Yesterday & Today: 13th April

The great news from yesterday was how well Andy thinks my performance of Crash is coming along. Indeed, we are likely to reduce formal rehearsals to bi-weekly until just before the June event. One of the beauties of the piece - and the performance - is that I can practise at home, something I'll have … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 13th April

Yesterday & Today: 12th April

Given what was on the agenda, yesterday was always going to be pretty busy - yet I even managed to fit in something unplanned! The library session was quiet (but only in terms of people wanting to see me), so I cut it short half an hour early. During my time there (and at various … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 12th April

Yesterday & Today: 11th April

I'm not sure which is more satisfying: a day where you work on things exactly as you planned, or a day where you find unexpected projects taking up your time. Of the two, yesterday felt pretty much like the former: a decent chunk of time on "C" (though not sure the quality was quite there); … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 11th April

“C+nto”

Perhaps it isn't surprising that as a heterosexual white male of some maturity I didn't really 'get' much of Joelle Taylor's somewhat visceral C+nto. Yet that didn't stop me from being able to appreciate the raw power of it, the seduction of the drumming incantation, the occasional brilliantly poetic phrase. In its relentlessness, Taylor unwraps … Continue reading “C+nto”

Yesterday & Today: 10th April

In spite of a pretty productive day yesterday, it proved to be a tough one mentally. There were lots of positives: a Crash read-through and work on its sequel; drafting "C"; planning work on a possible companion project; various other bits-and-pieces including prep for tomorrow's Stanza meeting; deciding TikTok isn't for me (regardless of BookTok). … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 10th April

Writing exercises #1

For me there are two main types of writing exercise: the first is where the exercise acts more as a prompt to write than anything else e.g. provides a theme which is more important than any constraint (e.g. useful in a perceived case of 'writer’s block'); the second is where the writer is challenged to … Continue reading Writing exercises #1

Yesterday & Today: 9th April

100th consecutive day of posting!! Thank you if you're dipping into my 2023 writing diary. So what was yesterday like? Well, a fair chunk of time spent on drafting "C", which has now made it beyond 30k words. This, I find, is the difficult time; the time when fatigue sets in and belief is challenged; … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 9th April

Yesterday & Today: 8th April

A real 'bits and pieces' kind of day yesterday, tinkering with a variety of things rather than any solid chunks of work: working on the cover for the pamphlet version of Crash; a couple of haiku; some prep for Contextual: 17 and next week's Derby Stanza; drafting ides for something to work on alongside "C". … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 8th April

Yesterday & Today: 7th April

Great to be firing on all cylinders again yesterday! In addition to some work on "C" and a partial read-through of Crash, the highlight of the day was the Open Mic in the evening organised by 'Write-on Ripon'. It was unusual being in the Curzon Cinema basement and not being there to rehearse Crash. As … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 7th April

Yesterday & Today: 6th April

After drawing a blank yesterday - a day with lots of driving and no time to do anything much other than try and pin down Contextual: 17 readers - today will be a different kettle of fish... In addition to picking up the threads of "C" (which now stands at over 27k words drafted), given … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 6th April