Losing discipline and the plot

Most writers, I would imagine, have a set routine for their writing process. Any haphazard approach would almost certainly result in a disjointed piece of prose and cause the writer many problems during the re-write. I find myself in that position, and have done for several months now. I could blame the house move, the chemo therapy and even put it down to an enforced change of lifestyle now that we are living in rented accommodation. But that would be a hatful of lame excuses for not doing what I should be doing, and that is writing. But like anybody with a creative gift, I have come up with another excuse: I have been trying to upload my latest non-fiction work (A WORD IN YOUR EAR) on to Smashwords. I managed to upload the book and even bought a copy, but the problem came when trying to satisfy the criteria for inclusion into the Premium Catalogue. I’m getting closer with each revision of the file, and am now waiting for the vetting process to finish for my latest attempt. I had problems with the book jacket initially. This took umpteen attempts before I finally got it right. Once I have completed the process and my book is available for wider distribution, it will give me the confidence I need when I begin to upload my eight fiction titles. That process will begin during July, and hopefully I will have them all there by the end of the year. So until I can find a clear run, my current work-in-progress novel will be sitting on the back burner.

Last week, apart from the foregoing, our life whizzed around the car being repaired at the dealer’s; a practice session with my friend Dave for the contribution we will be making at our Old Time Music Hall event at church next week (we’ll be singing that well known Flanders and Swan ditty: The Gasman Cometh. Should be fun); hospital appointment; church; a beach baptism; game of snooker and, oh yes — the World Cup. I’m full of excuses! That’s creativity for you. I couldn’t do anything yesterday because I took Pat into Alicante for a look round the shops. Today? Well, apart from writing up and posting my blog, I have a game of snooker to get through.

Another string to a successful, self-published author is promotion and marketing. This is something I dabble with, and have promised myself that I will get to grips with this aspect of publishing in the near future. My son, Terry, has been helping me create a new website (which means he has been doing most of it), but now he has sold his house and will be moving south to England, so that part of the plan has been put on hold. I can’t expect him to continue with the development until he is settled in his new home. By that time me and Pat may be in the fortunate position of being able to return to the UK, which will stop me from doing any meaningful work on writing and promotion. See how easy it is to be creative and come up with excuses? Some of you may ask: do you really want this, Mick? Well perhaps I should be happy with nine novels in print (after January 2015), but I wouldn’t mind a tenth! And if I wasn’t writing, what else would I be doing? But like a racehorse with a good track record, I’m worth a bet that I will finish the course. You watch! Wish me luck.