The treasure you can bury in notebooks

And a glimpse inside my new one...

In 2022 the contents of many years of notebooks made it into Shrapnel from a Writing Life

Like many writers, I have been keeping notebooks for years. Mine tend not to contain drafts of new poems or pieces of prose, but rather my workings in the margins: ideas for plots, thoughts about writing, the wrestling with dilemmas. And - again like many writers - I have a little stash of as yet untouched notebooks awaiting my pen.

I started a new notebook when we went to Cambridge a couple of weeks ago. In it are embryonic ideas for new projects - ideas which, to this point, have given rise to a single (long) short story called Dead-heading Roses in the Museum Garden.

I was working in that same notebook today and, in order to offer an insight into something - my process, perhaps - thought I’d share what I wrote with you.

It’s raw and unedited.

Thinking about the future.

All the while I was finishing So, you think you’re a Writer and the Derby Stanza Anthology I didn’t have to worry much about it. And then along came my medical diagnosis and the planned procedure which suddenly shortened the horizon somewhat - and this currently stands at 11 days.

It occurs to me that I should perhaps fast-forward to Sunday 3rd November and do so on the assumption that the procedure has gone ok and I can afford to extend my horizon once again - perhaps all the way through ‘25?

And why not - I’ve got to do something with the next 11 days…

Ok, so this is a reversion to that old list-making habit, but some good things have come from it in the past, so why not again? And a good list never hurt anyone..!

My inclination is to ignore the domestic other than a desire for a holiday at some point in the year (other than the short one already booked for February). Italy and/or Basle shall we say?

If you add in at least one retreat, then holidays easily blur into project territory don’t they?

So, as far as writing is concerned….

Social:

• the Derby Stanza

• my Contextual poetry reading events

• Nunsthorpe Poetry Group

• a new Market Rasen group (maybe)

That feels social enough!

Coverstory books:

• New Contexts: 7 - launched either in December or January to run c. 3/4 months

• The odd poetry collection for others

Mentoring:

• Maybe a few retreats for Writing Retreats UK

Projects:

• Poetry - the Stanza etc. will require a drumbeat of at least 2 new poems per month (possibly leading to a new collection at some point);

• Short stories - for competitions and for a 2025/26 collection;

• something location/photography based (as with Grimsby Docks) -

  • Italy/Basle

  • special trips e.g. Cleethorpes in winter

• something new based on a course perhaps;

• the major one -

  • novel / poetic monologue / play

  • “the form’s the thing”

    • does that come first?

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I will be working on these thoughts over the coming days, and striving to arrive at a conclusion or a decision or a moment of inspiration..!

Watch this space!

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