My new life as a wannabe writer – II

Well here it is, as promised, my update on my life as a wannabe writer . . . . . two. A little early, but I have finally found the time to sit infront of my mac.

I need to admit, it’s been a difficult second month. After making the very positive decision to move away from web development, I have already found myself being sucked back into the matrix, to pay the bills.

I wish I’d made this decision before I had children, a house and other financial responsibilities – *coughs*, Taxes. Oh how hindsight is the most cherished of all thought processes as one gets older. I also wish I knew how to bottle hindsight, I have a youth market that would love it and pay a handsome sum for its powers. Although the government wouldn’t be able to tax it, so it would be classed as illegal. Oh crap, oh how the powers-that-be spoil everything Sorry, just a rant – I don’t do it often.

I’ve had a difficult week trying to find the time to commit to the blog and feeling suitably guilty that I haven’t kept it up as much as I said I would. I am going to try harder this week.

I have, however, been working on a new children’s rhyming book. An idea I had a while ago. I have uploaded the front cover design. (not actual size) I would love to hear your thoughts. I am hoping to have it completed for the end of July. I will then present it to a publisher for (fingers crossed) publishing. I will then use the revenues, if any, from the book to finally move away from web development and live my life as a wannabe writer like I have planned.

If anyone has any advice on getting a children’s book published, I would be extremely grateful. For the first time in my life, I am out of my comfort zone.

I would like to thank everyone (again) for your help advice and support over the past few weeks. Without you, I wouldn’t be progressing as fast as I am. My confidence is definitely increasing as a writer. A big shout out goes to Marantha, of GHOSTWRITER fame, for her support and warm, lovely comments all over my blog. And to Monica, of Amalias Story, for her grammar and lessons in languag tuition. It is appreciated.

Thank you for reading my blog. I will be blogging again sometime this week with something more interesting.

My new life as a wannabe writer – I

25th May 2011: 10:00am

Wow – writers block for the first time. Feels weird, like jet-lag with a hangover and a feeling of losing my favourite teddy (Rusky). The more I think, the worse it gets. Time for my 6th coffee. This is odd, I can create a 1000 word creative piece without too many issues, but writing about my first month in my new life as a wannabe writer (as the title indicates) is a different matter. I can’t get lost in the emotion, the strange worlds, thoughts and musings – it’s a real world, my world.

Right, I’ll try again later. In the meantime, I’ll take a photo of my creative space, my writing heaven, so you can see that I inhabit a real space and have real things, it’s the internet – you never know. It probably looks staged and too tidy, but I live by the “A tidy desk is a tidy mind” principal, it works most of the time. I am still shaking the shackles of a web developers analytical, structured existence.

I wrestled with whether I should put an image of my writing space on this piece or a picture of Rusky, but as Rusky is away visiting my son, it was inevitable my workspace won that little battle. Rusky will be back soon. I will put his image up soon – he’s a handsome bear.

25th May 2011: 12:16pm

Right . . . . got it.

I started this blog on 3rd May 2011, after deciding to change my entire career from being a successful web developer to a wannabe writer. I found sitting in front of a computer and facilitating others greed wasn’t what I wanted to do for the last part of my life. I have spent the last 10 years sat infront of a pc/mac creating social networks, systems and services while losing my own social life. And to some degree, my soul. You can only spend so long programming till 3am every morning before your health starts to deteriorate and you start losing who you are in the matrix of zeros and ones. So here I am, I have made the decision and I am spend as long as it takes to make as much of a success of my writing as I did in my other life as a web developer. Welcome to my journey . . . . . time for another black coffee.

25th May 2011: 14:16pm

I have spent that past month dwindling my bank account down to dust, buying all the books in the world with an interesting cover or books I felt I needed to read to have a respectable level of understanding of the literary world outside of my mac and the internet.

I have read everything from Animal farm to Dan Browns: Digital Fortress, from The Catcher in the Rye to A Perfect Day for a Bananafish, from The Lord of the Flies to WikiLeaks and the Age of Transparency. I am trying to read as many genres of books as I can to give me a greater understanding of writing and the literary world I am to live in for the rest of my life. I must admit, I am struggling with picking up a romantic novel – I just don’t know whether I could commit to reading a soppy story of girl-loses-boy, best-friend-fancies-girl, girl-and-best-friend-marry. I live in fear that I will enjoy it and it may be the genre I am naturally suited.

I would like to write political conspiracy thrillers. Gritty and exciting with car chases and gun-fights. Actually I could just write about Saturday nights in Doncaster, just kidding, it’s Friday nights which are like that.

If you could suggest a good romance novel, that would be helpful. Thank you in advance.

I have only written a few posts on my blog. Some based on my life’s events, some based on prompts from various websites, mainly InMon from BeKindReWrite and some from sparks of inspiration from overhearing a conversation on a train or being sat in a coffee shop. I am using my blog to experiment with writing style, meet like-minded writers and hopefully put my writing career on the right path.

I already feel honoured to be part of all those keys around the world, being furiously tapped for hours and hours, creating wonderful worlds and writing about interesting experiences. I have already changed my outlook on my life and the people in it. I genuinely feel this could be the change I needed. I am healthier, happier and less stressed with everything and everyone.

I feel a great sense of honour and pride that some writers/bloggers, I now class as literary friends, have already spent precious time involving themselves in my blog and are actively engaging in my writings by leaving comments. It means a lot as I need to build my confidence in my new career as a wannabe writer. Sending love and peace to you all.

My declaration to you: I will try to blog everyday and keep my blog interesting. I will actively promote friends I meet and participate in their blogs. I will be open, kind and honest. I will continue to be open to criticism, comments and discussions about my writings. I will do what I can in my power to aid in the success of others blogs. I will add a new post on this page at the end of every month to keep you up-to-date with my progress.

I hope you enjoy my writings. I would love to hear your thoughts. Your thoughts, comments and criticisms are just as important to the success of my writings as the writing itself.

I have a few questions, I hope you wonderful people can help me with.

1. As mentioned, can you recommend a good romance novel I may enjoy?

2. What was the hardest part of getting your first piece / poem / novel / short story published?

3. If you had to go back in time to the start of your literary career over again and could leave yourself a note to help your career go more smoothly the second time, what would that note say?

4. Where is your space for writing?

I would like to thank anyone who engages with this post, or answers any of the above questions, in advance. I know time is precious and at present, yours more than mine, so I really do appreciate it.