The Blog
Letting Go
Maybe one of the most difficult things for a writer to do is let go. After spending years with characters and stories, you’re compelled to wave goodbye and let someone else have their say? Ouch. Who thought that one up?
I suspect this process is terrifying, whether you’re traditionally published or whether, like me, you’re going the self-publishing route. No serious writer throws an early draft of a novel out to the world. It’s the equivalent of forcing a four year-old to get a proper job and being surprised when they wet themselves. No, by the time a novel is ready for the author to let go of, it’s older and wiser. It’s no longer a toddler, more a university graduate ready to stride off into the sunset and take whatever comes at them. That doesn’t stop the parent worrying though.
With a novel draft, there’s always the sense that if you go through it ‘just one more time’, it’ll be absolutely perfect. The truth is, there’s no perfection when it comes to writing. If you wait until something’s perfect, you’ll never let it go. You’ll spend months, years, decades spinning the same novel around and around until you give up. Whereas, if you let go at the right time, you may be pleasantly surprised by the consequences. At least you’ll be moving forward.
I’ve just let ‘But By Degrees’ go for the next stage of proceedings. I’ve had my claws around this novel for six years, but I firmly believe I’m letting it go at the right time. We’re on track for publication in the near future and, yes, I’m terrified, but I’m also excited. In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting some teasers and background to the novel. I’ll also be offering the first chapters free for you to test drive, so to speak. I hope you’ll stick around for the ride.
In the meantime, I’m concentrating on other things for a little while. I’ve got so many novel drafts in various stages of production that it’s hard to know where to go next. Perhaps after the intensity of working on ‘But By Degrees’ over the last few months, I need something a little lighter. A first draft, maybe a second. Either way, something entirely different.
July Round Up
What have I been writing?
It’s all about ‘But By Degrees’ at the moment. I’ve been beavering away like a good little author, attempting to make the novel the best it can be. I might’ve allowed myself brief thoughts about what I’ll work on next, but BBD is the priority until release in a few months.
What have I been reading?
I’ve been going through a non-fiction phase recently and the current book on my bedside table is Events, Dear Boy, Events: A Political Diary of Britain 1921-2010, edited by Ruth Winstone. It’s a fascinating look back through the diaries of people like Virginia Woolf, Tony Benn, Alan Bennett and Piers Morgan as they reflect on the big issues of the day. I found the portion around the abdication absorbing and I’ve just reached Churchill’s final retirement. The image of our greatest prime minister sat with a budgie on his head is one I’m struggling to shift!
It’s taking me a while to get through this book, mainly due to the length ( 600+ pages) and the fact that I’m working so hard on the novel draft. I might still be reading it next month!
What have I been watching?
Precious little! There’s always a bit of a summer drama drought, although I have series three of both Peaky Blinders and The Musketeers to get to when I have a break in my work schedule. In the meantime, I’m watching a few episodes of Frasier when I have twenty minutes to keep the brain amused.
What have I been listening to?
The usual fare has kept me writing – my pop playlists stretching from Dusty Springfield through to ABBA, The Nolans and right up to Steps and S Club 7. At the moment, every little bit of cheesy pop keeps me sane.
Have I done anything remotely interesting?
Well, I hopped on a train to Meadowhall (hence the picture at the top of this post). I also hosted a writing workshop in Wakefield just yesterday. It was a mild success so hoping to do the same next month. Other than that, I’ve mainly been working and drinking good coffee at my favourite writing place.
The Right Tools
Maybe this is a writer thing. I don’t know about you, but I have difficulty choosing something and sticking with it sometimes.
This is especially true when it comes to organising myself. Don’t get me wrong, I get things done and generally when I intend to. It’s just that when finding tools and tricks to organise my working life, I can’t seem to pick one.
During my PhD, I kept track of what I’d been doing and what I needed to do in a paper diary. For several years, this was actually a Mslexia work diary, as I found them good to work with. It kept me motivated and made sure I was balancing out my academic life with my writing life (there wasn’t a life life as such). That fell by the wayside during the final period of my PhD and some technological tools took over.
I used Wunderlist effectively for a while. It’s literally what it professes to be, an app that provides the ability to group your deadlines and activities into lists and set reminders so you don’t lose track of them. I was also supplementing this with Google Calendar, although when I finished my PhD, I found I had less use for both. More recently, I was using Trello for self-organisation. This was great for freelance work, but I couldn’t get into it. I began wondering if I was over-complicating things.
Essentially, what I need is a list. A simple list. It doesn’t have to come along with me on my phone or tablet, I don’t need to be able to access it from a mountaintop in Wales. Quite frankly, if I ended up in such a place, the first and last thing on my to-do list would be to get down. No, what I need is just a list I can check on a morning to work out what I’ve got to do, whether that’s novel work, short story work or related to one of my other hats.
So I’ve gone back to basics. I’ve bought a magnetic clipboard that attaches to the whiteboard where my novels are listed. You can see it in the image above – it has nice and simple tick-box lists. Let’s see how that works out…
How about you? Any organisation tips or preferences?
Writing Anywhere
Writing’s a little like the great Yorkshire weather – if you wait for the sun to come out and stay out, you probably won’t leave the house at all. However, if you take the risk (and maybe a coat), you’ll likely find the day goes well.
Some writers can only work if the conditions are perfect. Closed door, utter silence, freshly brewed tea next to them. I respect that, although I envy any life that can be organised like that. Equally, I’m in awe of any mind that doesn’t throw a contrary hissy-fit every now and then and allows that routine to stand. I find that my routines alter depending on other things going on in my life and where my head’s at. However, I’ve also come to the conclusion that you simply have to write if you want to be a writer.
That’s why the last week has involved me writing in some odd locations. On Monday, I ended up having lunch in the staff area of Pinderfields Hospital canteen (there were no other tables, honest). It’s a lovely building, a really good place to write if you can stop eavesdropping on the tables around you. On Wednesday, my morning was spent scrunched up on the floor of my old house waiting for the clearance guys to come and take away the old furniture not making the move. Not the most comfortable place on the planet, I have to say. Similarly, the end of my writing time on Wednesday was spent in a sports hall with the very real aroma of smelly feet drifting around. That’s the peril of having nieces who want to attend gymnastics, I suppose.
The point is, we can’t always work where we want to. Thanks to the move, I’ve got a beautiful little office with a squirrel frolicking outside to distract me periodically. Along with that, I’ve got a regular writing haunt where I go practically every day for a change of writing scenery. However, if I have to write elsewhere, I’ll give it my best shot. Life doesn’t always go to plan and a writer has to write . . . right?
Why Kit Eyre?
I’m very open across this site about the fact I’m using a pseudonym when it comes to releasing my books. It’s more about separating my ‘hats’ than anything else and, in addition, I’ve got a commonplace name. When I made this decision, though, I didn’t want to pick something fancy and unreal. I wanted a name that meant something to me.
In February, my paternal grandmother passed away. She was 93 and not in the best of health, so it was expected. However, it was one of several things around that time that galvanised me. My Grandma was a big influence on my life. Along with my late grandfather, she always supported my choices and, especially, my love of writing. So, when I was thinking of adopting a pen name, choosing ‘Eyre’ in tribute to her maiden name seemed like a fitting tribute.
‘Kit’ is slightly different. My maternal grandmother died back in 2007. Again, she had a tremendous impact on me, not in the sense that she ‘understood’ my writing, but definitely in the sense that she encouraged me to do anything I wanted to do. She also shaped my independent streak, taking me walking through the Wakefield streets on the way to her various cleaning jobs and generally letting me run riot a little. The differences between spending time with her and spending time with my other grandparents, both ex-teachers and assuredly middle-class, undoubtedly made me who I am today.
My maternal grandmother’s name was ‘Kathleen’ but, honestly, it didn’t work as a pen name for me. Her family used to call her ‘Kath’ but that felt presumptive somewhat – she was my grandmother, after all, not a pal from the local shop. So I asked a friend to help me with diminutive forms of ‘Kathleen’ and we settled on ‘Kit’. It might not be what people generally called her, but it reminds me of her nonetheless.
There you are – the story of my pseudonym. I know plenty of other writers use them so how did you come up with yours and why?
