one . . . what's first?

Three hundred and sixty five days.

A year to hit my straps and send forth my debut novel into the world of published books.

Seems like a long time, one year.  Think about the twelve months and you can no doubt rattle out a lot of achievements, a lot of events: travel to new countries, meeting new friends, challenges at work, food cooked and eaten, movies and TV shows watched, books read, life lived.

A year is a long time, but it can move quickly.  It can pass you by and if you don't have a game plan, before you know it, you're travelling back from Harrogate thinking, why aren't I published yet?  Why am I still working on the same book as last year?

So: the game plan:

Finish the 5th draft.
Tidy up research points.
Give to my chief in-house editor to read.
Re-edit.
Send to select few to read and review.
Re-edit.
Finalise with one last read through.
Send to the two agents who were interested in my novel back in the glory days of Dragons Pen at Harrogate (many moons ago).
Keep sending to agents until someone signs me up.
Work with agent to make the novel the best it can be.
Obtain publisher and agree a publishing date.

Looking back at that list, 365 days does not sound like a lot at all.

But things move quickly when you have a game plan.  A game plan and zero tolerance for excuses.

Time to begin.

At the risk of repeating myself ...

My word. The last time I posted on this blog was exactly a year ago. Time flies etc.

It was the same day as the last day of Harrogate 2011 and I was full of inspiration to get cracking on my novel. To get it done.

One year later, on the last day of Harrogate 2012 (!), I'm in the same place again - revved up to finish my novel once and for all.

How depressing.

Sure, I've made a lot of progress with the completion of my fourth draft - but still, it's scary that another 365 days have gone by and the book isn't out there in the hands of agents and publishers.

What's going on here is a lack of consistency. I've mentioned it many times: the best way to write a novel is to write. And that isn't happening at the moment.

This blog is an example of that inconsistency. Many promises of regular updates of experiences and achievements. And I've haven't posted a blog entry since 365 days ago.

So - shall I give up? Hell no!

Instead, I'm going to stick to my guns and finish this sucker off. I'm going to reach new heights. I'm going to town.

365 days from now, my novel is not only going to be in the hands of agents and publishers, but i am going to have a dedicated agent and this behemoth of a novel will be published.

Positive thinking. Set the goal. Stick at it every day. Realise the dream through hard work and determination.

I was going to rename this blog The Final Countdown but have decided not to for obvious reasons. But it is a good title. 365 days, counting down, to publication. Potentially the final push towards becoming an author.

So: See you tomorrow for Day One.

P.s. Harrogate was once again an amazing experience - inspiring, intimidating, encouraging, humorous, and a great place to meet friends - old and new.

See you next year guys!!

days in a row

The key thing missing from my writing recently is writing. A consistent output of writing. I can't remember a period of time greater than two days in a row where I spent time on my novel.

The advice given from anyone and everyone, including myself, is to write everyday, no matter how little you plan to do each day. It's good practice, it keeps you immersed in the story, and it ensures that your novel is always moving forward to its completion.

It's taken me six years to get where I am - but if you added up the number of days that I've sat at the computer or with a notepad to work on the novel, I would doubt it would be more than a year's worth of work. That says something - and I'm not getting any younger.

Fifteen minutes a day sounds realistic.  So my goal is at least fifteen minutes a day for the next 100 days starting from yesterday, the day after the harrogate festival.

From one day to the next ... to completion.

Post Harrogate Inspiration

Despite having little sleep and a lot of social drinking since Wednesday, the Harrogate Festival has once again fired up the creative juices and inspired me. So, I'm up. And writing.

that feeling . . .

I'm getting that feeling again, that excitement that comes once a year, that urge to write, the belief that I could write 100 novels - and it's all because of this: