Let me nail the ‘Long-Distance’ bit of the title as I don’t imagine that the ‘Loneliness’ part needs any explanation. It’s purely a function of time, not miles.
In the time-honoured cliché, I’d always felt a book lay within me, albeit invisibly deeply. Being made redundant and deciding to go freelance created the space and time in which to contemplate the possibility. I didn’t set out to write something that might be published. It was much more that I needed to know that I could do it; ‘it’ being create something from thin air that worked. ‘Worked’ meaning that it had integrity, a sense of purpose and being.
If you’d told me then it would take eighteen years from first contemplation to final realisation, I may well have taken up some other life challenge, perhaps crocheting or self-waxing.
But then again ...
Who, once they’ve written, would ever really want to be without the joy of sculpting a phrase that captures all you wanted – or relish that moment when a character leaps from the page in all its three-dimensional glory? I think it was Paul Auster who said that there is only one thing worse than writing, and that is ... not writing.
Of course, each of our books will differ dramatically: one of the reasons this is not a ‘How to write’ blog but an experience-sharing outreach project! It will over the coming weeks declaim as loudly as the written word can: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
So, when I sat down in front of the dreaded blank screen, what did I have before me? Just the skimpiest outline of a core idea.
I had a long-held ambition to share my passion for classical music generally, and the late string quartets of Beethoven specifically. There was my main character - a great violinist. And I had been wrestling with a Very Big Question: how to find meaning in the teeth of catastrophe? That gave me the stirrings of a philosophical purpose and narrative line.
Now all I had to do is write the thing ... oh, and earn a living at the same time.
Ian Phillips is a freelance writer for businesses whose first novel, Grosse Fugue, will be published by Alliance Publishing Press on April 3rd. He’s tweeting developments @Ian_at_theWord.
I admire your discipline, Adrian.
For me, I eventually found that the tendency to review and edit was something of a stalling tactic. The inescapable truth I had to confront was that, sooner or later, I had to allow others to scrutinise it, be they part of the publishing business or interested amateurs//friends.
I'm not saying that applies to you, of course. I can be an impatient bugger!
Hi Ian.
Like the post. It's great to hear from writers who have gone through the same things we as new writers are going through now.
My idea came ?? years ago (a lady never tells her age), but it wasn't until nearly two years ago I began the actual process of writing it.
Over the past couple of months, I have recieved amazing help from writing forums, also some not so good advice along the way. I was wondering, what are you feelings on these.
Well, look forward to your next post.
Sarah :)
Ian.
I cannot do things by half-measures. If I tackle a task I have to do it whole-heartedly or not bother. So it has to be the disciplined approach for me. This is how I ended with such a high word count. May be I should have listened to Graham Greene. He advocates writing 300 words a day. That does not sound like much, but 2,100 words a week is 109,200 a year.
I am never happy with anything I write, because I strive to write to the very best of my capabilities, whatever that may be. I am only interested in being a quality writer. I hope to glean useful information from as many sources as possible. I am only to happy to learn new angles off others, from here, or elsewhere.
I believe that after a few solid years, I have developed a good standard of writing. Part of the joy of writing is when I feel positively inspired and the words flow. Then I can be confident of what I have written.
However, I am under no illusion. The ultimate test will be when I submit my novel to agents and publishers. I am in no rush to publish. I hope to finish the fourth thorough edit of my novel by the summer. Then I will bench-test my novel for weaknesses and continue the editing process until I am satisfied with the end product.