My Thoughts On Writing In 2012

Introduction

Since I was at school, I have wanted to write a book and this Seven Days In post from October 2012 shows that I still had not done it then, but recently I published this one in collaboration with Angie Livingstone, The Glittering Fox, which has been my most successful publishing venture so far.

You can find Angie on Facebook here:

And the Seven Days In Blog here, without this, I would probably not have joined Vocal, but I am so grateful I did:

The music is "The Writer" by Ellie Goulding

My Thoughts On Writing In 2012

The reason I started writing this blog was because that I hoped I would get an idea for writing a book or screenplay. My basic problem is that I am not motivated and too lazy to take the next step, well, that's my opinion.

A blog is a diary, and some contain some brilliant writing. It's a great way or remembering things you don't want to forget. There have been many incidents where I go back into the blog to have a chuckle about certain events, the B & Q application form being one that springs to mind.

I am currently reading "The Thurber Carnival", a collection of James Thurber's short stories and realise that in order to write, you have to be disciplined enough to research, or just know lots of things like, say, Stephen Fry.

As well as this, you have to have a spark of originality or a muse to create a work that others want to immerse themselves in.

The internet and Amazon's self-publishing package mean that now anyone can publish a book if they believe they have the capacity to produce a worthwhile work. The problem is that it starts becoming literary karaoke, where people believe that they are the next Dan Brown and have the key to untold riches.

I was shocked to hear that the average earnings for a writer were around four thousand pounds per annum. When you think about how much the big earners make, some writers must be on pennies.

I have incredible respect for my friend Paul Campbell, who packed in his job and became a script writer. Similar to another friend, Bob Armstrong, who did a similar thing to become an artist.

This is another post I'm writing using the iPad's Note application. I reckon that the iPad with the addition of a keyboard is a very useful piece of kit, although when you have no internet connection, you can feel a little lost.

Conclusion

This was just one stopping point in my writing journey. Seven Days In has over 2,600 posts, though I use it now to say where I am in my reading with some links back to my Vocal stories.

My first post on there was in February 2007:

In four years on Vocal, I have published over 3,200 stories, so you can see where my publishing priorities lie.

Vocal has enabled me to actually publish books (a dozen or so self-published on Amazon), though there are people who still don't know that I have published books. When you think about how many books are published, it is not surprising.

Thank you for giving me your time and dipping into my past, and I hope it has shown you a little more about me.

I am still learning, and trying new things, looking after myself, to make sure that I can keep doing things and, where possible, sharing them with you.

Now it is time to take a break and get something to eat.