Summary:

Going great guns on the final novel edits and really enjoying it, which is a very pleasant surprise. Everything else has pretty much fallen off the to-do list, but that’s okay, because the novel is the most important thing.

 

Monday:

I finished a book and wrote my review.

I started a new story that took me rather by surprise with its direction.

 

Wednesday:

I set up a virtual writing date with Ann – for the first time since lockdown – so it was lovely to talk to her and for us to help each other with our writing focus again.

I started out with a GYWO discussion post.

And then I launched into the FINAL ARTISAN EDITS! I printed off the editor comments and the covering email from the publisher and read through everything very carefully, marking bits up with coloured highlighters.

I made a list of the three things the editor said needed attention throughout (sense of place, reducing qualifiers, and over-explanation) and then opened the marked-up manuscript to start the actual edits.

I completed Chapter One, and worked out how many chapters I would have to do on each subsequent planned writing day to finish on time, which turned out to be three.

I also wrote three book reviews and continued with my strange story from earlier in the week.

After I went to bed, the subconscious crew kept me up for a while, writing the acknowledgements for Artisan, so I ended up getting up to put them down on paper while I could still remember them.

 

Thursday:

I invited Ann to join the regular Thursday ‘working together’ session with Claire from CP’s Day Off, as she was struggling with a deadline (and unfortunately a sick toddler).

I started off with my three chapters of Artisan editing, but enjoyed it so much I carried on to complete another three chapters as well!

Later, I finished yet another book and wrote my review.

 

Saturday:

Back to Artisan edits, with some external structure provided by UWR’s online retreat.

I wrote a list of all the things I could/should/want to work on over the weekend, but the focus for today was Artisan edits, because it’s the most important thing, it has a hard external deadline, and it was also the most appealing thing on the list.

I completed my designated three chapters of Artisan by lunchtime and decided to call it a day.

 

Sunday:

I had a (technically) reading retreat booked for today, and decided I would ‘read’ my own novel – ie do Artisan edits – during the designated period.

So that meant I had to get all the other tasks (that couldn’t be claimed to be reading) off my list before the retreat began.

I started with another Bear post, then did my second GYWO discussion post for the month, then did a couple of submissions.

During the retreat period, I edited another three chapters of Artisan.

Later, I finished listening to my current audiobook and wrote the review.