Posted on 18 August 2019 17:44
Summary:
Second seven-day writing week in a row - apparently, I’m turning into Stephen King! I completely disagree with his view that you have to write every day to be a “proper” writer, but I’ll go along with my brain’s enthusiasm if that’s what it actually wants to do!
Read morePosted on 15 August 2019 09:38
A few weeks ago, I was talking to Dave one evening and said something that made him laugh a lot. Out of the blue, he said, “We’re really funny. We should do a podcast.” I don’t think he was being serious, but the idea took root in my brain and just would not let go.
Read morePosted on 11 August 2019 17:14
Summary:
Another week where I wasn’t planning on doing much writing, but I ended up doing at least something every day, so my brain is obviously firing on all cylinders!
Read morePosted on 04 August 2019 21:06
Summary:
Still feeling more enthused about writing than I expected. Still enjoying getting back to new short pieces after all the time spent on both novels.
Read morePosted on 28 July 2019 17:05
Summary:
First draft of second novel(la) done! And major progress on a story I’ve been trying to write for about three years. So very happy with my writing this week.
Read morePosted on 21 July 2019 12:49
Summary:
Very much on the home stretch for the first draft of Colours. I’m looking forward to taking a break from huge projects and working on some smaller stuff for the rest of the year.
Read morePosted on 14 July 2019 20:30
Summary:
The end is definitely in sight for the Colours first draft and I had lots of interesting and useful writing experiences this week.
Read morePosted on 09 July 2019 13:06
My friend Charlie, who co-runs the Six Month Novel Programme, has a mantra for the writers she helps. When writing a first draft, give yourself permission to be "gloriously craptastic". The most important thing is to get the words down on the page. You can edit later. Because, if you get caught up in doubts, or a desire for unattainable perfection, you’ll never get through it. It’s better to have a flawed thing that exists than a shining masterpiece that only lives in your head.
Read morePosted on 07 July 2019 17:04
Summary:
Not a huge amount of time, energy or motivation this week, but still some progress. I think sending Artisan off to the publisher last weekend had a knock-on effect on my desire to work hard this week!
Read morePosted on 30 June 2019 21:51
Summary:
Only two writing days this week, but a major milestone passed, as Artisan has now gone back to the publisher!
Read morePosted on 23 June 2019 14:53
Summary:
I have a schedule now for completing Colours by my deadline. Two scenes per writing session. Every session so far, I have started by rewriting my schedule to see if I can give myself the excuse of not doing that day’s scenes. Then I have taken myself to task, knuckled down, and actually produced them with very little problem in a very short amount of time. Sometimes, you need a stick.
Read morePosted on 16 June 2019 21:10
Summary:
Reasonably slow come-back after a break, but still good progress on both novels and a couple of other bits completed as well.
Read morePosted on 13 June 2019 12:54
I’ve talked a lot in various blog entries about finding brain space, not taking on too much and trying not to put myself under too much pressure with my writing. But last week, I had an entirely new experience of taking a complete break from everything.
Read morePosted on 09 June 2019 14:44
Summary:
A welcome proper break from writing this week, with no guilt and a lot of reflection. Looking forward to picking it all back up again in the week coming.
Read morePosted on 02 June 2019 15:51
Summary:
I gave myself a deadline of the end of this week to complete my edits on Artisan and get to the end of Colours Part One - and I succeeded with both! I also managed a fair few other writing targets, not least of which was clearing my submissions list. Fly, my pretties, fly!
Read morePosted on 27 May 2019 15:12
Summary:
Another productive week, particularly on the novels front. And also some great news of publication acceptances. So good all round.
Read morePosted on 19 May 2019 21:46
Summary:
Three really great writing sessions this week and tons of progress on all sorts of projects. It wasn’t always easy, but I stuck to the plan rather than the mood and ended up achieving a lot. Between one thing and another, I wrote over 10,000 words this week, which is several thousand more than I’ve managed in any other week so far this year.
Read morePosted on 12 May 2019 19:42
Summary:
I can just about claim another 7-day writing streak this week. I’m also pleased with my completion/submissions rate and feeling enthusiastic about some short story ideas in development.
Read morePosted on 06 May 2019 11:09
Summary:
I wrote every day this week and worked on projects in all five of my tracked categories - novels, fanfiction, competitions, non-fiction and blogging. A well-rounded and productive week.
Read morePosted on 29 April 2019 11:00
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been very good at keeping to my schedule for both novels. I intend to send the revised Artisan back to the publisher by the end of May and I’m already two thirds of the way through. The Six Month Novel Programme gives me a detailed schedule for Colours and I’m not having too much trouble keeping up with that. But making revisions to one novel while drafting a second is proving more difficult than I anticipated.
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