My manifesto.


1) I will stop worrying about what people think of me. I rub people up the wrong way. Boo fucking hoo. If I'm out of line I'll apologise, but I'm not going to crawl.

2) I will stop getting distracted by stuff that doesn't matter.

3) I will stop getting all worked up over random wankers. That git shouting at me from a white van is not my Evil Nemesis, he's a git in a white van.

4) I will stop being such a conflictophobe. I will accept that my convictions are not widely held and will get me in trouble one of these days. Tough.

5) I will punt out stories, articles, treatments and any other goddam thing I can think of until I am the calm eye at the centre of a hurricane of rejection letters.

6) I will accept that I am trying to break into writing at a time where magazines and comics are folding left, right and centre. I will respond by being even more bloodyminded and stubborn than usual.

7) I will accept that people like me attract flak. I will deal with said flak without curling up into a little ball and sobbing. I will soak it up and keep going.

8) I will experiment with various mediums in a systematic way, until I find something I can master.

9) I will recognise that I am not the apex of creation. I can always do better than I'm doing now. I will always be aiming for that better.

10) I will do whatever it takes to get where I need to be.

11) I will never quit.