It’s only 5 short days until NaNoWriMo begins again. I’ve participated in this frenzy of novel writing for the last two years now. I was successful at the first attempt, but last year was an unmitigated disaster. I managed to get about five thousand words into the story and hit a wall I couldn’t get beyond. So I put the story in a drawer and started again. The second attempt was even less successful than the first. After about three thousand words I’d completely lost my way with the story and threw that one out. It was just over a week into November and I had already thrown out two attempts, so I made the decision to abandon it that year as I was struggling to tell a complete story, and it was loosing the fun aspect it should have.
In an effort to avoid that nightmare scenario again this year I’ve spent the last few months making notes, coming up with characters and trying to outline a story. I managed to get a few ideas written down and a decent idea planned out. But I’ve decided I’m not going to use any of them.
A few days ago I was walking home from work, listening to a Mogwai album, when my favourite song of theirs came on. It’s a song that fills me with a lot of emotion and on that day, the sun was setting and the combination of the song and the sunset made it seem epic. Instantly I had several images flash through my mind, and realised that it was the last scene in a story that was completely different from the others I’d been planning.
I could almost see the entire last chapter in my mind playing out like a movie with this song driving the images. As soon as I got home I wrote down a rough outline of what I’d just experienced, and almost straight away the larger picture of the story began to form. I’d been planning for months, and in a few short minutes everything had changed.
It’s the very first time I’ve had the complete ending to a story planned out before I knew anything else about it. I had no idea exactly who the characters were with the exception of their reasons for being where they were and what happens to them at the end of the story. So I had to sit down and figure out exactly how they reached the point of the story I had visualised, and exactly who they were. To do that I switched the lights off, lay down, and played the entire album ‘Mr. Beast
‘ from beginning to end.
By the end of the evening I’d been able to outline the entire story to the point where I’m almost positive what needs to happen in every single chapter. There are a few chapters where I’m not totally sure what’s going to happen, but I know what comes before and what needs to come after, which leaves me a few chapters that need to be made up as I’m writing. I’m not going to try to outline these at the moment because the hold-on-for-dear life style of writing is what NaNoWriMo’s all about.
I can’t wait for it to start. It’s becoming a struggle not to open up Word and begin writing this story. I have the same excitement now as I did before I started my first NaNoWriMo, which is surely a very good sign.
Last night my flatmates and I went to see Mogwai at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange. It’s the first time I’ve been to see them, but the third time for the other guys, so I had no idea what to expect.
They came on and got stuck straight into it, no mucking around at the mic, just bam! Straight into a sonic wall. The place went nuts. Then after that song they took a few seconds to inform us of the Man U – vs- Celtic score before launching into my favourite track of theirs. The rest of the gig was a momentous experience, especially as you could feel every kick of the bass drum vibrate through your body.
I said to the guys after the gig that they played my favourite song two songs in, so I was pretty happy, but then the gig just kept getting better. It was quite an experience, and is probably up there as the best gig I’ve ever been to, removing Chris Cornell from that lofty position.
After the gig one of my flatmates and I headed to the Thistle Street Bar for a post gig pint. One turned into a few as we discussed the gig, and life in general, all with a high pitched ringing in our ears. That ringing is till there, although greatly reduced.
I’m going to be keeping an eye open for any future performances they make in Edinburgh, and I’ll be getting myself a ticket to every one.
In an effort to get myself healthy again I’ve reacquired a running habit. At the moment I’m going out three times a week and running further than I ever did other in recent attempts. My standard pace for the run is improving, plus my stamina and overall health are improving that much quicker.
I’ve added the Nike+ “Latest 5 Runs” widget over on the the sidebar which (because of the scale), makes my runs look crazy. Trust me they’re not that erratic.
The running is only part of the goal to lose some weight and get healthy again. I’m going to be starting the 100 push-ups program soon, I’ve cut down the amount of beer I drink, and I barely eat any junk food anymore. A few things slip through but not much.
The health and weightloss are a part of a few big changes I’m going to be making to overhaul my life over the next year. I’ll talk about some of the others when I make sure that I’ve made running a habit, but they range from career and finances to general lifestyle.
Exciting times are on the horizon.
****
UPDATE: The timing was a little too messed up. I posted this on Wednesday afternoon, and by Wednesday night I was so sick with a cold it was unbelievable. It’s four days later and I’m still really unwell. So much for getting healthy.
*Update* – If you are one of the many people that have found this site while looking for answers to the problems you have been having with Grant Management properties, I would highly recommend you take the time to read through the comments on this post. There are some very useful tips, and advice shared by others who have been in the situation you are in now. Thanks for stopping by – Chris
I may have mentioned a while ago on Twitter we had a major issue with our old landlords Grant Management. One of the biggest issues was the day they violated the terms of our lease by arranging a viewing of the flat without giving us any prior notice. There were a few other issues, both minor and major, but this was the one that pushed us over the edge. I wrote a letter of complaint to them that I wanted to stick up here on the web to make the issue more public. So here it is:
Date: 1st October 2008
Beverley Burness
Grant Management Ltd
14 Coates Crescent
Edinburgh
EH3 7AF
Dear Ms Burness,
I wish to formally complain against actions carried out by your companies agents on the morning of Thursday the 11th September. At 85 Brunswick Street a member of your staff carried out a viewing of the property without any prior notification. As stated in the lease agreement under in Section 5) Responsibilites of the Tenant, paragrah s):
“The Tenant will allow the Landlord or his agents with or without others (i.e workmen or Local Authority officials) access to the property at all reasonable times to examine the condition of the property, any contents, fittings and furnishings and to carry out any repairs, improvements, safety inspections or any other works required. In all cases reasonable notice in writing will be given to the Tenant.”
As no notice of this viewing was in fact given, you must agree that by the terms set out in the above paragraph, our lease agreement was breached by Grant Management Ltd on the above stated date. As we only discovered this due to a fellow Tenant being in the property during this time, it leads to me to ask the question, how many other times has this happened without our knowledge?
This may in fact be an isolated incident, however it adds to a growing sense of unease when dealing with your company. I for one will never again participate in a lease agreement with Grant Management, and as such will recommend the same course of action to any friends and acquaintances seeking rented accomodation in Edinburgh.
Regards,
Christopher Hamilton
I’ve mentioned this to various people over the last six months, but I can’t stress how bad a landlord Grant Management are. I would avoid using them if at all possible.
