Write every day
Photo by Mike Tinnion on Unsplash
How do I write?
For fifteen minutes, every day. I do this because of Dorothea Brande, author of the wonderful, (not at all dated) book, Becoming a Writer from 1934. I read it shortly after starting a two year course at New Writing South in Brighton.
In it, Dorothea says, do not call yourself a writer if you cannot find time to write for fifteen minutes a day. Well, I thought, I want to call myself a writer. I want to be a writer. I am a writer. Therefore, I will accept this personal challenge. And I did. From the 31st October 2018, I have written for fifteen minutes a day, and I have written a first draft of my first novel (since I was aged thirteen, anyway) in this way. And just in this way. I have edited, rewritten, redrafted out of that time. But all the actual writing was done in fifteen minutes, every day, no matter what else is going on.
My current works in progress
Now that the first draft of ‘The Edenists’ is complete (a queer historical novel set in the nineteenth century), and about a third of ‘The Liberation of Gerard Miller’, (a contemporary novel), I am turning my attention to my new novel, another queer historical novel set in the 1920s and 1930s in the English musical film industry, with a working title of ‘The Silent Smile’. For the last week, I have been doing my fifteen minutes a day, and experimenting with different ways of telling the story. For now, I have settled on the present tense and an omniscient narrator, which is entirely new to me, and proving very enjoyable to write.
Why write every day?
I trust, that whenever I sit down to write, the words will come. And they do. I don’t edit as I write, or stop and think, but just start writing and stop when the fifteen minutes is up, or occasionally carry on for a bit if I am finishing a thought, sentence or paragraph. And I always make sure I write at least 400 words.
Supporting myself as a writer
Outside of the fifteen minutes, I support my writing in other ways. I read, I read and read and read, everything, fiction, non-fiction, newspapers and magazines. I read books that are related to my novel and books that aren’t. I walk, and daydream. I go to workshops and literary festivals (The Coast is Queer was a highlight) . I talk to friends, family and my partner. I stare into space. I visit locations and take photos and I look things up on the internet, all sorts of things. I watch films and documentaries and TV programmes. Some of the best books, as well as ‘Becoming a Writer’, include ‘First You Write a Sentence’ by Joe Moran, ‘Into the Woods’ by John Yorke, ‘Surpassing the Love of Men’ by Lilian Faderman, and the diaries of Anne Lister (and books and articles about her). Some of the best teachers are Rosie Chard, Siobhan Curham, Holly Dawson, Annie Kirby, John McCullough, Catherine Smith, Dr. Sarah Walton and Susannah Waters.