I've finished my 'discovery draft' of novel number five. That's a fancy
name for draft one and sums up my latest approach. I've been waking up and
writing whatever I felt needed to be written, without thinking too hard about
what I'm doing, where I'm going or who the characters are.
As a result, the draft is probably appallingly, shockingly rough. I
haven't read it back yet. Now that I've got something down on paper I can
really build on it. I have a stronger sense of how the characters need to be developed,
and as I was reaching the very end, I had an idea for another possible twist.
My Mum has a sign on her wall that reads 'BEGIN ANYWHERE'. Beginning a
project can be tough if you're striving for perfection on the first go. Give
yourself a break if that's you. I just strove to complete the first stage;
one of very many.
I find my writing life has less highs and lows these days. I'm in this
for the long haul so there's no need to put unnecessary pressure on myself.
Sometimes I fancy a bit of drama - it would be nice to have a huge spike in sales
and a runaway bestseller - but this would require some dedicated marketing, and
that's something I'm saving for next year.
In April 2018 I'll be relaunching three of my books and later on in the
year releasing two more. The new covers for Spray Painted Bananas (The Temp) and
#PleaseRetweet are looking brilliant. They're bold and bright and capture the
style I always wanted for my author brand.
In the New Year, I'll be updating my
website and will review what to do with my blog. I've had some long quiet intervals so thanks for popping by - for more regular updates
and pictures of life in Mallorca, head over to my Facebook Author page!
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