Category: Musings

This reading is for the week ahead. However, if you’ve found this today and resonate with it, then it is meant for you, today.

Sorry about the faint ‘chirping bird’ on the audio; it’s my smoke alarm, telling me it needs a replacement battery! I shall do that today, of course. But first, I wanted to get this post out for the upcoming week. (Gotta get my priorities right!)

Please scroll down for images of the three cards. The transcript is below the audio player.

AUDIO:

TRANSCRIPT:

So, this is a reading for the week ahead, and I’m just shuffling the cards.

I’m using the deck called, A Bridge Between Worlds, and I’m going to choose three cards.

---

The first card, I thought, would be about where the current energies are.

The second card, the coming energies for the week ahead; what’s coming in.

The third card, I thought, would be, ‘What do I need to know? What do I need to most know or remember?

---

So let’s choose the first, at random, just take a card out of the deck – that one. Then, I’ll just choose a second, at random, and a third. And I’m just choosing very quickly.

The First Card:

Okay, so the first card, this is current energies.

Before I say anything about the card – although I’m intending this is for the week ahead, I’m also intending that it’s a reading for anybody who comes across this at a later date. So, if someone is surfing online and they find this reading, and it resonates with them, then it’s meant for them, at that time.

The first card is called . . . (?!) Now, I can’t remember what I called this one (Afraid To Look Deeper). All of these cards are relatively newly made. I made 200 of them in quick succession, so I’m not familiar with most of them.

But I named them all, intuitively, I immediately named them, as I completed them. And although I can’t remember the name of this, I’m just going to say what it appears to be saying to me.

There’s a woman who is hiding her face. She seems as though she might be either in sorrow, or she’s just taking herself away, quietly, to – it’s almost like she’s hiding away, or she can’t deal with what’s out there, what’s outside, what’s going on.

She doesn’t want to look at it. And even, what looks like an angel, on the right-hand side, is hiding her face.

So perhaps the angel, or Guardian Angel, is suggesting we don’t have to look at, or focus upon, what we find distressing. (Unless we can help in some way?) But, if we can’t help on a physical level, we can at least pray for, or envision, a beneficial outcome.

So, it’s (about) not wanting to look at something in particular, or just what’s going on in the world in general – and yeah, that’s understandable.

Then, there’s another face, of a girl, who is behind the naked woman, and she looks as though she’s thinking about something. Her mind is thinking about something, she’s probably deep in thought, she’s mulling things over.

---

(I’m amused that I said, ‘Her mind is thinking about something,’ because sometimes, it’s as though our mind takes over and runs away with us. As though we have no control of our own mind. And it takes practice to quiet our mind, or quickly nip in the bud those negative or troubling thoughts.)

Then there is the face of the man – part of his face is revealed, to see his insides. So, he is revealing what’s inside of him. Even he – they’re all looking ahead. He looks as though he is thinking, he looks as though he’s thinking about something too.

So it’s (about) what’s going on in the mind, and not wanting to see what’s going on in the outside world.

And that certainly mirrors what I was saying previously (in another blog post), about wanting to know, wanting to be informed as to what’s happening in the world. But in another way, really, not wanting to see all this bad news, disasters, and things that make us feel uncomfortable. (Or fearful, or despairing!)

Okay, so the only other thing, that I think is worth noting, is the lion.

And the lion always makes me think of strength and courage, and self-sovereignty. And, for me, Leadership . . . (yes) it reminds me of leadership, also.

So this is about what’s currently going on, that first card.

The Second Card:

The second card is . . . okay.

I think I may have called this something to do with The Ancestors, I’m not sure. (The card is called, Connecting with the Ancestors.) Obviously, when I post the cards on the blog, I’ll put the names up there.

This shows people from the past.

Possibly, the image of the Native American, he could be ‘in Spirit,’ because he is all in white. (Shining with a Heavenly Light!)

There are a couple of people playing instruments. So, they’re making music.

Then, there is an eagle who is being nourished, by somebody.

Now that immediately makes me think of the Perspective of Eagle, which is where you look at the Big Picture. You rise above the minutia, you rise above your own life, even, and see the bigger picture of what’s happening as a whole, in the world, or on the Earth. Seeing your issue, your problem, from a different perspective, a higher perspective.

And sometimes, seeing yourself as that little ‘speck,’ in the entirety of the Earth, can sometimes help, and put whatever it is that you are worried about, or dealing with, into perspective.

And to realise that it’s actually a small thing, in comparison to the largeness of the Earth, the Universe, and . . . all of the beauty, really, of the planet. And sometimes, it does put it into perspective (or proportion) to take that view. Sometimes, it helps.

---

So the second card, the coming energies next week.

The little girl is lightly – almost dancing, almost skipping along.

So she has a playful energy about her, a light-hearted energy. Maybe, both that (playful) energy and the energy of taking the higher perspective, is the way to go.

Also, these people who are ‘playing their instruments,’ perhaps it’s about playing your own tune. They both seem – certainly the chap in the centre there – seems to be very much concerned with his own instrument, his own music, his own . . . yeah, making his own music.

So, perhaps, again, it is about just getting on with your own stuff. And, not worrying about things that you can’t control.

But there are things you can control. You can – play, your own instrument, play your own music, make your own song. And that is within your power.

The Native American, the Spirit (Being), I think this (card) was something to do with ancestors. He seems quite . . .  wise. Calm. Someone to be relied on (trusted). Almost like that feeling – the (sense of) All Is Well. All is Well.

You know, ‘We’ve got this!’

You may not know why all these things are happening. But those who are in Spirit, those who are in that place (or plane of existence) know the reasons for whatever is going on, and how it’s going to – how it’s playing out, why it’s playing out.

To me, this about just trusting.

‘Don’t panic, Mr Mannering!’

Just trust that it’s playing out as it should. I get the feeling it’s playing out as it should. And we don’t know why. And we can see things that we think are going completely wrong and people are suffering, and we don’t know why that is (at least, in the grand scheme of things, even if we think we know, on a practical and ‘obvious’ level.)

We can’t see the Big Picture. As, I say, we need to nourish that Eagle and try and see the bigger picture, the higher perspective – or just trust that there is one.

And try and be as Light as we can be.

Then, in the background, there’s the dark night sky, with the stars, representing the bigger universe, the Beyond-Beyond. The things we know exist, but we don’t know all the answers, and we can just really deal with whatever we’re dealing with in this moment, now, in our own lives, in our own (immediate) world. And have faith that all will work out.

The Third Card:

The third one is just a reminder: What (do) I need to most know or remember?

Let’s have a look. Now, this one. It’s showing a Wild Woman.

And, she looks like she’s in a place of surrender. A place of giving up, opening to perhaps a ‘higher power,’ or a place of trust. A place of, as I say, letting go, release, surrender. ‘What will be will be.’ ‘What is, is. It is what it is.’ And, yeah, Trust and Surrender.

And there’s the little girl there, who is just standing very still, and looking, almost looking out to us. In a place of trust – perhaps vulnerability – but hoping that, whoever is responsible for her, looking after her is looking after her, is caring for her, is going to keep her safe!

And, the Goddess figure, who I think I named, Lilith, in another card, another kind of Wild Woman: strong; independent; capable; equal; balanced; powerful.

And again, the self-sovereignty; not being bullied by anybody, not being forced to do anything she doesn’t want to do. In her own power, in her own strength, and her own authenticity.

As I say, every time there is a naked being in one of my cards, I see it as a reminder of our real self, our true self, and our authenticity.

And then there is a woman there who is sleeping. I might have called this (card) something like, Wild Woman Awakening. I’ll be interested to see, myself, what I called it! See whether it bears any resemblance to what I’m describing here. (Almost! ‘Wild Woman Awakens.’)

But, as with all the cards, they don’t have just one meaning. I may have named them, but whatever I named them can have several meanings.

And certainly, the images within each card can have different meanings, depending on the question, depending on the time. Depending on what’s happening. Depending on where you are, or what’s happening in the world.

And there are things that you might see, that you haven’t seen before, that are significant and that you can read, in terms of whatever the metaphor, or symbolism is.

---

So, what do we need to remember?

We need to remember our own power. But also, we need to trust, and we need to surrender to whatever is going on, and not necessarily fight against it, but flow with it.

There is a lot we can do. Because we have that personal power. We have choice. We can choose our perspective – and that is very powerful. A perspective that makes us feel stronger, safer, hopeful, positive.

And, perhaps the sleeping woman is also just reminding us to rest and take time, to recuperate, recharge, maybe review where we are.

And yeah, Trust is a big one, with the little girl there; trusting that those ‘in charge’ know what they’re doing (!) and have her best interests at heart.

And, in the other card, with the (Native American) spirit with his spear, and drum and feathers, knowing more than we know about what’s going on.

And the little girl, who is stepping lightly, and skipping her way through her life. Perhaps oblivious of much of what’s going on. And, the better for it, really. Because, what good would it do, if she knew?

(Because, her knowing, her being aware, of all the doom and gloom – that is not in her control – might crush her joy. Might crush her light and playful spirit. And for what purpose would that be? For what useful or beneficial purpose?)

---

So, I hope that’s resonated on some level!

And I think I’m going to leave that there for now. If I think of anything else, if anything else occurs to me, I’ll add it at the end of the blog post (or within it!)

Okay, that’s today’s (this week’s) reading. Righty ho!

Wishing you a Beautiful Week.

A three-card reading.

In Audio 1, it takes me a little while to get in the swing of things, but by Audio 2, I’m more ‘in stride’.

I originally posted this at the bottom of the previous post but it was a bit lost there! So I’ve created a new post here.

AUDIO for Card One:

AUDIO Card Two:

AUDIO Card Three:

Final Note: I had drawn the ‘Waiting for Love’ card before, and featured it in a previous post. Go here to see that post:

Have a great week!

I did an audio reading for The Week Ahead. Then I started having second thoughts about posting it.

This first audio (below) is me wondering about committing to weekly readings – and asking the cards for clarity as to whether I should.

For the reading about The Week Ahead, and the 3 cards I drew for this week, click here.

This blog post is probably way too long. So feel free to scroll and skip as it suits you!

AUDIO:

TRANSCRIPT:

So, I’ve just . . . today, I did a reading for the upcoming week, the Energies of the Week. And now, I’m thinking:

Ooh . . . if I do that, I’ll have to do one every week. And I’m not sure that I’m ready to commit to that.

I thought I’d shuffle (the oracle card deck) and ask the question, ‘Am I ready? Is this a good time to do that?’

I’ve shuffled, and a card has fallen out. It’s the one where people are asleep and dreaming, and there’s a big giant, with a playful angel on his head. But his arms are tied behind his back – with garlands of flowers – but still, he is bound.

He doesn’t seem as though he’s in any pain, and the little cherub is certainly having fun(!) riding on top of his head, and holding, loosely, the garland of flowers.

But even so, it still speaks to me of the commitment and the feeling of duty, that once you start a weekly reading you have to do it, literally, every single week. And you have to do it on a certain day. And you really have to post it on Saturday, Sunday at the latest, given the time differences around the world. And . . . in Australia . . . they are many hours ahead (of the UK).

This card shows other people sleeping, dreaming. Some with smiles on their faces. There is a woman who is kind of ‘floating above,’ with her eyes open.

Then there’s a witch-figure. She’s with a woman who is holding her clothes to her. She’s taken off her dress, or is taking off her dress, and looking quite shamed, quite ashamed to be showing her nakedness.

So this is probably partly what it is . . . it’s (about) feeling I’m revealing aspects of myself and – as I was listening back to the recordings that I’ve made, on the readings of the cards, I was feeling:

‘Ooh, I don’t like that, I don’t like this, and I could have done that better, and there are lots of ums and ahs in there’.

All kinds of criticisms of the recording, and myself, and how I was doing the reading, and could I be more concise. And on and on and on.

So, what would the message of this card be telling me?

That I would feel bound? (That) I would feel . . . I would feel bound.

And, I need to be joyful in this.

***

So, let me choose another card and see what comes up, for clarification. Another card, for clarification.

I mean, it doesn’t mean I won’t do weekly readings. It just means, perhaps, not just yet.

If I start with the monthly readings, card readings, and then just do other readings as-and-when, and other different kinds of posts as-and-when.

Okay, so what’s this one?

Ah, this is a goddess one.

There’s a little boy. He seems to be hugging himself (comforting himself?) He’s got his head down. There’s what looks like a crown on his head, and a massive jewel at his crown chakra.

There are goddess images here. And there is a little girl, who is gazing at a stone, and almost as though she’s communicating with the stone, and getting messages from the stone – which is possible.

You can get messages from anything, and insights. And work with the imagery and metaphor, as you look at anything.

So, what can this so-called card of clarification(!) be telling me?

***

A crow caws in the background, as if to say, ‘It’s obvious’!

And as I listened to the audio later, it did seem so clear:

Being ‘bound,’ or committed, can be fun. And I am always free. The choice is always mine.

There’s a figure there, who . . . it’s like – she’s like a network. She’s made up of a network, or a weaving, an inter-weaving of . . . parts. Maybe . . . that reminds me of SoulCollage®, really.

Yeah. It’s not really meaning much to me.

So, let me do ‘I Am One . . .’ which is a SoulCollage® process.

So, start with this one (the giant).

“I am one who is bound with garlands of roses.

I am one who could break free of my bonds, as I am strong. And yet, I allow the playful cherub to have fun, to play . . . and she delights in the game, in the game of pretend.

For I am not truly bound. I can free myself, at any time.

I close my eyes and go within. I close my eyes and allow myself to dream. Allow myself to imagine.

And let’s do the woman, sort of floating above:

I am one, looking down from above, seeing those who are asleep, deep in sleep. And I can tell by the smile on the face of one, that her dream is enjoyable.

We are the birds that fly. We are the cooing pigeons, who soar, in the blue sky. Free. We are free.

And I am the shadowy-witch, revealing you in your nakedness.

Revealing you to all.

You cannot hide, for you are naked. You cannot hide. You are seen.

And we are the blooming flowers, in the cloudless sky. The flowers opening up to the sun, blooming in all our glory.

Yeah. Well, what’s this one?

I am the goddess, with my arms raised in gesture of love, forming a heart shape.

I am ancient.

I am old as the stone.

As old as the Earth.

And I am one who turns, I am one who spirals, who dances, who turns in time and space.

I am the Little One, who covers my heart and bows my head, so I cannot be seen, and cannot see.

And yet, I wear a crown, to show my sovereignty, and my strength and power.

I am the one who speaks to the stones, who gains the messages and hears the silent words. The silent messages.

I am the one who is woven intricately. And I am the one you can see through.

***

And that’s probably it.

So I’m going to listen back to that. Don’t know whether it will help me at all. But, it’s a thought. Okay.

***

It did help me. And I’ve also posted the reading with the three cards, for the Energies of the Week Ahead.

By the way, if you come across any of the video readings at a later day/date in time, just know, the reading may well be relevant to where you are right now – and that is possibly why you have found it, now.

So, I hope this reading for the week ahead is insightful for you, today, or another day!

***

As to when I might commit to a weekly reading, well, maybe as soon as next week! After all, if I adopt the cherub’s attitude to it all, it could be fun!

And, as the giant, bound with garlands of (blooming) roses, says:

I am not truly bound. I can free myself, at any time.

One thing I do know. When I commit to anything, I commit fully and joyfully. Enjoyment is vital, in everything I choose to create.

ONE:

ELIZABETH GILBERT: Writing is not like dancing or modelling. It’s not something where, if you missed it by age 19, you’re finished. It’s never too late. Your writing will only get better as you get older and wiser. If you write something beautiful and important, and the right person somehow discovers it, they will clear room for you on the bookshelves of the world – at any age. At least try.

TWO:

ANNE RICE: If you want to be a writer, write. Write and write and write. If you stop, start again. Save everything that you write. If you feel blocked, write through it, until you feel your creative juices flowing again. Write. Writing is what makes a writer, nothing more and nothing less.

And one last one:

Write. Just Write.

Please listen to the audio below – this tells you exactly where I am at, in my Book One project.

I junked a long blog post (that had taken me days to write) and replaced it with this more open and real update.

Much Love to you!

I’ve added the transcription to the audio below. However, if you listen, rather than read, you will get the full experience.  You’ll hear my laugh, verging on hysteria, until (at the end) I calm myself down and try to look on the bright side (positive-optimistic-person that I try to be) ;-)

Transcription of Audio: 

Hello there, it’s Claire Gillen, I’m not sure whether I’m going to send this out as an audio blog post or not.  I’ve come up to my room. I have all my earliest diaries, spread out in front of me on the floor.  I’ve been trying to put them into date order and I realise what a huge task it is, the idea that I had, to somehow document my whole life via my diaries. 

My main task is obviously to get the first book out and it was going to be, what I thought was a Fast and Easy book.  And (that Fast and Easy book) would be, perhaps my very earliest diary, just transcribed with my comments alongside.  And I’ve done that.  And I’m not happy with it!   I wrote a very long blog post – and I’m not happy with that either . . . and an audio to go with it – and I’m not happy with that either.  So, I’m now a little bit . . . kind of stuck.  That’s exactly where I am at the moment.

(I then had to briefly pause the audio, to gather my thoughts and unstick my brain, in order to continue).

I’ve been thrashing this out with someone who knows me very well and I’ve been trying to explain myself to her.  Basically, I was saying that this whole thing, of putting my diaries into written form and publishing them, has been something that I have wanted to do, all my life, virtually.  

I suppose I (initially) got the idea in the early 80’s or late 70’s – Look! Where are we now?!

And there’s a reason for that, there’s a reason why this idea won’t go away.  I need to get this honest stuff out there.

I do not want to write fiction.  I don’t want to, necessarily this time around, make Fiction out of my diaries and add to them.  I want them as they are.  

But as I say, I’m looking at them here. They’re all over the floor.  I’ve put little post-it notes on every single one with,  dates and months and I’m  . . . I’m boggled.  I’m totally boggled.

So yeah, so that’s my Progress Update at the moment, and I’m sorry it isn’t more positive.  

I wanted the first book to be Fast and Easy, I wanted to get something out there, just to get something published and start the ball rolling really, get the first step on the ladder.

Um . . . but I suppose I’m too much of a blasted perfectionist and I want it to be amazing and I want to be, you know, happy with what I put out.  

I’m too . . . I over-complicate things.  I start with a simple idea then I over-complicate it.  Anyway! Look!  I’m fed up with this (laughter on the verge of hysteria) – I just needed to get this out.  And look, that is where I am at the moment.  

So, Angst-Ridden-Claire . . . 

I will figure it out. I will figure it out.  I’m gonna sleep on this, and I know in the morning, it will be clearer. And I think I will see the way forward.  At the moment, I’m feeling very frustrated and annoyed. But I know, I will see the way forward, after a good night’s sleep.  

So, I’m leaving it there. As I say, this started to be a long written post and a long audio post and this is all it is (now), just an audio post. But anyway, lots of love.  Good Luck! . . . with whatever you’re doing, and I send good luck to myself as well, and I shall pick this up in the morning.  Okay, bye for now.  Bye! 

Please listen to the audio below!

I haven’t transcribed the audio into text, and don’t know when (or if) I will.

More and more, I’m finding blogging is easier to do when I’m chatting into my little mp3 recorder, rather than writing a lengthy blog post. Mainly because I’m such a perfectionist and I read and re-read the post a hundred times, constantly tweaking (for hours or days) which means I don’t have much time for anything else!

So, I’ve made my what-to-write-the-first-book-about decision, within the fortnight deadline I set myself – just.

For my First Book, I’ve decided to go with the Fast and Easy (diary) option (see my last post for full details of all the options I was exploring).

My diaries are already written and there are lots of them. With luck, if you’re working with something you’ve already written, it should be fast and easy to create a book out of it – at least that is the hope!

The audio cuts off in the beginning – or rather I edited out the first bit. I was chatting away, as if to a friend, all free and easy. But when I listened back I thought, “Hang on, maybe I shouldn’t tell the whole world that“.

Not just yet anyway. I’m sure it will appear in one of my books further down the line 🙂

Happy Writing!

(Read this post or listen to the audio below!)

How do you decide what your first book will be?  Whether it’s non-fiction or fiction and whatever the genre, I believe the first book is one of these three types:

1. a Small Book

2. a Big Book

3. a Fast and Easy Book

Maybe you’ve already decided on what your first book will be – three cheers for you!  I thought I had decided too, several times.  I had chosen a topic and started to work diligently, writing every day and loving every moment.

That is until I started doubting myself and my writing.  Several times – after years of work, I stopped writing my book and began another book, another story. Oh yes, that first story was a great idea, I said, but this one, now this is really it.

Another year or two, and the same thing happened.  I lost heart, lost faith, lost trust in myself and the story I was writing.  I thought I could improve my book, perhaps by adding another twist, another slant to it.  How about if I tell the story from this person’s perspective?  How about if I have these two main characters.  Oh, but shouldn’t I have just one main protagonist?  So if there are two main characters, is my hero Jane or John?  Or maybe I should write it this way instead?

To cut a long story short, from 2014 to late 2018, I started six Big Books and eight Little Books.  You may think that’s not too long a time to be working on writing books. Yet I’ve wanted to make my living writing for longer than that.

I think if I pick up any one of my diaries I will find a reference to wanting to be a writer. I chose a diary at random today. It was in 1982 and I managed to get a chance to do some copywriting for an advertising agency. I’d written letters to every ad agency I could find. One agency responded and gave me a chance.

I thought I did a good job but it wasn’t good enough. They didn’t take me on. Probably just as well, as I don’t think I was cut out to be a copywriter.

Instead, I continued to write in my journals. I dreamed of turning my journals into stories but never did.

Around 2014 I bought Scrivener.  Scrivener is a super-duper tool for organising your thoughts, and preparing your manuscript for publication.  I was excited.  Real authors were using Scrivener and now, so was I.  I loved it and I loved writing each book I began (and didn’t finish). 

The big books I wrote were all going to be a series, in at least three parts.  The little books were short stories or ideas for future big books.  Five years later of playing with wonderful Scrivener and having fun ‘Writing my first book’, I lost heart and literally lost the plot.  I was getting nowhere. Not in terms of finishing and publishing my first book anyway. I wanted to give up but somehow I couldn’t.

Now one thing I know is that you have to keep going at a project to succeed in it – and I did keep going. Because I don’t know many people who would plug away at something for five, twenty or forty years.  Yes, friends, 1982 was nearly forty years ago.

Yet I know, that no matter how much effort you put into something and how much time and energy you spend, once you stop (let’s say for more than a month), then all that previous effort is worth naught.  If you don’t consistently tend to and nurture your project, then it all goes to pot.  Or rather, the pot goes off the boil.

My problem is I have spent years writing big books and years writing little books but I have finished none of them.  How the hell, I wondered, (fretted) am I going to finish and publish that first blasted book?

I wanted to get something published and I wanted to do it fast.  Oh yes, and it must be easy, or as easy as possible.  After mulling this over for a while I had an idea.  One way, would be to write a book that is fast and easy to write.

How?  A bit more pondering and this is what I came up with:

Idea number one:

Choose for the first book something that is already written.  All that would need to be done would be to edit, rewrite or expand upon it.  

For me, this could be my journals. For you, it might be poems that could be gathered together – poems you’ve written over many years perhaps. Or that time you wrote poetry when you were in love.   Maybe there is a great blog post, or an article or essay that could be expanded upon?

Idea number two: 

Choose an activity you already love to do and document it.  Something easy and enjoyable.  Blog about it and then turn the blog posts into a book.  

I liked the idea of blogging about my allotment garden.  That way I could feed two birds with one bit of bread: 

1. Feel okay about spending time getting the work done at my allotment and not feel guilty that I was gardening instead of writing, as it’s all part of the same project.  

2. This idea would mean having a topic to blog about and a topic to create a book around.  I am still exploring this idea.  It’s not a new idea.  I just need to feel really enthusiastic about how it might work.  Because in some ways it feels like I’m following my habitual pattern of starting another new First Book again. Again.

Of course, this blog is about the dilemma of getting from draft manuscript to published manuscript – and that could be a book in itself – perhaps with entries taken directly from my journals, illustrating the angst of the writing and publishing journey – and hopefully the joys!

Idea number three:

Choose something short.  Hopefully, a short book is easier and faster to write (but I suspect this isn’t always true).  

The shortest book I’ve come across was only about twenty pages and happened to be a book of poetry. Another book I read was more like a long chapter.  

If you price your book as low as you can go, letting the reader know that it is a short book, then all should be fine.  

I’m not too concerned with selling lots of copies at this stage.  Whilst it would be wonderful for your short (first) book to go viral, as many lengthy blog posts have done, the main aim in my mind is to break that publishing duck.  

That duck is ‘finishing and publishing my first book’.  Getting that first book out is the aim.  Equally, I don’t want to throw any old thing out there, I want to publish a book I’m proud of.  If I’m getting real with myself though, I don’t expect the first book to be a bestseller.  

That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love it if it was!

Idea number four: 

Choose to go incognito.  Fear not – use a pen name.  

Fear stops everything in its tracks, including books. The biggest fear for me about publishing my first book is that it will be crap: everyone who sees it will hate it, criticise it, and me, and I’ll be a total laughing stock.  

If I publish under a name that isn’t mine and the book is a flop, it doesn’t matter.  I can use a new pen name for the second book – which may do better.  Or I could even use my own name if I feel brave or confident enough.  

In this way, if the pen name books fail, the pen-name-person can disappear into the shadows with their failed book and live to fight another day.  Hopefully re-emerging with another pen name (or their own) and a new brilliant and loved book.

I loved the idea of a Fast and Easy book and thought I’d come up with a workable idea, using something I had already written, my own journals.  Never mind that I’m not a celebrity.  Never mind that I haven’t been through a war or been imprisoned or had a life-threatening disease.  Never mind that I don’t have some intricate and exciting tale to tell, because, I reasoned, isn’t an ordinary life – or the real thoughts of an ordinary person, pretty interesting, in a fly-on-the-wall kind of way? 

I thought so.  I think so. The problem is, I don’t yet know so.  The Not-Knowing causes self-doubt, procrastination and the changing of horses in the middle of the stream and this is something Tower of Power strongly advised against)  https://youtu.be/3szJhsa9e0Y 

Write the book you want to read

I like reading about other people’s lives. I like real.  I don’t like gossip mags but I do love some reality t.v.  I love real-life documentaries.  I love honest, open, no-shame sharing.  Memoir is my favourite genre.  Reading Ann Frank’s Diary when I was ten or eleven, moved me to begin keeping my own. 

I have read some published diaries and thought, “Isn’t mine as interesting as this?  Actually, isn’t mine more interesting than this?”  Samuel Pepys Diary, for example.  Maybe I missed the good bits?  Some say the only interesting bit was his entry about the Great Fire of London. The rest of the diary?  Well, no offence Samuel, but zzzzzz.

For a while, the idea of publishing my (honest and real) diaries felt like a good one. Until those old friends chimed in again, my doubts.  

“Are my diaries interesting to anyone but me?”

The other question was, “Where do I start?”  In nearly five decades of writing my diaries/journals, what day or year, out of all those years, do I start from?  I still don’t know.

My journals are my biggest body of written work.  There are so many stories within them.  Which stories should I tell? 

After much thought, I decided to just take a period of time, say three months’ worth of entries, and simply publish them.  Just do it. Get my diaries out there and see what happened.  

Decision made, I set to work, typing and slightly editing my diaries, thinking, “I’ll just cut out the really boring bits”.  

Then I thought, “Hang on, how do I know whether this bit is boring?  Maybe there are some golden nuggets of interest in my daily musings and ramblings?”

I wondered some more. “Perhaps I should explain this bit more clearly?  Or change everyone’s name? – oh and the place names too, so no one recognises themselves. But what if they do recognise themselves?  Will they be pissed off that I wrote that about them?”

“I know, make it into fiction!  So, it’s not a real diary, just the fictional person’s diary.  If I’m writing fiction, I could spice things up, add in some more action and excitement.  Make it more interesting.”

“How about if I choose some really old diaries and have my older wiser self, commenting on them – like, I wish I knew then what I know now.  Or: This is the advice I wish I could have given my younger self.”

Is that a good book idea?

Maybe.  Maybe not.  Maybe it’s already been done.  Dilemma. Indecision.  Doubts and Fears.  The writing stops again. 

I thought, through simply publishing my diaries, that I had a Fast and Easy First Book idea. Now it seems it isn’t a good idea after all.  

Now what?  Go back to one of the big books and work on that again?

Sigh.

Whether it’s a Big book, a Little book, or a Fast and Easy book, a decision must be made 

I must look at the myriad of book ideas I’ve had over the last ten years and pick one.  Preferably, once I’ve chosen, I will set myself a completion deadline. A deadline not too soon to get me into a panic, but not so far ahead that I can coast and procrastinate.  Also, preferably, I must reveal the deadline date, publicly.  (Oh God).

So now you know.  This is where I am at, with the First Book, after all these years of trying.  

I’ve yet to decide which book I’m now writing but I must decide.  I’ll give myself a couple more weeks – no more. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve come up with the answer.  As soon as I’ve made That Decision.  

It’s taken me days to write this blog post.  I was dragging my heels as I don’t want to decide on something and change my mind again. Whatever I decide, I need to see it through.  Apart from anything else, I don’t have many decades left!

Well, fellow writer and creative person, are you any further forward than me?  

Have you decided on the topic of your first book?  

Are you writing it yet? I’d love to hear about it.

If none of the above, I hope, having read this post, you’re now feeling better about your own creative projects and progress.  

Happy Writing!

There’s nothing like putting the word Writer after your name to completely paralyse and prevent you from writing another word, in my case the second blog post.

I’ve been puzzling over it for nearly three days, writing countless drafts and re-drafts, accompanied by much hand-wringing and I’m still no further forward.

Rather than struggle with it any longer, I shall simply share what I wrote in my journal this morning. I think it will do perfectly for my second blog post:

Extract from my journal:

Friday 8 March 2018

6.51am. I’m thinking of naming my second blog post ‘The problem of writing the second blog post’.  Does that describe it well enough though?  I don’t think that heading conveys what I’ve been through for the last two days.  Maybe I should add ‘and how that doesn’t even begin to describe the angst and stress of writing it’.

Maybe it’s just me who has this second blog post issue?  I can write in my journal with no problem.  I love writing in my journal.  But when I sit down to write a blog post it is so hard.  

That’s why I’ve spent two days on it – long days, from 10.00am to 7.00pm solid.  Both days.  I squirreled myself away in my bedroom-come-office so I would have peace and quiet and could concentrate, so there’s no excuse there. 

I drew four mind-maps and wrote lots of drafts, changing the blog topic at least three times and eventually felt I was done.  To help myself edit, I’d read the thing aloud to myself and recorded it on Audacity.  (I couldn’t find my little hand-held mp3 recorder). 

When I listened back I felt quite pleased with it.  I even laughed at one of my own jokes and at the end, choked up by what I’d written there. That was a good sign.  I gave it to BF (my best friend) to read (and confirm that it was as good as I thought it was).  

It was probably a mistake to ask her to read it whilst she was watching Crufts on t.v.  but she agreed to read it in the break when the adverts came on.  Thankfully, she turned down the sound.  

I can’t remember what she said, but she didn’t say: Yes, that’s great!  

I asked “Is it okay?” and she said “Yes.  It’s okay”.

Two days I’d spent working on this blog post and it was just okay?

I felt like crap.

She started to say “I’m sorry . . . “, and I cut her off with “It’s FINE!”  and we both knew it wasn’t fine.

Oh yes, she reminded me that I’d tried to blog before and about all that had gone wrong with that and why didn’t I just get on with writing the bloody book and stop distracting myself.  

She said I should write the book before doing another blog.  

I tried to explain, the whole point of the blog is I’m coming from the place of not being there yet.  I haven’t finished the book and I’m still doing it.  I said, “I’m writing for people like me, who haven’t done it yet either”.  

“Why are you doing it for other people?  Why aren’t you doing it for yourself?”

“I AM doing it for myself, that’s the whole point.  Writing the blog will help me finish the book and hopefully, help people like me, who’ve been trying for-EVER(!) to get their book out there.  Or their blog.  Or themselves . . . somehow.  They haven’t done it yet either and like me they may have been trying for years, and I want to do it -now, and share how I do it”.  

I knew what I meant but the more I tried to explain, the less she seemed to get me, until I wasn’t sure I got me either, or why I was doing it.  She said I can best help others when I’ve done it myself, when my book is published. 

“But I want to do it with them!” I said, getting more fired up, “Not be like some successful Writing Guru who’s already made it.  I’m like them”.

I see her point.  She’s watched me trying to do this for years.  It’s a fine line between failure and success, between dreaming of publishing your book and actually doing it.  

Creating my new website and blog isn’t just about the struggle to get the book done and out there.  I don’t want it to be only about that. I’ve struggled for years already and I’ve had my fill of it.  I want this to be about doing it now, not struggling.  Succeeding.  Publishing the book.

Feeling emotionally exhausted, I went out to the kitchen to make the evening meal.  Thankfully, it was a meal I could do standing on my head, a simple veg chilli and rice.  

I tried to calm down and salvage something from the wreckage.  Maybe I could do an mp3 instead of a written blog post?  I didn’t know where my mp3 talk-box was.  I hadn’t been able to find it for weeks and yet when I opened the filing cabinet, I reached to the back and immediately put my hand on it.  I turned the stove down to simmer and went upstairs with my talk-box.  

BF was now watching Eastenders and I could hear the sound of it coming up from below.  In the privacy of my bedroom, I had a kind of rant into my talk-box and felt better.  Perhaps I could post that.  I’m supposed to be sharing my experiences after all.  

I pressed play to listen and it hadn’t recorded.  Probably just as well.  The battery was almost flat so maybe that was why.  I did a ‘testing testing 123’ and the gadget itself was fine.  I decided to leave the blog post there for one day.

Having slept on it I am slightly clearer this morning.  First of all, I was trying too hard.  After all, if you create a website and put the word Writer after your name, you’re heaping on the pressure to write a halfway decent blog post each time.  

I reminded myself that the whole idea of the blog was simple: to honestly share what’s going on for me in this whole writer-to-author journey.

I’m not saying the blog post I wrote wasn’t honest, but I think I was trying to make it too polished and perfect.  

I want my blog to be real.  I don’t need to write perfectly – but I still want to write well.  All I really want, is to share and communicate.  How I do that, doesn’t matter.  Just because the blog is about writing a book doesn’t mean I have to write blog posts all the time.  I could record some of the posts and link to some of the work I’ve already done. 

A real writer. That just popped into my head.  I want to be real, I want to come across as real.  But this whole thing is also about becoming a Real Writer. Because unless I have a book, how can I call myself a real writer? 

I need to publish a book. That’s all there is to it.

So where does all this leave me?  Only to say that I’m not surprised I struggled with the second blog post, I’ve done it before.  I made a recording then too, saying how I’d struggled and here I am again.  

I have to try and make this easier for myself otherwise I won’t keep this up.  I’ve thought of a few ways:

1.  Write in my journal as I usually do, whilst trying to forget about writing a blog post.  I’m doing this blog with People Like Me in mind, so why not write to them as I write to myself in my journal?

2.  Wait at least a day, then read what I’ve written in my journal and see if I can share it in a blog post – maybe slightly re-worked or, if I’m lucky, as it is.  

3.  Share my behind-the-scenes stuff, like mind-maps and what I’m studying, around blogging, book-writing and indie-publishing.

4.  Use my talk-box to record a post.  Unscripted, but with some ideas for what I’m going to share, written down on a piece of paper.  Maybe just a word or two like ‘second post struggle’ or ‘easier in journal’.  That way I keep it natural and speak freely as I would to a friend.

I like the talk-box idea because my blog readers will hear my voice.  They will hear my expression and easily get the emphasis or meaning – without me having to put words into italics, or add exclamation marks and upper-case letters.  

Talking should be easier than writing, plus the listener will get to know me more fully.  I only have to think of people I  listen to online.  I prefer to listen to an audio now, than read a lengthy blog post. 

That’s another point – length of blog post and time taken to read it.  Perhaps I should try to keep my audio posts to about ten minutes maximum? Everyone is busy, they haven’t time. But isn’t it said by blogging experts that longer posts are good?  Only if you’re not waffling about shite and boring the arse off people, Claire.

Is there anything else? No, I think that will do for today. Maybe I can just post this now and get on with my life.  Until the next blog post.  

My aim is to be light about all of this.  I want it to be fun!  Even if finishing the book is hard work, please let the blog be fun.

7.34am.  I guess that will do for a second blog post.  I wish I could just tell the story to my journal and not have the blog post in the back of my mind.  But it’s probably okay.  It flowed out easily anyway, so I hope it’s alright.  Maybe I can get back to ProBlogger’s blogging course now, I’m falling behind.

/end of journal entry for 8 March 2018