Yesterday & Today: 31st May

One thing ticked off yesterday: the first round of editing of 17 Alma Road. I will probably put it away for a number of weeks now before another review, and then get it sent off to agents and advance copy reviewers after that. As a book it currently weighs in at 217 pages and, based on the style in which it is written, I could see someone reading the whole thing in one go…

I also ran-through Crash again in advance of a rehearsal with Andy tomorrow (just 10 days to go!).

Although outside the set theme for yesterday’s ‘Write-on Ripon’, I read the first couple of pages of ‘Z’ as very roughly drafted. I was aiming at something more light-hearted in tone than I usually write, and wanted to see if I had already been able to pull off a joke or two. I had my doubts, but wanted second opinions. Well, I think my concerns were justified; even as I read what I’d written I knew it didn’t feel funny… Later in the day I took the ‘jokes’ out and reverted back to my ‘normal’ style. I think there was also a message in the fact that it took me next to no time at all to do so.

‘Z’ will get some more words added to it today. I don’t want it to be exactly like Alma Road in terms of style, so I expect it will take some experimentation to find the slightly nuanced voice I’m looking for. Apart from that? Who knows? But certainly no Crash or podcast recording as I’m conscious that I need to not stress my voice too much now (it was feeling a little croaky yesterday).

This evening Ripon Writers’ Group meets. It’s ‘poetry evening’, so I need to decide what I’m going to inflict on the group!

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