Is There Progress In The Work In Progress?

I last wrote about the WIP on the 8th of August. How is it possible I’ve allowed all those days to pass without a single catch-up piece?At that time, the MS stood at 122,237 words over 282 pages. As I write this, it stands at 120,705 words over 280 pages, having been through a number …

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Further Progress on the #WIP.

Wordcloud selectively based on part of the WIP as it is at present. Writing a book. What does it mean? What does it entail?Fiction, in particular, engages or should engage all the senses. Otherwise, it’s a part story, an incomplete account, a limping, meandering path of words strung together without true feeling. But what does …

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Further Progress on the #WIP

It surely can’t be this long since I reported on my WIP, can it? But it appears my last post was way back on 23rd November 2024. How can that be?Well, I’ve some excuses. It’s possible some of you may consider them reasons, which would be better for my conscience.First excuse: I’m suffering from an …

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Hey! Enjoy the Next Few Days!

Conclusions from a Brief Experiment.

Last Sunday, I started an experiment on Twitter. Basically, I decided not to go onto the site for a week. I would still use ‘share’ buttons on any websites/blogs or topics I visited, but I’d stay away from reading and interacting on the site. This came about when I realised how much of my creative …

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A Brief Experiment

Procrastination is probably the writer’s greatest hidden enemy. Most of us unconsciously employ strategies designed to stop us putting pen to paper and getting on with the job. This is so even if we actively enjoy the process of writing. Something in us is almost self-destructive in its desire to stop us expressing ourselves in …

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Perils of Social Media Engagement

Okay, I shouldn’t have done it. I know. But, sometimes, my passion for an issue overcomes my internal common-sense policeman and I get involved. A short while ago, I posted a Tweet relating to Climate Change, an issue dear to my heart long before I joined Greenpeace in the 1980s. It reached some deniers on …

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Where Now?

It’s an odd situation for me, though I know many writers visit this apparent desert frequently and often for prolonged periods. But I appear to have hit that dreaded void known as ‘writer’s block’. But is it real? And, if it is, what causes it? I’ve spent the past few weeks catching up on all …

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A Touch of Self-Indulgence.

  This is a short post to let all visitors to the site know I’ll be offline for an unspecified period from now. It shouldn’t be too long, but I’m having minor surgery tomorrow and I’m unsure when I’ll be able to be back at the keyboard. I’m told I’ll need to take it easy …

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Returning to the Digital Drama

On 20th September, I wrote a short piece titled ‘Denying Digital Demands’. This is the follow-up. If possible, once a year, I attempt a break from the demands of online life. Usually, it coincides with a holiday away from home. Breaking free from both the everyday and the unending demands of constant connection can refresh …

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Denying Digital Demands

Regular readers will know I’m a little ambivalent about the digital world that enfolds and sometimes threatens to overwhelm us. Social media has a lot going for it, but it also absorbs much of our time and attention. There are times when a simpler, less demanding lifestyle calls. A period of spiritual refreshment is needed. …

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Take a Break and be More Productive

Picture courtesy Pixabay.com People often ask how I manage to get so much done (actually, I don’t achieve as much as I’d like, but that’s another story). One thing that helps is the way I break every hour for just a couple of minutes. It’s long been known that sitting at the keyboard, or bending …

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There is No Other Way.

This year has been one of change and adaptation. We moved home at the beginning of 2015 and that meant certain changes were inevitable, of course. It also meant many distractions took my mind off my writing. The house and garden needed, and continue to need, attention to make this our home rather than a …

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