Sipped Ink vol 2 issue 0.5

Introduction

So, here we go then. Monday is the first day of June and our quest begins. A little bit of dedication each day and we’ll get through this together. That makes it sound like a chore, which it really isn’t (or at least shouldn’t be); my hope is that this is a bit of fun we can have together, but whilst actually staying separate because you have that rash.

If this starts to feel like a burden at any point by all means throw your hands dramatically in the air and say something declarative and final before feeding your copy of Mr Murakami’s novel to a dog. The rest of us will wait politely until you’ve gone away before we start talking about you. It shouldn’t come to that though; the secret sauce to this whole setup is that we’re here to support each other. If someone’s struggling with their 10 pages a day let’s try and err on the side of encouragement rather than ridicule, at least to begin with.

What I’m most looking forward to is the conversation we might grow around this thing. There are about 15 of us, and I’m keen to make sure that those further afield can contribute to the dialogue in exactly the same way as those whom I see all the time. Here are some of the channels that can happen via:

• Email: replying to these weekly emails will work just fine. I would just about love to hear your every thought on the novel as we progress, and whether it’s a sentence or an essay please send it over. We’ll be working on the understanding that anything you send to me you’re happy for me to include in these newsletters, unless you state otherwise. I want it all. Give it to me.

• Twitter: I know not all of you use Twitter; you’ve mentioned it a few times. However, I love Twitter more than some of you love your children, and I can’t get enough of it. I’ll be tweeting things about this book left, right, and center, and I’ll be using the hashtag #ClockworkSummer when I do it. If anyone else would like to do the same I’ll be reading every single tweet with that hashtag no matter how many of them there are because Twitter is like a drug for me and I want more of it all of the time even when I’m asleep. Love the paragraph you’re reading? Hate a character? Want to share a picture of a particularly scenic spot you’ve found to take in your daily 10 pages? Tweet all of that. I’ll also be including a few tweets in the newsletter, so even if you don’t use Twitter, you’ll get to see some of them right here in your inbox.

• Mouths: I see many of the people on this list on a daily basis and occasionally I actually talk to you. Please feel free to include The Wind-up Bird Chronicle as a topic in our future conversations. In the case of our more remote brethren and sistren: call me on a phone if you want to. I might answer. In both cases I might break away from the conversation to note down something you just said that deserves to make it into the newsletter. So that’s not me being rude - it’s a sign of respect. OK?