In which I have a little bit of a boast. But only a small one, and I promise not to do it again.

It's late.  I've already posted today, and I really should be in bed.  Especially because I have a busy day of writing scripts for Microsoft Office training videos to look forward to tomorrow. I'm quite rock'n'roll, me.

But seeing as I come here when I want to have a moan about something, I kind of think it's only right to come when something good happens as well.  And tonight it has.

I've just been reading the feedback on a short story I wrote last week as an assignment for my writing class.   I was pleased just to get something written, to be honest.  I think it's the first full, finished piece of narrative fiction (ie a whole story I've made up, not a rambling blog post) I've written since I was at school, and when I started, I didn't think I would be able to do it.

We had the choice of writing a fiction or a non-fiction piece, and I very nearly went down the non-fiction route because  it's much more in my comfort zone.  But then I decided to take a risk.  And then, just to make it a bit more difficult, I ended up writing a story from the point of view of an old woman. With Alzheimer's disease.**

I wrote it, and re-wrote it, and then had to cut it right down to fit the word limit, and I sort of liked what I ended up with, but wasn't quite sure.  I handed it in anyway, and this is what our tutor said:

Fluid, engaging style and deft story telling…
Excellent – you have left me with very little to say.
Thoughtful, intelligent writing & a well crafted story

I can't begin to describe how I felt when I read her comments, but I am dead chuffed.  She said some other things too, which were more specific, which also made them more helpful.  They were equally positive, and just as chuff-inducing.
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I really don't mean to make a habit of shouting about these sorts of things, by the way; and that statement alone is a little presumptious as it assumes there will be more occasions like this, which certainly isn't a given. (Or even particularly likely.) But tonight, for one night only, I'm shouting.  Because this made me really, really happy.



**Seriously, I don't know why I do these things.  But, never let it be said I don't like a challenge.  I once went to a tarot card reader (please don't judge me) who said something along the lines of "your life will never be easy, because you strive for great things".  He had NO idea.