Saturday, 30 December 2023

Looking Forward to 2024 - Another Busy Writing Year

‘So here it is,’ no, not Merry Christmas, this is the last blog of 2023. I want to thank you for supporting me here over the last year. The metrics for such a small audience have been impressive.

I keep writing that I will move this onto another platform; 2024 is the year I will finally achieve this.

As you may realise, I now have a Substack site, ‘Stuart’s Substack.’ I plan to use Substack to write about my writing exploits and the progress of my novel and future. I hope to grow the email list by keeping subscriptions free. With the audience that I have on there, I have an 80% open rate, which is another excellent statistic. I will need to look at my diary of writing commitments to determine which day is best for me to work on Substack.

The ‘Novel in a Year’ has one more workshop, but that is not until March 2024. I hope to finish the first draft in the next couple of weeks, closing in on 60k words and 190 pages. It’s nearly at the end. Just another couple of scenes to get the cast assembled in the right place, and I can start writing the finale. 

I intend to put the novel aside until early February and concentrate on plotting the next one. I will then edit one and write the next for a few more months. 2024 is looking busy indeed.

Hopefully, a few more writing opportunities will be available this coming week. This week has been a bit busy in my full-time job with the NHS, and I didn’t manage to get my half-hour writing in a quiet office at work. I have managed almost two thousand words for the novel Substack and this blog piece; it has been a somewhat more productive week despite Christmas and New Year.

I want to research some exciting subjects for this blog this year. I would also like to involve you that read these too. If there is anything that you would like me to write about, please feel free to leave a comment on the blog. I want to encourage you to enjoy the pleasure of writing.

Happy New Year. I’m looking forward to writing more for you in 2024.


Saturday, 23 December 2023

A Happy Christmas and looking forward to 2024

Happy Christmas, and welcome to this last blog before the big day. Don't worry; I'm sure there will be another piece before the end of the year, too.

As I wrote last week, I'm even closer to finishing the novel now. I have managed to write another three thousand words this week.

Although I reported that I had another idea for a novel, after a workshop on Tuesday, I now have another one. The initial idea must be put on the back burner for a few months. A little teaser, it involves mince pies.

Before Tuesday evening's workshop story plot revelation, I had purchased two entries to the latest Bath Flash Fiction Competition. That means writing two 300-word stories in time for the February 4th midnight deadline. I really should sit and work through a couple of plots over Christmas.

This week, I managed to print out 'Beasting Dartmoor'. It was quite a sight, 180 pages long and still ongoing. It is now closer to that 200-page mark. I did write a while back that Beasting Dartmoor was a working title. I have been thinking about alternatives and will announce that in the coming months once I have really decided the way to go.

Christmas is the time for giving and receiving presents. Let's think about those not having the best Christmas during these times of national difficulties. Also, this time is for remembering those not with us. We lost my Father and Brother in December past, and I'm sure you will have someone in your thoughts, too.

Like any new year, 2024 is shaping up to be another exciting year. With all my writing goals, we also have several trips booked in 2024. I can't wait for the better weather to arrive so we can go camping again.

Here's wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Merry Christmas.🎄

Saturday, 16 December 2023

He shoots, He scores! Are you setting any goals for 2024? Here's some of Mine

In March of this year, I started the Novel in a Year workshop, intending to complete something that had been winging around my thoughts for nearly forty years. Closing on fifty-five thousand words, and close to 200 pages later, I am very close to finishing the first draft of my first Novel. I still aim to complete it before the year's end, and I should be able to achieve that aim.

2024 should start with me editing the first draft. Editing is more important than writing the first draft initially. But alongside this editing, I need to start thinking about publishing and marketing the book. There are many ways to publish these days, and I will explore which avenue will suit me best, but then there is the marketing. I will also need to update my blog into a website and blog.


At the start of 2023, I intended to complete that migration within the first few months, but that didn't happen. I will begin 2024 by getting a new online presence for my blog and, more importantly, a home for the Novel. 


Unsurprisingly, I have already been thinking about my following writing projects. I have an idea for another novel. It will take some research (perhaps over the Christmas break), and I'll need to check out some possible copyright issues for the character I have in mind.


A few months ago, I registered on Substack. I have to admit that I haven't done as much with it as I would have liked. I just found out that there is a Zoom-based webinar this week about how to use it. That is something that I need to have a look at. 


Another of my failed aims for this year was to have an attempt at screenwriting. I have read several Spooks, Fame and Cheers scripts this year. Wait, I'm doing myself down now; I've also read scripts from Fleabag, Killing Eve and Line of Duty. I still need to write my own, though.


I want to get back into writing for magazines and websites. A regular contributor opportunity would be just the thing for me going forward.


There are many writing opportunities out there, and it would be great to grab a few.

Next week, it will be very nearly Christmas. There should be something to write about for the blog.


Have a great week, everybody.


Saturday, 9 December 2023

Wet Weather and Getting Bashed

 


What weather have we had this week? As I write this on Thursday lunchtime, the wind is blowing, and the rain is lashing down, as it has been all night long. It is certainly not the weather for sitting outside in my favourite place for my lunchtime writing session.

Thursday is my usual day to start the week's blog piece. It somewhat disrupts the novel writing, but I'm sure I will catch up with that sitting in my armchair. That will be after my right shoulder has been bashed around at the Chiropractor this evening. I have a rotator cuff injury. I also idly said I would get into the loft to get the Christmas decorations down. You can see that this writing lark can be quickly interrupted.

 

At last Saturday's novel writing workshop, we talked about editing our books. As I wrote last week, mine is approaching the end, and the next piece of work for it will be an extensive edit in the new year.


One of the things that we did discuss was publishers' house styles. Thankfully, we had an editor online who could give us the latest thoughts from publishers.


Numbers could be clearer in writing. I have followed the rule where the numbers 1 to 9 are written as numbers, and from ten onwards, they are written as words. The publishers now require one to a hundred written out and a number written from thereon.


OK, simple? No, OK, and Ok are OK, depending on the publisher. OK is not under any circumstances. Is that OK?


How about whilst? That is something I am prone to use; I very nearly used it in a sentence earlier in this piece. No, it must be, while. All 'st endings are not de rigour.


A simple find and replace cannot solve these, so it will have to be a trawl through the novel manuscript to find them.


Next week, I'd like to talk about my writing goals for 2024, the first few months of which will be hectic.


Saturday, 2 December 2023

The Beast is Coming Towards the End, where next?

 

Before I hurl myself headfirst into the spirit of the Christmas Season (It's the C&E UCR Team Christmas shindig tonight at Sandy Park), I wanted to bring you the latest news from 'Beasting Dartmoor.'

This week, I passed the fifty-thousand-word mark in the Novel. It's quite a feeling to get this far with something that came to mind over thirty years ago.


NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which finished for 2023 on Thursday, aims to write the first draft of a fifty thousand-word novel in a month. That works out to 1,666 words daily, with an extra one on the last day. It takes resolve to take this challenge on, and many support groups and Discord channels offer support for those taking part. I thought about giving it a go one year, but that's about as far as I got.


But, back to Beasting Dartmoor. 50k words is a significant milestone and enough for a novel in itself. There is probably another 10 to 15k more words before completing the first draft. My initial aim at the beginning of the year was 90k words when I started the Novel in a Year workshop with Jenny Kane. When I get down to the first edit in the new year, that number will grow closer to that amount. 

 

I have the ending already mapped out. I know where the story is going. It's going to be easy from here on in? No, there are a few conundrums to sort out yet, one being, do I want any characters for another book?

It has been a labour of love, and it has taken quite some time to get to this position. Would I write another book? Hell, yes. I already have ideas for the next book. One thing, though, is that I will be quicker with it next time.


I will be attending the next workshop in our Novel in a Year this afternoon. I will come away with more changes and ideas for the rest of the book. I'm still on track to have the first draft finished very shortly,