Summary:
Spent most of the week shuffling paid projects around while waiting for clients to confirm timings and requirements. Then spent most of the weekend reminding myself that I don’t need to pitch for any more work until after I get back from my holiday.
Monday:
I had quite a late night the day before, but I slept well, and also had a packed schedule for today, so I made it to the cafe by 8:30am and settled in.
First on the list was final proofreading for a short story of mine that’s being published in an upcoming anthology. Then I wrote a review of the film we saw in the cinema the night before.
Then it was back to editing the giant romance novel, moving further into the second half.
I started a new editing project – a guide for marketing healthcare services, which proved to be quicker than I expected, so I made it nearly halfway through.
After lunch, I went through all my Machine notes and crossed out the ones that were no longer relevant, highlighting all the bits I still need to work on before actually starting a draft.
Then I did some submissions.
Tuesday:
I started today with editing a couple of chapters of the giant romance novel.
Then I completed the healthcare marketing book and submitted it for review and approval.
I went back to edit another chapter of the giant romance novel.
After a long walk and some TV, I felt more enthused about getting to grips with my novels, so I added some new words to the original Machine story (breaking ground on the first draft!) and went through some niggly little revisions for Legacy, also putting the bigger revisions into the right order to start tackling later in the week.
Wednesday:
My healthcare client came back to me overnight with some additional edits, so I did those first thing, then took the rest of the day off. A previous client popped up in the afternoon with a very short job, but I told him I wouldn’t be able to complete it until the next day, which he was happy with.
Thursday:
I completed the short job for the previous client, then wrote several reviews.
Next was editing two more chapters of the giant romance novel, interrupted by a catch-up meeting with the mindset book clients about the next section for that.
A blog article came through from one of my more sporadic clients, so I edited that.
I was all set up to start proper revisions on Legacy and actual drafting of Machine, but I really wasn’t feeling it today, so I decided to shuffle my schedule around a bit and psych myself up to launch into them tomorrow.
Friday:
I decided to stay at home rather than going to the cafe today.
I started with another blog edit for my intermittent management client, then edited the next two chapters of the giant romance novel. A blog came through from my marketing client later in the day, so I edited that too. I also did developmental editing on the second outline for the fantasy romance series, which was fun, as always.
I had several paid projects in the pipeline, but some were more certain than others, in terms of when I’d be able to start work. I was also very aware of going away at the end of next week, so I shuffled my schedule around a lot in the evening, trying to figure out how to organise it, without complete information.
I didn’t work on either of the novels today, despite best intentions, and decided to take the weekend to let them percolate. They went on and off the schedule for next week a few times, but I ultimately decided to keep them on, and push at least one of the paid projects into next month, since all of them had flexible deadlines.
Saturday:
I took stock of my paid work situation and tried to convince myself I didn’t need to cram everything in to next week, or pitch for any more work, since I would be receiving quite a bit more than my target income at the end of September, with a significant chunk pushed over into the October payment as well.
I also already had nearly a full month’s income lined up for October anyway, so there was really no need to worry about it. But tell that to my brain!
Sunday:
I wrote another review, of another computer game.