The Write Stuff

You may have noticed a distinct lack of activity in this blog as of late (yes, both of you who read it!) but I do have a very good reason, honest!

At long last, some seven years after I first began to plan it, and eighteen months after beginning the first draft proper, I have a genuine, finished first draft of my semi-autobiographical look at the rock music of the late 80s and early 90s.

Clocking in at a shade under 150,000 words, which has surprised the hell out of me as my original aim was to hit 100k, but clearly there's more to this tale than originally met even my eye, I have a fantastic sense of accomplishment, as my previous book was just a third of this length.

That's the good news. The (only slightly) less good news is that I have now jumped straight into the editing process, and this is proving to be very interesting indeed.

I'm reading chapters that I wrote up to a year and a half ago and the difference in quality between them and the final few that I completed is stunning. The first chapters are still good, but it's intersting to see how much my craft has developed even in the last eighteen months, proving the old adage that practice does indeed make (one become that little bit closer to) perfect.

The danger I have now, though, is because this project is finished as a first draft, I need to decide which project is next. I'm decided on the fact that I want to tackle one of my fictional ideas at long last, but I'm torn between them.

Also, for one of the ideas I can see it working well as a book for adults, but equally the whole story could be told from the young adult perspective, which would mean being much less explicit with certain themes and language, but also a challenge to see if I can produce something as good as Darren Shan, who I have recently discovered thanks to Deborah's boy Tav.

Decisions, decisions, but I suppose I shouldn't be complaining, as it's much better to have too many ideas to choose from than to have no ideas at all.