Competition

Yesterday I discovered a short story competition with a prize of £10,000.
Yes, you did read that right. No, I did not accidentally add one too many noughts. It's ten thousand for a maximum of 2,500 words. 

More details here: http://www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk/

There's a part of my brain that thinks a story capable of winning so much money must be epic, and there's no way I can write anything £10,000 good.   There's another part of my brain that's still, almost 24 hours later, going "ten thousand? Ten thousand?? That's just...ten thousand?"  Honestly, I don't know what I would do if I suddenly had that much money. 
And there's that voice again saying I don't need to worry what I would do because I could never write anything good enough.

But I am choosing to ignore that voice. My lovely boyfriend has offered to pay the £17 entry fee for me (apparently it makes him happy when I write) so I have absolutely nothing to lose. I'm going for it!

I'm also going for a slightly less lucrative writing competition in the writing magazine I subscribe to. This month's competition is to write about 7-year-old Jack and his 'modern day' family.  As soon as I read the brief I had an idea for my story, which hasn't happened for a good long while so I'm confident that it will turn out well. Or at least better than my novel.
The prize for this one is only £100 (only!!) but it's free to enter so I may as well.

It's working. I'm starting to feel like a writer again.

Ideas

This may be entirely wrong, but I feel that there is more money to be made from writing articles rather than short stories.  

I can only name a few magazines that will pay for short stories (but if anyone can name some more I'll gladly take note) and, although being published without pay will look good on my CV, I kind of need to get some money back for my time. Of course, there are probably thousands of short story competitions, but the probability of actually gaining any money from them is not that great. 

There are definitely thousands of magazines, journals, newspapers and the like out there. And I don't even have to pay to submit my pieces to them. So I think this is the side I'm going to focus on most with my spare day.

So, what can I write articles about?

- salsa dancing
- Ceroc dancing
- reading
- writing
- having an 'at risk' job
- baking
- learning to cook healthier
- weight loss
- personal trainers
- being new to running
- getting slightly better at running
- kettlebells
- gluten free, dairy free eating 
- Glasgow
- Crewe
- being on Jobseekers Allowance
- being kicked out of your place of residence (twice...)
- moving house
- finally settling down
- losing someone you love to cancer
- losing someone you love for no apparent reason
- fundraising for charity
- living away from your family
- public transport
- sharing a flat with a European 
- sharing a flat with a cranky distant relative
- making greetings cards
- embroidery and cross stitch
- the desire but complete inability to modify your own clothes

That should keep me going for a wee while.

Lisa Lassek

Okay, now I have been slacking. Or you could call it coping with a family funeral and the threat of redundancy in the same 24 hour time period. Either way, there is no character for yesterday, and today's is fairly basic. But at least I'm writing SOMETHING.

Lisa Lassek is a 35-year-old stay at home Mum and foster carer. She has two children of her own (a boy and a girl) and specialises in fostering siblings together so they don't have to be split up. This is possible because she and her husband live in a massive house. The husband, Markus, has an extremely well-paid job and Lisa got a large sum of money when her Grandmother passed away so they bought a 6-bedroom house expressly for fostering siblings.

Lisa has light brown hair, kept in a bob, and hazel eyes. She is very thin and toned because she gets up at 5am every day to work out before anyone else is awake. She has a secret dream of one day running in the London Marathon.

Give me a job!

So, I have a ginormous number of CVs all printed off and ready to go, and the plan for the next two days is to wander up and down the three main streets of Glasgow and hand them in at any shop I think I could possibly work in. Whether they're looking for new staff or not.  Because as things stand I only have enough money to stay here until March.

Technically I could move back home at the start of April because all the teaching for my course will have finished by the end of March. But I don't want to. I've got salsa here, and the gym for £40 per year instead of per month, and S'mug and Starbucks, and tall, yellow-gold buildings, and Hogwarts, and a cinema with armchairs instead of aeroplane seats, and a library with 12 floors, several libraries in fact, and the quiet, and a million little things that I don't want to get used to living without. I mean, even the six flights of stairs up to the flat make me feel good about myself, because that sure as heck has to count as a huge chunk of my daily exercise.

I know that I'm supposed to be here because every single time I've almost run out of money, some more has showed up out of nowhere. But then I think what if I'm only supposed to be here for the duration of the course, and when it ends I'll 'supposed to be' somewhere else. Like Crewe. I'm really starting to feel like I could stay here forever. And how will I find my ginger Scotsman if I have to go home??

xXx

2010

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
Salsa, moved to Glasgow, started a masters degree, lived with a Scottish person. What did I do for the rest of the year??

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't think I made any. This year's is to get back down to 11 stone.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
A few people at Tesco

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No

5. What countries did you visit?
Scotland

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Richard Armitage! Oh, a serious answer. Erm a job, mostly.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

No specific dates, but I do have a few very vivid memories.

-The party for Ken and Sandy's golden wedding anniversary, because David and the new girlfriend were there. First time I've ever been so nervous I felt sick. Also because I totally rocked my little black dress with red heels :p

- My graduation, for obvious reasons

- My first thanksgiving, because I am COMPLETELY in love with sweet potato pie.

- The first time I saw Glasgow university. It actually took my breath away.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
It's a tie between passing undergrad and being accepted into one of the best unis for creative writing masters. Although I think that my merit for grade 4 piano deserves a mention

9. What was your biggest failure?
Weight gain! I'm also kind of ashamed that I couldn't be mature enough to speak to David at the anniversary do.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Aside from a surprisingly small number of colds, no. Oh, except that one time I fell over on the ice and landed on my hip that STILL hurts.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Can I say that I bought my masters? I mean, I had to pay money for it. Other than that I would say my '3 CDs for £10' offer. Simple things :p

12. Where did most of your money go?

To the University of Glasgow's finance department.

13. What did you get really excited about?
Moving to Glasgow, graduation, Christmas.

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Hmm I don't think there is a song that I will ever hear and go, "oh yeah, 2010..." my brain just doesn't work like that

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:


- happier or sadder? Happier
- thinner or fatter? Fatter
- richer or poorer? Most decidedly poorer

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Work, so I could have a bit more money now. Meeting up with my friends, exercise, writing.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Shopping, so I could have a bit more money now. Worrying, obsessing over David, eating junk, sitting on my backside, gaining weight.

18. How did you spend Christmas?
At Mum and Dad's house, and also a little bit at Grandma's. Eating, mainly.

19. What was your favorite TV program?

North and South! North and South! The BBC are awesome at adaptations. It's closely followed by Merlin and Strictly Come Dancing. Yes, I'm sad.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?
Pride and Prejudice, always. Erm I don't think I read any books that came out in 2010.

21. What was your favorite music from this year?
Most of the Eclipse soundtrack, and Jacob's theme. Howard Shore is a genius! Also a lot of Rihanna's new songs.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?
Avatar! Also Eclipse, Sherlock Holmes and Tron. Harry Potter was pretty good too.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 22 and I honestly can't remember what I did. But I'm sure it was awesome...

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Getting down to my target weight instead of putting some back on ¬_¬

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

26. What kept you sane?
I'm sane? Well, that's good to know. Probably Pride and Prejudice and regular trips home to stock up my hug bank.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

Going to a party full of strangers on your own could just have wonderful results, so don't be afraid. 

xXx