Mahsuda Shah, runner up in the Words of Colour short story competition 2007, struggles with the day job, is full of creative ideas, fights nerves at a public reading and feels guilty for reading on the sofa at the weekend.

July/August 2008

A week in the life of ... Mahsuda Shah

Monday

Monday mornings don’t have the same dread for me as they use to. This is largely down to the fact that since I cut back to part-time hours (so I could do more writing) Monday is now my ‘day off’. Thus, the bleary eyed creature that depressingly used to fall out of bed at the beginning of each week has now been replaced by a much perkier version of myself that leaps from the covers. Today I got up 6.10am. If someone told me a few months ago that they got up so early when they had the choice of a lie-in I would have thought that they were a little deranged. But there’s an amazing difference between waking up to go to a job that ‘pays the bills’ and waking up to do something you genuinely love. In fact, today on my ‘day off’ I was so busy writing that I almost forgot to have lunch - almost.

Tuesday

Went into work with the idea of a story brimming in my mind. It’s extremely difficult to concentrate on databases and minutes of meetings when you have a story trying to vie for your attention. Whenever there was a lull my mind began playing out scenes between characters and sparking one ‘what if?’ concept against another. I end up jotting the fruits of these distractions on scraps of paper and sticking them into the folds of my diary. I then attempt to get back to the actual job I am being paid for. I have to remind myself to do this sometimes. As alluring as the stories can be, the basic need to have a job to get by usually grounds me. Besides, it’s good to have distractions. Sometimes you can’t really grasp if an idea is good or how a piece should be edited until you’ve had some real distance from it.

Wednesday

A quiet day in the office today so I set about writing a list that will hopefully help me with the novel I’m currently writing (a modern piece about offices that I ironically started writing long before I started working in an office). The list includes every day mundane tasks that I carried out in the afternoon. When I get home, I quickly glance over this list to help me rewrite a scene in my novel so that it is a lot livelier and realistic. This is why I love writing - even the most ordinary of things can be fascinating and interesting when looking at them through the writer’s eye.

Thursday

Every Thursday evening I go to my local writers club. Tonight I read a piece from my novel Experiments with Light. I still get nervous doing readings even though I’ve been going to the club for nearly two years. I clutch onto the lectern as the print swims in front of my eyes, the words tumbling out of my mouth and stumbling over each other like I’ve only just begun to learn to read. Fortunately, I get some great constructive feedback so it was all worthwhile.

Friday

I spend the majority of today trying to design a writer’s website. After spending a good few hours trying to decide what colour and font to use as well as wrestling with formatting I eventually come up with something that looks a little like a website. It still needs work. I’m hoping that one day I’ll be organised enough to finish it.

Saturday

Weekends are usually filled with the overwhelming feeling of guilt that I should be writing but I am sitting around doing nothing instead. Today is no different, although I do manage to scribble down a few ideas for a new novel. It’s so tempting when you have a new idea to just get carried along with it and forget about all your other projects. But I resist and keep in mind that my one goal this year is to finish a novel. Although of course within this one goal other goals do subsequently sprout. I would also like to get myself an agent, then a publishing deal, write a range of short stories, maybe even a radio play and, of course, try and finish that website.

Sunday

Spend the majority of today sitting curled up on my sofa, reading. I truly believe there is no better tutor for a writer than other people’s writing. Courses and ‘How to’ books are brilliant, but the study and enjoyment of reading another person’s work not only shows you how it can be done, but also reminds you of why you began writing in the first place. Hopefully one day my writing will inspire others in the same way.

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