Summary:

A very productive start to 2023! Lots of progress on all fronts, though not as much enthusiasm as I would have hoped. Fake it till I make it?

 

Monday:

I played two new games over the New Year period, so I wrote my reviews.

 

Tuesday:

My alarm clock actually went off for probably only the second time since March 2020 (I usually don’t need one or I wake up before it beeps) and I *really* didn’t want to get out of bed. But I stuck to the plan and was up, dressed and at my desk with a cup of tea by 8:30am!

I started by editing a short story from a previous client, then made developmental comments on a plot outline from one of the romance clients I picked up in December.

Then I started reading and making comments on Claire P’s new self-help book, in exchange for her having done the same for mine last year.

Client obligations for the day were completed by starting the next in the series of reflective novellas, making efforts to add additional comments on aspects raised by the author over the festive period.

I woke up with new thoughts about Darkness again, so the subconscious crew are clearly keen to get on with it! I added some new notes to the outline.

I also worked through the opening sections of my new UWR writing diary, sorting out what I want to achieve this year and how to go about it.

Then I went through my notes from June for the superhero short story, as well as the new notes I made last week, to see if I could consolidate them into a workable outline.

It was a pretty long first day back at writing/work and I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped but it was a very good start!

 

Thursday:

I was very glad of my day off yesterday, after working so hard on Tuesday! But it was back to it today.

I ran through all my superhero story notes, then went back to the flash fiction piece that inspired it and revised the opening to fit the ongoing storyline. I also made some notes of aspects to keep from the second section, which I then deleted.

I did a bit of work on the Darkness outline, then logged on to Claire P’s New Year Theme Workshop for the rest of the morning. This was great, as expected, and I reached the theme of ‘balance’ – this is because I feel like I need to do a bit more in terms of paid work and my own writing this year, but I don’t want to overdo it!

In the afternoon, I carried on with comments on the next reflective novella, edited a children’s story and also half of a short biography.

 

Friday:

Today was meant to be another ‘full’ day of writing and editing – and I didn’t do too badly!

I finished reading and commenting on Clare P’s coaching book and sent my feedback across to her.

I completed editing the biography and also looked at three new chapters for a nonfiction kids’ book I looked at late last year.

I wasn’t feeling particularly enthused about either of my personal writing projects, so I used an upcoming submission call prompt to write an entirely new story I’d never even conceived of before. It went pretty well!

Later, I did a sample edit for a prospective new client.

I also wrote a review of the book I finished the night before – The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake.

 

Sunday:

I went through the latest issue of Writing Magazine and added some submission opportunities to my rolling spreadsheet.