A few months ago I blogged about writing a novel (well, rather ambitiously, I announced my intention to create a seven-book series). I have been writing since then, but I’ll admit that it’s not been very regular and I’ve only written 6,000 words so far! I’ve had so much other writing to do (both for work and stuff I do in my spare time), that fiction writing has been relegated to the ‘not yet’ pile of things to do.

So, I’m going to try and write a bit more regularly, and not view it as a luxury. And in November, I’m going to give National Novel Writing Month a go, particularly as all my theatrical productions will be over by then and I’ll have no rehearsals to go to. This is an approach where participants try to write a 50,000-word novel in a month! You can sign up on the website and get support and inspiration from others doing the same thing.

Doing something quickly like this may not produce the most well-tuned piece of work, but it certainly focuses your mind and stops you getting bogged down in small details. Once words are down on paper (or on screen), then you can go back and cut, edit, rewrite, expand, kill off, resurrect…

There are times when it’s good to look at detail and decide on the minutiae, but at other times, we just need to get things done. Where are you at?

PS Look out for Equestus, City of the Sea soon…