My Writing Year

Happy 2020 – I hope you all had a restful Christmas & New Year.

Mine was the perfect balance of sleeping in, hill walking and curling up with books and Christmas chocolate. As far as New Year goes, I’ve yet to buy a 2020 diary, organise my writing bullet journal or make any resolutions.

I’ve mentioned elsewhere that I’m one for quiet, secret goals. Creating online comes with a pressure to share one’s plans and ambitions but for some reason I’ve always worked hardest when I make a deal with myself.

Instead of sharing 2020 goals I thought I’d reflect on my writing life in 2019. Last year I retreated from social media a wee bit; I needed to shut out the noise in order to concentrate on my novel. Sometimes I feel I haven’t made much progress but looking back 2019 was a pivotal year for my writing.

I made a big realisation that’s altered my path, so I thought I’d let you know what’s been happening!

A COMPLETED MANUSCRIPT

2019 was the year I completed a draft of my novel I didn’t want to burn and scatter the ashes to the four winds.

I know the advice is to write your first book fast then move on to the next but I just couldn’t do that with mine. Each draft took me closer to the true story. If I stopped digging I worried I was cheating the story out of its full potential. Finally I struck gold - characters and themes coalesced in that mysterious, creative way, which seems effortless but is paid for by many frustrated hours at a desk. Now, I’m connected to my characters in an uncanny way. Somehow my soul has met the souls of beings who do not exist.

All that remains is to tidy up the loose ends!

HIRING AN EDITOR

In the summer of 2019, I started working with a freelance editor. By this stage I was too close to my novel to tell good from bad, or if there was any good in the first place.

To date, it’s the best investment I’ve ever made. I’ve never taken any creative writing courses. All I know about writing comes from excessive reading (and writing lots of terrible drafts). My editor opened my eyes to writing techniques I thought I knew but wasn’t applying properly and provided solutions to problems I’d struggled with for months. Above all, she restored my confidence in the story I’d written. Her firm but fair approach motivated me to fix problems and take praise at face value (something I struggle with).

We’re still collaborating, and I’ll probably feel a little lost when the process ends. I’m thankful I got over myself and approached editors last year, otherwise I’d likely be languishing in a grave of crumpled up manuscripts with only my self-doubt for company.

For anyone interested, I found my editor on Reedsy, a site that connects indie authors with freelance editors and book cover designers.

RETHINKING INDIE

The biggest turn in my 2019 writing life was my decision to ditch indie in pursuit of traditional publishing.

The egalitarian, DIY nature of indie publishing always appealed to me, but by summer I was so burnt out on my novel (with no end in sight) that the thought of publishing, advertising and marketing my book made me ill.

Nor did it escape my notice that in the time it took me to write one book, most indie authors had published three! (How?) I started to think my plodding approach to writing wasn’t suited to the high output of an indie author.

This is where my editor is an angel. From the beginning she persuaded me to reconsider traditional publishing. She believes my novel could appeal to a wide audience and that I owe it to myself (and the book) to reach as many readers as possible. If it doesn’t work out, self-publishing will always be there, but this feels right, so I’m going with my gut.

SHARING MY WRITING

Until 2019 I’d never shared a word of my novel with my sister or partner. (Blaming my Scorpio Moon, obvs 🦂🌙)

All I’ll say on this score is I wish I’d involved them sooner – when self-belief is in short supply there’s nothing more motivating than enthusiastic, real-life readers demanding the next chapter.

FOLKLORE & FAIRY STORIES

Last year I wrote a handful of stories inspired by Scottish folklore and fairies. Our fairies are the darker variety, very much rooted in the nature and language of Scotland.

These wee stories helped me explore and further define what drives me as a writer - folklore, language and the soul. In 2019 all my creative influences clicked together. I filtered out what didn’t captivate and paid closer attention to the things I enjoyed.

If you want to read the short stories you can find them here: Fleagrave’s Christmas, Finella’s Cats, Fairy-Words.

Thank you for sticking with me throughout 2019. I was less present online than usual and hope to change that in 2020. I look forward to the day I can share my novel with you (whatever form it takes), and hope you’ll deem it worth the wait.

2020 is going to be an interesting year…