New blog and a ramble

   I made the decision to run a Wordpress site here alongside this blogger. I'll still post on both, same posts on both, at the same time, but hopefully I'll reach a wider audience this way.

   I’ve just completed a degree in English with Creative Writing, which involved a lot of writing (it also explains why I’m so behind on posting. These last few weeks have been busier than I’d anticipated). I’ve always loved to write – it’s something I really enjoy and for me offers a release (that’s why I have a blog). But sometimes when I tell people what I study, some people seem to think it’s a ‘doss’ subject. Not true. I’ve worked so hard these past three years because writing is hard.

   Everyone can write. Just like everyone can sing, or everyone can dance, just some are better than others. The most difficult thing about creative writing for me is that I don’t think it’s something you can learn – there’s no one way to write, and it’s purely subjective as to what is considered ‘good’, and what is considered ‘bad’. All you can do is read a lot and write a lot to improve; I’ve experimented with a lot of different techniques to find what suites me and I think that’s all you can do.

   The worst thing about doing a creative writing dissertation was knowing I had to write something, but being unable to. I find I have to write to suit my mood, which is hard when you’re suffering from intense writer’s block. The second hurdle is coming up with an idea. For my course, it can’t just be basic – you have to know your entire plot, even though you’re only writing a chapter. It’s incredibly hard if, like me, you prefer a basic direction then write and see what happens. There is always a fear of accidental plagiarism, which luckily I have yet to do, but hearing someone in your group pretty much state the plot of The Time Traveler’s Wife only with the woman time travelling instead of the man begins to make you doubt yourself.

   So when people tell me I took an easy course, they couldn’t be more wrong. The amount of thought and work I’ve put in is immense. Writing is really difficult; you have to think about making believable characters, an entertaining original plot appropriate for your audience, and writing well. On top of all the other literature essays and exams. I love writing, and the work is worth it to be able to do what I enjoy.

Thoughts On A Journey Home

28th February, 19:25 London Midland service to Hereford

   I, like many other people who attend uni, need to get the train back to my home-town for weekend visits and the like. Now, compared to others, my one hour twenty journey seems like it should be a relatively uneventful trip, but on a train that's almost always full regardless of the time of day I find I still have stories to tell - from a girl with a budgie to the ticket woman who liked to lie across the tables because she thinks no-one can see her.

   Mostly, although I'm not particularly fond of public transport, my journeys are perfectly normal; people get off, people get on, not a lot happens. However I still cannot escape a few pet peeves. For example (and I think a lot of people can sympathise) there's always those annoying people that sit in the isle seat seemingly reserving the seat beside them with a jacket or, I once saw, a newspaper. Now I understand that your jacket needs somewhere to sit, but really? There are overhead shelves for that. And there's no need to roll your eyes at me when I ask to sit in the blatantly unoccupied seat (that is, unoccupied by any human). We'd all rather sit alone, but I'm afraid sometimes that's just not possible. 

   My next pet peeve on trains is mobile phones. I know, the majority of us own them, but there's always one person, in my experience, who just shouldn't be allowed one on a train. Like my journey now, for instance; if I hear the samsung message tone one more time I think there's a good chance I might throw their phone onto the tracks. Yes, whatever you're texting about may be important, but all phones have a silent function. Please learn to use it.

   Furthering my dislike of noisy phone users would be the bearded man currently sat in my eyeline. After his dire ringtone invaded everyone's ears, he then proceeded to answer with 'where have you been? It doesn't take a fucking hour to get home'. Delightful way to answer indeed. It was then revealed, between more swearing and angry sighing, that he only knew the caller was safe because they were online on facebook. Oh the wonders of social networking will never cease. I think the people sat near him, and the caller, were very glad when we entered a tunnel.

   I know, my journey could be worse, and now I'm pretty much alone in a carriage, but these little things are sent to try us. Or certainly my patience.

How to waste time

   As a student, I’ve recently found that if there’s something I’m good at, it’s wasting time. Of course one way of achieving this is just sitting all day on twitter and facebook, continually refreshing the pages until something interesting miraculously happens, but there are far more productive ways of wasting time I have encountered.

1.       Find a new TV series to watch, and watch every episode back-to-back. By far the simplest way of wasting time: watching TV. But, instead of channel-hopping, just find an entire series you’ve never seen before and watch every single episode. Although, if you chose lost, make sure you literally have nothing better to do because you will be sat around for a long time.

2.       Practical jokes. Let’s be honest, if you know the person will find it funny, it’s always a good way of spending time. For example, in halls last year I spent an evening putting cling film over my flatmate’s door whilst he was out. He said he especially loved the use of clear tape.

3.       Cooking, because even if, like me, you’re terrible at it, it’s still fun to experiment. And it’s an excuse to google stuff.

4.       Re-arranging things. You know how it is, when you walk into a room and think how something would look so much better in another place. Well, it probably would. Just like how everything in your cupboard in the kitchen would look much better with a little variation.

5.       Finally, the best way of wasting time, invest in the Sims 3. By far one of the most addictive games. Good-bye, degree.

   So, there are many ways of spending time without actually doing what you should be doing. You’ll kick yourself later, but it’ll definitely seem worth it at the time.

I should start by introducing myself

   For anyone who's curious, I'm Mair. I'm a 19 year old second year student at University of Birmingham, studying English with Creative Writing. I hope to be some form of writer one day.
   I've started this blog for a number of reasons, including the fact that my other blogs seem to get forgotten about, whereas one specifically for the things I write (such as reviews - I love live music) I feel I would actually remember to post in.
   So, for anyone interested, you can expect reviews of, for the most part, gigs, and random little rambles about various topics.