This
is where I explain the main thing that I'm doing
these days.
It's the activity that's as close to
"working for a living" as I care to
get.
I'm writing a book.
The book began as a short story which I wrote
for a creative writing class that I attend at a
London further education college.
The class tutor is a busy professional writer -
an author whose works are published and
broadcast. Class members are very
well-read - and they also write well, in a
variety of genres and styles. One is a
best-selling crime-writer.
The format of the class is simple: each week, by
prior arrangement, two members of the class read
a piece of their own work. After each
reading, the tutor - and other class members -
comment on what they've heard. The tutor's
comments are always supportive but also very
astute. As you'd expect from a
professional writer, he can put his finger
immediately on elements that don't work.
The comments of class members also add a great
deal. They are real people - keen readers
and buyers of books - who are giving their
reactions to what you have written.
The short story
that I wrote several months ago was well
received. But the advice was that there
was too much going on for a short story - and
that there was hardly any market these days for
short stories by new, unknown writers. On
the other hand, the story might be expanded into
a novel. The tutor and the audience liked
the two main characters - they wanted them to
have a longer adventure.
So that is what
I'm doing now - giving them that longer
adventure
More next week!
© David
Gray |
