A few months back I was standing in an independent bookstore, staring at the plethora of books that are always both inspiring and demotivational to a struggling writer such as myself. I was searching for Writer’s Market 2017 (which I now realise I still haven’t bought) and stumbled across a little gem called Story Genius by Lisa Cron. First, I must admit… I hate getting writing advice from someone I’ve never heard of. Secondly, reading the writer’s memoirs from the likes of Stephen King and Ray Bradbury always had the same inspirational/crushing effect on me. Not sure why.

I slid the book from the shelf and weighed it up for some odd reason. It felt light; Could it be that there wasn’t enough printed in it to be worth it? Who knew what I was actually thinking, perhaps this was just some sort of ritual, like two dogs smelling each other. My writing at home was begging for me to come back, the dozens of novels I wanted to read and reread groaning at the idea of another book entering the fray. I flipped through the first few pages, read the blurb and returned to staring at the cover.

Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)

Ironically not the most concise title for a book on writing, but it was catchy and got its point across. At this point, I’d already finished Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse and was avoiding it like an ex-girlfriend. It needed editing desperately and I simply wasn’t the man to do it. Not then… and not now. You see, the problem I have is one of experience. Of writing? I have roughly two decades of story writing behind me. Of novel editing? Well, roughly three weeks of it before I got fed up and started writing something else.

My biggest problem (aside from editing) is that I was very disorganised when I began writing Jefferson. I broke it down into five parts (Intro, Journey, Antagonist Reveal, Climax and Conclusion) and let the characters take me on a journey between points. There is a lot of dialogue. A LOT. Not as much description though, which removes the reader from the world. That being said, I need to work on introducing those things. I’ve travelled a fair bit since then and hopefully, that will help my writing.

So now, as of today, I’ve submitted my application into Author Accelerator. I’m actually unsure of why I’ve done it or what it will actually entail. I saw pricing on there that was $199 for a 10-week class and I wonder to myself if I’m ready to start spending money on that sort of learning for my writing. Not only that, but 10 weeks will take me straight into the build of my home and I wonder if I will have time to devote to it properly.

For now, I’ll simply wait, for tomorrow is a new day where we will choose the kitchen for our house. Maybe tomorrow I’ll do a bit more editing on my novel. Maybe.

Maybe.