Well, as per tradition, it’s time to plan my New Year’s Resolutions 2017.
I’m a great believer in self-development, which is why I like to take this opportunity to look back on what I tried to achieve in the last year – and to see how far I got! I think that setting clear, quantifiable targets and letting others know you’ve done so is a fantastic motivator for actually doing them. But it’s by seeing how (or if…) I’ve achieved them that helps me see where I’d like to push myself next. Read More
It’s been a while since my last blog post, and I’m sorry. But I’m sure you’ll like what I’ve been up to: finishing a novel.
Back in March I talked about Writing a Novel: The Midway Point. Midway wasn’t a bad estimate; I started After Life (yes, we have a title now) last November, and I finished the first draft on the last day of July. Of course, writing a novel isn’t like competing in a race – it’s like a triathlon, and there a few finish lines to make it through. But first thing’s first: let me tell you all about finishing a novel.
Oh, it got hard towards the end. Nine months is a long time to stick at anything, let alone writing one story. My routine really helped here – the more I wrote, the more I came to know what my five thousand words a week translated to in terms of narrative. I knew the end couldn’t be far away and I stuck with it, matching the increasing pace of the story with more and more writing. By the end I was fitting in writing where I could; mornings, lunchtimes, evenings. I was desperate to have it done.
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I’m an advocate of writing in public. I find it keeps my writing flowing pretty regularly and encourages me to hit my weekly targets, as well getting me to try out new coffee shops. Let me tell you exactly why I prefer writing in public places.
Firstly, writing in public means I will get out the house and find somewhere to write. Usually this will be a friendly cafe, though I’ve employed bars and pubs as well. Getting out and active prepares me for some hard work. Leaving the house and walking, cycling or even driving somewhere is an ideal primer for writing; you can think about what you’ll be writing whilst you’re getting there.
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Back in January I made these New Year’s Resolutions. There weren’t many – only three – but as the longest day has been and gone and the mid-point of the year is here today, I think now would be a good time to check in on my progress. Which vows will I need to renew? What midyear resolutions should I be re-resolving?
Now this one is going well.
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The Whitby trilogy by Robin Jarvis is one of the best trilogies… ever. This is a Whitby Witches review of sorts, but one which explores the trilogy’s place in literature instead of trying to rate it against other books.
I first read Robin Jarvis’ The Whitby Witches when I was a child. I can’t have been any older than ten, because by the time I finished the series I had yet to leave primary school. And actually, I didn’t read them – my mum read them to me. It was probably her eyes that first alighted upon that fateful tome, bound with a leering hound front cover that arrested both our attentions in that little library up the road. We devoured it swiftly and ordered the sequels shortly after. After reading and loving those too, I requested the boxset from my Grandma for Christmas. She even lived near Whitby! Finally, I owned those fantastic stories for myself.
I re-read the trilogy a few of times as a child. Yyou can see how well-loved those books were in the picture above. But I hadn’t done so since before my late teens. By the time I took them from the shelf a couple of months ago it must have been ten years since I’d indulged. I thought I’d give them a read for a bit of a nostalgia hit, but even before I’d reached the halfway point of Book One I knew that I was reading something truly special. It wasn’t my childhood love of The Whitby Witches that was informing my enjoyment of it. It was simply that it is a fantastic, gripping and scary book. I finished the trilogy’s finale, The Whitby Child, this very morning – and I can’t wait to laud its brilliance.
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