Summary:

I’ve logged a ‘writing day’ on my tracker every day for the last two weeks, which is very unusual for me! Normally, if I try and write every day, I burn out after about ten days and have to take a couple of weeks off! A day counts as a ‘writing day’ if I spend at least some time on my own personal projects (rather than paid editing), and that includes reading a craft book or writing reviews, so several of those days haven’t exactly involved a lot of effort in actually creating words, but it’s still unusual!

 

Monday:

I won a new paid project over the weekend, so I completed editing of the whole book (about gardening) today, and submitted it for review and approval.

I also provided feedback on opening novel chapters for two TL;DR writers, and prepped my critique notes for the following day’s Revision Club call.

I did some hard negotiation with a potential client and won a new project at a rate I was very happy with, which was very satisfying.

My editor, Amie, had recommended some books to help me add depth and layers to novels three and four (and inform my outlining process for the next one!), and I went a bit mad – so six books about the craft of writing arrived today.

I was hoping they would invigorate my desire to read more useful non-fiction, since they were about aspects of writing I would be able to apply immediately to my current projects. So, I picked one and started reading it.

I’ve read a lot of books about writing, and I’ve made tons of notes from them, which I’ve saved – but I never reread them! My plan for these new ones is only to note down the absolute essence of the really practical tips I can use on my novels, combine them together in a sensible fashion and name the file something that reminds me to refer back to it!

Later, I brainstormed another potential new short piece and made some notes.

 

Tuesday:

I started the new paid editing projects about vegan restaurants this morning. I also did a sample edit for a potential new client.

During the Revision Club write-along session, I did several submissions. Then, I went back to a recently rejected short story and revised it, based on the very useful feedback I received from the editor, so I could submit it somewhere else. I also wrote a micro fiction piece from the notes I made the day before, and submitted it.

Later, I read some more of the craft book and made some notes about the most important things to include in the first two scenes of a novel.

I also had an interesting chat with Dave about his responses to reading the first half of Legacy – it was a bit painful (he told me lots of things I already knew, but hoped weren’t true) but resulted in a kernel of an idea for a whole new plot strand, so I made some notes.

 

Wednesday:

I finished a book so I wrote my review.

I read more of the craft book and made more notes, though I was starting to find it a bit tedious, since it wasn’t really telling me anything new, and I didn’t necessarily agree with all of it.

I also attended an online write-along session with Women Writing Fantasy, who turned out to be a lovely, friendly, fun group. During the session, I wrote some more notes on Legacy and started brainstorming and outlining a new short story.

 

Thursday:

I evaluated the opening of a suspense novel for a new client, then edited a monthly newsletter for a regular one.

Then I did some more submissions to publications who had opened their calls at the start of February.

Then it was back to the vegan restaurant book to edit more of that.

In the evening, I finished playing a really lovely computer game, so I wrote a review.

 

Friday:

I’d tried another video game the night before, so I wrote a review.

Workwise, I started with editing more of the vegan restaurant book, then embarked on the final proofreading stage of a romance novel I line-edited last year, as the author specifically asked me to do the final pass, which was nice.

I worked on my horror short story, making more notes and building up a picture in my head of what I wanted it to be.

Then I went through Writing Magazine to find any interesting upcoming submission opportunities for my spreadsheet.

I also read some more of the craft book.

 

Saturday:

I finished another computer game, so I wrote my review.

I also read some more of the craft book.

I read through some excellent feedback I got in a story rejection email, and made some notes for a potential rewrite.

 

Sunday:

I read some more of the craft book.