Michael's Blog – August 2013 Archive (4)

Almost at the end of the month and my word count had reached 67000. By the end of the month I should have managed 70,000. But thereby hangs a dilemma: I’m making such good progress that there’s a danger I might go over my projected target of 100,000. It might seem silly to say that, but my publisher usually wants between 60 – 100 thousand words. That would mean either a rejection or a suggestion that the novel be cut. Like most writers, having penned all those words over a long period and…

I’ve seen various articles recently about the rise and fall of the e-book, and the return to the top of the pyramid of traditionally published books. Each article presents a reasonable and credible discussion on the merits of each process, and for indie authors of a nervous disposition it means the end is nigh! Apart from the famous and the infamous, to be a successful writer you need a massive slice of luck, and there’s nothing truer than that old saying: luck is when opportunity and…

I’m making good progress with my current mss. Last week I had reached 34000 words. By the weekend I had managed to notch that up to 47000. This puts me about halfway through my planned number of words. If I can keep that kind of progress up, I can expect to complete my first draft by the end of September. However, I think my last week’s output was exceptional, and would only expect to complete about 3 to 4 thousand words a week. We’ll see.

And on the subject of big numbers, or small,…

I made good progress last week with my book, reaching 34000 words. I also interviewed a friend of mine who worked his entire, professional life in the prison service. He began life as a trainee officer and finished as a Governor (grade 5). I met Dave (Pritchard) and his wife, Rosie at church last year. We got to know them quite well: they attended our church house group and brought a lot to the table, as they say. I had asked Dave earlier if he would let me pick his brains because I needed a…