My Talk Last Month at Ottery Writers and the Week Ahead

Writing has been difficult this week for one reason or another, so I haven't done much at all. That is all in the past now, and there is nothing that I can do about that. I'm here, writing this week's blog on what happens as an extra day to the year. That has to be a bonus, doesn't it?

I am a member of Ottery Writers. I have been a member for quite a few years now. Unfortunately, my work shifts sometimes mean that I can't always attend, but it is immensely enjoyable and informative when I can. Last month, I was asked to talk about my experiences in the Novel in a Year workshops. I was somewhat nervous about taking this talk on, which is a bit of a laugh after all the music I have performed before immense audiences and lectures and talks I have given previously.

The evening was attended by a good number of members and a couple of new ones too. Ottery Writers meet, rather fittingly, in the library at Ottery St Mary. I talked about how the Novel in a Year workshops run and what we did on them. It was nice explaining the loose word count targets we were encouraged to hit before each workshop. I was happy to say that, on the whole, I hit the word counts and beyond quite well during the year, which hasn't finished yet. I also showed the apps and software that I used. That part concerned a few people still writing with pen and paper. I was quick to allay their fears. After all, we only need some of this technology to enjoy writing.

I'm pleased to say I had some great feedback from the talk, and I hope I have given a good insight into what it takes to write a novel this way.

'Beasting Dartmoor', which I am starting to edit, is about 68k words. I expect it to finish at nearly 70k by the time I have polished it.

The people who joined National Write a Novel in a Month (NaNoWriMo) undertook and attempted to write 50k words during November, and many of them worldwide succeeded. One year, I did think about giving it a go and did a bit of plotting. When it came to November, I couldn't find the time to write two thousand words a day. I would have to find two hours a day over thirty days at my typing speed. The Novel in a year works out at an average of 350 words daily over four days a week. We worked out that we would need forty to forty-five weeks in the year to complete. Most of us have full-time jobs other than writing. You can see the challenges of being a writer by squeezing two significant things into the day and everything else life throws at us.

Next week, I have another photo that I would like to share with you, along with a couple of dits.

Please have a great writing week, everybody; I'm off to write my Substack piece for next week. I shall be an evening performance by the Massed Bands of His Majesties Royal Marines on Friday, which I am greatly looking forward to. 

Ottery Writers (https://otterywriters.wordpress.com/) meet on the second Monday of the month at the Ottery St Mary Library (otterystmarylibrary)

Stuart's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and to support my work, please consider becoming a free subscriber.

https://stuartbilverstone.substack.com/