Keeping It Up

Wrote 1100 words today, was slow going but I got there in the end.

Better

Much, much better day today. Writing yesterday's post and talking to The Ours about my fears helped a lot.

I decided to change my schedule for a bit - I'd rewrite a minimum of 500 words in the morning, then do an hour of exercise, then write another 500 words after lunch. I managed 1250 words, which I'm really happy with.

I also have the following text on my desktop in huge font:

"There are a million ways to lose a work day, but not even a single way to get one back."

"What's the worst that can happen?"

"It's better to have tried and failed than to have not tried at all."

Those words kept me on the straight and narrow today - instead of going online as soon as I got up I sat down at my laptop and got writing!

(And thank you all for your comments, they are a great help to me!)

Unmotivated

Very bad day today, completely unmotivated, felt guilty about not writing enough but just wasn't able to get anything decent down on paper. I'm hoping it's just a blip but if I have more days like this I might go back to work.

The reason for my breaks from work is to treat writing like a job rather than a hobby. So if I'm spending days where I'm not getting anything done then it's just not worth it. I desperately want to finish this edit and rewrite - I know I need to start doing more - but for some reason I still have days where I put it off.

I've tried setting deadlines, scrapping them, free writing to get me started and doing research when I get stuck. But there are still too many days where I don't even leave the starting line.

I'm very frustrated with myself at the moment.

(Update: After writing this post I feel so much better! I know it's fear of failure that causes me to procrastinate. I've put some quotes on my desktop to inspire me tomorrow.)

Recovery

Neither of us were won over by The Deep Blue Sea in the Gate Theatre Saturday night. The performance was entertaining but I didn't believe the main characters' feelings towards each other. I found it emotional rather than emotive and in the end I didn't really care if Hester lived or died, which was a shame. But John Kavanagh as Dr Miller was brilliant as usual.

(An aside - ever notice that theatre audiences laugh at absolutely anything? It isn't a particularly humourous play (apart from Dr Miller's lines) but the audience roared laughing at every delivery that on screen or paper would only rouse a smile. Or am I just being a moany sod?)

Yesterday we met Paddington for lunch at L'Gueuleton, which was gorgeous, and then onto the roof garden in Fitzsimons as the sun was splitting the trees. Later we ended up in The George for their Sunday drag act and bingo.

We're both feeling a tad rough today - but it was worth it!

Long Weekend Ahoy

A long weekend is on the horizon. Just me and The Ours for three whole days. Bliss.

Saturday night we're going to 101 Talbot and then to see The Deep Blue Sea by Terence Rattigan at the Gate Theatre.

But the rest of the weekend is unplanned. Maybe Sunday will become a Saturday (nosing around the city, a leisurely lunch, drinks) or perhaps Monday will turn into a Sunday (home-made breakfast, vegging in front of the tv).

That's the wonderful mystery of the three day weekend.

(Have a great one!)

Swimming Pools

I finished the paper edit of the third story today. I'm delighted...

...but the story needs a complete rewrite! (arrghh) I did plan the first draft, but half-way through I changed my mind and went another direction. The result is a little weird. Characters change their entire personality at the turn of a page. The dialogue ranges from robotic to flirtatious. And there are several plot holes the size of swimming pools.

But it's all good as it's part of the magical process of novel writing. I can understand why I struggled the first time around. The story's premise and setting are challenging and the characters need to develop and change over a short amount of time.

A full rewrite rather than an edit means that it'll probably take me a week and a half to finish, as I have to concentrate on quality rather than quantity at this point. Tomorrow I'll spend some time planning the story scene by scene and iron out any bumps.

Oh, and happy May Day everyone!

Six Word Autobiography

I was tagged by Calistro several weeks ago but I'm only getting around to it now - proving the accuracy of my six word autobiography:

Part-time writer and secretary, full-time procrastinator.

(I'm pretty sure hyphenated words count as one word...)

If you fancy a stab at this meme, help yourself!