Blog 2

I’ve been keeping a diary of memoirs to capture the journey of writing my first novel through to publishing and beyond. I thought it might be helpful for others to hear some of my thoughts and experiences, as it may help them on their own journey.

Years ago, someone bought me a book on how to become a published writer. I won’t name the author or the book, but the content was so negative; don’t do this, always do that etc. even though I had seen those very things in published books. The message at the end of the book was ‘if I haven’t put you off yet, good luck trying!’ 

It may not have been the intention of the author but it felt as though it was an attempt to dissuade us all from trying, disguised as a book to “help” us.

I’ve read many wonderfully helpful and inspirational books since, attended some great writing groups and free online courses. All have been very uplifting and motivational. I just can’t understand why people would write a book to put you off achieving your goals. 

It’s an ongoing battle to keep the writing rhythm going around daily life. Boy is that hard sometimes! It seems to happen in cycles or phases for me. I’ve learned that setting myself physical dates to have finished writing or editing a chapter by does not work for me at all. My writing brain has been hard to pin down to a set routine, despite being a meticulously organised person in general. Let me know if this sounds like you too?!

So back to the purpose of this blog. I’ll try to capture any thought processes or any progress on my journey to become a published writer in the hopes that it will help even just one other person.