I’ve been dosing about on this blog for about 4 years.

In between blogging and teaching I wrote 3 or 4 very bad drafts.

January of this year was different. Something clicked. I got a calendar circled a D date. And stuck with it.

Days, that I was not subbing, were spent in front of my laptop writing out a new story. I used a different technique for writing this one. I almost took a teaching practice approach to it in relation to overall themes and sub themes. I took it handy, kept the concept simple and let the chapters go wild. There was no roadmap just a simple concept and two promises: write it one chapter at a time and meet the deadline.

I did. I finished something. And now I am in the process of editing it. I am sending this one out into the world.

I am so embarrassed by my old blog posts. I wrote then just to procrastinate. The delete button looms large. But I won’t delete them. They are going to be a reminder. (A) Just write the bloody thing. (B) Pick a date with word count targets. (C) Just write the bloody thing. (D) Don’t blog about books or authors or events or launches – just write the bloody thing. (E) Mediate (F) Look for story threads everywhere (G) Just finish the bloody thing.

I no longer care if I get an agent or I am published. I hope this one fails. My ego could do with a few more knocks. But I will keep writing. Because, man, the satisfaction of finishing a coherent story is so worth it.