Prime Writer Christina Banach, (Minty, Three Hares Publishing 2014) starts sharpening her pencils…
As a former teacher I’m used to the annual ‘back to school’ scenario: new term, some unfamiliar faces to get used to – students, staff and parents – and fresh plans to put into action after the long summer break.
However, as an author there is no real ‘back to school’ moment. For a writer never really takes a break, or at least this one doesn’t. Yes, there might be holidays or weekends away but the writing is always there, as present as my long-suffering husband who is the bystander to my scribbling into notebooks, or those head-in-the-clouds moments whilst I conjure up plots points or create new characters.
That said, this Autumn has brought with it renewed resolve to complete my next book, an ambitious and complicated work that has really tested my self-belief and powers of endurance. So I have shrugged on the metaphorical jacket of resilience that I used to don in my previous existence as Headteacher. I have sharpened my pencils, smoothed out my notebooks and fired up the computer in readiness to create the very best novel I can. Draft 4, here I come!