Showing posts with label drafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drafts. Show all posts

Monday 25 November 2019

Reading, Writing, Learning and Improving...


Only a month to Christmas Day and I've just started thinking about all that I need to do.

Usually that's because November is busy with family birthdays so I don't think about the festive season until they're over.

I'm determined to get the Christmas cards into the post sooner rather than the last few posting days- which usually happens.

Since I received my readers report back from the RNA's New Writers' Scheme I've read it again and analysed what I need to concentrate on this time- I've identified my weak spots...

There are other aspects in the historical that need further thought, so while I resolve those, I'm going ahead with my original plan to do my contemporary romance idea for the 2020 NWS.

So, I've been learning more about character arcs which has helped me understand the issues with my historical romance protagonists- and for my contemporary where I'd gone astray in the first draft.

I've got a better understanding of beats in the three act structure, but need to work on the middle 50% of the story.

Our Uninvited Guests: The Secret Life of Britain's Country Houses 1939-45 by [Summers, Julie]
Image from
Amazon.co.uk
As I've been able to set the new story up on Scrivener from the start (rather than half way through) it's given me time to identify changes I hadn't considered before, but need.

The good news is the first 25% of this one is doing what it should do, so I've begun the rewrite on those chapters, while I continue the outstanding research items.

My current reading is Our Uninvited Guests by Julie Summers.

It was pure chance that a Google search led to a mention of it in an article; then I searched for it on Amazon to find the kindle e-book on offer for 99 pence- a definite sign I should buy it! (It's now £3.99.)

An interesting read too.

It does have relevance; indirectly...


Have you ever gone looking for a book and found it's on offer just when you need it for research?












Sunday 25 August 2019

Almost There...

One week to go to my final deadline.

Today (Sunday) I've done about seven hours at the keyboard- obviously I did get up to make coffee and eat an occasional snack- okay there was a few pieces of dark chocolate involved. The result was the completion of Chapter 23.

My antagonist gets punched in the nose by my hero- with justifiable cause...

I'm at the stage of tying the various strands together in these last chapters.

I know some of the strands are still vague in the first half (I'll have to sort those out in the next draft) and they'll definitely need a lot of attention. I might have to try working backwards...

The downside of getting my submission in so close to the deadline for the RNA's New Writers' Scheme is I'll have a longer wait for the reader's comments to come back, but it gives me time to develop a couple of future stories.

#writing-romance

My first draft had 17 chapters; by the time the second draft is finished it will be at least 25 chapters and approximately 50,000 words.

 Normal blogging about a variety of subjects, annual book related events and topics will resume as soon as I have my partial submitted- and I decompress.

Almost there...



image: pixabay.com








Saturday 17 August 2019

Cake and Lots of Words...

Two weeks to go and lots still to do.

I've had a couple of days break, rewarding myself for all the words I've achieved by attending the Nottingham RNA Chapter meeting. I was late arriving due to public transport hold-ups and the very heavy rain, but the food was worth waiting for...

Plus I need to sort the next scene out in my brain as there's new snippets as well as the part from the first draft for this upcoming scene.

My week three word was peril...

My hard work
reward...
The scene of peril was written- my heroine was lured to the big house and- sorry you'll have to wait for the book to come out to discover the rest.

Of course she survived, but for a moment there it did actually make me shiver, which should be a good sign, but maybe that's because I could see it in my mind.

I need that effect on the reader too.

This week I'll be trying to put in even more writing time as other demands on my time are put on hold or scaled back.

By next weekend I'll know whether I will have the draft complete or almost completed, so I can get the submission formatted ready for sending in.

I do have an old synopsis for this novel saved so that will need updating but it means some time will be saved.

My word for week two is determination- mine and my hero's...


Sunday 11 August 2019

Three Weeks to Go: Progress Report...

Thursday my second draft went over the 40,000 word mark.

(Admittedly at the start of the year I already had a handful of the early chapters typed up.)

3 weeks to go...
I've still got chapters to go of course, but I have now picked back up the latter chapters of the first draft after writing the new ones in. A few scenes have moved position too and I feel they're now in the right place.

I can see where I'm heading. The fact that the first half of the draft is still missing scenes is another thing entirely...

(The last time I reached the 40,000 words stage was with the first novel I tried writing- in the last century!)

Although I don't use Scrivener to it's full potential (at the moment) it has definitely helped my progress. With Word, I was always conscious of how little I seemed to be producing, but now I get to the end of the chapter and I'm surprised by the word count.

(Changing the font really does help with the writing.)

I print out each chapter as it's finished and then slip them into clear plastic sleeves, they're then held together with a couple of green treasury tags. As the stack has built up it's made the novel feel more real.

My original assumption was that this story would end up around 50,000 words, but that may have been an under estimate. By the time it is finally completed- some time next year- I'm hoping 60,000 words may be nearer.

This week, the big peril scene in Chapter 19...






image from pixabay.com












Wednesday 31 July 2019

Counting Down...

I have one month to get my manuscript in to the RNA's New Writers' Scheme. Fortunately I can submit a partial if that's all that's done.

At the moment I may just get the second draft finished, the manuscript tidied up, my form filled in and do the best I can on the synopsis...

As I've rewritten this second draft I have discovered how I make substantial progress, as well as realising that just because I think there's only a few missing scenes to fill in, my brain can think otherwise.

Starting out on draft 2, I believed I probably had two or three scenes each in two, maybe three new chapters to fill in the gaps. How wrong I was!

Still working on it...
Honestly I'm not sure how many new scenes there are, but I've added five chapters that were missing from that first draft.

There is still a lot of work that will need to be done in the next draft, improve the first half, then there's odd bits that need reworking, narrative changed to scenes/dialogue, descriptions added and character arcs checked. And that's before I start the editing process!

Even though all this work lies ahead I'm satisfied with all I've achieved so far, also what I've learnt about how I write and plot.

But most importantly I've learnt to trust my subconscious; those random bits of dialogue that don't seem to serve a purpose at the time, do fulfil a role later on...

When I do get the RNA's reader's comments back I am expecting quite a lot of pages to read and consider, then decide where I go from there.

For now it's get this draft complete.

Wish me luck...



image: pixabay.com

Sunday 28 April 2019

To Prologue or Not...

After taking a break over Easter to start sowing vegetable and herb seeds in pots and tubs, I'm getting back to the novel.

Moving to Scrivener was definitely a good move, I can concentrate much better using it.

I'm working my way through writing the new scenes (missing from draft one) and am now finding a few of those original scenes in draft one have changed, moved or are no longer needed.

I even have a scene that I thought I'd put in the first draft but hadn't!

On Friday I got together with a couple of fellow romance writers and shared my concerns over how I deal with a particular piece of important information, currently in the second chapter, that still comes over as an info-dump.

Working it out...
While a small part can be slipped in naturally in conversation (where it is now) I need to remove the rest but find some way to show the really important part. As the rewriting has progressed it still can't be worked in elsewhere.

(It has to be dealt with in the third draft...)

So I decided the only way to overcome the problem was to create a short prologue.

Prologues are like Marmite, love them or hate them.

I don't mind them if they are used for a valid reason, but did wonder if my decision for it was reason enough.

So I did some Googling and came across two articles that discuss the do's and don'ts of prologues. First there's a post from the Writers Digest and the Writers & Artists website...

Having had a couple more days to consider the possibilities, I'm sure it's right for the story, as the consequences of that moment will lead to incidents that bring my hero and heroine into contact and eventually together...

By the time I'm ready to go back and finalise the first couple of chapters (I'm not totally happy with them yet) I'll be ready to write that prologue.

Now over to you; what's your view on prologues?





Image by Geralt from Pixabay.com

Sunday 14 April 2019

Multi-tasking...

Are you a multi-tasking writer?

Although I'm concentrating on my novel at the moment I'm thinking about two other projects in-between all the home-life.

More than one
direction...
I've started thinking about a research trip sometime in 2020 for the next novel in the queue, whilst a scene idea for another novel (further down the queue) popped into my mind while I was out in the sunshine.

Maybe it's Spring that has been the inspiration...

Having got over the recent bug that stuffed up my sinuses and then moved to a bad cough, I've also been running errands for a close relative who's recovering from major surgery so I've not been at the work in progress as much as usual, so that's probably why my brain has allowed me to think about two of my other future projects.

I found this article, How Many Books Should You Write at Once? by author Debbie Young, interesting. There was such variation in the answers each writer gave her.

A couple of years ago I did try doing two novel drafts but it didn't work for me; I needed to concentrate on one at a time. But I did then complete two first drafts one after the other...

I am a slow writer, but Scrivener has definitely helped me make better progress now I'm used to it. I know where I'm going with the current rewriting and new scenes so I'm not stopping and starting when I'm writing, like I used to.

Thinking time.
I've discovered I need to do this at the end of the writing day before the next new scene is written- which surprised me as I thought I had it worked out in my head already, but it does help.

(It may just be this particular story, but I'll be prepared and allow extra time for it with the next book.)

So do you write more than one book at a time? Or a mix of books, short stories, articles or other writing?




image from Pixabay.com


























Monday 11 February 2019

Scrivener: My Progress So Far...

Last month I downloaded Scrivener.

I was warned it is a steep learning curve but taking the time to watch the videos and work through the tutorial is definitely worth doing. The basics start to stick- well some of them!

So far I've written chapter 10 on it. Admittedly it's a short chapter and was originally in chapter 9...

The issues so far have been remembering where certain things are, but that's probably more to do with having used Word for so many years.

Then there's how to delete something in the side bar that's wrong- it must be in the settings somewhere.

The Manual which you just click on- good- has a well set out index- also good- but sometimes it's hard to find the simple things, almost as if it makes the assumption that it's so obvious it doesn't need more detailed explanation (of course it may just be me).

Writing in a different font has definitely helped and my short chapter 10 didn't seem to take as long to type out (considering I can't touch type) but I was keeping the format simple.

I liked being able to switch to the cork board easily and back to the text without having to worry about losing anything meanwhile. Though I do think I'm going to need to watch the video on the cork board section again as I think I'm missing a stage somewhere.

Undecided...
I've still got trial days left and I'm now 50/50 about whether I will go on to purchase Scrivener or not.

Suspect how well I get on with the next two chapters will be the deciding factor...







image from pixabay.com

Sunday 6 January 2019

Starting the Year Positively...

Did you have a good New Year? I spent it very quietly at home...

I'm very happy to say that I've started 2019 well as I've already fulfilled one of my plans for this year.

As my computer time clock went from 11.59 to 12.00 on the 2nd January, I pressed send on my prepared email and crossed my fingers that I'd get a place on the Romantic Novelists' Association New Writers' Scheme.

A little later I received the email confirming a place. My paperwork and payment were done the next day and confirmed, so I'm now official...

I have until the end of August to get my manuscript in for critiquing, but I don't want to leave it to then.

I know it may seem strange joining a new writers' scheme when I'm not actually a new writer.

Although I've won the NWC Mary Street Memorial Shield three times now, each of those entries have only been a synopsis and the first three chapters of a romance novel- each one set in a different time period to the others!

But it's a big difference between producing a complete novel and just a part of it, which is why the RNA's scheme is an important step.

Despite all the good things that happened last year there was also a lot of stressful things going on in the background and I lost six months not being able to work on the novel as intensively as I'd intended.

Perseverance is the word to remember when your writing plans go askew and that's what I've been doing. I took the time to consider my options and take a new route to my destination...

There's going to have to be a few other changes to my commitments, though they will be phased in.

I may even do short updates on my progress as the six months pass...

Another day to write approaches...


Image: pixabay.com


Thursday 18 October 2018

Consistency with Characters...

You probably know that issue of discovering you've given one or more of your characters two different eye or hair colours in your manuscript, well I'm trying to avoid that as I rewrite.

File cards were the solution. Most places sell the smaller standard size cards in a pack of 50 or 100. The lines on them are quite narrow and honestly my hand writing isn't that small so I wouldn't get much on them!

I knew there was a larger size available, and didn't want to resort to buying online when all I wanted was one pack; I checked every shop I knew had file cards.

 Then I found them, in Rymans. The 5 x 8 inch size.

File cards...
Even with my large writing I can get good amount of words on both sides of one card.

As they only had the white file card in the largest size I needed, I had to find another way to highlight what was physical description; characteristics and negative aspects of each character.

In the end I went with little coloured circles- coloured pens are useful and not just for editing on the printed page.

The other advantage was noticing the gaps in those three areas. My hero is doing fine, but my heroine needs some work. Her characteristics are acceptable at the moment, but physical description is a bit vague...

I do write character profiles before I start writing, but then as the characters develop and particular traits emerge I've not added them to the profiles, so the cards will fill in the gaps as I work through the second draft.

Now I have to decide are his eyes hazel green or green? And whichever one, what sort of green?

My lesson from this for the next time is add the details as I go...

Do you have a process to ensure consistency or do you put it right later on?


Monday 12 March 2018

Still Not Enough Hours...

My plan (this year) to use my diary better to keep a track of deadlines, as well as meetings/appointments, has shown me I'm very busy two weeks of every month, and have one week clear and another partially filled.

March is probably the exception as I'm doing my reading role for the writers' club's national competition which takes up some of those free days...

Despite all that I've resumed draft 2 of the work in progress.

Making progress
at last...
As I revealed on Facebook- apologies writer friends who already know this- I'm trying a slightly different method for the rewriting and additions in this draft.

When I started writing my first (abandoned) novel I kept my chapters separate, so each chapter was in its own document. I was using a Brother Word Processor with floppy disks then- that's how long ago it was!

Then a few years ago someone suggested it was better to keep novel chapters all in one document.

Actually I did find that really helpful for the first draft. I made progress through my chapter outlines better, so repeated the process with another longer story that was blocking (the next one in the queue).

When I started the 2nd draft (yet again) I wasn't totally happy. There seemed to be so much that I needed to correct: a major plot point; missing scenes, and secondary characters that had arrived later in the 1st draft but also needed to appear earlier, while some of these extras had missing motives too. It was overwhelming me.

So rather than give up I decided to try each chapter as a separate document, allowing me to concentrate on what I needed to do in each one as I work through.

It surprised me how everything suddenly seemed manageable just by focusing on a smaller piece of the whole- which was the total opposite to writing my 1st draft.

Late last year I was seriously thinking maybe I was only okay at producing the ideas and writing the first draft, but the past weeks I've learnt my characters will not allow me to abandon them or their story.

Confidence is just about restored...

Monday 16 January 2017

1920's Revival...

A useful reference
book...
(image source:Amazon)

Yes, I was meant to be writing a short story, and getting on with my second draft, but my pocket novel idea suddenly started getting in the way.

You may remember my mentioning I was doing some research during the summer holiday months while family members (usually at University or College) were at home. When I can't write in depth due to distractions and noise, I research instead.

I had two beginnings, random scenes and a few characters, an odd idea and snippets of plot, but it wasn't getting anywhere. So I saved everything and got back to other projects.

Actually I think that Epistolary story acted as a trigger, as that too is set in the 1920's; so I was already thinking about that time period.

Over the last few days my word total has been creeping up as I add snippets to this story, and where appropriate fit in the random scenes I wrote in the summer.

I'm just about at the end of the ideas I have for the early chapters, and think it may just turn into a novella or long short story rather than a pocket novel.

I much prefer to concentrate on one project at a time, but other things do get in the way sometimes, and I know that unless I write it out it will block the other work.

While I can compartmentalise the different stories with their characters, setting and plot, some ideas continue to get in the way, refusing to wait.

I'm going to have to try splitting my time between a short project and a long project. I did try this last year, but just couldn't deal with it. But I'm going to try again...

As I still had a National Book Token gift-card from January last year,  I couldn't resist using it to buy the book- picture top-right- 1920's Fashion The Definitive Sourcebook.

It's a wonderful selection of images covering the 1920's. There are drawings, fashion plates, adverts and photographs covering the various categories, among them: Daywear, Outerwear and other less obvious items like shoes, wedding dresses, and swimming costumes.While many of the drawings are of Parisian origin, there is enough of a mix to satisfy every reader.

I even recognised the style of coats with fur collars, and the cloche hats worn by my paternal grandmother and aunt in some old black and white family photos, taken in the mid to late 1920's.

Anyway, back to work...





Thursday 27 October 2016

Getting Back to Where I Was...

Finally I've had some free time to get back to my Nottinghamshire short novel- lots of appointments at this time of year. :(

As I was retyping the first chapter of draft 2 from my print copy I found myself making a list of comments and notes as I went along, so these points could be dealt with in future drafts.

It was one of those 'if I don't write it down now I'll forget it' things.

So I got out a pack of file cards from my stationery stash (every writer has one of those don't they?), put the chapter number at the top of the first card, and then added the comments with the page or paragraph it related to.

(I know that when I've dealt with those in the third draft I'll likely have more notes to add, but I'm taking it one draft at a time...)

Once I'd finished retyping the chapter I saved it in three digital forms (after losing everything but the print copy I'm being triple careful this time); printed it out and put it into a plastic cover and popped the file card in with it.

I use those thin plastic sleeves that have holes already punched (for various types of file storage) and use green treasury tags to keep the chapters together. I can easily add the next sleeve behind it; then it goes into it's own file box- nothing more annoying than looking for that piece of paper with information you need and not knowing where it is, so everything goes in the box now.

Really I'd like to add a filing cabinet, but my office area doesn't have room for one at the moment- but that doesn't mean it will stay that way...

Though honestly, it's easier to create an office from a bare room, than it is to change one that has furniture you can't move elsewhere.

Do you have an office essential that makes your writing life easier?


One day I will get a filing cabinet...





















Thursday 15 September 2016

Back to Work and Poetry...

An orderly routine at home has been restored with the academic year beginning, so that means undisturbed writing time.

Well that's the general plan...

I've bought my portable hard drive so I now have an ultimate back-up;  as I retype my Nottinghamshire short novel it's being saved onto it as well as the memory stick.

(Plus anything else I don't want to lose has been saved.)

Three forms of saving must be enough?

As friends on Facebook will have seen, I discovered that not only had I lost the first three chapters of draft 2, I had lost the whole 1st draft too.

The situation could have been horrible, but as mentioned last time, I print out each chapter as I complete it, so there is a copy of the completed first draft to work from.

Surprisingly I didn't panic, that is after the initial moment of horror at discovering the file was gone.

Rather than retyping the 1st draft again- which would take me too long- I decided the most practical solution is to retype the first three chapters from draft 2 (as planned), then once I start chapter four I'll rewrite using my print copy and the notes I'd previously made for draft 2.

The way forward...
Prevents me wasting time and ensures I still make progress despite the set-back.

As I read through and retype I've also started compiling reminder notes on a file card for each chapter. Not something I've tried before, but in the circumstances I thought I'd see if it helps with the rewriting and editing of future drafts.

Being open to new ideas is good. Which now ties into the poetry item...

I attended a short workshop about writing poetry (last night at the writers' club). The aim of the session was to encourage the attendees that even if they didn't think they could write a poem, they could discover methods that would help them do so.

Negativity was not allowed.

Admittedly by the end of the evening I was quite enthusiastic about working on the last poem I wrote, about an old glass bottle with the chemist's name - we were given a selection of objects to choose from and the little glass bottle immediately drew my attention.

Whether I can actually make a decent poem out of it I have no idea, but I said I'd try.






Image courtesy of Stuart Miles & www.freedigitalphotos.net

Tuesday 6 September 2016

Lost and Found...

Saving the story...
I've now got my portable hard drive, so I'll be saving my work in progress as I go along, not just on a memory stick and a print copy (you can never have enough back-ups :D ).

There was near disaster when I discovered that one of the memory sticks lost the first three chapters of my second draft of my Nottinghamshire story. It was on the memory stick, then the next time I plugged it in, it was gone.

A writer friend suggested I download a retrieval programme and see if it could find it. Sadly it was gone forever.

Fortunately I print out the completed chapters as I go along, so I haven't lost all that work I did earlier in the year.

But it will mean retyping it into a new document. :(

So I better go and get on with it... :-)

Have you ever lost work due to digital mishaps?


Thursday 11 August 2016

First or Third Person Viewpoint...

I've always preferred third person viewpoint, both writing and reading.

Occasionally I have written a short story from the first person viewpoint, but I hadn't intended it. I started writing and that was how the character and story seemed to fit.

Now I'm in the same situation again with this 1920's story- hopefully a pocket novel.

As I've been writing blocks of dialogue from the ideas in my head, I've been getting inside the mind of my heroine, but I do wonder if that will remain once I start adding description and narrative, or will I find I'm writing in the third person as usual?

Though the idea of using first person would fit this particular plot well I'm really not sure I can carry it off!

I suspect there will be a lot of editing by the time I've finished it-whichever direction it goes...

So what's your thoughts on viewpoint in your writing? Do you prefer a particular viewpoint, or does it depend on the story you're writing?

First or Third?

























Image courtesy of jesadaphorn at www.freedigitalphotos.net

Thursday 19 May 2016

My Problem Character...

Sometimes I find getting into the mind of my characters easy, at other times it can be problematic.

In my second draft I have some gaps to fill, and Hannah is one of the problematic gaps.

She arrived in the last chapter of draft one as if she had always been around; she and my heroine know each other quite well, but looking back, nowhere in the first draft had there been any hint this young woman existed...

That was when I realised that she would actually fill a necessary role that was one of the gaps I had.

She has the confidante role. But she'll also be a means of passing information on where appropriate.

Seeing the light?
At the moment I'm still learning about her, and her way of speaking is starting to emerge more clearly than in her first few lines.

I know she's a year or two older than my heroine, and has had a little more experience of the world, so that will prove insightful later- there's a completely new scene in my mind (for much further on in the draft) where Hannah will be doing a little manipulation- for the best of reasons of course. :D

Unlike my other characters I don't yet have a bio for her. That's usually when I find out all those useful snippets of information lurking in the recesses of my mind.

Perhaps that will get through her protective shell.

Onward with the never-ending mystery of the supporting cast...






Monday 18 April 2016

The Rewrite Resumes...

Finally I can return to the second draft rewrite.

I'm grateful to Patsy Collins for guest posting last week while I was very busy with essential work for the writers club...

Anyway, to draft 2. I know it's advised that you read the whole manuscript through and make notes, but I'm not doing that for this draft.

I've got numerous minor and major changes to do, and the overview of the story in my head. And if I'm not sure of something I do have my chapter outlines with any changes that were made marked in.

The second half of the story was clearer, mainly because I had discovered more about my characters, their motivations, their reasoning, and the emotions and reactions that were lacking in some of the earlier chapters.

So the aim for draft 2 is: to take one chapter at a time, read it, make notes. Where I know a scene is missing I'll write it in, and deal with the points made in the notes.
The next drafts...

Spread throughout are various comments in brackets-research x. They're minor things and I've already found the information I need on most of them.

Once I've reached the end of draft 2, there will be a short break and then the complete read through and more note-making.

How I approach draft 3 is for deciding when I get to it.


I know what works for me to produce a 1st draft. Now I need to discover how draft 2 works...









image courtesy of Stuart Miles & www.freedigitalphotos.net






Thursday 1 October 2015

Hitting the Deadline...

I did it!

My entry into the New Talent Award was emailed to the competition address this afternoon, and the small entry fee paid.

The competition is part of the Love Stories Awards, and administered by the Kate Nash Literary Agency.

For anyone who may have missed the details, the competition was part of this year's Festival of Romance, but when the festival weekend was cancelled, the new talent competition carried on under the Love Stories banner.

This year's competition is looking for writers of the future, so I really couldn't ignore it...

I've learnt a lot from the experience of editing the first chapter for my entry, which will help me in the future when I'm editing my other stories.

A couple of weeks ago when I gave up on my first choice and opted for my Nottinghamshire story, I didn't think there was too much to do. But I was so wrong.

I hadn't realised how much I've learnt since I finished that first draft, nor how the characters had continued to develop while I was away from them.

All that was needed was an opening chapter, nothing else, and as I was almost ready to start the revisions on the Nottinghamshire story anyway, I had nothing to lose by trying.

Well four versions later I was ready to do the final checks this morning (Thursday). The maximum word count was 2,500 words, though I was a couple of hundred under that by the time I finished.

After every set of changes I made, I read the chapter aloud, so five hours later, when it was ready to send, I think I'd gone through it vocally ten times...

It won't be perfect, but it was as good as I could get it for now.

Of course I'd like to make the shortlist, but if I don't, it won't be the end of the world. I still have the rest of the story to revise and edit, and as I've learnt over the past fortnight, change can be good.

I'm looking forward to a restful weekend, then I can get back to creating the happy ending for the couple in my contemporary romance. Once that first draft is complete and put aside, I'll be back to the historical and chapter 2... :-)


Sunday 27 September 2015

Getting On With It - Editing...

After my down spell last week I'm pleased to say equilibrium has been restored and I'm getting on with the first chapter rewrite.

Keeping Balanced...
The deadline for the competition is Thursday night, and I honestly don't know if I will have it ready in time. It's fortunate entry is by email so I don't have to take the post into the equation.

I experienced one of those editing moments where I cut a phrase-well actually a couple of lines that I thought were good. But looking at them closer, they just didn't work.

When I stop worrying about the editing and just go with it, I find the analytical editing side of my brain switches in, but not to the exclusion of the creative part.

The longer you are away from a writing project, the clearer you can see it when you come back to it.

As the weekend rarely gives me quiet time to write I've started to use that noisy time to do all the other things that lurk around the edges of my conscious, as it helps clear my mind for the editing.

I've created a 20th century Fashion and Beauty board on Pinterest. One of the ideas that has been lurking in my head for years but wasn't fitting into my usual time periods, finally started to make connections once I moved it into the 1920's.

While the majority of pins on the board are 1920's, it also covers 1900 to the late 1950's.

It will be some time before I can give the idea proper attention, but I think it may turn out to be a longer short story...

I've also discovered some of the new changes in Blogger which have made a few things easier.

I now have all my Social Media links showing under a tab- much tidier than being in the side bar.

There's now a tab for My Writing. I still have one thing to add yet, so it's half done.

So, now that's all done it will be back to the chapter one rewrite Monday morning...




Image courtesy of Vlado & www.freedigitalphotos.net