Over the past two and a bit years, the Diary has mostly followed my interests and thoughts and needs.
The first year (2022), although designed to appear haphazard, was a carefully plotted autofiction. I’d finished it before January 1st. It was based on real events but took place in fictional (present) time.
The second year (2023) was written in advance, during 2022, then shared as live, day by day. It came closer to my real life, just one year late.
This year, I’ve been writing the entries each day, usually in the morning, never more than four or five ahead. I usually press send as soon as they’re finished. That’s always a nervy moment. I assume I’ve made some terrible error, and check and check again. Then I publish.
The sentences you’re reading now quite possibly didn’t exist ten minutes ago. But I don’t let anything out I’m not happy with. My writing is more spontaneous — I haven’t time to mull over its effects — and I think that’s been a benefit. It has greater breath and breadth. I feel more like I’m speaking to you, then hearing responses in the comments and elsewhere. It’s still scary, though.
As I said in an earlier entry, year three of the Diary is more about you than about me.
I’m trying to share the most useful writing materials I can — advice, exercises, insights, encouragement.
(Next year, the Diary will be different again.)
And so, in order to be as open as possible, I’d like to ask the question: What would you like from me?
Or, to put it another way —
What would be most useful to you?
If you reply in the comments, I’ll read everything, and — in the coming weeks — do my best to cover what I can.
I’ll be continuing with the Complete Guide to Point of View.
And there are more Different Ways of Thinking ahead.
I’m also going to be giving away some ideas for stories that I’ve had for a while but that I realise I’ll never write.
And so, for today, it’s over to you —
I’d be interested in your thoughts on ‘How to Read as a Writer’ to help get the most from my reading, in the hope that I can apply it to my own writing. Perhaps focussing on the first page, or the first 500 words, since so much of a story grows from there.
Appreciate this space - glad you're keeping it up!
- Flash Fiction Writing Prompts could be fun!
- Editing Examples. You could take an unedited paragraph, then show the decisions you make/your rationale in editing the selection.