Start

The Prompt

Write about the first piece you ever wrote. How has your style or perspective changed since then?

Read more about it here

Start

When did I start writing? I wanted to write a book since the early eighties and many ideas ended up as scrap paper in waste paper bins. I had a manual typewriter and went through a lot of Tipp-Ex

Then a friend started a blog which he never continued after four excellent posts nearly twenty years back but you can check out The Ape of Wrath here.

So I thought I would do a blog that might help me write a book. I had a web page before which has disappeared into the digital desert wasteland but it had a very brief first entry and then has gone through many subjects before becoming a sort of reading diary.

The first

Seven Days In poss February 18th, 2007:

The latest Seven Days In Post August 10th, 2023:

On 17th April 2021, I published my first Vocal Story which was a steal from Seven Days In but has had around seventy reads and some good responses, but is an article rather than something totally creative.

I followed that with my first observations on what I thought I should be doing on Vocal, but I was still very much finding my way.

I had been tempted to Vocal by the challenges but I was still very raw. The six-hundred-word minimum and moderation I found beneficial to my writing development, along with the support of friends and mentors from, initially, The Vocal Social Society.

Since then I have gained confidence to write fiction and poetry, so of which, though I say it myself, is very good.

This is a first poem on Vocal which was meant to be for a challenge, but I forgot to enter it. It is free form and quite crude.

Since then I have learned many poetic forms and have developed a preference for sonnet and villanelle but below are three which I believe illustrate how far I have progressed.

Similoarly I believe the breadth of my fiction has improved, I started with creepy horror but the tried more mainstream and some fantasy.

This was an early mini series

then I went a little more mainstream with this

Conclusion

My style is laconic, or as some people have said, lazy, but I believe my work is becoming better with each piece I write. People are still reading me and like my style, so I would love to keep you all with me.

So you have me from my first recorded online post to here and now. I hope you have enjoyed the glimpses I have given to you.

Thank you for reading, it is most appreciated.