Focus?

A new approach, then.

Since I started writing, I've tried to do as much of it as possible in as many ways as possible.  When I get a novel down to the editing stage, I tend to start a collaborative writing project of some sort.  In the past this has yielded The Industry of Guilt - a great selection of short stories from the fine people lurking on Myspace (I wonder if kids of the future will ask, "Were you old enough to have a Myspace?") - and there was Bad Marmalade as well, which was a fair old success until the PhD came along and stole a load of my time.

For the past two and a half years I've written reviews for a music website called Whisperin and Hollerin.  As a music lover of the highest order, the non-payment was more than made up for by free CDs and gigs, and innumerable new favourite bands that came about as a result.  But you can get to a point where you're trying to do too much and not really homing in on one thing.

Getting my novels published is my real goal in life, which is something I've known for a long time.  The PhD is goal number two.  Both of these are very time consuming, and somewhere down the line I've stopped going out and having good fun.  I've had the opportunity to reflect on stuff recently, and eventually came to the the tough decision to drop something.  I did this with Bad Marmalade last year, and it worked for a while.  But this time - with this book - I need to put in the concerted effort to somehow make it the success I want it to be.  So the reviewing has gone.

I hate quitting things like that.  It was a job I enjoyed and got a lot out of it, but I don't want to be a music journalist.  I like being a music fan and I like listening to something without trying to think of 400 hopefully engaging words to describe it.  I can cope with paying for my CDs and gigs, especially now I have more time to go to them.

But I can see myself scouting around for new projects already.  I need the creative outlet that writing to agents and publishers doesn't really offer you.  I'm going to need more than entering writing competitions and hoping for the best.  I'm already planning a new novel in my head - it somehow doesn't stop.  For now, though, I am going to try and do all the self-promotion rubbish, which is the element I like the least. 

Getting to the end of the first edit of the book, then I'm sending it out to friends for some lengthy criticism (I hope), and in theory the shedding of more words (a process that seems to be getting a bit easier).  I've also taken to reading long books to prove to myself that the world is capable of enjoying an epic story.  It's a shame they all seem to be by established authors - this may be the brick wall I face.

On the other hand, the Deal or No Deal application is now complete - several thousand pounds from that experience and I'm setting up my own publishing company.