Too late at 58?

Day 2
Instructions say to write a few sentences about each chapter.


Here is the outline for Chapter 1


First of all - there is no requirement for you to be 58. I just happen to be 58.

I know people in their 40s who:

• watch their hair turn ever more grey
• watch their waist-lines expand, just a bit, each year
• watch the bright young things at work enthuse about new ways of doing things
• are sensing redundancy
• are waiting to retire OR WORSE can't see how they can ever afford to retire

Maybe you are one of these people, or maybe you have different problems snapping metaphorically at your heels.

Maybe you haven't got a problem at all. Maybe you have a dream that you didn't realise when you were younger, always waiting for the right time. 

How about we say THE RIGHT TIME IS NOW?

What are you going to regret as you draw your last breath? Having a go, or not having a go?

I already regret not having a go sooner, but what's the point in dwelling on that? 

THE RIGHT TIME IS NOW.

Maybe that should be the title?  Anyone have an opinion on that?

Back in the saddle - and feeling GOOOOOOD

OK, 2015 will be the year.

I have started writing a self-help book following the guidelines by TAG Publishing called 'Write Your Book in 30 Days'. I know, I know - we've read stuff like this before but this time I'm going to follow it through.  You are welcome to join me on the journey.


Day 1

I read through the guidelines and made notes - well planning is SO important. I wouldn't like to rush into anything. Well I did rush into a bit of it. I started the introduction then read that you do that after you've written the whole thing. Here is is as far as I got  . . . . .

***

It’s January 2015 and I’m reading a book I have downloaded. It’s one of those inspirational self-help how-to-live-and-work better, happier and more rewarding books.

It is called ‘Out of Office – work where you like & achieve more’ by Chris Ward.

I was invited to go and hear him speak but I had already committed to working somewhere else that day, so I thought I would read the book instead. I enjoyed it. I was taken with the ideas. But I thought to myself ‘I can’t change the way I do things now. I’m 58, for Heaven’s sake.’  Then I thought again.

                Is 58 too late?

Hell, no! Notice I've already gone from Heaven to Hell?

                58 isn't too late.

That’s when I decided I would write and self-publish an e-book. 

That’s when I decided I would self-publish the novel I wrote a few years ago. 

That’s when I decided I would venture out of my lovely-but-sometimes-lonely office. 

That’s when I thought I could use (and share) my skill, knowledge and talent in a wider and more creative way.

Come with me on my journey and pick up some tips to do what you really want to do.  IT IS NOT TOO LATE.

I will share with you stories of some people who have found success and happiness in a late career change.

·      Some I know personally.

·      Some just happened upon success.

·      Some had been in jobs that were made redundant.

·      Some were desperate and had to do something.

·      Some simply turned a hobby into a business.

·      Some, I am proud to say, I helped on their journey by providing coaching support.

***

My first audio boo

We are developing a new website for Mungrisdale Writers and I have been tasked with recording the introduction for the front page. What do you think?

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1216834-mwg-3

All feedback gratefully received.

Thanks.

Book review – The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany

Set mainly in a once-stylish building in Cairo, this book is about the lives of people whose fates gradually intertwine. The story doesn’t show any of them in a good light but despite that, the reader is sympathetic and drawn in because of the fate dealt to them by Egypt’s corrupt and cruel regime.

It is a society dominated by sex, money, power and religion, all dealt with sensitively. The hardest bit was remembering who was who but there is a ‘cast of characters’ at the beginning to help with the Egyptian names.

I enjoyed this book from start to finish

How to Hook an Agent

On Saturday I went to a Writers and Artists event at Bloomsbury Publishing in London.  There were supposed to be only eighteen of us aspiring authors (actually there were about double that number) and four agents. None-the-less the morning was really informative and quite interactive and we all had a chance to write a hook for our book.

Mine went like this:

If Judith wants to be your friend, she’ll make it happen. She’ll follow you and get to know you, whether you want her to or not.

During lunch we each disappeared from the table to have a 1:1 ‘speed dating’ session with one of the agents. I was first on the list to see Lucy Luck. She read my synopsis (even though she doesn’t like them), gave me some feedback and suggested I submit my first three chapters to her agency.  I have done it this evening.

Right before leaving I had the chance to speak to Madeleine Milburn. About six months ago I submitted three chapters to her agency and she asked to see my whole manuscript (it was a ‘no’ in the end). I was flattered that she remembered so much about it and she was VERY complimentary about my writing.   

Most importantly, she gave me some really good, specific and constructive feedback on how to improve it. That’s my job for the next week or two.

Writing rubbish

I read an article today by Michael Madden in Writing Magazine about allowing yourself to ‘write rubbish’.  A fellow-student on my MA in Creative Writing called it writing a ‘shitty first draft’ and assured us that was the correct term.

Call it what you will, one thing I know from years of study is this:

 You can’t edit a blank page.

 

Until something is written down, on paper or screen, it stays knocking around in your head and remains that (great but) elusive idea.

 

One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to get back into a routine of writing EVERY DAY.  This is today’s product, and I’ve still got time to read over my novel-in-progress so that I’m ready to write the next chapter at this time tomorrow.

 The recycling bin is there waiting should it be needed.

 

 

NaNoWriMo 2012

1st November brought with it National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Once again I am going to try for 50 000 words of a new novel. The idea is that you knock out nearly 2000 words per day for 30 days to give the raw material from which to write the next big thing.

So far I have done 5714 words which means that I am behind the average required by 2619 already. I have caught up a bit since Saturday night so feeling confident. I am going to spend almost the whole of Thursday writing, including a NaNo-meet-up in a café in Kendal at 4.30pm. As I understand it, we won't talk to each other, we'll just sit there scribbling away for an hour.  We'll see.

Any other Cumbrian NaNos going?