Second weddings hit different, don't they? Or maybe it's just me.

What I've been up to this week...

Subplots is my weekly snapshot of where I am in life, what I’ve been up to, what’s been preoccupying me etc. The life of a writer is pretty varied, and though much of my time is spent alone at the desk chatting to imaginary people, not all of it by any means. So here’s (some of) the rest…

Monday July 15th

So here I am, doing exactly what I said I wouldn't do. I haven't written anything of this online journal this week, so I'm now faced with a choice. I can postpone this week’s Subplots, or I can write something now.

Fairly obviously, I've chosen the latter option. Last week was a bit of a blur, to be honest. No launch parties, but I did see friends and managed to put myself out into the world.

One of those things was a wedding I went to on Saturday. It was a beautiful day, with so much love in the room. I did start thinking about how second weddings (both the bride and groom have been married before) have a different energy to them than first weddings. It's perhaps difficult to articulate, but they seem more, I don't know, realistic? The people involved are older, they've been hurt and they've hurt other people, perhaps. Maybe they're more aware of the choices they're making now, that love isn’t all pillow fights and chocolate boxes and chasing each other around the bedroom with a soda siphon. I don’t know, it felt more real somehow.

But then again, maybe this is all bollocks. Maybe it's me that’s different. To quote he who should not be mentioned: Has the world changed, of have I changed?

Do you agree? Do second weddings feel different?

Work wise? Things are slightly in limbo at the moment. I've decided to put my current WIP on hold, partly because it's a horror story and I'm not sure it's really where I should be concentrating. Particularly as the very exciting project I've been thinking about for about a year now is coming into focus and occupying a lot of my thoughts.

I haven’t yet started writing it, though. Which means, for the first time in a very long time, I'm not currently working on a novel. Nature abhors a vacuum, and I don't really know how to relax, so I have been working. I didn't want to abandon the WIP completely so I've decided to turn it into a screenplay. it's going surprisingly well at the moment, although of course I have no objective view on whether it's any good or not. It's pouring out of me anyway, which must be a good sign, surely?

Anyway, that's it for this week I think. bookclub again tonight, which is likely to stir up some thoughts. The chapters we've been reading this week are about addiction, and the way that many gay men in particular often attach themselves to and idolise (or at least identify with) strong, fearless women in the entertainment industry. Mostly people like Cher and Madonna. Whereas I chose P J Harvey, Björk, Courtney Love and Kristin Hersh. Same applies, though…

Sorry, this weeks instalment has been less than thrilling. So much so there isn't even a paywall. But if you do feel inclined to support this and other projects, perhaps you’d consider upgrading to a paid subscription? (And if you already have, thank you, thank you, thank you.)

Over and out. I’ll try to have more exciting adventures in the next week…