Sometimes this writing lark is easy. You can come up with an idea, or reach a certain point in a story, and the words just flow out onto the page. Kind of like Tippex, but with precisely the opposite effect.
That’s what happened with my new manuscript, which we’ll call NotLT for not-giving-the-whole-story-away-by-revealing-the-title reasons.
Essentially, I wrote the entire thing over the space of four evenings in a hotel in Dublin. During those 20-24 hours, I sat with my laptop, only stopping writing for the occasional toilet break and Pot Noodle. Not, I should stress, at the same time.
Anyway, I made a couple of very small tweaks to the story when I got back, and sent the manuscript off to my agent, Kathryn Ross. Today, she got back to me with some very positive feedback, and a couple of minor criticisms which required the ending to be rejigged a bit.
The changes took me all of an hour, meaning at most the entire manuscript has taken less than 25 hours to go from concept to a draft which is ready to be submitted. I’m quite proud of that.
Of course, that’s not to say it’s any good. Only time will tell on that one.
On another note, I picked up a book from the charity shop today. Haven’t had a chance to take a photo of it for here yet, though, so I’ll exhibit it tomorrow instead. It is not the type of book I ever expected to buy, and I really can’t see myself enjoying it, but I’m going to try to approach it with an open mind.
And open eyes. That’s important, too.
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Written by Barry
Topics: Books, Personal