One of my major flaws is that I’m over eager, and that when I get a good idea I just want to get on and do it. In some ways this is a good thing, and keeps me motivated and moving, in others it can be a useful life lesson as I’ve learned to my cost, sending review copies and proofs out before they’ve been more thoroughly edited and checked. After sixth draft I just want to get to the end, which is understandable, but also means reviews are less likely or less likely to be favourable because my ms isn’t in the state it should be, and isn’t yet the finished product it should be. The read aloud function in a previous post is a good case in point, and this character trait is probably why blogging can suit me so well, and I enjoy the satisfaction of writing short stories, the payoff is so much quicker. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a huge amount of work and to be honest, the samples I’ve posted online aren’t good examples of this new thoroughness, as they’re older works so I could demonstrate my writing. False economy really, isn’t it, and I suspect I’ll need to replace them before long. On the bright side, it means that from now on when I finally do have finished products (I’ll be blogging about the launch of two of my novels in paperback form shortly) I’ll battle my natural instincts and take more time making sure things are as good as they can be.
The idea for my poll and sampler is a really good case in point. I had the idea and thought it was great, would appeal to readers and writers, and could underpin my blogging on the writing process, so up it went. The downside to not thinking this through enough in advance is the timescale. I’m sure I’ll get votes cast over time, but at this stage (I only joined the Twitterverse, platform of the audience Gods) in December, and I don’t have enough followers to point to the poll. It’s also a crowded market for attention seekers out there, and unless I can catch a big wave (yes, I’m choosing to go with a surfing analogy) to ride and pick up followers with retweets and likes, not enough traffic will come to my poll. What I hoped would be a fast turnaround may take some time.
Those kindly souls I know have also been battered with a very quick sequence of events. While I’ve had the writing for ages, the first novel only got released 10th March, with the second due May, so the first won’t have been read in most cases yet, let alone looking through more writing to vote for the next (but one, The Raven Sound will be out May 1st).
So, and this is stream of consciousness blogging here, I’m considering that the poll may need to be open for some time, possibly till after the next books come out, and I get some more traffic, but I’m eager to write! I don’t want to cheat and pick one myself to start on so what I’m considering is the half dozen short stories I have planned out to write, and may work on these. I have many older ones too, so it’s possible my next publication could be short stories. Now I’m ‘live’ should I also re-organise the site and make it better?
Just my thoughts for today gentle readers! No decisions made.
Stay safe,
Kit