Summary:

I feel like I got control of the train a bit more this week – I got pretty much everything done that I’d planned and I didn’t feel overwhelmed. I also took some much-needed time off to relax, so I think I reached an equilibrium. I’m still really looking forward to an extended break over Christmas, though!

 

Monday:

I’d had ‘website updates’ on my to-do list for ages and was prompted to prioritise them as part of my goal-setting on the Networking for Editors course – so I put them at the top of my list for today – and actually did them – hurrah!

Then it was back to the YA fantasy novella to try and sort out more of the formatting for the client. I did my best and sent it back to her, so she’d have a cleanly formatted copy before I started the edits.

I edited the first half of the fourth in the mystery romance series, but was disappointed to discover there were a lot more errors than in the previous instalments, so it took rather longer than I expected. I let the author know and she acknowledged that the last two books would likely be more work and offered to increase the fee – so that was good!

Next, I went back to the short story I was writing for the magazine story exchange and added a new scene, which was really fun. Then I went through my husband Dave’s comments on another three scenes of my fifth novel, Dividing the Darkness.

Then I started a paid developmental edit of a near-future novel by a writer I met on retreat in June, and also a beta-read of a novel by one of the other TL;DR writers.

After meditation class, I edited the rest of Stanley’s Instagram videos for December, just about staying ahead of the posting schedule.

 

Tuesday:

I was up and ready to get started with my day by 8:15am today, which was good because the list was long…

I edited the second half of the fourth mystery romance story and sent it back to the author for review and approval.

Then I wrote all Stanley’s scripts and blog posts for January. This took a lot less time than usual, because I’m planning on reducing he posting schedule for 2024, to make the whole thing a lot more manageable.

Next on the list was editing a horror short story for one of the editors I’ve met recently in the various new online communities I’ve joined – a paying gig from another freelance editor! 

I worked through some more of Dave’s comments on Darkness and also did a quick edit of the back cover text for the emotional intelligence book I edited a couple of weeks ago.

Then it was time for Revision Club – and the dreaded synopsis! I managed to put something together, but it wasn’t very good – at least it existed now, though!

I also added some more words to the exchange story.

I added some comments to both the near-future novel and the TL;DR writer’s novel, which rounded out a pretty full day.

 

Wednesday:

Another full day – I edited large sections of both the near-future novel and the YA novella, as well as commenting on more of the TL;DR writer’s draft.

I also did a sample edit for another potential new client (despite having told myself I wouldn’t take on any more work before Christmas).

I went through a few more Darkness revision comments but then had to call it a day because my brain was mush!

 

Thursday:

I actually properly took the whole day off and it was lovely.

 

Friday:

Back to it with a massive list of stuff to do today – but the morning went smoother than I expected. I got through big sections of editing for both the near-future novel and the YA novella before lunch. I also commented on the next section of the TL;DR writer’s novel.

After lunch, I finished the first draft of my exchange story, Dave’s comments on Darkness, the last week of the Networking Course and a blog post about how signing up to one email newsletter has massively increased my editing/writing network and opportunities.

With so much work done in the morning, I did find it quite hard to knuckle down and do creative stuff in the afternoon – so I applied my favourite writing album to the problem and that really helped me focus.

I thought I’d put way too much on the list for today, but I managed to get it all done in the time allotted – which seemed like a Christmas miracle!

Then, at 10pm, I had a Networking for Editors call with my course cohort. It was great to put faces to names and the conversation was supportive and encouraging. I’m looking forward to continuing in this community and hopefully taking the next course level in 2024.

 

Saturday:

This morning was Claire P’s Jane Austen retreat, in which I completed the reflective Year Compass journal.

Later, I recorded all Stanley’s videos for January, which was a lot less effort than usual, since he’s moving to a much more spread out schedule in the new year. So, I took the opportunity to edit the videos too, completing the whole process until next month.

I also prepped for the next podcast episode.

 

Sunday:

Today, we recorded the next podcast episode.