Summary:

I achieved my novel-writing goals for January, which feels really good. Now, I can take more time in February to work on shorter projects, or have a break!

 

Monday:

I braved the outside world again today, and went to the cafe for the first time since well before Christmas. And the only table that was taken when I got there was my favourite one! I picked a different one for the day (very weird to be facing the other way) and started my writing day by editing a short article from a regular client.

Then, I wrote the next two scenes for Machine, which had been buzzing around my brain since the night before.

After that, I finished developmental editing on the confidence book and sent my notes back to the author for review and approval. Fingers crossed she comes back to me for the copy editing stage…

After lunch, I wrote some notes on a new novel idea I came up with the previous week. I’d tried to forget about it, because I wasn’t sure it would work, and I really didn’t need another novel idea added to my list. But, it kept coming back to me, so I decided to write out everything I’d come up with, along with lots of tricky questions, and file it away for future reference.

I’ve been trying to get the reading of books about the craft of writing back onto my schedule for quite some time, but not managing it. But today, at long last, I went back to my pile of craft books and started reading one of them, making notes as required.

 

Tuesday:

All my paid work was complete and I had no new client projects to work on, so it was a free day to dedicate to my own writing!

I started by clearing my submissions list, sending off four short stories and a novella for consideration.

Then I wrote a blog post about my newfound enthusiasm for connecting with people, especially other writers.

I also continued reading the craft book and making notes.

The Revision Club session was great – everyone critiqued my agent letter and synopsis for Legacy, giving me lots of great feedback and really useful comments, which I made notes on.

Later, I brainstormed ideas for a new short story, using my tarot deck and my Story Engine cards.

 

Wednesday:

I read and gave feedback on a short story for a new TL;DR writer.

I also had an interesting encounter with my inner saboteur, who I’m generally on pretty good terms with these days, but who popped up in the middle of the afternoon unexpectedly. Taking into account that it was my day off, that I only finished my last paid editing project on Monday, that I’d done a lot of useful stuff in the morning (emptying the bins, taking stuff to the charity shop, adding lots of books to the station lending library and obtaining new LFT kits), and that I knew I was planning on finishing the first draft of my FOURTH novel this week – I wasn’t very impressed with the voice in my head that said, “The days are just passing you by and you’re not achieving anything…” I gave the voice a good, stern talking-to and got on with enjoying my day off, but it just goes to show that nobody is immune!

 

Thursday:

Perhaps in response to yesterday’s inner criticism, the subconscious crew woke me up (not until 8am, luckily) with a lot more interesting plot detail for the new short story I started brainstorming on Monday, so I made extensive notes.

I also wrote a review of the book I finished the night before, and edited a new article for a regular client.

Then, I finished the first draft of Machine!! Woop! Woop! Not wanting to rest on my laurels, I sent it off immediately to my editor for her developmental feedback. And then I was done with novels for the time being – hurrah!

Later, I edited the latest episode of the podcast and read some more of the non-fiction book about the craft of writing.

I finished an audiobook while unpacking my Gousto box for the week, so I wrote my review.

 

Friday:

I did a ton of submissions in the morning, finding places for several of my unassigned short stories and flash pieces. This is always a grind, since submission processes vary so much from publication to publication, so I’m glad I have the TL;DR Race to Rejections competition to keep me motivated!

I also revised and amended my query pack for Legacy, based on feedback from the Revision Club group.

This week, I’ve picked up and put down three different books about the craft of writing, for various reasons. In the end, I decided that perhaps I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind at the moment to focus on that side of writing.

An article came through quite late from a regular client, so I just managed to edit it before yoga.

 

Saturday:

Dave and I finished a video game we’d been playing the night before, so I wrote a review.

 

Sunday:

I enjoyed another freewriting workshop with Claire from CP’s Day Off.