#0058 Oh Sweet First Draft How Much Have I Missed You.

Welcome back, my fellow travellers. It is a joy to have the pleasure of your company and spending a moment together. I hope your week has gone well and you’ve gotten as much life out of that as possible. 

Please like and subscribe. Then share the Bejesus with anyone you feel would appreciate it. Give your referral this link to my published work. If my story touches your referral, chances are high that they will enjoy the blog. Suppose my account doesn’t handle your referral. They should find another blog to read. 

As always, I welcome all of your comments. They are helping me hone my craft and on the pathway to becoming the best writer I am capable of becoming.

Oh, First Draft How Much I Have Missed You

A new year, a new book. Do you mean you’ve published your last one? No. I realise it is time for me to engage with some professionals to help with this stage of the marketing and promotion strategy I outlined over two years ago. Some of you know because I wrote a personal account of what happened in 2022. Despite that, I still managed to produce a blog of new content Mondays at 07:00 (GMT) with the tomgalewriter website v2 rising from the ashes of website v1. I have begun the process of cataloguing my blogs into different categories. I think there will be no more than eight in total, and I hope to make navigating and finding myself a breeze in the next few months. I am resolute that I first want to pursue the traditional method of publishing books. Should self-publication be held in reserve before I begin banging my head against brick walls, and the medics were too slow to get the straightjacket around me and get me to the padded ones? 

I’m Brimming Over With New Ideas I’m Excited About

I am brimming with new ideas to engage you in this adventure I lead you all on. I had two significant ‘Eureka’ moments this week. Who knows where I will end up now that I believe in myself? And The realisation that I am not the same as I was even a year ago, and this latest iteration of me is more vital than any of the ones that preceded it. I never missed a deadline in 2022, and that was me warming up. This year I will shine a light on others who have lifted and inspired me. Are whose books have had a strong effect upon me. I will also introduce you to some very gifted and talented people with whom I have already crossed paths. Artists and designers. Showcasing their work because I think they are so freaking talented but don’t yet believe it—a bit of paying it forward, as it were. 

The Sweet Feeling Of Beginning A New First Draft

And as if that wasn’t enough exciting stuff to get your head around, I’ve started the first draft of a new book that I am so excited about. I have in the past described myself as a pantster. This feels like a confining and little explanation of who I am as a writer. True, it wasn’t until this week that I wrote the first word of the first draft of this new project. Before that, I had been busy doing hours of research. I was developing character sheets for several of the leading players. Then I think a bolt of lightning may have coursed through me as I wrote the structure of this piece would have a traditional ‘Beginning, middle and end’ of the majority of books. However, The beginning of the book is the middle of the story. The book’s centre will then contain pieces of both the beginning and end of the story. The end will be in the present. In a gripping and nailbiting finale, the strands that may have resembled the loose ropes on the back of an eighteen-wheel truck steaming down the motorway are skillfully secured to the sprawling narrative, leaving your reader speechless and nervous in bits. 

I have written around 5,000 words describing my characters and the world where I will watch them grow over the decades. I have also done about twenty hours of research online and in libraries and private collections that will guide me as I build and immerse myself in this world so foreign to my own experience. 

This was my first experience editing and rewriting my first WIP. I had almost forgotten how sweet and reassuring it is to begin the first draft of my next book. Well, that’s it for another week. Remember to hit the like button and subscribe straight for future posts to go straight into your inbox for future publications. I want to push myself and have given myself a mammoth task. There were moments of pantsing, but only after many hours of carefully outlining the narrative of each chapter. Identify the threads that I will attempt to weave intricately so that, quite frankly, I have no friggin idea of what it will be or look like. My theory is that if I can succeed in surprising myself, how much more thrill will this give me? 

There are significant differences between this first draft and the last. Well, I’m a published author, first of all. See the link below for more details. I have a team of beta readers whom I owe so much. They help me to keep my goal in front of my eyes at all times. I don’t want to be a good writer. I want to be the best damn writer I can be. This book will most probably take me all year to get to the stage of my memoir now. But by that time, I will have another team around me: an agent, an editor and a publisher. 

I Am Stating In Ten Years, The World Will Know My Name

In ten years from now, I will have published close to twenty books, I predict, and my name will be known all over the globe. I am waiting to see what Tom Gale will bring out next. A hunk of that work will be a hugely popular series which may or may not bring financial success. I’ve never been it for the money from the get-go.  I will, however, be in a place where I will never have to worry about how to feed, house and clothe myself ever, where I will be seen when I need to get something moving as quickly as possible. The rest of my time spent is in privacy, surrounded by those who love me most in the world and without their tireless efforts behind the scenes, I owe my career and life to will live and love without friends and family laughing, being silly, pottering and entertaining until the time comes once more for to write the first word of the first draft of my next book.  Oh, and I almost forgot to mention I also have a short story, a novella and over 50, 500 word Flash Fiction stories that I plan to submit to various competitions. I’ve begun a new file titled ‘rejections’ I smile as it grows as I believe that each is just a stepping stone that will eventually lead me to where my career will take off. 

I Do It All For You, My Readers and Followers

One more thought for you all I have recently come to a greater understanding that whilst storytelling is an art. Selling books is a science. As my life experience has afforded me a foot in each of those worlds, I think this gives me an edge over many others. So social media, you have been on the steepest of learning curves, but I think I’m on the verge of you and I reaching understanding and respect for one another. A community of writers are forming bonds to strengthen and build each other. We want the world to have more writers. More incredible adventures of the mind, body and spirit to thrill and lift their readers out of their usual world to where even for the briefest of moments, they are transported to places they never dreamt possible, where they feel things that may shock, thrill, scare, where their imagination is given a wonderful space in which they generate hope and move into a tomorrow knowing that today was slightly less shitty than the day before. We writers do that for them. They, in return, provide comments and feedback that make us better writers.  So when our minds and should are screaming as once more we put ourselves through the agony and ecstasy of being a writer. 

Leave a comment by hitting the “comments” button, and leave your feedback which I value greatly. 

Click the links below for my social media sites, website and published work. 

 Twitter

Facebook

Website

Published work

 

#0049 A List of the Books I Have Read This Past Year

Welcome back, my fellow travellers. It is a joy to have the pleasure of your company and spending a moment together. I hope your week has gone well and you’ve gotten as much life out of that as possible. 

Please like and subscribe. Then share the Bejesus with anyone you feel would appreciate it. Give your referral this link to my published work. If my story touches your referral, chances are high that they will enjoy the blog. Suppose my account doesn’t handle your referral. They should find another blog to read. 

As always, I welcome all of your comments. They are helping me hone my craft and on the pathway to becoming the best writer I am capable of becoming.

When I began writing full-time about two and a half years ago, one of the first books I read was “On Writing” by Stephen King. It is part memoir and part ‘here’s how to do stuff’ book. One of the things that struck me was his insistence that to become a good writer; you have to do two things. One is to write. Then I learned that writing is much more than just putting words onto the page or screen. I won’t go into it, but if you are a beginner writer looking for a good book about how to write. I can’t recommend it enough. The other thing that you must do is read. Purists will say that you have to read a ‘proper’ book. Stephen disagrees, and I share his opinion. There are many ways to read these days. Both in ‘proper’ book form and other media. Such as e-books and audiobooks.

I don’t think that there is anything to be gained by informing you what media the books I’ve read are in. However, when it comes to audiobooks, I realised there was a lot of empty air if you only played at the speed it recorded. x 1.0, in other words. Whereas if you increase the speed to x 1.5 or even more. I’ve found that my ear can tolerate a rate of x 1.8, which means that you will get through an audiobook in almost half the time it would take to read in the usual manner.

List of Books Read in 2022

Author Book
Surname First Name Title
Albom Mitch Tuesdays With Morrie
Angelou Maya I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Boghossian Peter How To Have Impossible Conversations
Bryson Bill The Body
Bryson Bill A Short History of Nearly Everything
Chomsky Noam The Essential Chomsky
Clear James Atomic Habits
Coben Harlan Deal Breaker
Coben Harlan Tell No One
Corey James S A Leviathan Wakes
Dawkins Richard The Selfish Gene
Doyle Andrew Free Speech
Fry Stephen Mythos
Fry Stephen Heroes
Gladwell Malcolm Talking To Strangers
Govan Russell Bank On Nothing
Haidt Jonathan The Righteous Mind
Haidt Jonathan The Coddling of the American Mind
Iannucci Armando Pandemonium
Jordan Robert A Crown of Swords book seven in the Wheel Of Time
Jordan Robert Lord Of Chaos book six in the Wheel of Time
Jordan Robert The Shadow Rising book four in the Wheel of Time
Karr Mary The Art of Memoir
Karr Mary The Liars Club
Kay Adam This Is Going To Hurt
Kidd Sue Monk The Secret Life of Bees
King Stephen On Writing
Kondo Marie The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Lamott Anne Bird By Bird
Logan Kirsty Things We Say In The Dark
Maksimovich Jennifer Two Shadows. A Ghost Story based upon real events
Manson Mark Everything Is F*cked
Manson Mark The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck
Martin George R R A Game Of Thrones
Maupin Armistead The Days of Anna Madrigal
McGrath Titania Woke
Murray Douglas The Strange Death of Europe
Murray Douglas The Madness of Crowds
Niven Govinden This Brutal House
Norton Graham Holding
Peterson Jordan B Maps of Meaning
Peterson Jordan B 12 Rules For Life
Pinker Steven The Blank Slate
Redek Amy What Happens At Night
Sagan Carl Cosmos
Sedaris David Me Talk Pretty One Day
Shapiro Dani Slow Motion
Shrier Abigail Irriversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters
Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr The Gulag Archepelego
Starkey David Monarchy
Stuart Douglas Shuggie Bain
Welsh Irvine Trainspotting
Walker Matthew Why We Sleep

Using apps allows me to carry a whole library of books wherever I go. Helpful when going on holiday. You are not taking up vital space in your luggage for reading material. It is also beneficial if I chat with someone about a book and they express an interest in it. I can send them a copy and share mine with them. It doesn’t cost them or me anything extra. As you know, a book habit can get costly if you’re not careful.

I will only tell you the author of the book and the title. I’m not sharing feedback on the books. However, I may do it at a later date. The list is quite long, and the author and title are enough.

Another thing that I have found extremely useful is learning how to read speedily. Most of us read at a rate of around 190 words per minute. Using a combination of apps and webinars, I have increased my speed to about 260 wpm. Don’t you think that’s possible? Try it and find out for yourself. Please don’t take just my word for it.

I will put the list in alphabetical order of the author’s surname. So if you have a favourite author in mind and want to know if I’ve read them, you can scan through the list quickly, which gives it some structure and makes sense to me. Other opinions and methodologies are available.

Suppose mine disagrees with you. Leave me a comment, and I will do my best to find another solution for you. Would a recording of the list be helpful, for example? Should I be thinking about more significant font types? What about other languages? Do let me know. I welcome all of your feedback and comments.

 

So there we go, a list of the books I read last year. As you can tell, I read a wide range of genres and a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Which I believe was something else Stephen King encouraged. I do read everywhere I go. That’s another benefit of having different media to choose from you. I can pick the press to suit the environment that I am in. I squeeze in a few minutes while waiting to have my groceries checked out. Or any other queue situation I find myself in. Doctor, dentist, pharmacy, customer service call on hold, and so forth. I can read in the car and my reading corner at home. I would instead read than watch something. When I want to watch something, I use a reward system—20 mins for each goal or sub-goal I achieve in a day. So for an hour of viewing. I would need to complete a minimum of three goals. I mark it off on a little chart on my fridge door. Seeing lots of ticks on the sheet as the weeks and months pass is very satisfying.

Has anyone else compiled a list of books they have read in the past year that you would like to share? Do you have any recommendations that are not your own? What reading habits have you taught yourself? Please let me know by liking and leaving a comment.

Well, that’s it for another week. Remember to hit the like button and subscribe to your inbox for future publications. 

Leave a comment by hitting the “comments” button, and leave your feedback which I value greatly. 

Click the links below for my social media sites, website and published work. 

 Twitter

Facebook

Website

Published work