Happy Birthday!

Mum, without you I would not be!
Have a lovely day surrounded by love and make lots of wishes so the rest of the year can be as special as today! x

The Importance of Active Writing!

The problem used to be you didn’t have time to write… you changed that and decided to become a writer, a serious one who actually writes and finishes projects. So what’s taking so long?

It can be extremely difficult to focus your mind on WRITING but it is important if you are to get the most out of your squeezed in writing slots.

I feel fairly focussed, considering it is shortly after 5:30 a.m. But then I wrote a list of all the non-writing activity I have catered for in the last 45 minutes.

1) Made coffee (to be fair the laptop was firing up)
2) Drank polar cup of coffee
3) Ate breakfast
4) Looked at photos (finding blog/ camp photos)
5) Cleared my desktop (PC)

I estimate that’s about half an hour, I have done 15 minutes writing and more faffing around. Repeat daily, that’s 3 ½ hrs of writing GONE! 14 hrs a month! That’s several days or for most part-time writers several weeks of writing time.

I don’t feel like I have avoided writing today, and there you have it I did!
What does your list look like?
Go on, write it out – you will surprise yourself and see how you can get that novel written sooner. And how you can lose time even if your laptop is disconnected from the Internet.

Off to check action plan writing schedule now to see what I can do!

NaNoWriMo 2 days to Go!

Are you packed? Did you get in line for bug spray? Have you assigned to a cabin?
Have you sketched out some ideas? Is your memory empty enough to save your next 50,000 words?

NaNo Summer Camp opens in just 2 days!
I have sketched out the list of writing that I will be doing, some of it is developing writing that already has an initial paragraph, although I had planned to plan the rest of the story before camp I am (due to a packing/ moving house schedule) going in as organically as I can and the writing will (hopefully) evolve in camp.

It isn’t quite going in stone cold but it’s pretty close.

I had hoped to start Nano in my summer house… but looks like it is going to involve several destinations.

Now is the time to make your NaNo promises to yourself.
Here are mine;

• I will write daily,
• I will not worry about falling behind word count
• I will schedule some time in the last weekend / days of camp to catch up and achieve my word count goal
• I will have fun and enjoy it
• I will share my experience with others
• I will produce 2-3 pieces ready to polish and publish
• I will cater for NaNo camp in the rest of my July writing schedule
• I will keep my camp promises

Awake Before the Early Worms

Gone are the days where waking up hours before the alarm caused frustration…
4:15 a.m – ‘Oh it’s 4:15 I can get some writing done as well as packing boxes before work!’
The thoughts of a madwoman maybe, but here I am – Polar cup in hand bashing away on the keys, this is what I was doing everyday and what I haven’t managed this month due to a packing schedule. All that is about to change (NaNoWriMo Camp) and the fact that I no longer have a telly (see previous post) is going to help pack quicker so naturally my writing schedule will be realised once again.
We may not have the internet working at home so that will also help me complete the offline writing work!

The problem with writing blog posts this early is my brain is still dozing and I struggle to keep thoughts in place.
It has been really hard not being able to access Blogland and I am enjoying the thought of returning to normal service as much as I am looking forward to moving into the new house!

I have still kept up a daily write (& not just the frantically scribbled list of ‘I need a PA’ errands to be completed alongside packing & working!
Sadly it was the last writing class this week, & I actually drove the right way into the city – saving half an hour of driving & petrol, over the course that;s 3hours of driving I needn’t have done! No wonder my car has needed filling up weekly!
The whole class went to the pub and had a great last parting company, I was okay until 4 people all left at the same time, I got a bit emotional then!
It was 11pm when I got in, pumped with adrenalin and had lots to instantly blog. (Oh for the 24/7 line connection! Whoop, whoop!) May be I should write a book about life in the 21st century and no service for people working in the world of tech. There is a frustrated character somewhere in there…

I am sure I will create some more blog posts about this great group of writers and our next adventures.

Off to check how far behind the June schedule has slipped. My online writing course finishes this week and I can’t access it. They extended the deadline of the last assignment (I submitted on time) here’s hoping!

Happy Writing