Stuck in Covid

I've got eleven days to write, edit, polish and submit a short story to a very prestigious short story competition, the Manchester Fiction Prize. Well, I've got something written, but I'm not sure it can actually be called a short story - it's currently a jumble of words with the Covid pandemic as its central …

I’ve finished and just started…

Hello! Today I've watched the FIFA World Cup Final - still feeling a bit gutted England weren't in it, but excited for the next stage of their development - and completed the first draft/very detailed outline of my next project. I'd aimed to write the draft, aiming for 20,000 words, in June. But as it …

Write with Fey

Hello, dear readers! Today I'm welcoming another guest to share her book with you - this time Chrys Fey, whose new book will help you navigate the world of writing and publishing. I'm still busy querying my novel, gearing up to write a new one (I'm planning another month-long blitz, so I've been jotting down the …

The end, the end, the very very end…

My novel is complete. It's been sent for editing - the lovely Karen Sanders removed a million extraneous commas - and I've looked over the notes, and now it's done. Completely and utterly done! Next, I have to decide what I want to do with it. I'd like to submit it, either to an agent …

Yes, Yes, Yes!

I've done it! I've finished my novel. I started - as you know - in November 2016, and wanted to finish within the year. It's been one year, two months and sixteen days. With a caveat... it's going to go to my editor, the wonderful Karen Sanders, who, I imagine, will pull it apart and …

Happy New Year

So, 2018... hello. From a personal point of view, last year was good, yet I'm struggling to think of anything specific! I've just had a look back at last year's round-up, and it was much more eventful. I guess some years just slide along easily, moving from day to day, week to week. It doesn't …

One last edit… (and #BlackFriday sale)

... is what I said to myself, before I hand it over at the end of January. Well, actually, my plan was to retype the whole darn novel, and it started pretty well. If you're new to this blog, you may not be aware of my rather unique editing style of retyping. I discovered a …

The green edits are done!

I originally allowed myself thirty days for this part of the process, but did it in fifteen! As I got closer to the end, I reduced the date goal, because I like tidy graphs... Normally when I edit, I meander around - reading, adding notes, watching TV, going back over the same parts again and …

Reading my first draft

Since starting this blog, I've been unsure of the direction, but as I have decided to attempt to write, and have ready to submit, by the end of the year, I'm going to blog each step of my new-found process, under the Novel in a Year category tag. If you read this post first, it'll …

Draft finished, feeling accomplished

At the beginning of the year, I decided I was going to write a novel much quicker than I'd ever written one before - in a year. Completed, beta-read, edited and ready to submit. My WIPs tend to take several years, malingering through many rewrites without much of a plan, and at the beginning of …