Writing small.

I always wrote quite small as a kid. I thought it made my writing look neater. This week, I’ve embraced “writing small”, in a slightly different way.

After the not-so-good last week, I decided to keep it simple. I’ve written about 9 A5 pages this week, doing about 10-15mins of writing. It’s a new tactic of mine, the whole “make it a ridiculously easy task to do so you can’t not get started” thing. Especially whilst I’ve had a few things on my plate (and in my head) recently, this has worked.

I can write in larger chunks and force myself to write, but it feels quite nice having written just a tiny piece the last couple of days. I have also realised that this short story is already a novella, and may well be on it’s way to a novel. And it is also going to require a heavy-edit it feels like, and some re-writing. So, I’ve tried to hold back from just trying to rush and get it down, and chill out a little bit more. Whilst, initially, I was writing whole scenes all in one go, this week I’ve been writing the same scene in little pieces. It’s actually been kinda fun to come to it each day and write a little bit more, continuing where I left off rather than try to muster up the willpower to start afresh on a whole new big scene.

credit: marlene_charlotte

To review or not to review
I’ve been thinking about a lot this week (surprise, surprise), including whether I should write book or film reviews for the purposes of helping with my indie-marketing in the future. I even wrote my first review (for the film ‘All Good Things’ and associated HBO documentary “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst; a true story, and recommended whether you’re a #truecrime fan or not), and thought about doing a review a week. Hmm, I thought. So that means I’m running 2 blogs, posting 3 ‘proper posts’ a week in total (across both), a poem a week, and now a review a week? Just so it helps me build my following/engagement and sell my potential literature in the future?

For now, I’ve decided against this. I mean, as I write/type this (doing both at the same time this week – typing straight onto computer, rather than copying up pen-to-paper piece), I still didn’t feel like I’d entirely decided this. But putting it down in ink (well, computer ink) makes it more of assertion. You see, I have this habit of getting excited and starting lots of things, and then getting overwhelmed, not finishing them, and feeling really sh*tty afterwards.

For me, I really need to prioritise, and go slow and steady. I need to reign myself in. When I have more things I’m working on, I get overwhelmed by everything on my plate, and then I just end up stagnant and not doing anything. Not good. Not good at all. I’ve decided I’d much rather continue to connect with other bloggers, authors, and all-round human beings more naturally like I have been doing, and over time. (I’m not saying being a reviewer to add to your following is unnatural, it just feels that way for me as that would be my primary motivation!). Other projects

With all the ideas that keep popping into my head, I’ve decided I’m going to write them all down and be selective – hopefully ruthlessly so, for my own good. The trouble with me is I always seem to question “whether I’m doing the right thing” i.e. “what I’m meant to be doing”, and hence I’m tempted to experiment and try different stuff to spread my risk with the view to seeing what sticks and makes me a successful artist person. I know this sounds really stupid though, and is putting a ton of expectation on my shoulders. So, again, I’m trying to prioritise and just chill the f*ck out.

My job search – publishing
I’ve looked at a couple more bookshops this week, and going along to London Book Fair next week, where I hope to gain some tips about getting into publishers, and hopefully meet some folks in the industry and others who, like me, might be trying to get in. It’ll also be a chance for me to, hopefully, find out more about the industry itself (there are lots of different areas within publishing), and get closer to securing work experience to experience first-hand what it’s really like. I’m trying not to get too carried away, but hopefully the stars will align and good things will happen.

PS. I also need to visit a library and start on some fiction! I have two which are pretty close to me, so I have zero excuses.

Where I’m currently at
Week 1: 21 pages (A5)
Week 2: 27.5 page
Week 3: 21 pages
Week 4: 0 pages
Week 5: 9 pages

~17k words written

✏ Written: Thursday, 5th April

A.B. Guy | articles | newsletter 💌

What about you? 🤷🏽‍♂️
Do you write in big chunks, or bit-by-bit? I’d love to hear how your week’s going, too 💙