Learning from the best

I write this in an advanced stage of melting – despite a tropical upbringing I am really not suited to hot weather and am slumped over my desk like something out of a Dalí painting.  I thought I should let you know that changing my mind and returning to Sam was the Right Decision; the plot is already taking shape and I am hearing Sam in my head as I do the book-specific research that I need.  (Very small spoiler: I’m reading a great deal about an entrepreneurial fishmonger-turned-casino owner called William Crockford.)

However, in an attempt to professionalise myself as an author, I am also investing time in learning my craft.  Of course writing courses and retreats are off the menu for the time being, but I have enjoyed enormously a series of ten Youtube tutorials published (is that the word? issued? released?) by the successful author Joanne Harris.  You all remember “Chocolat”, I am sure.  But Joanne is not only an author who manages to make a living from writing (no small achievement): she is also a vocal advocate for authors’ rights (she spearheaded a campaign for book festivals to – shock horror –pay their speakers) and Chair of the Management Committee of the Society of Authors.  And – judging from her tutorials – she has a terrific collection of mugs.  She has a book coming out called “Ten Things About Writing” and – in common with nearly everyone I have encountered in the writing world – is phenomenally generous when it comes to sharing advice, guidance, wisdom and warnings.  Each tutorial covers a topic such as plotting, or characters, or (very handy, this one) “for those days when you just can’t”, and lasts a maximum of twenty minutes.  I have filled pages and pages with notes, and I commend the series to you.

Now I’m off to stick my head in the freezer.