Skip to main content

Chapter Two, Paragraph One


When life hands you a fortieth birthday, you gotta make... fortified wine? Or something along those lines. 


The above statement, while clearly not the best introduction to my writing skills, is pretty much the substance of this blog. I turned forty last year, soon to turn forty-one, and have come to the realisation that I am facing the second half of my life (with a bit of luck - if I can dodge Covid, and Donald Trump doesn't decide to 'go out in a blaze of glory'). I've written for most of my life, on and off, but I've decided it's time to take it seriously, spend some actual time on it and produce some work that I'm proud of. The gold star would, of course, to be published in some shape or form.


I've always felt the pull of writing. When I was a kid I used to write stories for my family, binding the chapters up with a hole punch and a bit of string, annoying everyone when I gave up after Chapter 7 and they never found out what happened to the evacuees that got sent to live in the haunted mansion. I created earnest magazines about being eco-friendly and distributed them around school for 20p each. I even ventured into comedy, writing a very uncomplimentary fictionalisation of my brother's birth, culminating in my parents discarding of him via a kitchen blender. We didn't get on.


University was a bit of a writing black-spot. Mostly because my course was very demanding and not even remotely involving the arts, but also because I discovered boys and booze. Both of those led to some very embarrassing poetry that I made the mistake of showing to some English-student friends. They were very polite but I suspect they had seen better.


Then came the working years, marriage and kids. I don't want to bore anyone with the details of my job, but suffice it to say it is clinical, mentally-draining and has probably been my single biggest barrier to writing regularly. On the plus side I meet a lot of people through my work, and I'm sure some of my best characters have been inspired by quite a few of them. The kids part is also a challenge, although this is getting better. When they were babies it wasn't so bad - I even managed to complete a couple of online creative writing courses on maternity leaves - but the middle years were impossible. I'm sure some writers are great at dashing off a short story while simultaneously tying ballet shoes, ordering an online shop and helping the eldest with their maths homework, but I am not. Now they're a little older and are more likely to text me from their bedrooms asking for me to authorise Play Store transactions than to need 100% of my time, I've felt the balance swing in my direction again.


Somehow, about a year ago, I managed to complete a 90k comedy romance novel and even dared to submit to a handful of agents. Unsurprisingly, I had no luck. I know that you must be tenacious and sometimes send out dozens or even hundreds of submissions, even if you are a hugely talented writer, but I think I knew deep down that the work wasn't quite good enough yet. So, that manuscript is staying in the drawer for now and I've recently started a new project which I'm excited about. I really hope this one reaches the 90k mark too, instead of running out of steam at Chapter 7 like the poor evacuees.


So, now that I'm over forty, I'm going to make an effort to see some return on all the words I write. I want to treat it like a genuine second job, setting aside time and energy for it, making an effort to put my writing in front of other people's eyes (whether they like it or not). I've entered some short story competitions, although short stories aren't my strong suit, and I'm aiming to write regularly here too. Then one day I might even be holding a book of my own in my hands -  I might even dedicate it to my brother as an apology for the blender stuff.


LJ



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All I Want For Christmas Is A Good Coffee Shop

  I miss writing in coffee shops. I don't even like coffee that much, I just like the way that being in a coffee shop seems to focus my mind to the task. Maybe it's the ambience, maybe it's the trope of writers in coffee shops, or perhaps even inhaling the caffeine fumes, but it just works for me.  My first experience of writing in a coffee shop was when I spent some months in Helsinki as a student. I can't quite remember the name of the place - I feel like it was called Jacob's or Jimmy's or something like that - but I went there all the time. I remember it was just up a side street from the railway station square and was the kind of place with free magazines for you to read, fifteen minutes of free internet access and they had free water dispensers infused with lemon or cucumber. All of this was like a gift from the Gods to a penniless student, as you can imagine. So whenever I needed a break from my humourless German flatmate or an escape from the November co...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mother Christmas

  'It's the most wonderful time of the year...' So goes the song. I'm sitting here as I write, popping Stollen bites into my mouth at thirty second intervals and admiring the sight and smell of my Christmas tree. It really is a nice feeling - the twinkly lights, the warm glow of knowledge that I'll get to spend a special few days with my children, and the excitement of what will be under the tree for them when the 'Big Man' has been. The only scratch on the bauble is that the 'Big Man' is inevitably me. As much as I'm enjoying these Stollen bites, eating them is somewhat like an athlete squirting an energy gel down their throat after finishing the London Marathon. It's both a reward and a vital replacement of nutrients to combat complete and utter exhaustion. Many people will feel the same at this time of year, and although there are a lot of families out there where Dad or other significant males are doing the donkey work, the majority of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Goes Up...

  Something really great happened this weekend - I managed to successfully apply to the Romantic Novelists Association New Writers Scheme. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, it's a fantastic annual opportunity for 300 unpublished writers of any novel with an element of romance to become a member of the RNA and take part in its events. More importantly, as an unpublished writer, it gives you the chance to submit your full manuscript for feedback and advice for seeking representation and publication. The holy grail of new-writerdom. Now, I really wanted this. I wanted it so much that I spent almost two nerve-shredding hours anxiously refreshing their crashed website (which had crumbled in the face of the level of demand they had warned of in advance), my partner doing the same on his phone, until I'd managed to successfully submit my card details. Relief and excitement ensued - I was in. And I'm still really excited. I'm pleased I have a deadline in August to c...
Post a Comment
Read more