The Degree Plan

As you have probably worked out by now, I am very busy at the moment. I am doing two courses at once, planning and arranging the necessities to go travelling in September and also trying to maintain some form of a social life!

I re-wrote the assignment which I am just going to give you a link to. I think it is way better but am now waiting for the feedback on it.

http://staceyelaine.matadoru.com/

I have started the art section of my OU course and it is actually going really well. It is a good memory exercise as there are so many terms to remember! I am used to hearing composition, horizon etc etc but now I am learning a whole new world of terms such as colour value, pictorial space and picture planes! Trying to use all of those in an essay is going to be an interesting and probably seriously confusing experience.

I haven't done many more writing exercises recently to be honest as I have just been writing in my journal quite a lot and finding that the travel writing assignments are good practise anyway.

Unsurprisingly I have considered changing my mind again about doing OU courses whilst I travel. At this point in time we genuinely have no idea how long we will be away for, it may be for 1.5 years or 2.5 years or longer if we decide to go to additional places. I have found in the OU study rules that I can still be eligible to do courses and pay UK fees if I am working out of the UK. This is only for a maximum of 3 years but still opens up new possibilities for me. I have worked out I can do at least 3 modules during that time which will aid my writing skills and do not have end of year exams. These are the compulsory arts past and present module followed by the two creative writing modules. It will cost a lot less money too and ensure I am still eligible for the cheaper fees if we decide to come back to the UK. I am still going to wait until I have finished my current OU course before I make a decision and I have until August before registration closes which gives me more time.

The other option is an Australian OU degree in Publishing and Journalism which would tie in well with my travel writing. One thing is for sure, I am definitely going to have a degree by the time I am 30! Here's to the 5 year plan :)

New job title: Trainee Travel Writer!

Decision made! I have now signed up to a twelve week course to become a Travel Writer! This is so exciting, I already want to sign up to the Travel Photography course too! Let's face it the two go hand in hand so it is easy to justify doing both right...?

I have also had my feedback from my second assignment and I passed with flying colours! Yay! The only section I 'just achieved' on was to do with my references which I knew would happen as I wasn't sure about one of my references when I submitted it. I am over the moon! This means I should do really well on my final EMA and will hopefully get a distinction for the whole module :) yay go me!

So, now to the Arts section which I cannot wait for. We are going to London soon so I can use it as an excuse to finally go to the Damian Hirst exhibition which is going to be unbelievable. I can't wait! I am hoping I do well with the Arts section, this is the section I am most looking forwards to and it will be just typical that I am rubbish at it.

We are also getting organised now for travelling. Applying for visas, travel insurance, passports and getting very painful injections... in both arms I might add... at the same time...ouch!

Dean has also decided he wants to be a football coach and has just enrolled on a course to gain his level 1 qualification. This is great news as it means we now both have a good idea of our future careers and should be able to apply these skills in Australia.

I am now going to challenge myself to research as my travel articles as possible to get a good idea of what I need to include in my writing style. I am also hoping to get a new phone asap so I can upload more photos to my posts.

Happy Saturday!
Stace

Start Writing Fiction - Activity 5

I am now whizzing (haven't said that word in years!) through the start writing fiction module on the OU open learn website and am really benefiting from it. I have now completed Activity 5 which precedes a section discussing different ways of creating characters such as using yourself in an autobiographical style.

Activity 5:
'Imagine a character very like you but give him or her a dramatic external alteration. Write a brief character sketch in which you reveal the Character's appearance; their feelings about it, and their current circumstances. Use a third person narrative.'

I glanced at the clock; 5am. Sam lay on his side beside me breathing lightly. Even in his sleep he is overly conscious of my comfort and health, being careful not to take up too much room in our Super King size bed.

Another kick.  Deep in to the ribs this time. At least the sickness has stopped now, I have never been good at being sick, even as an adult tears involuntarily stream down my cheeks as I vomit.

I am finding it impossible to sleep. I feel and look the size of a whale, the skin on my stomach itchy as it stretches to accommodate the baby within. Stretch marks have already begun to appear, which I have grown to love but at the same time I frantically lather on layers and layers of baby oil to try and prevent more from appearing. I am excited to be a mother, but I am a wife and a lover too. I owe it to Sam, to me, to try to retain some of my hour glass figure which he fell in love with.

I have been a bit naughty here and have gone slightly older then my current age, looking at my life in about 10 years time. I have chosen a scene where I am heavily pregnant and unable to sleep and again have tried to show the reader this rather than tell them. Overall I think it is pretty good, but have literally only just noticed I wrote it in a first person narrative! This seriously backs up my previous post that I am more comfortable in writing in the first person. I will have a go at writing in the third person instead. Here is my attempt at writing it in the third person:

Josie glanced at the clock; 5am. Sam lay on his side beside her breathing deeply. Even in his sleep he is overly conscious of her comfort and health, being careful not to take up too much room of their super king size bed.

Josie winced at another kick, this time it was deep in to her ribs. The sickness had stopped thankfully; she was always a wimp when she threw up, with tears instantly streaming down her face involuntarily.

She had been finding it impossible to sleep recently. With only a month to go the baby had become extremely active, performing high kicks in her womb and punching her in the ribs. To Sam, she looked beautiful, in a way only the mother of his first child could. When Josie looked in the mirror, she saw a gigantic mass, unable to see her toes she quickly empathised with her sister who used to moan that she looked the size of a whale whilst she was pregnant.

Josie ran her fingers over the ridges on the skin of her stomach. She had tried to prevent these stretch marks through layers of baby oil, advice from her sister which hadn’t worked. She loved them of course, seeing them as a symbol of her motherhood, but she and Sam enjoyed a very physical relationship and she was keen to maintain some of her hourglass figure which he fell in love with.

I definitely found this more challenging and also kept having to check which tense I was writing in. I think the third person reads more like fiction though? Maybe I have over used her name a little too. Dean says it is more descriptive and he prefers it.

I will keep working through the activities and keep you posted, feel free to have a go too!

Activity 2 Re-Written. Character Building.

Ok so I have finally re-written activity 2 in the first person, trying to put my character in a sympathetic light by revealing his passion lies in his hobby whilst at the same time trying to make him sound interesting and intriguing by mentioning he has a wife whilst hinting that he is of course a drag queen. I read somewhere the key to fiction is to 'show, not tell'. Show the reader a something about your character, don't tell them. This is why I have not stated that he is a plumber or a drag queen and left that for my audience to discover as they read. I think this draft is better than the other and I do think my writing style will be more natural in first person.

Here it is:

It’s Friday lunch time and here I am, lying on a customer’s ageing linoleum floor with my upper body uncomfortably wedged under her kitchen sink. I would usually leave a simple blocked pipe like this to my apprentice but typically he is off today. I enjoy my job and am one of the best in my trade; however my passion, like many other people, is in my hobby, albeit a rather unusual one.

As I finished tightening the last washer on Mrs Jones’ kitchen sink pipe, I began to visualize my outfit for tonight’s extravaganza. I excitedly pictured a gorgeous red sequin dress with the slit all the way up the thigh and of course my glamorous new blonde wig. Hopefully Jane, my wife, will have picked up my shoes today, the gold glittery platforms which will complete the outfit. They have of course been specially made to fit a male foot and hopefully will fit like a dream.

It has been a while since LouLou Amour made an appearance, as myself and Jane have had a lot of family social events on, plus work is always busy in the Winter with people’s pipes bursting under the strain of frozen water. One thing is for sure, it will be a night to remember.

Work vs Reality

I have been a bit quiet over the past week, mainly because I have had so much going on! I officially live with my parents whilst I save money, but spend most of my time at my boyfriends. This means when I am with him I rarely get much done - we have been together 5 months so we are very much in the honeymoon period and love spending time together, so I always feel he is a welcomed distraction. This makes me feel so guilty though, I know I am not giving my course or my writing enough time and attention and know I would be really struggling right now if I was doing a bigger course, such as the 60 credit course I plan to do next. I am also doing a lot of exercise at the moment as am trying to lose weight and again this also takes up my time.

I am working through my course and enjoying all of it, which has really surprised me. The Poetry assignment went well and I am just about to start my assignment on the History section which I think will go well also. Surprisingly, I have actually really enjoyed the History section; I thought this would be the section I would struggle most with. It has absolutely confirmed my ambition to study. I enjoy it and gain a high level of satisfaction from it and am keen to complete the degree. The writing has come to a halt over the past week, I think mainly because I just haven't had the time.

The past week has highlighted that I cannot keep juggling everything evenly, something has to give a little to allow priority tasks to be completed. I definitely need to be much more strict with myself and managing my time, dedicating more time to doing my work. This is a habit I feel I must get in to if I am going to stand a chance of successfully completing my next course.

Unfortunately I think this means spending less time with the boyfriend, which I hope he will understand. I think this must be such a common thing for everyone with extra hobbies etc. There must be a lot of understanding partners and families out there, especially for eager OU students life myself!

Writing Research - Free OU Modules

Over the past few days I have focused on writing by researching tips and advice, doing writing exercises and studying a few free courses at the OU. I have found the more I throw myself in to writing, the quicker my creativity opens up and ideas have started to flow more freely. I knew I wanted to write but wasn't sure what genre or topic or even where to start. The following websites have really helped over the past couple of days:

Open Learn from The Open University: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/
This website is fantastic and provides various chapters from modules that the OU have taught over the years. It covers all kinds of topics from Science to Religion and also has quite a few writing modules. I am currently studying 'Start Writing Fiction' which begins by exploring character building and genres. The first activity was to write a scene where you portray a character who goes against it's usual stereotype. Here's my first attempt:

'It's been a very long morning' thought Martin as he finished his last job of his shift for the weekend. He had the rest of the afternoon off and could not wait to get home. He lay on Mrs Jones' yellowing linoleum floor, feet splayed, with his broad upper body wedged under her sink, whilst fixing her blocked pipe. This was easy enough to fix and usually would be a task for an apprentice plumber but Martin's apprentice was off today.
As he tightened the last washer he began to plan his outfit for tonight's show. It had been a while since LouLou Amour had been on stage due to his busy schedule, but tonight would be his best performance yet. He had a brand new long golden blonde wig and a red sequin dress with a thigh high slit awaiting for him to slip into when he get home, before beginning the hour long process of applying the make-up.

I think there could be a lot more description in there and the character needs to have more depth. The follow up activity is to re-write it in first person, trying to put the character in a sympathetic light or allowing the audience to identify with him. I will do this tonight and post up tomorrow.

Another great website I would suggest for ideas and inspiration is http://www.writingforward.com/. It provides lots of advice for new writers and also has some various writing exercises on there to open up your creativity. I will definitely explore this further tomorrow when I have a bit more time!

Trip to Scotland and Assignment Feedback

Last week was an intensely busy week! Me and Dean went up to Scotland for a few days to escape and really indulge in each other - and indulge we did...
We saw some beautiful landscapes - Loch Tay, Falls of Dochart and the Acharn Waterfall. It was a wonderful trip with some gorgeous food too and we had a really relaxing time. Hopefully pictures will be up soon but typically I am having to wait for Dean to upload them as we used his camera.In the mean time, here is a photograph of Loch Tay borrowed from here http://draw-nigh.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/t-f-torrance-retreat.html, strangely another blog with exactly the same layout! (Great minds think a like...)

I also submitted my first assignment (woop) and received some great feedback (double woop)! Surprisingly I actually managed to convince my tutor that I knew what I was talking about with poetry analysis and the main feedback was actually about my writing style and format. I am pleased because this is something I can easily work on, I haven't actually written an essay in about 5 or 6 years so I am allowed to be a little rusty. Unfortunately the OU came back to me and advised that they do not advise studying whilst travelling and it may hinder me with being successful at the course. This however does not mean I am writing the idea off! I am still going to keep it in mind until towards the end of my module when I will have a better understanding of my abilities with distance learning.

Now that I am back I will be able to post more frequently - yay :)

Assignments and Damian Hirst

I have not had any internet connection for a while so have not had an opportunity to do any research on uni courses etc. (First week staying at Deans whilst his parents were away on hols - it went well! Definitely shows living together potential wooop!).

I seriously need to complete my first assignment as I'm sure you can imagine it is a bit impossible to get anything done when I am with Dean. I did start it though...whilst listening to Dean's band at band practise..... which could only have heightened my risk of tinnitus whilst I sat next to the amp.

I am definitely serious about developing my writing skills and the Open University offer free modules on their Open Learn website which is such a great resource to dip your toe in to a variety of subjects. I plan to have a go at the creative writing courses to get a better idea of my writing potential. Annoyingly I have actually started a creative writing module but didn't back up my laptop and lost everything when it crashed a few months ago - to say I was gutted would be an understatement!

Another aspect I would to learn more of is Art. I attempted an Arts course previously and failed miserably, mainly because I could clearly see how rubbish I was and cannot draw at all. So Arts history is the way forwards I think. Myself and Dean are planning to spend some time in London soon so I will hopefully visit the Tate Modern and Tate Britain.... I have to visit the Damian Hirst exhibition!! This trip should also help whilst I am studying the Arts section on my current module.

I have already watched the programme on Channel 4, presented by Noel Fielding which explores some of Hirst's main pieces at the exhibition and he discusses his inspiration behind them. You have to watch this if you are a fan! It is available on 4OD. The Skull is my favourite piece and the main one I am hoping to see at the exhibition...

The piece is called 'For the Love of God', and is constructed using a human skull which has been coated in flawless diamonds.. it is phenomenal. I cannot wait to see it!

Journal Consistency

Evidently writing a daily journal was not quite realistic, so I have now agreed that it will be ok to do it a few times a week instead.

I am currently studying a openings module with The Open University called 'Making sense of the arts'. I signed up to it last year and started it in March with the idea that it would ease me in to studying at degree level and help decide if I am capable of distance learning before I sign up to a full degree. So far it is going well and I have been studying the Poetry section and am about to submit my first assignment to my tutor. When I receive the feedback from my tutor I should have a better idea of how well  I will do whilst studying a degree.

I also made plans this year to go travelling through Asia and Australia with my boyfriend Dean. Unfortunately this may take a couple of years with a view to consider settling down in Australia if we like it enough. I love this idea, yet it also completely clashes with my original plans to complete a degree in the UK. So, I am currently exploring ways around this which include researching similar degrees at the Australian Open University. Hopefully I will feel much less panicky once I have a clearer view of my options. I have actually contacted the OU already to see if they have many students who study whilst travelling, which was one of my other options to maintain my studying with the English OU. I am awaiting a response from them but I don't think it will be promising.

Either way, my current plan is to study the next module whilst travelling, as it does not have an end of year exam and I can submit my assignments online too. As this is the main module of my degree, it will also put me in a better position to study humanities at the Australian OU if I choose too.