Having finally got to the end of my ABC of children’s
writers, I knew I was going to have to come up with some new ideas for this
month’s blog, as well as for the next few months. I’ve read and reread several of the last few
blogs that other people have written and wonder how I can possibly write
anything half as interesting and/or inspiring.
I loved Kelly’s excellent post about how not to inspire children to
read, and Sheena’s post about the bright idea she had for using her beautiful new
diary, and Mel’s about her much-loved grandmother and the robin, and wish I could
come up with something as good.
However, all I have to offer this month is to tell you that
I have finally come to the end of a six-week marathon of writing a children’s
story for an online forum, tailoring each chapter according to how the children
voted at the end of the previous one (at the end of each chapter I had to give
them three options to choose from). Then
I’ve had to read and respond to some of their online comments. I thought this would be the easiest part of
the stint, but I hadn’t bargained for the number of children who were thrilled
to be able to write to the person who had written this book for them. The publisher expects me to reply to as many
of their comments as I can, but if I tell you that to date I’ve had over 3000
comments, you will begin to see how time-consuming this has been! It was a great idea, and has been a most interesting
experience – and it was lovely to have instant feedback from my readers (most
of whom have been delightful and complimentary) – but it has taken up far more
of my time then I had anticipated. Even
now the book is finished, the comments are still pouring in, which I suppose
proves that it really is encouraging them to read!
In addition to all this I had, of course, to do the dreaded
Tax Return (I know, I know, I should have done it last April, but inevitably I
didn’t get round to it till January!) Thankfully
I managed to get it finished before the deadline, but it was another Thing that
Had to be Done. As well as dealing with nasty
post-Christmas colds (self and husband), regular classes and meetings and other
Things to Remember To Do as Soon as Possible.
So it’s all been a bit busy lately, and I haven’t had a
chance, or, indeed, the headspace, to write any more of my current Work In
Progress. I’m really looking forward to
getting back to it now, though.
I'm sorry there are no pictures this month to leaven the text, and I do hope that by next month I’ll have come up with
something rather more interesting to write about here! Meanwhile, apologies from this written-out
writer!
Latest book: Danger at Hadrian's Wall
7 comments:
That sounds like a really interesting/challenging/exhausting project - no wonder you're feeling used up! (And the bugs this year seem to have been particularly nasty and lingering, haven't they?) Rest in whatever way works best for you. Recharging WILL happen!
Amazing that you found the energy to blog at all! 3,000 comments, hey? What an achievement.
Thank you both for your sympathy/support! I feel better already.
3000 is an amazing response! Imagine if you had to handwrite the replies! Thanks for the mention - Kelly
What a mammoth task!
That is/was a huge commitment. No wonder you feel word-weary. Do look after yourself and thanks for taking the time to write this post. Go fill that well!
RECOUNT - and apologies to all you sympathetic people!!! I am so terribly sorry, but I've just realised it couldn't possibly have been 3000. So I've recounted all the responses I had and it actually comes to 750 - not nearly so dramatic but quite enough anyway (and it certainly felt like 3000!) I must have made the calculation early on, and went on from there without checking again. I really didn't intend to mislead anyone, but I'm rubbish at Maths, and you can tell what state my brain was in when I wrote my Blog! So so sorry. (And thankfully the comments pages on the forum have now closed, so I won't be getting any more.)
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