Summary:

Still lots of interesting work on the paid editing front, though I am finding it difficult to integrate my own writing into my new schedule, as I had feared. I have ideas about how to approach this, but I think it’s going to take some time to figure out.

 

Monday:

After a broken night of sleep (someone set the fence next to our building on fire!), I got up and set to work at 8am. My first week of working on editing projects, without my old day job getting in the way!

I started with the new Upwork project I won on Friday, working on the travel memoir.

Next, I implemented my new intended plan of alternating paid editing projects with my own writing projects, and I did some long overdue submissions.

Then I worked on another new Upwork project, providing feedback on short essays by Chinese kids, which was really interesting and also fun. The client was pleased with what I provided and I looked forward to doing more later in the week.

I went back to the travel memoir and edited the next section, completing the first third of the manuscript.

After lunch, I started brainstorming my idea for the upcoming Writing Magazine fantasy short story competition. The original inspiration came to me while watching the fence between buildings burn at 3am, before the fire brigade arrived… It went really well and I splurged over 800 words onto the page before I decided to stop. I had no idea where the story was going to end up, and it felt like it might need to be way longer than a Writing Magazine entry, but it was a lot of fun launching back into my own fiction again.

I rounded off my day by completing the next scoring/feedback assignment for the Ink & Insights competition.

So, all in all, a varied and productive day, with progress made on both paid editing and personal writing projects – yay!

 

Tuesday:

Today marked a temporary return to pre-pandemic habits. As I had dinner plans in central London, I headed in early and settled down in a cafe to work for a while, before moving to my old favourite haunt, Picturehouse Central for the rest of the day.

I started out addressing some comments and queries from the travel memoir author on the sections of the book I completed yesterday.

Then I did a sample edit for a prospective client with a management advice book. This turned out to be a very useful exercise, as the level of editing required was much higher than I’d expected, which meant the price I’d proposed would have meant a very low hourly rate across the project. So, I went back to the client with the sample (to demonstrate the quality of service I could provide) and upped my proposed fee accordingly. I suspected this would cost me the job (and I was right), but I decided it was worth the risk, as otherwise it wouldn’t be worth the time I would have to spend on it.

The travel memoir author confirmed she was happy for me to carry on to the next section, so that was next on my list.

After that, I went back to my new short story for the Writing Magazine fantasy competition and brainstormed ways to finish it off. The subconscious crew came up trumps and presented me with a satisfying second half and conclusion, so I drafted a few more paragraphs until it was time for lunch.

After lunch, I did feedback on another pair of the Chinese kids’ essays and submitted them.

Then I noticed an introduction had been added to the front of the travel memoir so I edited that.

After a wander round the West End, Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street and Covent Garden (when did hanging out in Central London ever feel normal?), and a bit of light shopping, I settled back down in another cafe and completed one more scoring sheet for the Ink & Insights competition, before calling it a day.

 

Wednesday:

I provided feedback on today’s two essays from the Chinese children, but mostly took the day off.

 

Thursday:

Focus sessions with Ann were resurrected, switching from Monday to Thursday!

I started out with the travel memoir, reviewing the introduction again and addressing any new comments the author had added in the last couple of days, before moving onto editing the second half.

I did my assigned work from the Chinese education group for the day, then completed the next section of the travel memoir.

I took myself out to my favourite Enfield cafe for an excellent vegetarian breakfast (for lunch), then settled in for my afternoon session.

I realised I was prioritising paid editing work over my own writing projects, but felt like continuing with that for the time being.

An interesting project came up on Upwork, so I did a sample edit of the opening sections and submitted it with my proposal.

Then, I edited an article about healthy eating habits for a new (hopefully ongoing) client.

My last editing project for the day was the next scoring assignment for the Ink & Insights competition, bringing my total to ten and allowing me to claim my next payment.

 

Friday:

An early message came through from a new client, asking for a document to be edited urgently, so I did that first.

Then I went back to the travel memoir to review new comments and complete editing the rest of the manuscript. The author contacted me to say there were still a few pages left for her to add, and that I would need to continue editing next week, so I wasn’t able to close the contract, but I was looking forward to reading the end.

After lunch, I finally started a draft of the blog post I’d been intending to write ever since I handed in my notice at my day job.

Later, my marketing client asked me to do an urgent editing job, so I completed that right away, just before signing off the weekend and heading off for a weekend away.

 

Sunday:

After a lovely weekend in Epping Forest, which involved a lot of great geocaching, I did some prep in the evening, ready for a meeting with a potential client the following morning.