Get Writing

I had two ambitions as a young teenager.

Actually, I had loads of ambitions.  Being a professional footballer and Debbie Harry would have featured.

But the two that stuck were to be a journalist and to write a novel.

I achieved the journalism one first through having that early focus and good fortune.

The novel took a lot longer.  I did write one when I was about 14.  My handwriting was appalling and I had to get a friend to type it up, but it was a start.  

I saw ‘Corrie’s Case’ as a fast-moving adventure.  Unfortunately, no publisher did.

It was an early initiation into that heart-sinking process of repeated rejection.  It’s an expensive process anyway, but it overwhelmed a paperboy’s wage.

Then other distractions got in the way.

For a long time I was like so many others - one of those who “had a book in them”, but never did anything about it.

Until I heard the story that formed the basis of ‘The Road Dance’.  I knew if I didn’t write that I would never write anything. 

So, I did. It takes discipline and commitment, but there is a great satisfaction in receiving a published copy of your own novel.

 There’s a lot that has to happen in between, of course, and I’ll detail my own experiences later.  But one thing is certain, nothing will happen unless you get writing and finish it.