Let’s cut to the chase.
Four months ago, I decided to partially semi-retire (yes, I know, a contradiction in terms) and attempt what I’m calling a hobby career in writing. My partner — who I run our online vintage business with — had decided to train for a possible teaching career, or at least keep that option open. I won’t bore you with the details, but the practical upshot was that I could step back a little and try my hand at writing.
My only real experience of writing before this was a football blog on Lewes FC, a non-league club. According to artificial intelligence, and given the niche subject, it was incredibly successful. I never set out for it to be, it just sort of took off on its own, last year my blogs were read in over 80 different countries, Lewes FC!
So I thought, why not? A good way to fill time in semi-retirement would be to learn to write better. I decided to expand into other subjects and even start a book. If you click this link you’ll see I kept a diary of my first eight weeks or so blogging. You’ll notice there’s very little mention of the book itself in these posts. A long holiday, plus a rather tedious recovery from an operation, saw me put the blog to one side and switch focus on the book.
It’s not hard to see why. Blogging is demanding. It takes about two years to properly establish a blog, and while I enjoy the immediacy of writing something in 30 minutes to two hours (which suits my overactive imagination), I was spending up to 30 hours a week on it, most of that on promotion and technical “computer stuff”, which is not where my enthusiasm lies, but a necessary evil.
Then came another twist. After a long holiday, well 10 days, long for me, my partner decided not to go into teaching after all. We reviewed the business and realised it was thriving more than exected. In fact, stepping away from it would have been a backward step. I’ve been in the vintage trade for decades, and since she joined me, things have gone from strength to strength. So, the semi-retirement ended. And truthfully? I’m happy with that. I love the business. Always have. Running it isn’t hassle, it’s joy.
That means I don’t really have the time to build a blog right now. I’ll have to pass on it for a while, although, here I am writing this, so who knows? Maybe this is the kick-start it needs.
My Writing Efforts So Far
When I look back at my efforts with the book, I’m actually a little surprised at how much I’ve managed to produce. Six novellas in three months is not something I ever thought I’d be able to say, yet here we are. For someone completely new to fiction, I think that says something about the energy and imagination I bring to the process. Ideas don’t seem to be the problem, if anything, they arrive too quickly. I can sit down with nothing and end up with a whole storyline in a few hours, which is both exhilarating and, I suspect, a habit that needs shaping if I’m to refine what I write.
Where my writing is good, I think, is in the flow and immediacy. I don’t labour too long over sentences; I get the story down, and often the voice feels natural and unforced. The feedback I’ve had, even from AI review tools, suggests that the plots are engaging and the characters believable. That’s encouraging for a beginner. I’ve also been told I have a knack for dialogue, which gives me confidence that the stories don’t just live in my head but can also come alive on the page.
But of course, there’s a long way to go. The technical side of writing is where I need to improve. Structure, pacing, and trimming back repetition are things I have to keep working at. Sometimes I rush towards the ending, and other times I linger too long on details that could be tighter. I’m also aware that I would never even attempt to finish a full book at the moment, sustaining a single narrative over 100-150,000 words will be a completely different challenge to writing short stories, novellas and blogs.
That’s why, for now, I’m happy cutting my teeth on these shorter works. Each novella is like a training ground, helping me learn what works and what doesn’t, and allowing me to experiment with tone, style, and character without the pressure of having to sustain it for hundreds of pages. If I can keep improving with each attempt, which so far I feel I am , then eventually I’ll be in a much stronger place to tackle the challenge of a complete book.
Looking Ahead
The plan is to write 12–15 short stories, all set in a fictional Sussex village called Denham. I’m aware novellas aren’t especially commercial, but as a way of finding my voice — and as someone with a quick imagination that makes it hard to settle on one big project — they’re ideal. Nearly 50,000 words in three months, and I’m enjoying it far more than blogging. This might well be my thing.
Right now, I’m reading Eyeless in Gaza by Aldous Huxley. It’s dense and complicated, shifting across decades. I don’t want to go down that path. I’m keen to keep my stories uncomplicated, direct, and engaging.
So, to sign off: three months ago I semi-retired, one month ago I went back to full-time work. Three months ago I started blogging regularly, one month ago I stopped. In that time, I’ve written more fiction than I ever thought possible.
#Writing A Book #Content Creation #Novice Novelist #Writing Fiction #Writing for Dummies
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