Randomness

Hi,

So, what's new? Work on the novel is progressing. I've roughly planned out the next few sections and am getting stuck into writing them. Not too far to go now to finish the first draft. I'm already looking forward to editing it all. I know that I'll probably cut loads and rewrite big chunks of what I've already written. The good thing is that with the whole story down on paper, I'll have a blueprint in front of me to work from. Hopefully this will help the editing go faster than the initial draft, which has been hard work. That's not to say the editing won't be hard work - it will - but it'll be very different. I'm looking forward to getting to it. That's when the craft element of the writing comes into it. It's a little bit like sculpting. The first draft is just getting the shape of the stone or clay right. You can knock it about into rude shape at this stage. Editing is where you actually start to chip away at your material, shaping it and revealing the detail. Then I guess you fine tune it and give it a little polish and flourish. It's an exciting process.

I'd love to get the first draft completed before I go away on holiday in a couple of weeks and will be working with that aim in mind. Other than that, what can I tell you all? I recently turned 40, so have been partying a bit. Got together with friends I haven't seen in a while, which was really great. Right, onwards and upwards…

All the best.

Back to Blog

Hi all,

Okay, well I'm finally back here to post. It has been a long while since I last got round to writing on my blog and things have been happening, so at least I have some stuff to say.

Things were really busy for a while. I was juggling work, writing a novel and doing an MA, all at the same time. That didn't allow for much free time and I guess my blog was one of the things that I had to let slip. As a knock on effect of the credit crunch, my work as a freelance graphic designer, has all but dried up. This has come at a time when I am really trying to finish the first draft of my novel – I'm close but not quite there yet. At first I was quite worried about finding more work in the current economic climate but after I thought about it for a while and talked with my wife, we decided that I should take a couple of months of from regular work and concentrate on finishing the novel. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be able to do that. It's still taking time but I feel that I am making some real progress now.

Today though, I am taking the time to write something on my blog. I'll be venturing out and about later, with a camera and a notebook to do a little location research for the novel.

I guess that's about it I guess. Hopefully I'll be a little more regular on here from now on.

All the best.