Schadenfreude Fans

Well my last day went relatively smoothly - I was as giddy as a schoolgirl for the last hour and then had a short crisis of faith on my walk home. A brief version of the rollercoaster I felt when I left my job the last time so no surprise there.

I'm still not feeling 100% so the Ours and I are staying in this weekend and taking it easy. Am still in two minds on how to tackle next week. I'm very aware that I have less time than I did before so there is a temptation to just get on with it, but a sneaking suspicion tells me that it could be my downfall. Mainly because once I get stuck into something I absolutely lose the plot if I have to scrap it and start from the beginning, so it's better that I know what I'm doing from the get go. So spending a few days looking into editing techniques and what to look out for might be the better bet.

So it looks like I'll be tearing into Sol Stein's Solutions for Writers (which I read parts of when I was working but that my mind has erased due to not taking notes) and consolidating advice and methods given to me by fellow writers and bloggers. A similar strategy to revising for an exam really, get to know the material until you are dying to do anything else, even sitting the exam. Always worked for me in the past anyway.

Once that's done I'm planning to read through the whole manuscript from beginning to end, pass through the five stages of grief (hopefully quickly) and then start editing. I'll post it all here for fellow writers and schadenfreude fans.

A short break

From two o'clock tomorrow I'll be a writer again! The training centre will be closing for a week so I can get cracking on the novel. I've written roughly 3000 words of my last story so I'll be sure to finish my first draft by next Friday.

This week has been full on, I took a test on Tuesday and have two scheduled for tomorrow, so I've revising at home...homework!

Sprinting versus long distance

As I knew I was very busy today with different bits and pieces - we're going to Birmingham to visit the Ours' parents this weekend - I got up earlier than usual and made a beeline to the laptop.

So far I've reached 1600 words. It's only taken me five months to realise that when I start before 9:30 I'll get a lot done that day. In fact I'll usually be finished before lunchtime which frees me up for research or various chores in the afternoon.

I can imagine that some of you are surprised that I don't write all day, nine to five. Sometimes I am still wrestling with the novel at four o'clock in the afternoon, but this is rare. I work in bursts; I'll usually write for three or four hours straight without a break (I get up to stretch my legs periodically though, to keep the DVT at bay!) and then have my lunch or go out for a walk.

I've always worked like this, even when I had a nine to five job - several hours of intense activity, followed by several hours of intense slacking off. It works well for me. Personally there's nothing worse than going back to a scene after I've had a long break, as it's really difficult to pick up the thread and keep the momentum going. I suppose I'm a sprinter rather than a long distance runner. (In writing of course, in real life I'm a dawdler)

Not over yet

Feeling tired but happy after a great weekend. I'll be working on the plot and characters for my seventh story tomorrow, I'm determined to get it done in a day so I can start writing on Wednesday. I should be starting a legal secretarial course in July - I want to work part time or contract from now on and legal secretaries seem to be paid the best - so I'd like to finish the first draft of my novel by then.

But until then I'm just relaxing, watching tv and catching up with emails on this bank holiday Monday.