Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jacqui Lofthouse

    Tony, we’re going to have to turn that around! I challenge you to cover two blank pages in prose… (before you know it, two will become three, we won’t be able to stop you…)

  2. Jacqui Lofthouse

    I suppose both might spring from a lack of confidence in some way or lack of conviction that one will be able to finish perhaps? I think it must be different in every case; so many different things can get in the way of writing that its difficult to be prescriptive. Not starting is more likely to be from the doubt you describe and not finishing might more likely be that one doesn’t have the doggedness to keep going so persistently with a single work. One has to be driven to finish I think; to have done enough work thus far that one genuinely believes that the piece has something to say and contribute… and this developing conviction then drives you.

  3. Evelyn

    Hi Jacqui,
    It’s nice to hear from you again. So glad you have your book finished and started another. Well done and good luck with the one just published.
    Hope you had a nice break.
    I’m still at my first book, it’s tuff going, I’ve about 140,000 words done but need a lot of editing. Editing I have done on the chapters I am now calling finished(for the timebeing, that is. Chapters-one,two,three,four,five,ten, eleven,twelve and thirteen. I’ve read and reread what I have written and to me it is getting better as the time goes on. My fear is that it is going to be a long first book and will need a 2nd and 3rd to complete the whole story. Sometimes I fear that I’m wasting my time. Will anyone want to read it? I ask myself. Where will I get an editor, a publisher? These are the worries I have. I stay focused as much as I can and infact my writing is all I think about. I look forward to your fortnightly inspirational tips and just hearing from you helps a great deal. Thank you.

    kindest regards

    Evelyn

    PS. I have’nt forgotten that I said I would join the Completion Club. I just feel I have still to much to write to think I could finish it in a year. Although I would love to! Bye for now. Evelyn

  4. Michelle

    Jacqui, is the completion club only for writers who will reach the end of their project within a year? I’m much closer to the start than the end of my (rather research-heavy) novel, but I think I might still benefit from the kind of support and sense of accountability the completion club provides…

  5. Jacqui Lofthouse

    Hi Evelyn and Michelle,

    Yes, I’ve been unclear – The Completion Club is not only for writers who wish to complete within a year. The old-style club was set up that way, but the new-style club takes a more sensible ethos (perhaps I should edit the copy to reflect this!) which is that the club is giving you the tools to become a regular writer who is both confident and productive – in other words, giving you the tools to complete your writing projects – whether that takes a year or longer. What is important is that you become more serious about your writing and you also have a clearer sense of direction. You become a regular writer and one who knows what is needed in order to complete. It’s about sustaining a writing life in the long term. Michelle, yes, the accountability is a key part to it for so many members – the weekly checking in with progress makes an enormous difference.

    Evelyn,thank-you for your kind comments and I’m looking forward to making the newsletter more regular, in its new form. I’m glad it makes a difference to you. Those are big questions, but the truth is that through getting feedback and having writing colleagues, you can gain a clearer sense about who your readers might be, what might interest the reader and how to make it stronger so that readers (and agents and editors) will pay attention. Good to hear you so serious about your writing project!

  6. Evelyn

    Thanks Jacqui,

    Yes Jacqui I’m totally serious about my writing. I started with your thirty day course away back in October 2009 and am still using it. I read it over and over again and the Black on White as well, I’m learning something more everytime I read them. They’re great.

    I’ll take your advise and join the club at the end of July / beginning of August. So far I have’nt let anyone read my work. I have a bookclub I attend every week and they do give me encouragement but so far they have not read it.

    I realize I need feedback but I don’t have the confidence to let someone read it just yet.

    I’m still having difficulty with getting my own voice in the book. I find I jump from the first, second and third person. Also it’s hard to get a name for my characters that suit for more than a chapter. I keep changing them. But in saying all that; I do enjoy writing, and have finished editing the 2nd draft on a few chapters. I feel that I am getting somewhere with it now. This is all thanks to you Jacqui.

    kindest regards

    Evelyn

  7. Michelle

    Thanks for the clarification, Jacqui. I may join in the autumn, once I know whether I’ll be starting my creative writing MA this October or October 2012. If it’s the latter I’ll almost certainly join the completion club.

  8. Jacqui Lofthouse

    Thanks Michelle and great to hear you are going to be doing an MA in Creative Writing. Evelyn, thanks for your kind comments and I’m delighted that my work has made a difference to you. Look forward to possibly having you in the club. Good to know that your second draft is coming along…

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