Publication day / week / month / whatever!

I think this blog has taken me almost as long to start as Caper Hill took me to finish! Well, not quite, since Caper Hill took the best part of a decade. Not to write, the original draft took about a year, grabbing the odd hour or two between working and looking after my children. I think that’s the obstacle most people find in their path when they initially decide to jump in and start that elusive first novel.

Time. Or lack thereof.

But in a way it doesn’t have to be an obstacle, use it to your advantage. Once you make that first commitment to following it through - and, please, do make that commitment if it’s what you really want (you’ll regret it on your deathbed if you don’t) - knowing that you only have a very finite amount of time means you have to write while you only have this spare forty-five minute slot or that last half an hour before you go to bed. The rest of the time, take notes. Definitely write them down else you’ll forget your amazing spur of the moment idea. Spend all your free minutes thinking about your story. The characters, where you want them to go, how they feel, their history. Know them inside out, and then, when that elusive forty-five minute slot does come, you have something to go on, you have some idea formed in your head ready to get down.

And remember, no one has to read it. Ever. Not if you don’t want them to.

So, to use a well known slogan, just do it. Write. What’s the worst that can happen? It turns out to be rubbish, but so what? It’s something that brings you joy. But if and when you do feel ready to release your masterpiece onto the world, it’ll be one of the proudest and most fulfilling days of your life (even if the only person that ever reads it is your mum, you can tell yourself you did it!)