I was just checking out the year-to-date stats for this website and was astounded to find that thus far I have written 55.7k words! That’s almost a novel! Obviously these daily posts are the greatest contributors – but nearly sixty thousand words…
So what did I do yesterday that I can turn into commentary here and add even more to the count?
Well, believe it or not, more ‘Z’. All that planning work earlier in the year is paying off in the sense that I have a fully-formed project in my back pocket, something I can write – whether or not I complete it etc. The process of writing, of not stopping, feels critical to me; a little bit like keeping gears oiled. So what ‘Z’ offers is that opportunity to lubricate, and for where I find myself now (hunting my next ‘big idea’) that’s just fine.
Yesterday evening also saw the last ‘Write-on Ripon’ Open Mic at the Curzon Cinema because the cinema is closing at the end of this month. It was my last one anyway given we’ll most likely have moved before the next event, so there was a degree of poignancy about the whole thing. Rarely at these events do you hear truly exceptional writing, but there was one example yesterday with a prose extract from someone who predominately writes poetry. It was wonderful.
Today I’ll probably keep oiling with ‘Z’ – and hope something else piques my fancy along the way. I’ll also be keeping an eye on email: already two rejections from the agents to whom I sent 17 Alma Road earlier in the week. The speed of turnaround is interesting; I can only assume that the approach I took this time was unconventional enough to immediately get their interest. Two down, but not down-hearted. I keep reminding myself that it only takes one…
Since my book launch and Crash performance I have a slight up-tick in sales (which isn’t saying much!). Given this is one of my few areas of income, every book sale is important!
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Links: (books for sale on Waterstones.com, Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble etc. Some e-books also available direct from Coverstory books.
#Writing #AmWriting #fiction #poetry #WritingCommunity #books #novels #ReadingCommunity
Ian Gouge - Writer 