The Six Golden Rules of Writing
I’m writing a book. But I told you that in my last blog, so nothing new there. But I thought you might be interested in the process.
First off, writing a book is a lonely process. There is little or no office banter. I may work sometimes in our office at home with the adorable Mrs P, but she is terribly conscientious, so I just can’t seem to engage her in office games such as office chair races and I can tell you that she is rarely impressed when I start throwing paper planes at her. So, to give her space I often go elsewhere to scribble away at my book. Oh, by the way, when I say ‘Office,’ I mean the only spare room in our tiny two-bedroom house.
The place I go to write is away from home. This is important as there are too many distractions at home. At home it is too easy to hit a block in my train of thought and simply wander off to make a sandwich, or drink yet another cup of coffee or tea and then get totally side-lined into listening to the radio, cleaning things (weird eh!?) or simply scrolling through social media.
Right, or wrong, I write.
Happily ensconced in my quiet writing place and provided with coffee and the ubiquitous snack(s), I am able to write without interruption. For some reason, even though I still have access to that most enticing of procrastination tools, social media, I just don’t look at it when away from home. Maybe it is because I am in a relatively public place and so am loathe to check out Instagram posts about wacky hikers (andyfilmsandhikes -brilliant!), anthropomorphised stuffed bears (morton_the_bear) and people dancing to the sea shanty ‘Wellerman’ (search for weelerman song dance). I know, I know, you thought I’d be looking at posts by other adventurers doing the Norge pa langs and posts about adventures in the great outdoors. I do that too. I’m just strangely addicted to the other stuff.
I am following the Six Golden Rules of Writing as defined by the American author Ernest Gaines:
Read, read, read and write, write write.
I think I’ve got the read, read, read bit covered, though I must confess that it does include Peanuts cartoon books and Asterix the Gaul picture books. The next bit, write, write, write is going relatively well, though I’m probably only as far as, Write, write. I just need to add one more write before I declare the first draft complete.
GRATUITOUS ADVERTISING ALERT: If you like my blog then you will LOVE my book. Dash out and buy it. BUT NOT YET! Because it isn’t yet written.
The Wargrave Literary Festival - This man (Nick Butterworth) has sold more than ten million books! I’ve sold none. That’s why he’s on the stage and I’m hiding at the back.
With 24,000 words written, re-read and loosely (very loosely) proof read (thank you Mrs P) I felt brave enough to submit a few chapters to a publisher, RedDoor Press attending a small, local literary festival (Wargrave Literary Festival) and was lucky enough to be offered a 15-minute chat about my work. Heather, from RedDoor Press was simply marvellous. For a start she said lots of nice things about my idea, writing style and work so far and very few negative things. She explained the different options for publishing any book, explained the pitfalls and gave me some great advice and ideas as to what I need to do between now and completing my first draft. Most importantly, she encouraged me to continue and gave me a bit more confidence to truly believe in what I am doing.
So, wish me luck and follow my progress here on the blog.
I promise the next blog will not be about writing.
