days!

To ease a little of the pressure, well not really, Ruth starts a new job on March 12th. She also using her spare time to promote her business www.littlesprinkles.co.uk where she provides cakes, biscuits and sweets for ALL occasions. She's already booked in at some wedding fairs (you can thank me later honey for my prmotional efforts)

So as you can imagine writing has truely been put on the back of he back burner and the resolutions I made with such good intentions are seemingly a long way off. I refuse to give up though. The move has reinvigorated me across all areas. I'll be joining the local library and a local film club - my other passion.

On the reading front I am literally half way through The Hunger Games Trilogy and it is EXCELLENT, just can't put them down. I've actually read quite alot more so far this yeara nd have no intention of slowing down. 5 books down 25 to go!

Oh and I almost forgot the new series of A Game of Thrones starts in just over a month. I'm salivating with excitement!! Cold winds are rising!

Stu vs 2012 (Resolutions for Next Year)

2011 has gone by in a blur and was filled with ups and downs. More on that another time. However by far the best part of 2011 was watching my son go from this:



To this:


Anyway onto 2012. Usually new year resolutions are either made to be broken or are so ludicrous that we have no hope of actually achieving success. I've thought long and hard over the last few weeks about what I actually want to achieve next year and believe my resolutions are actuslly achievable. Some of this determinations comes from reading about my wife's aims for 2012. Please feel free to read about her passion for all things sweet related at http://little-sprinkles.blogspot.com/

Next year I intend to:

1. Read more (My bookshelves are filled with books left untouched). Please look to the left for more on what I intend to read in my 2012 Reading list.

2. Push on with my Writer's Bureau Children's course. I started last May and am currently bogged down with assignment 2. By this time next year I want to be booged down with assignment 6.

3. My lifelong passion is to become a published author. Next year I intend to finish my first children's Book and publish it via the Kindle. So watch out for Captain Cosmo: Space Adventurer on a Kindle near you.

4. Finally get a fulltime teaching position and do away with all this unpredictable supply malarky.

5. Spend more quality time with the family (anyone who knows me knows how much I depend to technology and my gadgets. In 2012 I promise to use these less. Ironically I'm typying this out on my IPad - lol.

6. Lose a little bit of weight. Tone up a little.

Well that's it. Not too far fetched I hope. Anyone else care to share thier own?

Stu vs. The 2012 Reading List

My new reading list for 2012. Most are left over from last year and I fully intend to purchase (I don't condone stealing at all) all the books I dont have to avoid this years debacle.

There a quite a few children's books on this list, I'm doubling up with some research for the Writer's Bureau course.

The Minipins
World of Warcraft - War of the Ancients: Book 3
Magyk
The Borrowers
Astrosaurs: Riddles of the Raptors
The Adventures of Captain Underpants
Muddle Earth
The Brilliant World of Tom Gates
The Warcraft Archive
Scott Pilgrim vs The World: Book 5
Scott Pilgrim vs The World: Book 4
Tales from Earthsea
World of Warcraft: War of the Ancients - Book 2
The Wyrmling Horde - Sum of All Men
Brisingr
Inkdeath
Tom Trineheart and the Land of Dark Stories
The Amulet of Samarakind
How to Train Your Dragon
Edge Chronicles: Curse of the Gloamglozer
Assassin's Quest
Royal Assassin
Assassin's Apprentice
The Bromliad
The Complete Spiderwick Chronlicles
The Subtle Knife
Inheritance
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Five on Treasure Island
Tollins

Stu vs Writer's Bureau Assignment 2

Progress Update:

I've already given you people a sneaky peek at the synopsis for my science fiction novel for kids and was really shocked at the feedback I was getting. But alas, assignment 2 for my Writer's Bureau course doesn't end there. It is actually split into about six parts and I'm slowly ticking each one off. Below is my next synopsis aimed at children aged between 7 and 9 and takes place in a prep school with some hidden secrets. Once again read and enjoy and as always comments and criticism is not only welcome but encouraged.

The Stationary Store-Room Adventures (7-9)

Nathan and his friends, Snotty Fred and twins Ruben and Holly, are bored, having played with their Christmas presents constantly for the last few weeks. So in a moment of madness they decide they need supplies and plan a raid on the school’s stationary room during a lunch break. Their raid is successful but one of the stolen maths books becomes enchanted.

During lunch they take stock of their hoard and begin planning what to do with it. Fred reaches for the enchanted maths book and begins to create a maze full of traps and monsters using the squared paper. As Nathan hides the stolen goods and Fred is nearing completion, the paper begins to fold out on itself encompassing the four friends and they find themselves at the start of Fred’s maze. As Fred tries to remember how to get to the exit they are attacked by a ghoul. They manage to escape but get lost in the process.

As they make their way blindly through the paper maze they find that by drawing weapons on the walls and then cutting them out they come to life and use them against the hoards of creatures of the maze. As they come upon what looks like an endless plain of paper Fred realises he never finished the maze. To escape Nathan cuts a hole in the floor with the scissors and upon jumping through they find themselves on the sports field with only a few minutes left until registration.


I have to say with a word cap of just 250 words I felt I didn't do the story justice, but I'll be working on it during subsequent assignments. I'm hoping I can edit my final synopsis down enough and get it up on here over the next couple of days. At the moment my word count is waaaaay to high. I'll also be adding these tasters to my website (see to the right for a link that will take you whizzing over to it).

Stu vs. NaNoWrimo: As One Thing Ends....

Another continues....

So I gave up on my nano, no not given up but shelved for a time, and gave myself a few weeks off the writing. Until yesterday when I got back on the metaphorical saddle, picked up a pencil and began Assignment 2 of my Writer's Bureau course. The blue sheet of paper has been pinned to my notice board for six months. So I dusted it off and began working on writing synopses for three possible book ideas.

I've now written them all, one completed, the other two in draft form with too many words so will need to edit. I'm going to share one with you now. This is an idea for a book aimed at 5-7 year olds and I would love to know what you think. My tutor believes sci-fi for younger children is a very hard sell. Now I've done my research and I'm out to prove her wrong.

So here it is. My synopsis for Captain Cosmo: Intergalactic Space Explorer:

Captain Cosmo and his childhood robot friend Bal-4 have been asked by the Space Museum of Extraordinary Living Life-forms (SMELL) to track down the Gurdulfozer. In return he will be paid and receive a lifetime supply of Super Zombie Attack credits and get his own action figure.

So they head of to the Gemmi Nebula, believing they find the creature there. However along the way his stasis pod malfunctions, he wakes believing he is heading out for a vacation and sets down on the nearest planet to the sun. Bal-4, awake the whole journey plays along as he knows this is the correct place.

On arrival they are met by a race of small beings known as the Putrefowl. They try to enlist Cosmo in their fight against Kiro who has begun enslaving them. Slightly annoyed that it is getting in the way of his vacation he offers to help. Cosmo agrees to take the Path of Five, a series of tests, to free the Putrefowl. He passes the first four challenges Kiro sets him; the dagger pits, glacial climb, eating fire chillies and game of ape swing. The final challenge is to battle the Gurdulfozer to the death. Instead he sets it free, causing Kiro to flee the planet. The Putrefowl hold a feast in Cosmo’s name, then he and Bal-4 leaves with the Gurdulfozer and return to SMELL. After collecting their prize they decide to go on a real vacation.

If you are at all interested in my other stuff you can get a sneak peek on my website http://awritersblock.weebly.com/ and click on the projects tab. If you can wait the other synopses will be up on my blog tomorrow.

Enjoy and goodnight!

Stu vs The Illnesses

Wow, I haven't blogged in a few days. Why you maybe asking, well viruses, colds, flu, tonsilitis and generally not nice things have been passed around my house affecting me, my wife and most unfortunately my son Nathan. This has meant many sleepless nights trying to get him back to sleep (every violent cough seemed to wake him). This coupled with his total lack of appetite has meant a stressful week in the Copping household. We seem to be over the worst of it though.

This week has also marked the end of my short term work in a reception class. Yes it only lasted 3 weeks but it hsa felt like forever and I feel like I was really making strides where I shouldn't have been. I'm really going to miss that class of little horrors. So it's back to waiting by the phone next week from 7-9am in hope that some poor teacher somewhere will phone in sick. Roll on Tuesday!

I finally decided to bite the bullet this week and officially gave up on Nano but it has given me a fire that I haven't had in months. I think I will finally start Assignment 2 for my Children's Writers course. I'm just getting a bit muddled when looking at plot and synopsis. Argh! 

I'm also going to try and finish my book and Little Big Planet 2 this week during my 'off' hours.

Stu vs his website

There has been too much time between posts, so to all my regular readers I appologise (if I have any). The reason has been the end of the school holidays and going back to work. On the bright side its been better than the end of last term, having got work in a mor local school.

I've also joined a writer's group on facebook which is full of very active writers. One thing I've found is that so many of them have their own websites and as a result I've created my own. Here's the link which can also be found in the 'Links to Me' section

http://awritersblock.weebly.com/

On a completely different noteand with a small stab of jealousy my son made it into a magazine this month... And before his dad. If you have it please check out this months Good Food. The bottom picture on letters page is my son chowing down on his mum's Good Food.

Stu vs. Writer's Bureau Assignment 1

I've just received my first assignment back and am really chuffed with the feedback. Maybe I'm not kidding myself and can get published. I've also received the brief for A3 and the learning curve for this course is surely exponential but only a little daunting.

So here is my first assignment in all it's glory along with my tutors feedback:

Assignment 1: Creating Characters

 9-12 Character - Eragon (Eragon)

Eragon is a popular character because he is a character most can identify with. He is on the cusp of adulthood when a single event changes his life forever. He then embarks on an adventure to battle evil and that fantastical element may appeal to young boys, however his problems are rooted in the real world; those of friendship and dealing with loss are issues that face every child no matter their age or upbringing. This makes Eragon a plausible and likeable character and we accompany him along the way and grow with him.

5-7 Character - Horrid Henry (Horrid Henry)

Horrid Henry is a prankster. Children in this age group really believe, like Henry, they are always right and don’t understand necessarily what they do is wrong. The books focus on Henry's viewpoint so we can understand his motives for doing things. They can sympathise with him as the victim rather than the bully older children know he is. Henry is of school age dealing with problems that most other children encounter, from annoying parents and siblings to girls at school. Children of this age have the same mindset as Henry and follow him hoping his schemes will work.

7-9 Character - Fox (Animals of Farthing Wood)

In a book with an ensemble of characters, Fox is the appointed leader of a band of animals. He is commanding as all leaders should be. He is also selfless and compassionate towards all others no matter what. With no titular character in this book, readers don't picture themselves as the leader but as a follower. As we go through the book the reader realises the sacrifices Fox has to make while helping others as we would help our friends. The reader looks up to Fox, believing in him, willing him to get us to the end safely.

Cosmo (5-7)

Cosmo is an outgoing boy of six that lives with his dad on a Tarakian space station. His mother died in a raid on a Scurge scout ship. Cosmo is left alone most days to roam the ship with his only friend, a sentient robot toy called Bal-4 as there are no other children onboard. Bal-4 was given to him by his dad after arriving on the S.S. Sibilius.

            Cosmo is a small boy for his age with a little piggy nose and very blonde hair. He is constantly covered in cut and bruises from crawling through ducts and other small spaces on the ship; this usually ends up with him getting in trouble with his dad. He also has a bionic eye after losing one boxing with Bal-4. This eye allows him to see infra-red and have x-ray vision. He has learnt much about space travel from workers on the ship and his father allows him to do small jobs for all those on board.  Cosmo dreams of one day becoming a space adventurer and is constantly making up scenarios where he must save the ship from invaders.

Nathan Thames (7-9)

Nathan is ten years old and attends a very prestigious private school in the southwest of England.  He is tall for his age with jet black hair and grey eyes. Nathan can be described as slightly rotund and walks with a slight limp, having one leg shorter than the other. He also wears glasses due to being shortsighted.

            A clever and creative child who has problems sustaining this over prolonged periods resulting in him lagging behind his friends, this doesn't bother him though.  Nathan enjoys his sport though wouldn't be called sporty. Due to his size he has excelled in the scrum of the school rugby team. At home he spends his time playing his dad's old SNES, he loves retro games.

            He really lacks in self-confidence around strangers but is really close with his friends. His best friend is Snotty Fred who he has known since they were five; they also share the same birthday. In their spare time Nathan and his friends, Fred and twins Ruben and Holly, spend their time making up adventures, obstacle courses using everyday items from the class room and talking video games. They are considered geeky outcasts by their class mates.

Ryan Phelps (9-12)

Ryan has just moved to Surcliffe in Dorset with his mother, who wanted Ryan to have a better life. Over the past year he has got into frequent fights with others at his school. He has no brothers or sisters and his dad left when he was just a baby. As a result he finds it hard to make friends and is content to be the silent one at the back of the class who gets on with his work. He is very intelligent; he just doesn’t know where he wants to go in life.

Ryan is mature and very independent, helping his mum around the house as much as he can. He is just starting his A-Levels in biology, history and media studies.

Ryan has very curly brown hair and brown eyes and walks with his shoulders hunched in an attempt to be left alone; this also disguises his surprising upper-body strength. Bullied at primary school, Ryan despises people who pick on others and has developed a short temper because of this. On his first day his new school he finds an unlikely friend in James, a Year 11 outcast.

Dialogue

"Peas... Again!" sighed Tom disgusted as he sat down at the lunch, "I hate peas. Sarah can I put them on your plate?"

   "No you may not!" Sarah replied, rolling her eyes as she scooted onto the bench behind him, "my mum always says you must eat your greens."

Tom gathered up a spoonful of peas. "Your mum never told me nothing, here have some more," said Tom, tipping the peas over Sarah's plate.

   "Tom! Stop it! Take them off, take them OFF!" squealed Sarah as she jumped up to aviod the overflowing peas on the table. Tom put a few peas on the palm of his hand and flicked them in Sarah's face.

   "Eat your greens Sarah. Eat your greens... they're good for you," mocked Tom, flicking more peas at her. Sarah burst into tears.

   "Miss Evans! Tom's flicking his peas at me again!" sobbed Sarah.

Feedback

Popular Children's Characters
You have summed up the characters well and hilighted the reasons children would relate to them. Don't forget to credit the authors with their work.

Your Own Characters
Cosmo - An appealing character who would suit the age group, although it will be a challenge writing sc-fi for children so young.

Nathan - A strong character

Ryan - If he's starting his A-levels he's too old. Children refer to read about others a little older than themselves, so he should be twelve, thirteen at the most. Make sure he has some flaws or weaknesses which make him more human, more interesting and provide characteristics which will determine how he reacts to the challenges he faces in the story.

All characters have to be a little larger than life. They must have passions, fears and courage, Give them memorable features and mannerisms and let them make an impact so the reader remembers them. Fix them in the mind by creating an anchor - a name, habit, way of speaking, a sensory perception.

Dialogue
A very god peice of natural dialogue with plenty of conflict, but it's not clear who the viewpoint character is as you have no thoughts. It's best to stick with one point of view (even 3rd person) and tell the story through the main character's eyes, at least in books for younger children. For older readers you can have more than one viewpoint character (third person multiple) but would still be 'inside' the head of that character and would only change between chapters.

You have woven plenty of action into the dialogue too, so that the reader has a mental image of what is happening and where. This helps break up the dialogue, anchors the speech in the scene and contributes to characterisation.

It's not necessary to attribute all speech as long as it's clear who is speaking. Most attributive verbs are, and should be, invisible. They should not take the eye away from the speech. If you need to use one, said is usually the best. It is not noticed. The only time an attributive verb really pulls its weight when the meaning of the spoken words in't clear from speech, necessating, for example, 'she lied'.

Fictiona dialogue must have a point an a destination. It can never be general or polite conversation (or arguments). Dialogue is real life conversation without its sidetracks. It has two main functions: to move the story along and reveal character, which yours does very well.

A very good start to the course and I look forward to your next assignmen. Please let me know of any feedback you begin submitting material to publishers.

Well there it is folks and well done to anyone who has actually read this. Stay tuned for more writing adventures soon.

Stu vs The Research

If people actually read my ramblings then you'll know I've finally submitted my A1 for the WB's children's writing course. This logically leads onto to A2 (I know I bet your as shocked as I was). Whereas the first was all about characters, and as there are so many stored in my head, seemed easy to write (though more difficult to hone), this second one is actually requiring some thought; it revolves around story and plot.

So I've taken it upon myself to do some research while off on summer holidays; yes being a teacher has its perks. Now my local library has proven to be quite crappy in the past and it didn't fail to surprise me yesterday either. All I managed to pick up was Cabbages From Outer Space (yes it is as bad as it sounds) and The Day of the Monster Pigeons, which I have yet to sample but should be more appropriate.

Waterstones yielded a greater selection of books and a hunt on Amazon has found them at more affordable prices so will be making a bulk order over the weekend. I'm hoping to find a gap in the market with a series of space-based stories for 5-7 year olds. I have a couple of fantasy-based ideas for the others. More info to come.

Stu vs Character Profiles 3

Well here it is finally after over a month, my final character biography for Assignment 1 of my Writers Bureau course. This little guy is the main character for my 5-7 age range.


Biography - Cosmo (Captain Cosmo Adventures)


Name: Cosmo 

Nick-Name: Captain Cosmo (his alter ego)

Age: 6

Sex: Male

Nationality: Tarakian

Appearance:  Short, piggish nose, has a bionicle eye, always has grazed knees and little cuts and bruises over his face and arms

Hair Colour: Short blonde hair (kept shaven),

Eyes: Green

Voice: Loud, excited, commanding

Features: Bionicle eye, carries around a F12 blaster replica,  

Favourite Colour: Gunmetal grey

Favourite Food: Plotho Balls

Least Favourite Food: Tarakian Sprouts

Best Character Trait: Friendly, fearless

Character Flaw: Forgetful

Personality: Pretends he is Captain Cosmo Space Adventurer, outgoing, fearless
 
Likes: Aliens, exploring the ship, his robot toy - Bal-4

Dislikes: Curfus

Habits: Day dreaming, getting lost, getting into trouble

Pets: None

Best Friend: A sentient robot toy Bal-4

Worst Enemy: The Scurge - bad aliens

Secret Desire: To become Captain Cosmo: Space Adventurer

Stu vs Character Profiles 2

Here's another profile ready for my first assignment. The characters aren't from the same world. This character is from a story for teens.

Biography - Ryan Phelps (The Eldar Chronicles)

Name: Ryan Phelps

Nick-Name: ?

Age: 16

Sex: Male

Nationality: British

Appearance:  Tall, matted brown hair, stoops over, hans always in pockets

Hair Colour: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Voice: Quite low, calming, friendly

Features: Wears contacts,good upper body strength though this is deceptive, 

Favourite Colour: Orange

Favourite Food: Italian food (anything)

Least Favourite Food: cows milk (allergic)

Best Character Trait: Outgoing

Character Flaw: Short tempered

Personality: trusting in his friends. His mother moves around a lot with her work and he never knew his father. Very independent due to his mum not being around much. Helpful child who looks out for people. Decisive when he needs to be. Strong willed.
 
Likes: Italian food, reading

Dislikes: School bullies (he himself was bullied at primary school)

Habits: Quick temper

Pets: None

Best Friend: Doesn't have one

Worst Enemy: Doesn't have one

Secret Desire: To have a proper family


Stay tuned for the third and final one in the coming days