Help me write my novel please!
It's a very simple ask.
A very quick accountability post, because since my typing strain in February, I’ve got very behind with a sincere promise I made myself at New Year - to get the first draft of the novel finished by my birthday in October.
Last week I managed to scrape together an Arts Council funding application for dedicated time to write, and the process reminded me how much I love the story, and how much work has already gone into the foundations.
So this is an embarrassingly visible promise to myself and you that I’ll be writing 750 words a day between now and 5th October, to get me to 80,000 words, or the end of some kind of first draft.
Painting is teaching me that first drafts are like a full sketch book, not an exhibition. They do not have to be great words, just words on the page. Shapes and suggestions, light and shade, characters and feelings, movements through time.
If you’d like to keep an eye on my progress (and please feel free to chastise me if I slip), I’ll be sharing the word count daily on Substack notes (not emails, don’t worry!) and Instagram here.
To make it more interesting, along with the word count, each day I’ll also share a poem from 100 I wrote in a day for the Philippines tsunami appeal in 2013, as a reminder that fast, sketchy things can be imperfectly interesting and probably wouldn’t exist without the pressure.
Thank you for your support! If you want to know how Swey is going, the June Dispatch went live today.
I will leave you with a little new year / vision board / keeping promises to yourself inspiration from a friend of mine who starts each year by booking (not just talking about booking) one thing she has always wanted to do. Last year, for example, it was bird watching in Morocco!
Blessings on your projects and dreams.
Agnes