IF anyone has any preconceptions about successful writers - then let them go now! One inspirational figure is author and journalist John Craggs - known to many at My Writers Circle as "Gyppo." John's sound advice and unassuming humour have helped many of the forum's members - myself included.
Now John has taken the leap into self employment as a writing tutor. Having benefited from his wisdom to help progress with my short stories, I can heartily recommend his services and wish him all the best in his new venture. Here, he shares his experience of juggling various writing jobs over the years and what that experience has taught him.
I WAS always a part-time writer, cramming my writing into the gaps between various 'day jobs' until life grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and shook me like a terrier with a rat.
About five years ago - having been a part-time postman for almost seven years - suddenly soaring blood pressure led to early retirement and provided a tidy sum to help me over the next few years. I wasn't quite at death's door, but I'd already opened the gate and was unwittingly more than halfway up his garden path - skirting the edges of stroke territory. That means figures of 230 over 184 for those who understand these things. I owe a great deal to Royal Mail's doctor who shook his head in amazement, complimented me on having 'Kevlar Arteries' and some amazingly resilient genes, and signed me off as unfit for delivery work.
In short I was an adrenaline junkie, my 'fight or flight boost' running almost non-stop. My own body was trying to kill me, but a few months of medication juggling calmed that down and slowly lowered my blood pressure to a more acceptable if still high level.
The scariest thing was I hadn't felt ill, just very tired on occasion. There were some days when a three hour delivery took nearer five and every step felt like wading through treacle. Looking back there were occasional 'lost half hours' as well, so possibly I fell asleep for a while whilst sat on someone's wall eating my sandwiches.
My day now often starts around 7am and sometimes doesn't finish until after midnight, but it's lived at my own pace. This doesn't mean I spend 17 hours at the keyboard, although this sometimes happened in the past at weekends when work couldn't intrude.
My CV includes many years as a baker/confectioner (my 'proper' trade), a writing and crafts tutor, a postman, and threaded through all this several year as an arena showman performing medieval shows and gladiatorial combat for night clubs, village fêtes, and county shows. An interesting life, sometimes with three jobs running simultaneously, and ample opportunities for 'people watching'. People - and their antics - have always been the raw materials for my stories and the 'seed' for many an article.
As a writer I've had one novel published - under the pseudonym of John Mathewson -by Robert Hale, and have four self-published titles available for sale via my website, one being an e-book version of my novel. I've sold numerous articles and short stories on a variety of subjects, and twice had a regular column. Once in a motorbike magazine, and once in a computer magazine. I also admit to 'many thousands of words' of strictly anonymous 'top shelf' writing when I needed the money.
But that swish of the approaching scythe made me re-evaluate my prospects. No return to the bakery, because of flour-dust induced asthma, rearing its head many years after the event. No return to Royal Mail, although I loved that outdoor job when I had a rural delivery. Nor am I really fit enough to try as a late entrant for a gamekeeper's job.
No way did I want to work in anyone else's office. Shelf filling and retail looked possible, but no-one wanted to know. So tutoring and writing it had to be. Things I'd done in my 'spare' time suddenly began to look like a real job, so The Write Tuition was born. Early days yet, but plenty of enquiries and support.
Warning: Suddenly having plenty of time to write - as opposed to squeezing it in between a full time job and sleeping - doesn't always work as well as you might think. Being ill didn't help, there were days when a mere twenty minutes at the keyboard left me absolutely shattered. Now it's just odd days like that, rather than all the time.
The first thing I do is check any overnight mail. Mailwasher helps me quickly sort good from bad. I then answer those needing a quick and straightforward answer.
Then I make my first real decision of the day. Breakfast and my 'stay alive' cocktail of pills first, or straight into the writing? Often I dive straight in, especially if I was in full flow the night before.
If I'm deep involved it can easily be 11am before I realise. I've learned to set my timer for an hour as a final warning. If it gets much past mid-day before taking my pills my poor old body gets out of synch, sending my blood pressure loopy for the day. The consequences are a lengthy bout of lethargy and an inability to keep my eyes open, so I try to avoid this.
Breakfast therefore comes 'somewhere between 8 and 12am', normally just toast and lemon tea. Usually with words still dancing in my head. When the words are particularly insistent I barely notice the toast going down and take my drink back to my desk where it regularly goes cold. Unlike milky stuff lemon tea is still drinkable when cold ;-)
I check my clipboard to see what I promised myself would get done today and make the necessary adjustments, slotting in stuff with a higher priority, crossing out things which can wait, and make any absolutely essential phone calls. I still dislike making calls, although they are often fruitful in a world of busy people. This is the time when ideas are pitched and research gets done.
Current priority is producing a series of downloadable PDF 'writing guides' and promoting my online tuition business.
Then it's back to work until about 4pm, when a slightly more substantial meal may tempt me. If things are going really well I don't notice the passing of time until the light starts to fade, even in Summer. Every so often I'll stand in the doorway with a drink, looking at the trees on the horizon to re-focus my eyes. I do this regularly anyway from my window, although I may disguise it as 'watching the girls go by' ;-)
If my blood pressure is playing Yo-Yo - too high or too low - 4pm is a good time for a short nap, setting the timer for an hour to make sure I don't sleep too long and wake up feeling terrible. That hour is usually plenty. Sometimes I'll have my evening meal a bit earlier then settle in for another lengthy keyboard session.
I sometimes have music playing, and often have my favourite forum open in the background and drop in and out during the day. If I'm writing well, or wrapped up in editing, I never even think about checking in, but sometimes five minutes playing a word game with other writers, offering advice, or telling a quick tale, is just the thing to freshen a slightly jaded mind.
Even on a really productive day I've usually shot my creative bolt by 10pm, and will just play games on the circle, read a real paper book, or listen to music for a couple of hours to wind down. If I've been too busy to eat during the day a 10pm curry makes a good catch-up meal ;-) Whilst it's cooking I'll sort out the clipboard, cross off the things I've done, and list the outstanding items for the next day.
That clipboard list is a godsend if I wake up with a brilliant idea. I can write down enough to remind me of the new idea, crack on with essentials, and then back to play with the new idea.
Around midnight I'll have a last check for emails and sometimes find a late idea calling me. At this point I'm either totally bushed, or suddenly ready to start all over again. Probably a throwback to years of night work. Even when I was totally knackered it was a busy time and the reflex is still deeply engrained.
If I'm still awake I listen to the shipping forecast at 00:45 . A shameless bit of nostalgia reminding me of the caravan years as a child with the wind howling, and Dad - an ex sailor - listening intently and doubtless understanding exactly what 'Force 10 in sea area Rockall' really meant. I still find an aural magic in the outlandish names of the various 'sea areas'. "North Utsire, South Utsire..."
Then that's it, unless some bit of inspiration is calling me to pull an all-nighter. Something I normally avoid, as it now knocks me back for two or three days afterwards, leaving me with a brain about as useful as a bowl of cold porridge. Eighteen and indestructible was a long time ago ;-(
No exercise? It depends on how the words are flowing. If things are quiet I'll go for a walk to and around the local lakes, or maybe a photographic foray through the woods or along a riverbank. I normally walk the mile or so each way to the local town rather than catch the bus. Or take Mum shopping and have dinner out, and then sit in the library for a while. A good place to reassure yourself that - despite appearances - people do still read books.
Sometimes I'll have a quarterstaff workout, including some pretty active tumbling around if my blood pressure co-operates, or go out and throw knives and axes at the target board in my back garden. Quite a workout there, and it takes my mind right away from writing and lets the subconscious do its magic.
I miss my other jobs and being a full-time writer/tutor isn't quite what I expected it to be, but as long as I can keep the adrenaline junkie under some semblance of control I look forward to many more years of tapping away and following my dreams.
Read how more writers follow their dreams here.
You amaze me Gyypo! You've a flair for the written word, perhaps it's your broadsword? This may have been a typical Day-In-The-Life, but it reads like so much more to me. A whimsical tale almost in it's pace and inflection. Believe me, I've read famously published Authors who can't hold a candle to you, or your style.
Keep Writing, Russ
Posted by: Russ | June 11, 2008 at 10:18 PM
An excellent insight John and well crafted.
I never knew about your 'cocktails' ... but then how would I! There is a lot more to 'Gyppo' than I was aware of. You have the ability to grab people's attention by your writing style, a sense of humour that I find infectious and probably, more importantly, a straightforward approach to life and its problems. I for one am proud to be in your company on MWC.
Thanks also to Linda for persuading you to give us this insight.
Posted by: Big T | June 12, 2008 at 02:34 AM
An excellent insight John and well crafted.
I never knew about your 'cocktails' ... but then how would I! There is a lot more to 'Gyppo' than I was aware of. You have the ability to grab people's attention by your writing style, a sense of humour that I find infectious and probably, more importantly, a straightforward approach to life and its problems. I for one am proud to be in your company on MWC.
Thanks also to Linda for persuading you to give us this insight.
Posted by: Big T | June 12, 2008 at 02:34 AM