WRITER’S BLOG – OR SHOULD THAT BE BLOCK?

 A bit of a departure this, from the old blog. I’m going to write a sort of a diary.

            The reason I’m doing this is to measure my progress – or lack of it - towards the completion of my novel “Cowboys and Indians”.

            It’s not easy to write; just ask any writer – they will do absolutely anything to avoid sitting down and getting on with it. They will even write about something else - anything else, and this will allow them to say: “I’ve done a day’s writing – look, this is what I’ve done today!”

            And this is what I’m doing now.

            Today is Thursday 11^th August, and I really don’t know where the summer’s gone. It’s been raining for ever and it’s nearly September. I’m staying in a friend’s house in North Wales (hence the rain) with a seven week-old black Labrador puppy at my feet. He’s officially called “Mungo” but is currently referred to as “Little Shit” as that’s all he’s done this morning.

            I’m putting this in (or should it be on?) my blog: a) because you might possibly find it interesting, b) it is making a commitment to myself to actually do some writing each day – well, five days a week, and c) it will be a record as to why I don’t actually hit my targets, which of course I won’t. Oh, and to catalogue the excuses for failure… like rioting and looting in our cities, which makes it so very difficult to write. I mean, who knows, a mob of hoody-wearing, baseball bat waving, vodka-drinking teenagers may burst in at any monent, steal my radio, smash my laptop and rape the puppy.

Mungo - aka "Little Shit"

                        He’s gone to sleep now, Geoff Boycott is on commentary on Test Match Special - as good a reason as any to turn it off - and I’m stuck on the Times Crossword (thickos version) so I’ve got absolutely no reason not to write.

            So here goes…

            …Oh, I’m going to day three of the Edgbaston test tomorrow, so I won’t get much done there. I will, of course, take my laptop on the train so that I can turn it on, read the paper and leave it behind when I get off.

            Here’s my target: to write 1,000 words a day, or a total of 5,000 a week. I’ve written 60,000 words already (but some of that will be cut out) and I reckon it will run to around 80-85,000. That would be…let me see…five weeks, plus maybe two to re-write the first part. So, seven weeks – eight at most to finish the first draft!

            Yep, sounds good! If I've got that far by Christmas I’ll be happy!

            Puppy’s awake again…