AlextheSuperfly

OK. So about a month ago we were given notice to leave our rented flat. Bad times.

So we decided we should look for a place to buy now. Good times.

We were looking for about a month, and saw about 30 properties. And now we’ve found a fantastic place. It’s not a mid-terrace (which makes it a rarity in South Wales) but a semi-detached ex-council house. It’s got 2 bedrooms, fantastic parking and a lovely big garden.

It was on the market for £90,000, so we started the offers at £80,000, and we ended up at £84,500, which we generally consider a win, although it took about a week from 1st offer to final agreement.

The mortgage is all sorted. We went to see a broker before we put any offers in, and he gave us an idea of what was out there and approx. how much we might be able to borrow. Then once we’d finally agreed the purchase price we called him up and he set about calling the mortgage companies. It took about 48 hours to get a result, which we were told was not unusual, and we were approved no problems. (Surprising really, given the current climate, but hey…) We’ve now given him our documentation and are waiting for the paperwork.

So that’s where we are right now. We’ve instructed solicitors, but we’ve not had any of the documentation through yet. Hopefully it’ll be fairly straightforward, but guess we’ll have to wait and see.

My general plan is to continue to save money and improve my credit rating this year, so that by the end of ‘09/beginning of ‘10 (when the drop in the market should be slowing down, but not going back up again yet) we can find a nice place to buy!

‘Buy’ – it’s still such a big word…

Ok, so I’m a little bit late putting my first entry up, but hey! Better late than never, right?

This all started about 2 and a 1/2 years ago. I’ve always wanted to write, but I’ve generally lacked inspiration. Then 2 and a 1/2 years ago I had a really funky dream. It stuck in my brain and I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days afterwards. I started thinking that this could be my big idea for a story.

However, there was a lot of stuff going on in my life at the time, so I didn’t do anything about it, although I would often find myself imagining little scenarios and exchanges between the characters. To be honest I think that this time turned out to be necessary as it’s given me the chance to build my characters and the story.

So last year I finally sat down and started writing. Except that I wasn’t really feeling it. I found it really difficult to write anything, as I was always trying to edit my work in my head before I actually put anything down. (TOP TIP: Don’t do this!) Rather predictably, stopped writing pretty quickly, although I still had these characters floating around in my head.

Then about a month and a half ago I saw a TV programme that interviewed film and TV writers about their experiences. As I watched it, I was inspired to start up again. More than that though, I listened to them saying again and again how they would edit their work over and over. It dawned on me then that I could write something and it could be utter rubbish, but it might be possible to still edit it into a passable work. In other words, it didn’t have to be perfect right away.

The final clincher was right at the end of the programme. They had Russell T Davies (head writer on Doctor Who) who said that you can’t really call yourself a writer until you’ve finished whatever it is you’re writing. Before that, you’re just a wannabe. When he said that, I knew that I had to finish writing it, even if it was terrible!

So since then I’ve been writing most days. Sometimes I’ll do 6 pages, sometimes I’ll do a couple of paragraphs. I’m sensible enough to know that this is going to take a bloody long time, but I’ve started now; that’s the hard part. All I have to do now is keep going!