I think that perhaps the primary strategy of a writer is to keep peace with themself. As I sit and contemplate just where I am, in terms of a writerly odyssey, I realise that I mostly want to be delighted.
Now how does that delight come? I look for joy every morning, and I seem to be finding it these days. Better than ruminating on failures: past; present; future. But I’m still ambitious to develop novelistic treatments of larger themes, to explore, in other words, where no one has gone before! Or, at least, where I have not gone before. I’m seeking delight in this larger pursuit, a culmination of a longer-term project.
My new strategy, for peace of mind, is to continue grappling with my work, and that of peers, in the Orbit-14 Writers Group (Novel) under the auspices of the British Science Fiction Association. That’s good education, and already lots of learning has been facilitated, I hope. Meanwhile, just to keep a fillip of excitement, of hope going, I’m submitting sequentially to one agent at a time, my little package outlining Freeing Eden.
At the same time, or rather just as soon as I’m able to find a spare £75, I mean to print, privately (not Amazon/KDP which is much cheaper, but then the paperback is ‘published’ which I’m trying to avoid just now) some 6 copies for family and friends. And for me to hold and peruse in my own hands.
Also at the same time I’m hoping to re-join the local Writers Group which I’ve been part of for the past 3 years (I had to take a hiatus because of house sale constraints — it’s been a hectic two months!), and to continue to contribute to the monthly session of WriteOn Galloway, as well as to follow the monthly prompts of VisualVerse.org, both of which have been edifying. I’ve also bought myself a wee ticket to submit a 3000 word short story in historical fiction mode to GlobeSoup by the end of October. And I do have another blog, the ALclub.uk social history, which means a regular writing stint on three days out of every week.
That should be enough to be getting on with, but I must say I constantly yearn for feedback, for some external delight. Just at the moment, it feels like the best way to realise that delight is to find the readies and get that private printing underway.
Biome NE47 