Have you participated in NaNoWriMo this April? I have taken part in Nanowrimo for a few years and although it can be a really enjoyable experience, it can also heap on the pressure. This year, my main project is a novel, which I had started at the beginning of March. I had already written up a grand total of 22,000 words; my goal was to then use NaNoWriMo to get down another 22,000 for April. I’m happy to report that this strategy works exceedingly well for me.

Covid-19, let’s face it, it’s impossible to discuss anything without mentioning this horrible situation. On March 1st, I had set out a weekly word count that would fit around my working life. Then Covid-19 really hit here in Ireland and I, like many others, found myself unemployed. Initially, I was going to increase the word count but I felt that, if and when we get back to normal, I would find it difficult to adjust. Therefore, I stuck to my original plan and it has worked so well for me.

Now, we’re nearing the end of NaNoWriMo 2020 and I have set myself another 22,000 words for May; this time, I will be tackling the typewriter without NaNoWriMo. However, I’m looking forward to May and the final block of words that I have challenged myself with. My goal is to finish my first draft by the end of May and then I will edit for June. That’s the goal! but if this year has thought us anything, it’s that plans don’t always go the way you want them to. Anyway, onwards and upwards.

 

M.A Coote

I’ve been a lover of pen and paper since I was a kid.  That’s a long time…I’m turning forty-nine this year.  Yikes!  I’ve written short stories, poetry and I have a few novel drafts lying around but I have always shied away from publishing.  Why?  Well…I guess when I was younger I was not ready to put myself out there.  Exposing my fragile thoughts to potential ridicule was definitely a deterrent for me.  I also worked in the book industry so I had an understanding of the fortress-like mainstream publishing houses and decided early on that I wouldn’t have a hope of success approaching them. That probably says a lot about my confidence in myself and my writing but I’ve changed my view on that and here’s why.  Indie Publishing was an unknown entity to me and like many other aspiring authors, I believed that success would only come from walking the same path as the authors I love so well; and that may still be the case for me but as I began to familiarise myself with Independent publishing and the amazing writers that choose this path, I became more and more convinced that this was the road for me.  Well…along came 2020 and something just changed, I have no idea what but I think, with age, you stop worrying about what people think, so there’s nothing left but to go for it!

I decided that 2020 was going to be the year that I would publish.  I had come through many months of researching the indie publishing market and I was convinced that this was the route I would like to take, I decided on an idea for my novel and I started writing.  Then covid-19 hit and I am still writing and writing better than ever.  I seem to have found my creative well and let me tell you, it is pretty packed!  So, for good or ill, I’m on this road and I would love to share it with you.  If you are thinking of writing and wondering if you could publish, then maybe my experience could be of some benefit.  You see, that is something else that drew me to Indie Publishing, the willingness to share information and to see others succeed.  I want to be part of that and there is so much that I want to discuss with people who have or are contemplating the same journey.

So…I’m starting here and I hope you’ll join me

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