Step 7: Accept Support

I honestly find accepting support a bit hard. Yet, today, again, at Liars' League HK (awesome night of live short stories!) Some people said some rather kind things and wished me luck- Thank you!

Along with receiving some very constructive advice from a particular writer that I have quite a bit of respect for.

Shannon Brown, probably represents the most impressive work ethic of any writer I know- and to be frank, that includes the likes of writers who have written a great deal about 'how to write' themselves. I believe (and I apologise for putting any words in her mouth) that she currently produces four books a year and writes for eight hours a day, consistently.

Her work is awesome, and a starting point to check them out can be found at her website: https://jordanrivet.com/

Truth be told, I don't think I would consider outputting three novels in three months even possible without having the opportunity to hear about what she is quite capable of.

Aside from the excellent advice, as she is a veteran self-published novelist herself, she's the writing equivalent of the 'four-minute mile.' for me.

The first recorded time someone ran a mile in less than four minutes, was in 1954 by Rober Bannister. Consider that the first modern Olympics took place in 1894.

Malcolm Gladwell claimed that over 500 people broke the record the year after.

As a geek, I actually did a smidgen of research to find that, damn it, that's not actually true.

http://www.nuts.org.uk/sub-4/Sub%204%20Minute%20Mile%20Register%202013.pdf

For an entire list of those that have broken it!

Although the numbers aren't as insane as Gladwell claimed, today the sub 4 is still considered a 'standard' to distinguish professional middle distance runners. By 2013, 1303 athletes have broken it as well.

What's the damn point?

If she produces so much consistent quality work- I *might* be able to.

That's what inspiration looks like.

It's a bit weird to thank someone publicly that I thanked privately, but I would be remiss not to. Over the next few posts, I'm going to put up some of her advice- the kind she's learned from earned experience.

Thank you, Shannon! (Still feels weird)

Since it was Liars League today, below is a story I submitted that was read out earlier this year by the wonderful Christina Colgan

I think I might be able to post this before midnight...still a post a day. (I care about that, sadly) 3 mins to go...

https://www.wattpad.com/474263647-the-man-and-the-mice (1300 words, 5-7 mins)

A live video of the reading can be found at http://bit.ly/2fm7Cen