The magic of a 3-day weekend

The last few months have been hectic, with a work trip away, an overnight walking marathon and two 30th birthday parties at opposite ends of the country (plus all the usual knitting, reading, cooking and, oh, working etc...). I can't WAIT until this weekend - 3 days with nothing to do unless I really want to do it. Knitting buddy Kathryn has invited me to potter around with her on her new allotment, and other knitting buddy Charlotte is having a 'first night in a new flat open house with takeaway' on Friday, but other than that, I am free and I have the flat to myself...

I have already stocked up on yummy treats (Waitrose fish-finger sandwich, anyone?), and am planning what I'm going to read. There are several things that I've started over the last month, but haven't finished, so some quality time with a book and a pot of coffee on the balcony will help me polish them off. I am also really excited about the writing I'm going to do. Some of the massive tangly plot disasters from the first draft have resolved themselves in my head over the last few weeks, and it's going to be very interesting going back and seeing how much I need to change. And I may even squeeze in a blog or some tweeting!

Bullets bitten

So I'm back from Milan (although my case is not. It should be arriving at my office at around 9am tomorrow. Nice.), and while there I did a lot of things. Read, shopped, ate, drank, talked (sometimes in Italian!), and.... WROTE! Not much, but it's a start. Draft 2 is now underway, with one whole chapter done. I've got a bit of a plan, and also some ideas for other stories, one I could start writing soon, and another which will take a lot of research. But research means BOOKS, so I'm all for that!

Here's to finally getting on with the damned thing.

Plunge...

I've only gone and done it... Wednesday afternoon was never a good time for productivity, so follow me, @eleanor_steele, and help me pass the time!

Ponder...

I've just come out of a digital training session at work. It's given me lots of ideas for projects I'm working on with my clients, but it also made me think about what I'm doing online just for me, like this blog and being part of the Novel Racers. I read the BubbleCow blog, and have been quietly absorbing what they say about Twitter and other online tools for raising one's profile, but haven't quite taken the plunge yet. Part of me is worried that it'll take too much time (something I really don't have a lot of). I mean, I barely update my blog once a week, I never get through the backlog of blogs I read, so when would I have time to tweet and follow other people?

But now I have an iPhone, and things just look a little easier to manage - I can read my blogs in bed without my laptop, I can blog from the tram, so maybe I'm ready to dip my toe into the waters of Twitter...

Pause...

This year has been rather strange so far. There have been some big changes, and some small ones, which add up to massive changes when combined, so my focus has been somewhat blurry. Things are starting to feel a bit more normal now, and my optimism is gradually returning.

I haven't forgotten about writing exactly, but other things have sort of taken over the time I would normally use to write and to plan, but it has all been ticking away in the back of my mind. I've had a few minor epiphanies along the way, and I'm really hoping that this month I'm going to get the ball rolling on my second draft. Now, I just need to remember what it's all about...

Eek!

I've just taken the plunge and splashed out on lots of course books for my new degree course. I don't know whether it will mean that I spend less time blogging, because I'll have so much to do, or whether I'll spend more time procrastinating, which could lead to a blogging explosion...

Seriously?!

I have ONLY JUST noticed that I have three characters with the same name. Oh well, I've only been writing this for A YEAR.

This has not been a good weekend for my brain. I'm going to take a brief chocolate break before I carry on with the text edits.

Don't tell my Italian teacher...

Three days before my penultimate A level Italian exam I have finally finished reading my set text, 'Volevo i pantaloni', by Lara Cardello! I managed 80-something pages last autumn, when we were actually studying the book in class, but never quite got around to finishing the damn thing. However, as the old adage goes, pressure produces diamonds, and with the thought of having to write an essay (albeit only 250 words) on this book later this week, I had to get going on it. This weekend was mostly spent curled up with my HUGE but wonderful dictionary, my copy of 'Volevo' and a notebook for key vocab, and I just finished off the last 13 pages during my lunch break, helped along by the yummy Covent Garden soup of the month. Just don't tell my teacher I'm 6 months late with this particular assignment...

Another week, another lack of words...

Yep, you guessed it, no writing this week. I don't even really have time to add this, but I've got 2 books to add to my 'Read in 2009' list (I know, I know - reading, not writing...) and I don't want to get behind in that as well. My only excuse is that I have been writing, but in Italian, preparing for my exams over the next 2 weeks. When they're over, I'll have completely run out of excuses so I'll have to start writing again!

Writing fail

Oops. Instead of writing during the many hours driving (Manchester - Bristol - villages near Exeter - Newport - Manchester) over the weekend, I did no writing at all. I listened to Radio 4, which included a surprising lack of comedy during the hours we were listening. Well, intentional comedy. I suppose when the news programming is focusing on MP's duck houses it sort of merges...

Zzzz

Maybe it was slightly over-ambitious to think that I would have the brain-space or time to start writing last week, but I've got so many ideas and I really miss it so I thought it might happen. But, unsurprisingly, it didn't. I did have a lovely weekend, with a barbecue (somehow avoiding the customary Mancunian rain), a Eurovision spectacular and a meat-filled birthday dinner for a carnivorous friend keeping me busy.

This weekend does have an extra day tacked on the end with the lovely second May bank holiday, but it also contains a friend's wedding in Devon. And, yet again, S and I are both singing, which will be lovely, but does take up a fair bit of time, especially considering the groom's composition (rather tricky...). That said, I have recently perfected the art of typing while S drives, and it's less anti-social than reading, which is one of the only other methods I have of staying awake when being driven. Maybe the journey to Devon and back is just what I need to finish off those last 7,000 (ish) words?

Normal service will resume shortly

Last week was one of the busiest I've ever had, culminating in a big meeting in Dublin. Despite having a day off last Monday for the May bank holiday, I managed to work over 60 hours, and am still a little bit drained. I've found the lack of time for anything other than work really frustrating, and I want to try to address this, but I think that it might have to wait for a while... But hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I should have some time for writing before the end of the week.

Photo fun

As a bit of a bookaholic, I think my Book Nook is the coolest part of my flat.

I have been eaten by the Evil Monster of Busy...

...but will return when I have fought my way through its Super-Sized Stomach of Work with my Burning Sword of Efficiency and my Sparkly Arrows of Initiative. But it might take a couple of days.

It's a big monster.

ON HOLIDAY!

Back soon!

Busy

Still writing, just busy. Will blog again soon...

Trudging

Well, my word count is rising, but nowhere near as fast as I had hoped. My internet broke on Saturday, and after spending about 2 hours on the phone to TalkTalk trying to tell them that I needed a new modem while they insisted on performing many diagnostic tests before telling me that.... (wait for it!) I need a new modem, I didn't really feel like going near my computer again. Then my girly night in with a chum was cancelled due to her menfolk going down with the Tummy Bug of Doom, which also didn't help. So I read (The Welsh Girl and Testament), thoroughly enjoying both books. I then made the mistake of watching The Black Dahlia on my own (the fountain scene still gives my the heeby jeebies). Not very productive. Oh well, I have now crossed over 80,000 words...

Déjà lu

Yesterday, I began 'The Welsh Girl' by Peter Ho Davies. I bought it last week, having been meaning to read it for a while now. When I started reading, I got the strangest feeling I had already read it. While I couldn't remember the plot exactly, the scenes seemed familiar. It came out in 2007, so I checked my 'Read in 2007/8' blog posts, and it wasn't on them. I might have missed it off by mistake, but I remember seeing it in bookshops and thinking 'Oh yes, I want to read that!' for quite a lot of last year. It's possible that I read an extract somewhere (I've only read the first 30ish pages), so it will be less familiar when I've got further in, but it is the strangest feeling.

On writing, I cracked the 75,000 barrier yesterday!

"It accumulates by a magnitude"

No, not snow, words. I don't do a thing for ages, and now I can't stop. When I'm working (and therefore have very little free time), I can do 1000 words a day without noticing, because I fit them in around other things, little batches of a couple of hundred words. But when I have acres of time....

Slow going

Sometimes life trips you up when you really think it's going to be smooth underfoot. Last week was pretty much a washout in terms of writing for reasons beyond my control. I did get some time (and brain-space) yesterday, and managed to crack 70,000 words, a milestone which has been looming on the horizon for weeks, never seeming to get any closer. I'm thrilled to have passed it, and really hope that the 70s are going to be easier to get through than the 60s...