The Bigger Picture

It has been forever since I gave out some writing advice or even just relayed my own experiences with various writing projects. There is good reason for that. I’ve not been working on any rough drafts or any new projects since early this year. There is a project on the horizon but the start date keeps getting pushed out. For that reason I aim to make this post part update and part writing advice.

I completed a rough draft for my third work of Fiction waaaay back in December and then spent much of January/February formatting and tidying it. While tidying the draft I was also marketing ‘The Rugby Blanket’ as best I could on Kindle. This third work of fiction has the working title ‘D is for David’ and most of it is based right here in good old North County Dublin. I have my ‘Model Reader’ going through it now and she will soon let me know about those passages that just don’t add up. Once ‘D is for David’ is in a fundamentally tidy state, I can send off the first few chapters to various publishing houses/agents for submission – that is my main task for June. To get those first fifty pages or so in shape for submission is fairly critical.

When editing, zoom the doc to 200%…see the bigger picture.

About 500 copies of ‘The Rugby Blanket’ have gone out the door (most of them free) and the feedback I have had has been excellent. For those who have purchased the ebook, firstly thank you very much, and second please review it on Amazon as the more reviews I get, the better. The most positive aspect of feedback I have received is the idea that I have tuned right in to the average sports fan as opposed to the athletes that run around the paddock. This resonates with the everyman and so there are people reading claiming ‘I felt like that too’. This is exactly what I wanted to do. The book has also been enjoyed by some who wouldn’t be fans of rugby because there are those anecdotes that are separate from the match days themselves. Another taster for this book of mine is ‘The Rugby Blanket’ – a video journal from the 2011 World Cup which is now up on You Tube. This is where you see me attending games and generally making my unhealthy obsession with the All Blacks known. It’s a bit of fun. Some of the parts would be enjoyed by anyone. There are 17 in all! I still hope to get the eBook through other outlets by the end of the year and possibly paperback on demand.

In April when I returned from my sister’s wedding in New Zealand, I fine-tuned my second work of fiction – ‘Death at the Ball’ for a writing competition which is run by TV3 in Ireland and has the very excellent prize of a publishing contract with Poolbeg Publishing. Fingers crossed there but if nothing comes of it I have a tidy manuscript ready to format for my second ebook. We shall see.

And finally in July I hope to start work on my next work of fiction (number four!!). I haven’t got a name for it as yet but I am taking something from my first book ‘The Geneva Club’ and expanding on it. Let me just say it will be for the Young Adult market and have a distinctly Irish flavour. I’m excited about it as I always am with initial drafts. It is all about 100% creativity and it is that part of the process that is totally me. Cant wait!!

Oh almost forgot! Writing tips. There is something I have learned from my copy editor, Michael Kaeflein which helps the editing/formatting part of the job. He didn’t so much tell me to do this but I noticed how he approached a document and in hindsight, I have to say it is a much better way to look at your project. When Michael edits he increases the size of the document to 200% as opposed to my former 100%. I can’t tell you newbie writers how much better this is. Instead of five or six paragraphs per page there will be 2 to 3 paragraphs on the screen staring back at you. This allows you to see the smallest errors more clearly and, I feel, in some way helps you see the essence of the paragraph more clearly. It is the fine-toothed comb approach. While you are looking at a smaller body of text when zooming you will find you soon see the bigger picture.