The Last Novel in a Year Workshop - Where has that time gone?

Today, Saturday 16th March 2024, is the last of my Novel in a Year workshop. It is a cliché, but where have those twelve months gone? They have been delightful and inspiring and also equally frustrating and confusing. That is what it takes to write a novel, I suppose.

This afternoon we will be learning and discussing to self-publish or mainstream publisher, and how to submit the book. Writing the blurb and a synopsis are the next important pieces of writing for the book. These may be short pieces but they are no less important, as will be the marketing of the book.

As I wrote in my Substack email this week, I have suffered a bit of Imposter syndrome. I haven’t done much editing of ‘Beasting Dartmoor’ so far. There is so much doubt going around in my head, currently, although I am very much enjoying writing my next novel/novella and I have reached ten thousand words in that piece this week. 

Since March 18th last year, I have written nearly seventy thousand words for the novel. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing at the start, all I knew was that I had the beginnings of a story that I had briefly written but I had no idea how to take it forward and yet we’re here 365 days later, and I have the first draft and I am actively thinking about polishing it up and getting it ready for publication.

I have had so much support from my wife, Kathy and family and friends. My work colleagues have been immensely interested too. I have written many of the word count during my lunch times and many want to read it too. I think I will be signing a few copies too.

Another great help I have had is from the Patreon group to which I belong. Each Sunday afternoon we join William on Zoom, and with a big countdown clock in the corner of the screen, we write away for an hour. I usually write between 900 to 1100 words in an hour, which is a great start to the writing week. 

Also as part of the Patreon group, on Fridays, we receive a Fess Up and Press On email. It's a great one for productivity. We Fess Up what we have written in the week. We are usually in the shadows of William, he is, after all, a professional freelancer. This week I hit 10k in my second novel ‘Mince Pie Murders’ and I estimate that two thousand of those were this week and this piece is coming up to five hundred words. I have done more in the past weeks, but as written before, ‘You can’t be a writer if you don’t write.’

Have a great week everybody