Getting ready to write – A guide

Getting ready to write – A guide. By Ray Daley.

 

Here’s a simple checklist to making your writing time easier.

 

1) Set aside the time. I recommend 2 hrs to write about 2k words. Any average typist should manage this.

 

2) Is your chair comfortable, at the right height for your screen & keyboard? A comfortable writer is a productive writer.

 

3) Will you need the toilet? Or a drink/snack? Cover these before you start, so you can work distraction free.

 

4) Stay off the damn internet! You’re at the computer to write! If you need to research something, leave yourself a note & do it AFTER the writing session. If it’s plot critical simply put “insert research here” & add it later when you’ve done it.

 

5) Do you know what you’re writing today? Did you leave yourself notes, outlines, frameworks, a partially incomplete sentence? If you have ideas you don’t think you can get down today, leave notes for future you. Future you will thank you. Future you may even reward you with chocolate (or wine, or coffee).

 

6) Queue up music that will last however long you intend to write for. Studies have shown that music can aid creativity. Your mileage may vary.

 

And finally? Write! Write for as long as you said you were going to and ideally no longer. Getting into a routine can also help your productivity. Ray Bradbury swore by having a schedule.

 

Well I hope these tips help, especially with NanoWriMo coming up.

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What I Did In My 10 Days Offline

I read stuff!

As it took a few days to sort out the room to where I could set the PC up, I spent my free time reading on my Kindle.
17th, 18th & 19th of Oct were spent reading.

I wrote stuff!

It took a few days to get to the point where I could get my PC up and running but once I was able to type, I started writing things.

So what did I write?

20th Oct – The Doomsday Machine Retires. 1562 words.
21st Oct – The Suicide Drive. 513 words. Handwritten on the 15th.
22nd Oct – Welcome To Your New Home. 1067 words. Started on 5th Oct.
22nd Oct – Cell 115. 3027 words. Started over a yr ago.
24th Oct – Diary Of An Evil Henchman. 1452 words. Another outline from last yr.
25th Oct – Bindlestiffs. 1145 words.

I also watched some old tv shows.

Spent the 26th and some of the 27th (until the internet man arrived) watching “Beyond Westworld”

Back once again with the renegade masters

I am back.
Internet now reconnected!
We moved house.

I missed you all.

I Aten’t Dead!

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I’ll have no internet access for the next 10 days, so I’m be going dark as of now.

I’ll see you when I’m back online.

Keep reading my stuff and sending reviews.

Love and peace to you all,

Ray Daley.

The “Lost” Novel, more info

Now I’ve had the time to give the contents of that bag a once over, here’s what actually exists in terms of that novel.

 

6 A4 PAGES of synopsis, all typed on the old electric typewriter I had.

 

Roughly 6 pages of handwritten things on the large lined notepad. It was clearly either a spare from Hereford or aquired via Jon in Unit Publications & Forms Store.

 

Somewhere in the region of 20 sheets of handwritten things (too nervous to see what they were) on small A5 sized notepad paper. A cursory exam says each sheet contains plot items and outlines.

 

This is stuff from (I found a fucking date!) 24th Dec 1991. So I was probably in my early days of Command Receipt & Dispatch then.

 

I’m not sure if anyone who isn’t a writer can understand what this is like for me, rediscovering this stuff. I genuinely thought it was lost during the move back home.

 

I’d declared it gone several times over the last 20+ yrs.

 

It’s almost like finding gold.

 

I recalled it being fairly detailed but even skimming the synopsis, I didn’t realise what level of detail I’d gone into. It’s pretty freaking deep.

 

Characters have names, descriptions, backstories, ages. Likewise for scenes, locations, quests.

 

It’s a cross between fantasy & SF. It’s a very blurred line between the two.

 

And it seriously deserves to be finished.

Nothing but news!

I am SUPER excited!

Why, I hear you all asking?

Because I found my very first outline for a novel which I started working on WAY back in my RAF days, so it’s over 20 yrs old.

It’s not in perfect condition but it’s more than legible so I can easily type it up at some point in the future when I’ve got nothing else to do. (This will be quite soon, more in a different update)

I was totally convinced that it had found its way into the bin when I moved home from the RAF so I am totally stoked to discover that it still exists and that I can still read it.

It’s from before I was seriously looking at being a writer, and I was in my 20’s so I expect it to be fairly pretentious and immature.

But it’s got an absolute crapload of world building, character development, background research (back when that meant going into the library, as it was pre-internet!) and all that literary goodness.

I already had the outline for “Space Musuem” and “Service Provider” so this means there are 3 possible novels in the pipeline.

Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Heads up about 2 Feedbooks titles being taken down

It appears that Feedbooks have removed Non-stop To Nowhere and Marriage Vows for some unexplained reason.

In the meantime, please download them from Smashwords until I get an explanation that I’m satisfied with.

This is to Feedbooks.

It’s a bit naughty to remove an authors work without telling them, consulting them or informing them why you’ve done it.

I’m lucky that I distribute my stuff in such a way that allows me rapid access to the original url.

If these titles were taken down for a reason, I want to know why. if it’s a mistake, put them back and apologise. If someone complained about them, tell me why.

Whatever the reason was. I deserve to be informed.

News on ebook releases

Some info for my readers.

The 2 titles scheduled for November are way too short and have been pulled. I’m replacing them with what was Decembers slated release. So I’ll be putting out something Christmassy for December to fill that space.

There’s also still the chance of “Dualism” and one other pay title coming out before the end of this year. Those are still on the “maybe happening” board.