Paperback Writer

I love books. From an early age, many of us associated that simple object in our hands with the adventure it took us on. Happy memories, deep emotional ties. And yet we sit on the brink of a massive change in how we read. I embrace that change but the book as an artifact is long from dead. It may seem ironic to many that I see the future of Dreamwords in paper. Over the decades, publishers and printers have used technology to make this marvellous thing called the book into a highly efficient vector for transferring an author’s thoughts to her readers’. As the publishing model evolves and everyone looks to the world of ‘e’ I think it is a mistake to ignore the fact that paper still reigns supreme and is likely to for years to come. For this reason, as others race to electrons, I am keen to grasp the power of the traditional book - the sense of value in its heft, the legacy of its impact on our lives - to form the backbone of my plan for Dreamwords.
I hope the message is a powerful one. Tom Corven was the world’s first novel written for podcasting but its ultimate fate was always going to be tied to the plain and simple, powerful and efficient, book.

Change

Some years ago, it seemed obvious to me that publishing would change dramatically by the time I got my stuff out there – shedding the old-world charm of print for the cut and rush of electrons. There would be cries and howls of disbelief as readers, agents and publishers pointed to the power of substance – the feel of paper, the heft of the book, the smell of glue – that no piece of plastic could ever replace. Impossible to predict the shape of it and even more difficult to form a chronological map for that change, it was evident that it was coming to a planet near us - soon. Bemused by experts who predicted otherwise, I took a gamble. I decided to try things my way. I knew the odds but the lottery of traditional publishing was no more certain. Since then, my views on business have matured. I understand the value of middlemen. In an ideal world they would deal with business and I would do nothing but write. That is the dream.

But now we are here. It is happening at last.

I'm tempted to write an essay on why I'm convinced of this but I don't want to bore you. I'm right or I'm wrong. We'll see.

I admire those who forge the future. We walk in their shadow and they inspire me to act. Among the most imaginative of people, it's funny how writers have allowed themselves to be led and corralled through the ages. The downside of taking control is that, if I'm unsuccessful, it is my own fault. I am terrified, I am thrilled and I am motivated. Living for up to 7 months out of 12 in a tiny tent in the mountains and the rest with family and friends, I have given up everything to make a career out of writing
And now I'm ready.
Supported by those family and friends, I will run with my conviction. The first four parts of Dreamwords are complete: Tom Corven followed by The Journal I, II & III.
Like Tom Corven, The Journal will be presented directly to the public. The challenge will be to do so and remain solvent. It appears that people like my work, but that means nothing if I can no longer write because I am starving.

I have a plan.

Tom Corven

Things have come full circle.

I write this from my tent outside the remote cottage on Arran that was the inspiration for Creggan in Tom Corven. As the rain pounds the tent, I am making a few final changes to that manuscript.

That might seem strange given that I completed the podcast at the end of 2005 - particularly so as I have already written the third draft of its successor in the Dreamwords series. I have tried to write the second book such that it can be read without first reading TC. However, it is still a fact that the series starts with that first novel and it makes sense to promote it before I launch Dreamwords.
Thankfully, I have the funds I need to make a real go of this, the bulk of it coming from family. Even so, I will only have one shot and to make sure I do not fritter it away, I continue to live my itinerant lifestyle.
With that one shot, I have to work smart and I have to use every penny I have without fear of the consequences of failure.
The second book in the Dreamwords series is an ambitious novel. At three times the size of TC, it will be expensive to print. For this reason and others, I have decided to run with the first in the series but only if I can prove to myself that it works as a printed book and not just as a podcast.

To that end, I recently hired a professional editor through the Cornerstones agency. I now have that report and I'm encouraged to move on to the next stage. After this final edit, I will print a small quantity (20) of the revised novel and distribute them to a semi-random selection of book-reading strangers. I will ask a simple, two-part question: Did you enjoy the novel and would you want to read the next in the series if it was on sale?

If I get a positive response, I will start running with the project and take it to the next level. With luck, the edit should be complete in a few weeks and I expect the mini-distribution and feedback exercise to take another four. So - I should know in approximately two months time whether my inclination to run with Tom Corven is sound.
I am so excited, it is sometimes difficult to concentrate on the steady work required to complete this edit. After all this time, I just want to do it. Get out there and make it happen. But I must be patient. I must not blunder ahead without planning. I have one shot and I must make it count.

An Adriatic Retreat

A few weeks ago, as I was trying to repair my tent for another three months in the wilds on Arran, I got mail from a friend in Croatia. I was invited to house-sit at a beautiful location on the Island of Brac. I've done this before and, much as I'd steeled myself for the adventure ahead, writing has to come first.

The fact that it is gorgeous here, comfortable and is within hailing distance of good friends, has nothing to do with my decision to jump tent.

So, I sit here looking over a secluded forest and down to the sea. The work is flowing well. Yesterday, I cut 60K words from Dreamwords. That is the size of a small novel. For some time now, I've been worried that the book is too long. It's a fine balance. Until now, I could not see how to make the story flow and still be tight. I'd finished it and yet was unhappy about that one aspect. Surely it could be tighter without losing the texture and depth that shape the characters that drive it all. At last, I realised that I could cut a whole element of the storyline, complete with the characters populating it. By giving some of the tasks and plot-points to existing players, they are enriched and the overall sense of their world is unaffected.

Thus, I find myself revisiting the whole shape of the book, wielding the delete key with utter ruthlessness no matter how it offends my sensibilities. I will need to write a little more and pay close attention to filling in the gaps that are sure to appear, but, I am certain that, in performing such a drastic surgery, I am making less become much, much more.

To work...

2009

I have been living this adventure for so long now that it sometimes seems I am destined to do so until I die. With so many people in this world struggling against poverty and ill-health, I consider myself lucky. In many ways, my fate - homeless penury - is the nightmare that haunts millions of hard-working people around the planet. Perhaps the reason that I do not feel disadvantaged is because I chose this life as a strategy and not as a last resort. Sure, it's tough, but I do have a focus and a reason to continue working. The freedom to follow our dreams is worth any uncertainty and the occasional bout of discomfort. Indeed, in denying myself the luxury of a home and easy communion with family and friends, the simplest of pleasures become rich with an intensity that is often masked by our comfortable existence.
However, for all my freedom to work, the constant motion of my life makes writing a never-ending challenge. The hundreds of beds, floors, sofas and wild camping spots do not lend themselves to routine. When you are trying to keep warm, when your tent is shredded in the maw of a storm, it is hard to maintain the flow that all writers need.
With that in mind, I have set myself the challenge of making 2009 the year I set this adventure on a new course. Ideally, I would like a publishing deal so that I can concentrate on writing. However, living and working from a tent, it is difficult to follow submission guidelines and so my emails are often ignored. No one has read Dreamwords yet. Frustrating as this is, I do not blame anyone. No one asked me to write. No one asked me to risk my life as I have. No one owes me a living.
But, for all the disadvantages, every challenge is matched by an advantage. Over the last six months, I have captured my struggle on film. I am told that the result is very watchable and that the imagery is - at times - beautiful.
In the coming months, I will lay the ground for a unique experiment in publishing (an idea that I will hold tight, for now). As I do, I will film my efforts in the hope that people will enjoy sharing the journey as I have lived it. An initial approach to TV people is encouraging. Perhaps I will attract a producer. Perhaps not. Either way, I will get it out there.
Here's to 2009 and the birth of Dreamwords.

To Our Shared Future

To everyone I know and to those I don't, I wish you all that you wish for yourself in the coming year and beyond. Above all, I pray that you enjoy what you already have and share it gladly with those you love.

I will post an entry soon, explaining what I'm up to and what I plan for 2009.

Work vs Survival

After a couple of disasters over the summer, I am now testing a new strategy for living and working in the hills. I am in a mountain bothy on the shores of Loch Lomond where, fortunately, I can tap into a sporadic GPRS and 3G signal to get me on-line. The reason for coming here was to see if I could do without my solar panel for the winter and still remain productive. With two tents gone, I am forced to rely on a tiny shelter that is billed as the 'world's lightest tent' (Terra Nova, Laser Competition). Living and working throughout the winter in such a tent is not realistic and I cannot afford to buy another. Consequently, I intend to stay in mountain bothies, supplemented by the Laser when appropriate. The weight of the tent has been partially replaced by the weight of a real-life paper manuscript. Boy, but paper is heavy and so single-use!
However - so far, so good.
It's too early to tell, but first impressions are that I might be able to make this work. The weather has been stunning during the day, but extremely cold when sitting still, trying to write and edit the mss. During the night, freezing conditions mean that it's difficult to get a full restful and rejuvenating sleep. Thus, I imagine that, as full winter conditions set in, I will find the process particularly challenging. The truth is, that while I am on the adventure of my life, it is difficult to maintain any sort of efficiency as I struggle to keep warm and recover from the constant interruptions that force me to attend to other things (such as surviving). On the upside, being out here constantly puts me in situations where I am uniquely set to experience (and hence film) some of the most incredible scenery in all its guises. Perhaps, after a year of doing this, I will will be able to blow some warmth into my bones and find enough gems in my stash of tapes to produce an interesting film that might help me in some way as an author.
All next week, I will be in civilisation, dog-sitting as my sister and family holiday in Florida. When I get there, I will post some pictures from my stay in Loch Lomond and plan my next extended stay in the wilds. So far, since May this year, I have lived over four months in the mountains and six weeks house-sitting for friends and family throughout the country. One part of me really wants to experience the full force of winter living like this, but I must always look to getting myself into a situation where I can write as efficiently as I can. Somehow, I doubt that being in survival mode for over four months will produce the productivity I seek. Will I have a choice? One thing I've learned since starting this venture is that I never know what's coming round the corner.

And that is really cool.



Edit to Add. the photos from Loch Lomond were corrupted. Since then, I have spent a number of freezing weeks in the beautiful area south of Ullapool in a winter wonderland. The filming is continuing apace and the effort and expense worth all that it has cost me. As is everything I do, this is a long-term project. With luck and enterprise, I hope it will all come together in 2009. My target is to launch at The Edinburgh Festival in August of that year. I will explain more closer to the time.