N.E. David's Blog: Writing Life, page 3
February 24, 2014
Job Done - I'm Off To Iceland & The Northern Lights
24 February 2014
What’s this? Monday and another change of routine? Just when I’d got used to Thursdays ... The fact is I have to take any opportunity as everything has been out of kilter in the last week or so. It all began with my son’s wedding last Saturday (l’m now the proud possessor of a daughter-in-law) and continues with a trip to Iceland in search of the Northern Lights tomorrow. In fact, I haven’t got long as we’re due to catch the train to Glasgow shortly.
So ... All this has meant I’ve needed to keep my head down and finish my rewrite of Part Four of AS DAD LAY DYING. That’s now safely done, I’m pleased to say and I can go away with a clear conscience. Part Four is Pat’s story, Pat being Frank’s elder sister. She’s ‘the go-between’, the peace-keeper and family co-ordinator. She’s in her mid/late forties and like so many women of that age, has both children and parents to consider. She’s caught in the middle, you might say, so we get to learn quite a bit about the family’s relationships through her eyes. Unlike the other five parts, I’ve even written it in first person as it seems to suit the narrative – I’m just hoping it isn’t out of place compared to the rest of the book. It makes an interesting change for the reader anyway.
When I get back in a week’s time, my next task will be to tackle Part Five which is Geoffrey’s story. This will fill in the gaps in the back story, give greater insight into his character (is he as bad as Frank would have us believe?) and reveal the family secret. Then everything will be set up for the final piece of the action.
In the meanwhile, I’m looking forward to an exciting few days away. We’ll be staying in Reykjavik and going out on a boat at night to look for the Northern Lights. I’m hoping for cold and frosty conditions with clear night skies for better viewing. No guarantees of course but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. By day I’ll be getting some bird-watching done. I’ve highlighted a few target species and I’ll be keeping a log. There’s one duck in particular, Harlequin, which is rarely seen anywhere else other than Iceland. As is Barrow’s Goldeneye which together with Snowy Owl and Gyr Falcon make an ambitious hit-list. If I get to see any one of them, I’ll be delighted. Plus Glaucous and Iceland Gull, of course. I’ll let you know when I get back. As to whether there’ll be a plot in it all, as there was when I went bird-watching in Egypt, only time will tell.
And while we’re speaking of BIRDS OF THE NILE, I have some progress to report. My appearance on Lilas Taha’s blog appears to have been successful and she tells me there were 5432 hits on her website in the week. That’s fantastic as it would probably take me a year to garner that many. I’ll have to wait for a month or two for sales figures to see what effect it’s had.
I’ve also been invited to put on a talk at Helmsley Weekend of Writing in June (as I’d hoped). There’s also mention of an event at Leeds Library in conjunction with The Big Bookend. And in breaking news, two local book clubs have opted for BOTN as one of their chosen reads and I’ve volunteered to attend their discussions in an author Q&A session. All this makes for a busy season coming up and on that basis I’ve ordered another consignment of books from John Hunt Publishing. Let’s hope my faith in my sales abilities is justified and I can make more progress toward my target for the year end.
Now, must stop here as the taxi’s arrived, my bags are packed and I’ve got a plane to catch. Iceland, here I come!
What’s this? Monday and another change of routine? Just when I’d got used to Thursdays ... The fact is I have to take any opportunity as everything has been out of kilter in the last week or so. It all began with my son’s wedding last Saturday (l’m now the proud possessor of a daughter-in-law) and continues with a trip to Iceland in search of the Northern Lights tomorrow. In fact, I haven’t got long as we’re due to catch the train to Glasgow shortly.
So ... All this has meant I’ve needed to keep my head down and finish my rewrite of Part Four of AS DAD LAY DYING. That’s now safely done, I’m pleased to say and I can go away with a clear conscience. Part Four is Pat’s story, Pat being Frank’s elder sister. She’s ‘the go-between’, the peace-keeper and family co-ordinator. She’s in her mid/late forties and like so many women of that age, has both children and parents to consider. She’s caught in the middle, you might say, so we get to learn quite a bit about the family’s relationships through her eyes. Unlike the other five parts, I’ve even written it in first person as it seems to suit the narrative – I’m just hoping it isn’t out of place compared to the rest of the book. It makes an interesting change for the reader anyway.
When I get back in a week’s time, my next task will be to tackle Part Five which is Geoffrey’s story. This will fill in the gaps in the back story, give greater insight into his character (is he as bad as Frank would have us believe?) and reveal the family secret. Then everything will be set up for the final piece of the action.
In the meanwhile, I’m looking forward to an exciting few days away. We’ll be staying in Reykjavik and going out on a boat at night to look for the Northern Lights. I’m hoping for cold and frosty conditions with clear night skies for better viewing. No guarantees of course but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. By day I’ll be getting some bird-watching done. I’ve highlighted a few target species and I’ll be keeping a log. There’s one duck in particular, Harlequin, which is rarely seen anywhere else other than Iceland. As is Barrow’s Goldeneye which together with Snowy Owl and Gyr Falcon make an ambitious hit-list. If I get to see any one of them, I’ll be delighted. Plus Glaucous and Iceland Gull, of course. I’ll let you know when I get back. As to whether there’ll be a plot in it all, as there was when I went bird-watching in Egypt, only time will tell.
And while we’re speaking of BIRDS OF THE NILE, I have some progress to report. My appearance on Lilas Taha’s blog appears to have been successful and she tells me there were 5432 hits on her website in the week. That’s fantastic as it would probably take me a year to garner that many. I’ll have to wait for a month or two for sales figures to see what effect it’s had.
I’ve also been invited to put on a talk at Helmsley Weekend of Writing in June (as I’d hoped). There’s also mention of an event at Leeds Library in conjunction with The Big Bookend. And in breaking news, two local book clubs have opted for BOTN as one of their chosen reads and I’ve volunteered to attend their discussions in an author Q&A session. All this makes for a busy season coming up and on that basis I’ve ordered another consignment of books from John Hunt Publishing. Let’s hope my faith in my sales abilities is justified and I can make more progress toward my target for the year end.
Now, must stop here as the taxi’s arrived, my bags are packed and I’ve got a plane to catch. Iceland, here I come!
February 13, 2014
Death Is My Deadline
12 February 2014
It’s 2 o’clock (no surprise there) – but it’s WEDNESDAY! Something has obviously gone wrong ...
Actually it hasn’t, and something has actually gone right. I’ve completed Part Three of AS DAD LAY DYING well ahead of schedule - but instead of taking tomorrow morning off in celebration and writing my blog before breakfast as I did a couple of weeks ago, I’ve decided to get it done today and press ahead with Part Four. Blogging tomorrow afternoon is not an option. My son is getting married on Saturday and as of midday on Thursday the house is being turned upside down. I will get my writing done first though.
Why do I set myself such stringent targets? Why can’t I be relaxed about it and say, ok, job done, let’s have a few days off and enjoy ourselves? In fact, as a writer, why have targets at all? Targets aren’t for creative people like us, surely. What we need to do is wait until ‘The Muse’ inspires us.
Personally, I take the opposite view. If I didn’t set myself targets for my writing and waited for ‘The Muse’ to strike, I’d never get very much done. ‘The Muse’ is a fickle companion and she’s just as likely to stand you up as keep a date. Recent weeks have been an exception, but I normally fail to meet any of the targets I set myself. What I do know however, is that I get much more done than I would have if I’d set no target at all.
The other week we discussed this at our monthly Novelists Support Group meeting. It seemed to me there was a general consensus amongst the professional authors present that imposing some element of discipline into their working routine was essential. The people concerned already had external deadlines imposed upon them by their respective publishers and so their need was obvious. My publisher has imposed no such deadlines on me – so why am I so concerned?
Actually, I do have a deadline – it’s called death. I’ve left my attempt at a writing career until rather late in life and I’m very conscious of the fact that I have only so many years in front of me. I have (at least) eight novels in my head and if I don’t get them out and into print before you know when, I’m going to pass away a terribly disappointed man. I have to say this haunts me and I’m certainly driven to complete ‘my life’s work’ while I still can. Hence the targets, hence the discipline. AS DAD LAY DYING is only the second of the eight – there’s so much more to come. Anyway, best get that one done first and not get too far ahead of myself. Back to the desk in the morning then ...
Meanwhile, I’ve been experiencing some frustration at the level of online sales for BIRDS OF THE NILE. Face to face sales are going quite well. Every time I get in front of people and get engaged, I seem to be able to sell a few books. Fortunately, I’ve a few face to face events in the diary – especially as I’ve been working hard at my Lit Fest campaign. In addition to Kings Lynn and York, I’m appearing at Doncaster and Darlington and I’m hopeful of Helmsley, Leeds and Middlesbrough. I’ve also pitched for Lincoln and Harrogate. And that’s only the first half of the Lit Fest season. After a break in July and August, things get going again in September and I’ve yet to start tackling that. I’ve a few writing groups to go to as well, plus an RSPB AGM and a WI meeting. The diary is filling up.
It’s the online campaign that’s bothering me. I haven’t yet been able to master the technique for selling via Twitter etc. despite countless hours sat at my computer sending messages into the ether. There isn’t a magic bullet either, and I’ve no doubt I’m not the only author who hasn’t got it together online. I have an active website, I’m regularly on Goodreads and I promote myself on Twitter – none of it to great effect. I’d welcome any tips.
I’m obviously hoping that Book Talk will help raise my profile. I did the second show on Monday and so far, so good. It’s been a great experience and I’ve enjoyed myself immensely on both occasions. As to whether it will help sell any books, the jury’s still out. It is another pressure though and I’m now in a position of having to read at least two books a month. On Monday week I’m off to Iceland for a few days in search of The Northern Lights. It won’t be all play however as I’ll be taking one of March’s books with me. But hey ho, I’m looking forward to it. We’ll speak again soon.
It’s 2 o’clock (no surprise there) – but it’s WEDNESDAY! Something has obviously gone wrong ...
Actually it hasn’t, and something has actually gone right. I’ve completed Part Three of AS DAD LAY DYING well ahead of schedule - but instead of taking tomorrow morning off in celebration and writing my blog before breakfast as I did a couple of weeks ago, I’ve decided to get it done today and press ahead with Part Four. Blogging tomorrow afternoon is not an option. My son is getting married on Saturday and as of midday on Thursday the house is being turned upside down. I will get my writing done first though.
Why do I set myself such stringent targets? Why can’t I be relaxed about it and say, ok, job done, let’s have a few days off and enjoy ourselves? In fact, as a writer, why have targets at all? Targets aren’t for creative people like us, surely. What we need to do is wait until ‘The Muse’ inspires us.
Personally, I take the opposite view. If I didn’t set myself targets for my writing and waited for ‘The Muse’ to strike, I’d never get very much done. ‘The Muse’ is a fickle companion and she’s just as likely to stand you up as keep a date. Recent weeks have been an exception, but I normally fail to meet any of the targets I set myself. What I do know however, is that I get much more done than I would have if I’d set no target at all.
The other week we discussed this at our monthly Novelists Support Group meeting. It seemed to me there was a general consensus amongst the professional authors present that imposing some element of discipline into their working routine was essential. The people concerned already had external deadlines imposed upon them by their respective publishers and so their need was obvious. My publisher has imposed no such deadlines on me – so why am I so concerned?
Actually, I do have a deadline – it’s called death. I’ve left my attempt at a writing career until rather late in life and I’m very conscious of the fact that I have only so many years in front of me. I have (at least) eight novels in my head and if I don’t get them out and into print before you know when, I’m going to pass away a terribly disappointed man. I have to say this haunts me and I’m certainly driven to complete ‘my life’s work’ while I still can. Hence the targets, hence the discipline. AS DAD LAY DYING is only the second of the eight – there’s so much more to come. Anyway, best get that one done first and not get too far ahead of myself. Back to the desk in the morning then ...
Meanwhile, I’ve been experiencing some frustration at the level of online sales for BIRDS OF THE NILE. Face to face sales are going quite well. Every time I get in front of people and get engaged, I seem to be able to sell a few books. Fortunately, I’ve a few face to face events in the diary – especially as I’ve been working hard at my Lit Fest campaign. In addition to Kings Lynn and York, I’m appearing at Doncaster and Darlington and I’m hopeful of Helmsley, Leeds and Middlesbrough. I’ve also pitched for Lincoln and Harrogate. And that’s only the first half of the Lit Fest season. After a break in July and August, things get going again in September and I’ve yet to start tackling that. I’ve a few writing groups to go to as well, plus an RSPB AGM and a WI meeting. The diary is filling up.
It’s the online campaign that’s bothering me. I haven’t yet been able to master the technique for selling via Twitter etc. despite countless hours sat at my computer sending messages into the ether. There isn’t a magic bullet either, and I’ve no doubt I’m not the only author who hasn’t got it together online. I have an active website, I’m regularly on Goodreads and I promote myself on Twitter – none of it to great effect. I’d welcome any tips.
I’m obviously hoping that Book Talk will help raise my profile. I did the second show on Monday and so far, so good. It’s been a great experience and I’ve enjoyed myself immensely on both occasions. As to whether it will help sell any books, the jury’s still out. It is another pressure though and I’m now in a position of having to read at least two books a month. On Monday week I’m off to Iceland for a few days in search of The Northern Lights. It won’t be all play however as I’ll be taking one of March’s books with me. But hey ho, I’m looking forward to it. We’ll speak again soon.
February 6, 2014
Rattling Along With The Rewrite
6 February 2014
Guess what? It’s 2 o’clock on a Thursday afternoon ...
The thing about routine is that it gets the everyday tasks accomplished. Not that Writing Life is an everyday task, but you know what I mean. If I didn’t set aside the time, it wouldn’t get done.
It’s the same with the writing. Day in, day out, rain or shine, 6.30 to 11 with half an hour for breakfast. Last week I afforded myself the luxury of a day off but I’ve been back at the desk every day since - to good effect in that I’m well into rewriting Part Three of AS DAD LAY DYING. And I’m pleased to say that things could hardly be going better ...
Although I want to begin by correcting a mistake I made last week. I said I was trying to get the work down to 100000 words from 111000. It’s actually 115000. The 111000 relates to the original draft and I discovered I was working on version 2 which had gone up by 4000 words. So it looks as though I’m going to have to cut a little harder than I thought.
Not that this concerns me. In fact the more I strip the thing down the better it seems to become. This is important because Part Three is the heart of the book. It deals with Frank’s formative years as a child on a caravan site in the late 1950s. An event takes place which scars him for the rest of his life and there’s a need to get that right. Fortunately, in my opinion it’s the best piece of writing I’ve ever produced and I’m really, really pleased with it. Rewriting it is a pleasure. Other than strip it back a bit, I don’t need to do a lot to it and I’m rattling through it. At my current rate of progress I’ll have it done by this time next week, even allowing for a day out birding on Sunday. You’ll obviously be kept informed.
I’ve also made significant progress with my Lit Fest campaign. I’ve secured a place at Darlington, and both Helmsley and Leeds look promising. I’ve discovered some new venues too, particularly in Harrogate where I’ve struggled to find anything suitable in the past. Bids have been submitted.
I’ve just been to a couple of Writing Groups as well (Batley and Holmfirth) although I’ve no more visits planned in that respect for a while. The online Blog Tour has also come to a grinding halt and the moral of the story is that you can’t keep on top of everything and expect to have a life. I’m reminded (once again) of the juggler trying to keep all the plates spinning on the end of the sticks. The one stick I won’t be letting go of is the writing ...
And in other news, I’ve received a (very polite) rejection from the Richard & Judy Book Club. I don’t think it was a personal letter but it felt like one all the same. Well done Andrea Sansum for letting my balloon down as gently as possible.
On the good side of the balance, Book Talk continues with our second programme on Monday when I’ll be looking at STONER by John Williams and THE RED HOUSE by Mark Haddon. I’ve already posted my reviews on the Book Talk page of the website but if you can join me at 4pm on BBC Radio York on the 10th I’d be delighted to have you listen in. Bye for now.
Guess what? It’s 2 o’clock on a Thursday afternoon ...
The thing about routine is that it gets the everyday tasks accomplished. Not that Writing Life is an everyday task, but you know what I mean. If I didn’t set aside the time, it wouldn’t get done.
It’s the same with the writing. Day in, day out, rain or shine, 6.30 to 11 with half an hour for breakfast. Last week I afforded myself the luxury of a day off but I’ve been back at the desk every day since - to good effect in that I’m well into rewriting Part Three of AS DAD LAY DYING. And I’m pleased to say that things could hardly be going better ...
Although I want to begin by correcting a mistake I made last week. I said I was trying to get the work down to 100000 words from 111000. It’s actually 115000. The 111000 relates to the original draft and I discovered I was working on version 2 which had gone up by 4000 words. So it looks as though I’m going to have to cut a little harder than I thought.
Not that this concerns me. In fact the more I strip the thing down the better it seems to become. This is important because Part Three is the heart of the book. It deals with Frank’s formative years as a child on a caravan site in the late 1950s. An event takes place which scars him for the rest of his life and there’s a need to get that right. Fortunately, in my opinion it’s the best piece of writing I’ve ever produced and I’m really, really pleased with it. Rewriting it is a pleasure. Other than strip it back a bit, I don’t need to do a lot to it and I’m rattling through it. At my current rate of progress I’ll have it done by this time next week, even allowing for a day out birding on Sunday. You’ll obviously be kept informed.
I’ve also made significant progress with my Lit Fest campaign. I’ve secured a place at Darlington, and both Helmsley and Leeds look promising. I’ve discovered some new venues too, particularly in Harrogate where I’ve struggled to find anything suitable in the past. Bids have been submitted.
I’ve just been to a couple of Writing Groups as well (Batley and Holmfirth) although I’ve no more visits planned in that respect for a while. The online Blog Tour has also come to a grinding halt and the moral of the story is that you can’t keep on top of everything and expect to have a life. I’m reminded (once again) of the juggler trying to keep all the plates spinning on the end of the sticks. The one stick I won’t be letting go of is the writing ...
And in other news, I’ve received a (very polite) rejection from the Richard & Judy Book Club. I don’t think it was a personal letter but it felt like one all the same. Well done Andrea Sansum for letting my balloon down as gently as possible.
On the good side of the balance, Book Talk continues with our second programme on Monday when I’ll be looking at STONER by John Williams and THE RED HOUSE by Mark Haddon. I’ve already posted my reviews on the Book Talk page of the website but if you can join me at 4pm on BBC Radio York on the 10th I’d be delighted to have you listen in. Bye for now.
January 30, 2014
It's Time To Stop Whingeing And Celebrate
30 January 2014
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks bemoaning the passage of time and regretting how little use I seem to make of it. You’re probably tired of hearing me tell you that I never get anything done. Today I’m changing my tune and instead of whingeing I’ve decided to celebrate. And the reason? I’ve finished rewriting Part Two of AS DAD LAY DYING well ahead of schedule. I’ve even given myself the day off from the desk so instead of this being written at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, it’s 8 o’clock in the morning. And there’s no greater testament to the way I feel than when I can afford to give up a day’s writing.
I started out with the intention of whittling the work down from 111000 words to under a hundred. Part Two (Elisabeth’s story) originally comprised some 26000 words of that and I’d set myself the task of reducing it to below twenty by the end of January. So far, I’ve worked 25 out of the 29 days of the month, Part One is down to 11000 words and yesterday I completed Part Two at just under 20000, on time and on target. Other things may have gone by the board, but the priority has been achieved.
I’ve learnt from my experience with BIRDS OF THE NILE not to be too precious about throwing words away – there’s so much dead wood you can get rid of. I remember when I rewrote the first section of that book and eliminated my ‘grammatical crutches’, ie. all those little expressions that make you feel comfortable about your writing. It was a ‘wow’ moment as I sensed the prose literally lifting of the page in front of me and I knew then that I’d become a genuine writer – it actually began to read like a proper novel.
I’m hoping to repeat that with AS DAD LAY DYING. The crunch will come when I re-read the re-write and I see whether I’ve been able to achieve the same effect. In the meanwhile I intend to keep going rather than make the mistake of going back to the beginning now. So tomorrow I start on Part Three (Frank’s story). That currently weighs in at close to 24000 words. I’ll need to read through it first to see if it’s properly paced. I know of one (small) piece that can probably come out but I don’t feel the need to cut this back so much as I did Part Two. A normal word cull and I suspect 22000 words will be ok. It’s a crucial part of the whole so I don’t want to skimp. My target this time is to get it done before Monday 24 Feb as I’m going away for a few days then and it would be great to do so with that out of the way. Then I can relax and enjoy myself.
I know I said I wasn’t going to whinge but as to other matters, I’m still some way behind. It’s quiet season for Lit Fests and I’d said I was going to focus on my online campaign for BIRDS OF THE NILE. I’d hoped to set up a Blog Tour with at least one a week. I’ve managed that for the first three weeks (my thanks to Susan Buchanan, Ben Warden and Lilas Taha) and I have a promise of one in Feb but beyond that I’ve arranged nothing else. I’m not sure how successful those first three were and I’m planning to conduct a review of my online campaign before committing myself to more. Despite some really encouraging reviews on Amazon (10x5*, 5x4* and 1x3*) online sales are not as good as they could be and I need to find an effective way of boosting them.
Face to face sales are a lot better and I need to continue that programme too. And although there are no Lit Fests at present (the season starts at the same time as F1, ie. March) if I don’t make bids now, I’ll have nothing to go to in April, May and June. So when writing was done on Tuesday I spent the rest of the day on the phone. I’m currently appearing at Kings Lynn and York in March and I’ve enquired about Scarborough in April. I’ve a spot at Doncaster in May and I’ve also put bids in for Helmsley, Lincoln and Darlington in the same month. Next bit of ‘free’ time I get I’ll be looking at June and thinking about Middlesbrough, Hebden Bridge, Leeds, Holmfirth and Grassington. Amazing to think that there’s so much literary activity within an hour or so’s travelling distance. I’ll keep you in touch as to progress.
Now it’s time to look at my emails. Yesterday I had 98 from Twitter alone. Oh joy ...
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks bemoaning the passage of time and regretting how little use I seem to make of it. You’re probably tired of hearing me tell you that I never get anything done. Today I’m changing my tune and instead of whingeing I’ve decided to celebrate. And the reason? I’ve finished rewriting Part Two of AS DAD LAY DYING well ahead of schedule. I’ve even given myself the day off from the desk so instead of this being written at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, it’s 8 o’clock in the morning. And there’s no greater testament to the way I feel than when I can afford to give up a day’s writing.
I started out with the intention of whittling the work down from 111000 words to under a hundred. Part Two (Elisabeth’s story) originally comprised some 26000 words of that and I’d set myself the task of reducing it to below twenty by the end of January. So far, I’ve worked 25 out of the 29 days of the month, Part One is down to 11000 words and yesterday I completed Part Two at just under 20000, on time and on target. Other things may have gone by the board, but the priority has been achieved.
I’ve learnt from my experience with BIRDS OF THE NILE not to be too precious about throwing words away – there’s so much dead wood you can get rid of. I remember when I rewrote the first section of that book and eliminated my ‘grammatical crutches’, ie. all those little expressions that make you feel comfortable about your writing. It was a ‘wow’ moment as I sensed the prose literally lifting of the page in front of me and I knew then that I’d become a genuine writer – it actually began to read like a proper novel.
I’m hoping to repeat that with AS DAD LAY DYING. The crunch will come when I re-read the re-write and I see whether I’ve been able to achieve the same effect. In the meanwhile I intend to keep going rather than make the mistake of going back to the beginning now. So tomorrow I start on Part Three (Frank’s story). That currently weighs in at close to 24000 words. I’ll need to read through it first to see if it’s properly paced. I know of one (small) piece that can probably come out but I don’t feel the need to cut this back so much as I did Part Two. A normal word cull and I suspect 22000 words will be ok. It’s a crucial part of the whole so I don’t want to skimp. My target this time is to get it done before Monday 24 Feb as I’m going away for a few days then and it would be great to do so with that out of the way. Then I can relax and enjoy myself.
I know I said I wasn’t going to whinge but as to other matters, I’m still some way behind. It’s quiet season for Lit Fests and I’d said I was going to focus on my online campaign for BIRDS OF THE NILE. I’d hoped to set up a Blog Tour with at least one a week. I’ve managed that for the first three weeks (my thanks to Susan Buchanan, Ben Warden and Lilas Taha) and I have a promise of one in Feb but beyond that I’ve arranged nothing else. I’m not sure how successful those first three were and I’m planning to conduct a review of my online campaign before committing myself to more. Despite some really encouraging reviews on Amazon (10x5*, 5x4* and 1x3*) online sales are not as good as they could be and I need to find an effective way of boosting them.
Face to face sales are a lot better and I need to continue that programme too. And although there are no Lit Fests at present (the season starts at the same time as F1, ie. March) if I don’t make bids now, I’ll have nothing to go to in April, May and June. So when writing was done on Tuesday I spent the rest of the day on the phone. I’m currently appearing at Kings Lynn and York in March and I’ve enquired about Scarborough in April. I’ve a spot at Doncaster in May and I’ve also put bids in for Helmsley, Lincoln and Darlington in the same month. Next bit of ‘free’ time I get I’ll be looking at June and thinking about Middlesbrough, Hebden Bridge, Leeds, Holmfirth and Grassington. Amazing to think that there’s so much literary activity within an hour or so’s travelling distance. I’ll keep you in touch as to progress.
Now it’s time to look at my emails. Yesterday I had 98 from Twitter alone. Oh joy ...
January 23, 2014
Cutting The Crap
23 January 2014
I’ve just settled down to ‘Writing Life’ so I guess it must be 2 o’clock on a Thursday afternoon. Isn’t it amazing what creatures of habit we are! It’s almost as if there’s an internal alarm clock that subconsciously calls us to duty. The thing is, I know that if it isn’t done now, it won’t get done at all.
As you might gather from the tone of the above, my battle with time continues. When I review my diary to see what achievements I can report for the week, I am appalled at how little it amounts to. And it’s not as if I’m controlled by some external force – the fact is that almost the whole 24 hours of the day are mine to do with as I wish. It would be handy if I could blame it on someone else, but I can’t.
The truth is there are only two commitments in my diary for the week, a day out shopping with my wife (which we thoroughly enjoyed and I wouldn’t have swapped for the world) and Book Talk with Elly Fiorentini at BBC Radio York on Monday. I wouldn’t have changed that either, even though it did take up quite a bit of time in terms of preparation. As it was the first edition to go out, I was anxious to make sure it went well and I had my comments documented in readiness. Having said that, I think you’d be surprised as to just how much of it we make up as we go along. You really do have to be able to respond quickly! Anyway, I enjoyed that too and the feedback afterwards suggested it was fine. It doesn’t end there of course, and there’s another half a day of tidying up to do on the website when the programme has finished. Even now, I’ve still got a couple of jobs to do but I’m hopeful that the further we get into it, the easier it will become. If you’ve got your diary handy, the next broadcast is due out on Monday 10 February. Fortunately, I’ve already read the books concerned.
And yes, I’m still ploughing on with AS DAD LAY DYING – that is a permanent fixture in my work schedule. Come rain or shine I begin each morning at the writing desk and I sit there until I feel I’ve done enough to justify a decent day’s output. At present that’s averaging about 1200 words (this is re-writing, remember, I could never keep that up for a first draft) and since I began on Jan 4 I’ve only had one day off. I’m currently 23000 words into it and so far, so good. The first section is done (11000 words) and the section I’m working on at present started off with 26000 words. I’ve always known it’s far too long and my target is to get in down to below 20000, hopefully 19000. At the latest count it’s under 22000 so I’m gradually getting there.
What has surprised me is how easy this is to do without harming the essential content of the book. We’re often precious about the words we’ve sweated blood to get down on paper but I find that on revision, less is invariably more. My first draft was wordy and I found I’d repeated the same sentiment time and time again. Cutting out the dead wood improves my prose and reduces the risk of boring the reader. It was a lesson and a skill I acquired while redrafting BIRDS OF THE NILE. I blogged about how I did it in an article called ‘Trimming The Fat – How To Cut Your Word Count’ on Jan 14 last year. If you want to look it up, it’ll be in the Blog Archive. There’s one thing I’d add to it with hindsight – the longer you leave it before starting the revision, the better. You forget how much effort it cost you in the first place and why you included things you can’t now see the point of. My initial notes for AS DAD LAY DYING are dated March 2009 and I have a record of a rejection dated a year later so it’s been in the drawer for almost four years. A bit extreme, I suppose, but it doesn’t half help. And by the time I get it back to the agent, they’ll have forgotten why they rejected it too ...
I’ve just settled down to ‘Writing Life’ so I guess it must be 2 o’clock on a Thursday afternoon. Isn’t it amazing what creatures of habit we are! It’s almost as if there’s an internal alarm clock that subconsciously calls us to duty. The thing is, I know that if it isn’t done now, it won’t get done at all.
As you might gather from the tone of the above, my battle with time continues. When I review my diary to see what achievements I can report for the week, I am appalled at how little it amounts to. And it’s not as if I’m controlled by some external force – the fact is that almost the whole 24 hours of the day are mine to do with as I wish. It would be handy if I could blame it on someone else, but I can’t.
The truth is there are only two commitments in my diary for the week, a day out shopping with my wife (which we thoroughly enjoyed and I wouldn’t have swapped for the world) and Book Talk with Elly Fiorentini at BBC Radio York on Monday. I wouldn’t have changed that either, even though it did take up quite a bit of time in terms of preparation. As it was the first edition to go out, I was anxious to make sure it went well and I had my comments documented in readiness. Having said that, I think you’d be surprised as to just how much of it we make up as we go along. You really do have to be able to respond quickly! Anyway, I enjoyed that too and the feedback afterwards suggested it was fine. It doesn’t end there of course, and there’s another half a day of tidying up to do on the website when the programme has finished. Even now, I’ve still got a couple of jobs to do but I’m hopeful that the further we get into it, the easier it will become. If you’ve got your diary handy, the next broadcast is due out on Monday 10 February. Fortunately, I’ve already read the books concerned.
And yes, I’m still ploughing on with AS DAD LAY DYING – that is a permanent fixture in my work schedule. Come rain or shine I begin each morning at the writing desk and I sit there until I feel I’ve done enough to justify a decent day’s output. At present that’s averaging about 1200 words (this is re-writing, remember, I could never keep that up for a first draft) and since I began on Jan 4 I’ve only had one day off. I’m currently 23000 words into it and so far, so good. The first section is done (11000 words) and the section I’m working on at present started off with 26000 words. I’ve always known it’s far too long and my target is to get in down to below 20000, hopefully 19000. At the latest count it’s under 22000 so I’m gradually getting there.
What has surprised me is how easy this is to do without harming the essential content of the book. We’re often precious about the words we’ve sweated blood to get down on paper but I find that on revision, less is invariably more. My first draft was wordy and I found I’d repeated the same sentiment time and time again. Cutting out the dead wood improves my prose and reduces the risk of boring the reader. It was a lesson and a skill I acquired while redrafting BIRDS OF THE NILE. I blogged about how I did it in an article called ‘Trimming The Fat – How To Cut Your Word Count’ on Jan 14 last year. If you want to look it up, it’ll be in the Blog Archive. There’s one thing I’d add to it with hindsight – the longer you leave it before starting the revision, the better. You forget how much effort it cost you in the first place and why you included things you can’t now see the point of. My initial notes for AS DAD LAY DYING are dated March 2009 and I have a record of a rejection dated a year later so it’s been in the drawer for almost four years. A bit extreme, I suppose, but it doesn’t half help. And by the time I get it back to the agent, they’ll have forgotten why they rejected it too ...
January 17, 2014
Getting Ready for Book Talk
16 January 2014
Well, another week of 2014 has flashed by and although I’ve set aside an hour or so to tell you about it, I’m not sure I’ve achieved enough to warrant making a record. As I said last time, I put things on my ‘to do’ list but it just keeps getting longer and longer and making myself document things in this way only serves to remind me how little I seem to get done.
But throughout all this there is one ‘must do’ priority – and that is to continue writing. I was forcibly reminded of this on Tuesday evening when I went to Keighley to give a talk to Airedale Writers Circle. They had requested ‘A Defence Against The Dark Arts – Writers’ Block And How To Beat It’ which is undoubtedly the most popular of all my talks. In it I speak about what a writer needs to give up in order to write – what sacrifices will we have to make? All too often it’s the writing itself that gets sacrificed and I’m utterly determined that won’t happen to me. So the writing comes first - and if I manage to get anything else done, that’s a bonus.
So I’m making steady, if unspectacular, progress with AS DAD LAY DYING. Day 12 of the re-write and I’ve reached page 53. You might think that’s quite slow but this is a root and branch re-write in which I’m dissecting every line to squeeze the best out of it. I’m also looking to cut the word count substantially. I began with 110000 words and I want to get that down to below 100000. This is a good discipline as it’s making me tighten the prose more than I would otherwise have done and I’m hoping that it will read much better as a result. It needs to, as the original wasn’t that great. But that’s what you have to do, time and time again until it’s right.
Meanwhile, my blog tour for BIRDS OF THE NILE is underway and last week I kicked this off with Susan Buchanan. Tomorrow I will be the guest of Ben Warden and next Friday I’ll be with Lilas Taha in the States. Beyond that, I have nothing else in the diary but I’ve put a couple of feelers out and I’m awaiting replies. So when I said last week that I needed to focus on February, that was what I meant. Needless to say, acting on this has been one of the things to go by the board while I’ve continued writing. Do you remember those juggling acts where the artist was required to keep a dozen plates rotating on sticks? Now you know how I feel. I’m sure you feel the same.
Something I can’t afford to let go by the board is Book Talk. This is my new monthly radio spot with Elly Fiorentini on BBC Radio York (due to first go out on Monday 20th Jan between 4 and 4.30pm). In fact I spent yesterday afternoon preparing what we might talk about and emailing her my suggested format. I’m proposing to review two books each month plus do a bit of chat about local events. To start us off I’m going to be talking about THE UNIVERSE VERSUS ALEX WOODS by Gavin Extence (you may remember it’s my Book of the Year 2013) and then I hope to say a few words about THE THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield (the TV adaption was shown the other week). I’ve also decided to dedicate my blog to Book Talk in the future so I’ll be making some changes there too.
Busy times. No wonder I never seem to actually get anything done ...
Well, another week of 2014 has flashed by and although I’ve set aside an hour or so to tell you about it, I’m not sure I’ve achieved enough to warrant making a record. As I said last time, I put things on my ‘to do’ list but it just keeps getting longer and longer and making myself document things in this way only serves to remind me how little I seem to get done.
But throughout all this there is one ‘must do’ priority – and that is to continue writing. I was forcibly reminded of this on Tuesday evening when I went to Keighley to give a talk to Airedale Writers Circle. They had requested ‘A Defence Against The Dark Arts – Writers’ Block And How To Beat It’ which is undoubtedly the most popular of all my talks. In it I speak about what a writer needs to give up in order to write – what sacrifices will we have to make? All too often it’s the writing itself that gets sacrificed and I’m utterly determined that won’t happen to me. So the writing comes first - and if I manage to get anything else done, that’s a bonus.
So I’m making steady, if unspectacular, progress with AS DAD LAY DYING. Day 12 of the re-write and I’ve reached page 53. You might think that’s quite slow but this is a root and branch re-write in which I’m dissecting every line to squeeze the best out of it. I’m also looking to cut the word count substantially. I began with 110000 words and I want to get that down to below 100000. This is a good discipline as it’s making me tighten the prose more than I would otherwise have done and I’m hoping that it will read much better as a result. It needs to, as the original wasn’t that great. But that’s what you have to do, time and time again until it’s right.
Meanwhile, my blog tour for BIRDS OF THE NILE is underway and last week I kicked this off with Susan Buchanan. Tomorrow I will be the guest of Ben Warden and next Friday I’ll be with Lilas Taha in the States. Beyond that, I have nothing else in the diary but I’ve put a couple of feelers out and I’m awaiting replies. So when I said last week that I needed to focus on February, that was what I meant. Needless to say, acting on this has been one of the things to go by the board while I’ve continued writing. Do you remember those juggling acts where the artist was required to keep a dozen plates rotating on sticks? Now you know how I feel. I’m sure you feel the same.
Something I can’t afford to let go by the board is Book Talk. This is my new monthly radio spot with Elly Fiorentini on BBC Radio York (due to first go out on Monday 20th Jan between 4 and 4.30pm). In fact I spent yesterday afternoon preparing what we might talk about and emailing her my suggested format. I’m proposing to review two books each month plus do a bit of chat about local events. To start us off I’m going to be talking about THE UNIVERSE VERSUS ALEX WOODS by Gavin Extence (you may remember it’s my Book of the Year 2013) and then I hope to say a few words about THE THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield (the TV adaption was shown the other week). I’ve also decided to dedicate my blog to Book Talk in the future so I’ll be making some changes there too.
Busy times. No wonder I never seem to actually get anything done ...
January 14, 2014
Back In The Old Routine ...
9 January 2014
Well if I’m not back into the swing of things now after the Christmas break, I guess I never will be. So it’s back to the old routine, up with the lark and writing until 11am followed by a break for coffee and sorting through the emails - then doing whatever else I can get done in what remains of the day. Something I’ve learnt from all this over the years is that I only ever seem to achieve half the things on my list. There is a remedy of course, and that’s to put twice as many things on the list. That way I should get a lot more done ...
Anyway, is it working? Last week I went public with my objectives for 2014 so I thought I’d better get stuck into them as soon as possible. And with MÄLAREN on the back burner, I’ve gone straight for AS DAD LAY DYING and I’m already six days into the rewrite. I’d read the work through and reviewed the characters and the plot before the break so I did at least have a head start. For the most part I’m happy with those aspects of it and I like the way the book is constructed. It’s ‘bookended’ ie. a contemporary beginning and a contemporary end section. In between we go back in time and hear the voices of the four main protagonists, each telling their own part of the story. This means we can gradually fill in the background whilst at the same time getting different perspectives on what are sometimes the same events. Secrets are revealed and so by the time we get to the final section we are ready for the denouement. All well and good, except that I’m not entirely happy with the denouement and I believe it needs to change. Although how it needs to change is still a mystery to me. My plan is to soldier on, section by section, editing and improving the prose whilst cutting out the parts we don’t need in order to tighten it up (it’s currently 110000 words and possibly a bit too long). Then, when I’m happy with sections one to five, I can concentrate on the ending. How long all this will take, I don’t know. After six days work I’ve reached page 30. There are 390 pages altogether. Work that one out! Sometime around Easter? Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy ...
Meanwhile, my campaign to improve sales of BIRDS OF THE NILE is well under way. Having said that, it’s the quiet season for Lit Fests etc. and my first serious engagement isn’t until the beginning of March when I go to Kings Lynn for the weekend. When I get back, York Lit Fest will be upon us (I’m on the organising committee) and then things get into full swing. In the interim, I’m concentrating on the online area and I’ve taken the opportunity to bring my Goodreads and other web presences up to date. I’m also starting a Blog Tour, beginning tomorrow (Friday) when I’m being hosted by Susan Buchanan. She’s read the book and written a nice review (bless her). Other Blog Spots are in the offing and I have a programme booked for January. What I need to do next is focus on February.
(Committing all this to paper(?) is actually quite illuminating as it helps me see the wood instead of the trees. Of course I need to focus on February - why couldn’t I see that before?!)
And finally, in breaking news, I have today secured a regular spot on BBC Radio York where I will be joining presenter Elly Fiorentini once a month to talk about the latest books and to recommend some good reads. I’m thinking of calling it ‘Book Talk’. How inventive is that?! I’ll keep you posted.
Well if I’m not back into the swing of things now after the Christmas break, I guess I never will be. So it’s back to the old routine, up with the lark and writing until 11am followed by a break for coffee and sorting through the emails - then doing whatever else I can get done in what remains of the day. Something I’ve learnt from all this over the years is that I only ever seem to achieve half the things on my list. There is a remedy of course, and that’s to put twice as many things on the list. That way I should get a lot more done ...
Anyway, is it working? Last week I went public with my objectives for 2014 so I thought I’d better get stuck into them as soon as possible. And with MÄLAREN on the back burner, I’ve gone straight for AS DAD LAY DYING and I’m already six days into the rewrite. I’d read the work through and reviewed the characters and the plot before the break so I did at least have a head start. For the most part I’m happy with those aspects of it and I like the way the book is constructed. It’s ‘bookended’ ie. a contemporary beginning and a contemporary end section. In between we go back in time and hear the voices of the four main protagonists, each telling their own part of the story. This means we can gradually fill in the background whilst at the same time getting different perspectives on what are sometimes the same events. Secrets are revealed and so by the time we get to the final section we are ready for the denouement. All well and good, except that I’m not entirely happy with the denouement and I believe it needs to change. Although how it needs to change is still a mystery to me. My plan is to soldier on, section by section, editing and improving the prose whilst cutting out the parts we don’t need in order to tighten it up (it’s currently 110000 words and possibly a bit too long). Then, when I’m happy with sections one to five, I can concentrate on the ending. How long all this will take, I don’t know. After six days work I’ve reached page 30. There are 390 pages altogether. Work that one out! Sometime around Easter? Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy ...
Meanwhile, my campaign to improve sales of BIRDS OF THE NILE is well under way. Having said that, it’s the quiet season for Lit Fests etc. and my first serious engagement isn’t until the beginning of March when I go to Kings Lynn for the weekend. When I get back, York Lit Fest will be upon us (I’m on the organising committee) and then things get into full swing. In the interim, I’m concentrating on the online area and I’ve taken the opportunity to bring my Goodreads and other web presences up to date. I’m also starting a Blog Tour, beginning tomorrow (Friday) when I’m being hosted by Susan Buchanan. She’s read the book and written a nice review (bless her). Other Blog Spots are in the offing and I have a programme booked for January. What I need to do next is focus on February.
(Committing all this to paper(?) is actually quite illuminating as it helps me see the wood instead of the trees. Of course I need to focus on February - why couldn’t I see that before?!)
And finally, in breaking news, I have today secured a regular spot on BBC Radio York where I will be joining presenter Elly Fiorentini once a month to talk about the latest books and to recommend some good reads. I’m thinking of calling it ‘Book Talk’. How inventive is that?! I’ll keep you posted.
January 5, 2014
My Business Plan for 2014
3 January 2014
So, here we are, back from our fortnight of rest and recuperation and ready to begin another New Year. And firstly let me wish you a happy and successful one, but most importantly, a healthy one. The more I come across those who are unwell, the more I realise how crucial it is to stay fit. All else pales ...
But that’s enough of that and let’s try and be a bit more cheerful by looking forward to the year ahead. Last week I threatened to inflict my annual Business Plan on you. I did so at the end of 2012 when I suggested that every professional author should have one. If you take your writing seriously enough to the extent that it becomes your ‘business’ then I firmly believe that you should plan ahead and that means setting Aims & Objectives. Last year I shared mine in the hope that by stating them in public it would shame me into achieving them as I would not have wanted to come back here and have to report failure. To a certain extent that has worked and last week I was happy to provide feedback. This week I’m going to stick my neck out again for 2014.
So what is my long term Aim? I’ve said on my Home page that I’ve set out to become a nationally recognised author. What does that really mean and how will I know when I’ve got there? That’s rather like trying to describe an elephant – difficult to do but you know one when you see one. And notwithstanding the publication of BIRDS OF THE NILE, I know I’m not there yet.
So how about my Objectives? What do I specifically want to achieve this year? Firstly, I want to continue to spread the word about BOTN. The simplest way of quantifying this is via the volume of sales. I have an agreed target figure with my publisher and I would very much like to have surpassed this in the next twelve months as by doing so it will make publication of the next book all the more easy. At present I have done about 30% of my target so let so let the defining measure of success be 100%. Objective number one then - Achieve my Sales Target for BIRDS OF THE NILE.
And speaking of my next book, I come to The Unfortunate Case of the Broken Arm. As I’ve already explained, this has forced me to change my plans and instead of MÄLAREN I’ve had to bring forward AS DAD LAY DYING. I’ve recently become rather attached to both the story it tells and to the character of Frank so I would really like to get it finished off. Besides which, it was the one objective for 2013 that I didn’t manage to get done. So, objective number two – prepare ADLD ready for publication. This probably means quite a lot of work, by the way.
All of which will be of no use if I can’t locate a publisher for it. I doubt if one could be found, the book got ready and be out by the end of the year but if I want it out in 2015 (which I do) I will have to have got a home for it in 2014. So objective number three must be to find a publisher for ADLD.
And I still don’t have an agent. Every self-respecting author has an agent and I don’t see how I could claim to be a nationally recognised author without one. Plus the fact that I need the kind of career guidance only an agent can give – perhaps ADLD isn’t the next book and I should possibly be trying something else. Anyway, objective number four – find myself an agent.
Other things may come along in the meantime but that will do. Only four objectives but if I succeed in achieving them all I shall count myself well satisfied. They sound like small steps forward but they are in fact the hand and footholds, the cracks and ledges by which I must try and haul myself up the cliff-face. The alternative is to shoot for the moon and rely on something like The Richard and Judy Book Club or winning a notable prize as a means of attaining national prominence. But these are long shots and I can’t count on them. As it was explained to me once – it’s hard by the yard, but it’s a cinch by the inch.
Hmm ... Time will tell as to whether this saying has any truth in it. In the meanwhile, back down to work.
So, here we are, back from our fortnight of rest and recuperation and ready to begin another New Year. And firstly let me wish you a happy and successful one, but most importantly, a healthy one. The more I come across those who are unwell, the more I realise how crucial it is to stay fit. All else pales ...
But that’s enough of that and let’s try and be a bit more cheerful by looking forward to the year ahead. Last week I threatened to inflict my annual Business Plan on you. I did so at the end of 2012 when I suggested that every professional author should have one. If you take your writing seriously enough to the extent that it becomes your ‘business’ then I firmly believe that you should plan ahead and that means setting Aims & Objectives. Last year I shared mine in the hope that by stating them in public it would shame me into achieving them as I would not have wanted to come back here and have to report failure. To a certain extent that has worked and last week I was happy to provide feedback. This week I’m going to stick my neck out again for 2014.
So what is my long term Aim? I’ve said on my Home page that I’ve set out to become a nationally recognised author. What does that really mean and how will I know when I’ve got there? That’s rather like trying to describe an elephant – difficult to do but you know one when you see one. And notwithstanding the publication of BIRDS OF THE NILE, I know I’m not there yet.
So how about my Objectives? What do I specifically want to achieve this year? Firstly, I want to continue to spread the word about BOTN. The simplest way of quantifying this is via the volume of sales. I have an agreed target figure with my publisher and I would very much like to have surpassed this in the next twelve months as by doing so it will make publication of the next book all the more easy. At present I have done about 30% of my target so let so let the defining measure of success be 100%. Objective number one then - Achieve my Sales Target for BIRDS OF THE NILE.
And speaking of my next book, I come to The Unfortunate Case of the Broken Arm. As I’ve already explained, this has forced me to change my plans and instead of MÄLAREN I’ve had to bring forward AS DAD LAY DYING. I’ve recently become rather attached to both the story it tells and to the character of Frank so I would really like to get it finished off. Besides which, it was the one objective for 2013 that I didn’t manage to get done. So, objective number two – prepare ADLD ready for publication. This probably means quite a lot of work, by the way.
All of which will be of no use if I can’t locate a publisher for it. I doubt if one could be found, the book got ready and be out by the end of the year but if I want it out in 2015 (which I do) I will have to have got a home for it in 2014. So objective number three must be to find a publisher for ADLD.
And I still don’t have an agent. Every self-respecting author has an agent and I don’t see how I could claim to be a nationally recognised author without one. Plus the fact that I need the kind of career guidance only an agent can give – perhaps ADLD isn’t the next book and I should possibly be trying something else. Anyway, objective number four – find myself an agent.
Other things may come along in the meantime but that will do. Only four objectives but if I succeed in achieving them all I shall count myself well satisfied. They sound like small steps forward but they are in fact the hand and footholds, the cracks and ledges by which I must try and haul myself up the cliff-face. The alternative is to shoot for the moon and rely on something like The Richard and Judy Book Club or winning a notable prize as a means of attaining national prominence. But these are long shots and I can’t count on them. As it was explained to me once – it’s hard by the yard, but it’s a cinch by the inch.
Hmm ... Time will tell as to whether this saying has any truth in it. In the meanwhile, back down to work.
December 28, 2013
2013 - A Good Year
26 December
As I confidently predicted, I have failed to find any kind of routine over the Christmas period and the stability I need to achieve any rhythm in my writing has eluded me. Rather than wait until normality returns on 6 January I had managed to rewrite the first few thousand words of AS DAD LAY DYING (one of my New Year resolutions will be to change that title) but I was forced to abandon it in the face of the inevitable onslaught of turkey and plum pudding. To further complicate matters I am now in Devon and there’s no routine here either.
But this frustrating ending should not detract from what has otherwise been a good year in the writing department. And now I am out of routine, what better time to take the opportunity to review it.
You may remember that I ended 2012 with an article entitled ‘Why Every Writer Should Have A Business Plan’. Naturally I could not then escape writing one myself and in it I gave several hostages to fortune by setting out a certain set of objectives. To save you the trouble of looking them up, here they are.
1. I will convert my third novella to ebook and have it available on Kindle.
2. I will publish BIRDS OF THE NILE.
3. I have a second novel, AS DAD LAY DYING, in first draft. I will finish this and have it ready for publication in 2014.
4. I will complete the first draft of my third novel, MALAREN.
(NB : Back then, I hadn’t learnt how to spell MÄLAREN correctly)
So how did I get on? I’ve already charted some of my progress in My Half Year Report (4 July) so there’s no need to go over old ground – ticks for items 1&2 then. At that stage items 3&4 were still in doubt but if you’ve been following Writing Life at all you’ll know that the first draft MÄLAREN was successfully completed before I went to Chicago. Well that’s good you might think, but although it has width (94000 words) I am concerned as to the quality. But let’s not worry too much about that for the time being and give a tick for item 4.
The problem has been with item 3. My original plan was to make a start on it after I’d finished MÄLAREN but then I changed my mind. MÄLAREN was the natural successor to BIRDS OF THE NILE, I thought, so why not crack on and get that ready for publication instead. I got so far with it (first 3 chapters revised and polished) and even started sending it out to agents but then Fate lent a hand and the typist I’d engaged to get it onto a USB broke her arm (bless her). So no final m/s to work on and me wondering what to do next. Somebody somewhere was obviously trying to tell me something. No option then but to revert to Plan A and work on AS DAD LAY DYING. So that’s where I am now and no chance of getting finished before the year end. To be truthful, I don’t think I’d have got it finished even if I’d stuck to Plan A in the first place – there’s a lot of rewriting to do.
Anyway, three out of four isn’t bad plus the fact that I’ve got a headstart for 2014. Which reminds me - I must write a new Business Plan. Maybe next time …
As I confidently predicted, I have failed to find any kind of routine over the Christmas period and the stability I need to achieve any rhythm in my writing has eluded me. Rather than wait until normality returns on 6 January I had managed to rewrite the first few thousand words of AS DAD LAY DYING (one of my New Year resolutions will be to change that title) but I was forced to abandon it in the face of the inevitable onslaught of turkey and plum pudding. To further complicate matters I am now in Devon and there’s no routine here either.
But this frustrating ending should not detract from what has otherwise been a good year in the writing department. And now I am out of routine, what better time to take the opportunity to review it.
You may remember that I ended 2012 with an article entitled ‘Why Every Writer Should Have A Business Plan’. Naturally I could not then escape writing one myself and in it I gave several hostages to fortune by setting out a certain set of objectives. To save you the trouble of looking them up, here they are.
1. I will convert my third novella to ebook and have it available on Kindle.
2. I will publish BIRDS OF THE NILE.
3. I have a second novel, AS DAD LAY DYING, in first draft. I will finish this and have it ready for publication in 2014.
4. I will complete the first draft of my third novel, MALAREN.
(NB : Back then, I hadn’t learnt how to spell MÄLAREN correctly)
So how did I get on? I’ve already charted some of my progress in My Half Year Report (4 July) so there’s no need to go over old ground – ticks for items 1&2 then. At that stage items 3&4 were still in doubt but if you’ve been following Writing Life at all you’ll know that the first draft MÄLAREN was successfully completed before I went to Chicago. Well that’s good you might think, but although it has width (94000 words) I am concerned as to the quality. But let’s not worry too much about that for the time being and give a tick for item 4.
The problem has been with item 3. My original plan was to make a start on it after I’d finished MÄLAREN but then I changed my mind. MÄLAREN was the natural successor to BIRDS OF THE NILE, I thought, so why not crack on and get that ready for publication instead. I got so far with it (first 3 chapters revised and polished) and even started sending it out to agents but then Fate lent a hand and the typist I’d engaged to get it onto a USB broke her arm (bless her). So no final m/s to work on and me wondering what to do next. Somebody somewhere was obviously trying to tell me something. No option then but to revert to Plan A and work on AS DAD LAY DYING. So that’s where I am now and no chance of getting finished before the year end. To be truthful, I don’t think I’d have got it finished even if I’d stuck to Plan A in the first place – there’s a lot of rewriting to do.
Anyway, three out of four isn’t bad plus the fact that I’ve got a headstart for 2014. Which reminds me - I must write a new Business Plan. Maybe next time …
December 19, 2013
Finding Time
19 December
The last week or so has been difficult. Ever since I returned from Chicago I’ve struggled to get back into any kind of routine. I personally find routine helpful, especially when it comes to the writing of books. Falling into a (good) routine means setting aside a prescribed time each day for writing and knowing that something positive is going to be achieved in that time. Without it, little seems to get done.
The accident which befell my typist hasn’t exactly helped. I had trained my head to look in one direction ie. MÄLAREN and now it’s being forced to look in another. I find I need to immerse myself in my characters and their story - to simply move from one to the next overnight isn’t feasible and it’s taken me time to adjust. So instead of ploughing straight on from where I left off in mid November, I’ve had to pick up a piece of work I last looked at over eighteen months ago and try to re-connect.
Well, ok perhaps if I could settle to it but we are of course at a time of year when other things demand one’s attention – you can’t escape the need for a Christmas tree and lights and decorations and presents and cards and everything else that goes with the season. Then there’s the visiting of relatives, the travelling and suddenly it’s New Year’s Eve and another set of celebrations are upon us, so there’s little hope of any routine kicking in before the first Monday in January. And having just taken ten days out of the schedule to go to Chicago (probably fourteen by the time you reckon on preparing and packing and unpacking etc.) it seems it will have been six whole weeks gone by and nothing concrete to show for it.
I was speaking to a fellow author on Monday (we met for tea and a chat at City Screen) and I suggested that she take some time off and relax (as you do). She retorted that for her, stress arises out of not being able to write and the thought of sitting around doing nothing over the holiday period would be intolerable. I know the feeling. We take weeks out of our lives preparing for time off – and when we get it, we wish we were doing something else.
I can’t say that the last two weeks have been entirely wasted. I have got over my disappointment with MÄLAREN, I have decided to proceed with AS DAD LAY DYING instead (I really must do something about that title) and I have read the piece through in advance of starting work on it. That at least is progress. I have begun making notes – not for the first time in respect of this novel, I have to say. The first draft was originally written in 2009 and so it’s very nearly 5 years old already. I have made attempts at re-writing it before (twice, I think) and I am revisiting old ground. But it all takes time to re-assimilate.
The good news is I am convinced of the worthiness of the subject. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I become engaged by it. I find Frank (the main protagonist) to be a fascinating character and I really want to tell his story. I also find that the story in itself is immensely powerful and that is a driving force too. And for me, that is what literary fiction is about – the exposition and exploration of character through the telling of a story. The same is true of BIRDS OF THE NILE where in Michael Blake I like to think I have created another interesting and credible character. I have recently received a kind review to the same effect and I find that extremely gratifying. If I can do the same with AS DAD LAY DYING (I’m determined to change that title!) I will be delighted.
All I need to do is find the time – and that means getting into a routine. Must I really wait until 6 January? I hope not and I must try and find a way of moving things forward amidst all the disruption that surrounds me. Wish me luck.
The last week or so has been difficult. Ever since I returned from Chicago I’ve struggled to get back into any kind of routine. I personally find routine helpful, especially when it comes to the writing of books. Falling into a (good) routine means setting aside a prescribed time each day for writing and knowing that something positive is going to be achieved in that time. Without it, little seems to get done.
The accident which befell my typist hasn’t exactly helped. I had trained my head to look in one direction ie. MÄLAREN and now it’s being forced to look in another. I find I need to immerse myself in my characters and their story - to simply move from one to the next overnight isn’t feasible and it’s taken me time to adjust. So instead of ploughing straight on from where I left off in mid November, I’ve had to pick up a piece of work I last looked at over eighteen months ago and try to re-connect.
Well, ok perhaps if I could settle to it but we are of course at a time of year when other things demand one’s attention – you can’t escape the need for a Christmas tree and lights and decorations and presents and cards and everything else that goes with the season. Then there’s the visiting of relatives, the travelling and suddenly it’s New Year’s Eve and another set of celebrations are upon us, so there’s little hope of any routine kicking in before the first Monday in January. And having just taken ten days out of the schedule to go to Chicago (probably fourteen by the time you reckon on preparing and packing and unpacking etc.) it seems it will have been six whole weeks gone by and nothing concrete to show for it.
I was speaking to a fellow author on Monday (we met for tea and a chat at City Screen) and I suggested that she take some time off and relax (as you do). She retorted that for her, stress arises out of not being able to write and the thought of sitting around doing nothing over the holiday period would be intolerable. I know the feeling. We take weeks out of our lives preparing for time off – and when we get it, we wish we were doing something else.
I can’t say that the last two weeks have been entirely wasted. I have got over my disappointment with MÄLAREN, I have decided to proceed with AS DAD LAY DYING instead (I really must do something about that title) and I have read the piece through in advance of starting work on it. That at least is progress. I have begun making notes – not for the first time in respect of this novel, I have to say. The first draft was originally written in 2009 and so it’s very nearly 5 years old already. I have made attempts at re-writing it before (twice, I think) and I am revisiting old ground. But it all takes time to re-assimilate.
The good news is I am convinced of the worthiness of the subject. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I become engaged by it. I find Frank (the main protagonist) to be a fascinating character and I really want to tell his story. I also find that the story in itself is immensely powerful and that is a driving force too. And for me, that is what literary fiction is about – the exposition and exploration of character through the telling of a story. The same is true of BIRDS OF THE NILE where in Michael Blake I like to think I have created another interesting and credible character. I have recently received a kind review to the same effect and I find that extremely gratifying. If I can do the same with AS DAD LAY DYING (I’m determined to change that title!) I will be delighted.
All I need to do is find the time – and that means getting into a routine. Must I really wait until 6 January? I hope not and I must try and find a way of moving things forward amidst all the disruption that surrounds me. Wish me luck.
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