Jim Bish

Richard – FWIW, you also have us. One of the things I’d like the Den to be, as the Cloud has been at its best, is a place for mutual assistance, advice, support and so on. You may not have a presence on social media, but a lot of us do, and social media is as much about building a network as anything else. We can help you if you want to go down…[Read more]

Excellent point about craft, Philippa. I’ve always been rather, um…informal about how I approach structure etc but the more I learn, the more criticial I find it to be. I think you tend to improve naturally just by writing (and reading) more, but actively learning is essential. The problem I have with throwing myself into addressing matters of c…[Read more]

Hi, Hel. Glad you joined!

Well FWIW I know a few writers who have really good publishing deals, a few more who have agents and are subbing to publishers, some more who are subbing to agents, and some who haven’t got to that stage yet. The honest truth is that the vast majority of writers I know well are bloody good. The ones who have the great deals are bloody good, but s…[Read more]

And I’ve literally just seen this thread on perseverance from Joanne ‘Chocolat’ Harros on Twitter, so in case it’s helpful here:

Let's do it! Follow #TenThingsAboutKeepingGoing to collect them all! https://t.co/6AOlwh0AAU

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) September 3, 2018

I know of another writer who does similar stuff (and is absolutely brilliant) but has had a tough time getting agents interested enough to take them on. I wonder if it would be possible to track genres and styles that are more or less likely to attract attention quicker – not so people can tailor their writing so much as know what to expect when subbing

No problem. It looks like a decent prize at any rate!

Totally barking, Ath, but very very well done!

MPO is that if the cloud goes then all communication with participants goes too and you aren’t responsible for that. Attempting to continue with a subset wouldn’t be the same competition, would it?

I always approach a new blog from you, Richard, with a feeling of anticipated pleasure. I am never let down.

Presumably we’ll shift the challenge over to here if the Cloud breaks. It often doesn’t load for me at all, particularly if I try to go onto the notifications page.

I found the Cloud has been slower and more erratic than ever over last few days. Could be coincidental or coukd be increased activity I guess. Suggest that everyone keeps a record of their choices and the story when it comes to it, just in case.

Was wondering the exact same, Daeds. Today it loaded for me, but with none of the pictures or graphics. So it looked even whiter than usual, if that’s possible 😕