HIT
AND
MYTH
Separating fact and fiction in England’s History
Proposed title for my new book (above)
It is a dark morning on the last day of the year as I write this at my breakfast table. I come to the end of the year having, for the first time in my adult life, not had a paid job for the entire calendar year. There are – thank God – no money worries because the government gives me a modest pension and I also have a rental income.
Next year will be different, if things go to plan. I have bookings for a couple of talks which I will give over the internet and I hope to sell my book idea. It is provisionally called Hit and Myth and looks at stories we often tell and wonder whether they are true or not – was Richard the Third a bad guy, did Shakespeare write his plays, etc.
I miss work. Getting out of bed in the morning has never been easy but I am up in time if there is a job to go to. So far, I have also got going in order to write but I wonder if I will continue to have the impetus should I fail to sell the idea. There is only so much self-motivation that can get you going in the mornings.
We are always being told to count our blessings. While many others have fallen sick because of the corona virus, I have enjoyed pretty good health. There are two wonderful children, both independent and successful, and a daughter-in-law and granddaughter now. I have a partner, a roof over my head and money in the bank.
While the corona virus/covid-19 has been disastrous for some and fatal for others, for me it has been a minor inconvenience, depriving me of work which I do not really need any more. It has also given me the impetus to write, which is an area I have often toyed with, but not taken on into a proper professional career.
To be a writer or just to write? I suppose that is the difference. Anyone can sit down and type or scribble away. Getting your book(s) into print and seeing them sell is a step beyond. Having worked in the commercial world, I know that I need to persuade others that I am worth taking a punt on. No luck yet - but I am on my way.
I am about two thirds through the first draft of my book idea and have hopes for it is a viable – and sellable – product. If a salesman sells a product the process involves someone buying it. If a teacher teaches something to someone, they should be learning form it. In the same way a writer needs readers if he is to have validity.
Once established, many writers seem to take their success for granted. William Boyd, who is a writer I have a lot of time for and whose new novel I am reading, wrote in the introduction to his collection of occasional writing Bamboo that he kept resolving to give up journalism but kept getting asked to contribute yet another piece.
If only we had that luxury, I thought. Boyd is a writer I enjoy and whose life has run close to mine without us ever meeting: we were both born in Ghana at about the same time and his latest novel is set in Sussex where I grew up. He might recall his days of struggle when he next says what type of work he can decide to drop.
Yet I resolved not to beat myself up for not being brilliant years ago. It was not particularly a New Year’s resolution, just a realisation that we cannot all be super successful and famous and that doing the best job you can and being true to yourself is the most we can expect and we should be thankful for being productive and useful
If success and its companion fame come along, that would be nice and it remains the hope but, as I am nearer the end of my life than the beginning, it is a bit late to be suddenly become ambitious. The sun has come up now and it looks like a good day ahead - and, hopefully, a good year as well, if a vaccine proves effective and people can finally travel once more.
Being satisfied with what you have achieved should be enough to be going on with if you have at least tried to be honest and usefu to your fellows. As the old cliché has it, count your blessings.
Edwin Lerner
My other blog is diaryofatouristguide.blogspot.com
