Hooray!

A few months ago I wrote my first play. It's actually an adaptation of a short story which I wrote a year ago and which was published in an anthology by Cinnamon Press. Recently I sent the play off to nine different theatres. I wasn't really expecting that anyone would put it on but I hoped that it might at least get a reading somewhere .... Anyway, I just had an e-mail from the Royal Court in London (one of the very best theatres in the UK) and, although they rejected the play, they did make some very positive comments about it. I needed that. It will supply me with the energy to write another play. In this business, even a few words of encouragement are rare so I'm making the best this!

Draft number 4

I'm desperately trying to get the fourth draft of my new book finished before I leave Belgium in four weeks time. I'm writing in the morning and packing in the afternoon. Once I've finished the draft I'm going to send it off to someone who reads for me. The book is not actually in good enough shape for anyone to read it but I do need some feed back even at this early stage. Mercifully the lady who reads for me (for a well deserved fee!) is someone whose view I trust absolutely. She is also someone who will be able to see through the mass of cliche and melo-dramatic rubbish which is currently on the page to the thoughtful novel which (I hope) is hidden away there somewhere. I am already looking forward to being able to talk to her about it. Writing a novel is so horribly lonely. It's also really bad for your mental health. I don't know why I do it really but I can't stop.

Teaching

I've just come back from a weekend teaching at Oxford University. It was a wonderful weekend. Except that there were so many starry-eyed, enthusiastic people all wanting to get an agent, get a publisher, write a best seller. That just makes me worried because I know how hard it is for anyone to get anything published right now. But then when I think about it I know that that doesn't matter at all ..... What does matter is that the weekend was warm, creative, supportive, thought-provoking, engaging, full of kindness and humour ..... Writing breeds all these things and they are far more important than whether anyone ever gets anything published.