How are we all doing today? I wrote about 600 words during the write in this morning. And I’ve also had a bit of a sort out of my desk this afternoon. I feel a little more organised now.
The gears are really beginning to turn at the moment and I’m getting really eager to wrap up Zombie, Penal Earth, and Black Blood. Other stories are really shouting at me and it is very much time I put these three longer term project to bed.
Right, have an awesome afternoon and evening folks. I’ve got a long day at work tomorrow so likely won’t be posting then but will be writing at some point.
I had a somewhat productive day. I got about twelve pages of a short story read through. This is in preparation for expanding on it in the future.
I also mapped out the next seven days schedule, probably the most ambitious I’ve been with a weekly plan for a while. If I don’t push myself I’ll get stagnant again.
Next months goals are coming along nicely. I’ve almost fully settled on them and it should be a productive month.
I’ve had a couple of writing off days this week but am back on it today. I think I can get this edit off Penal Earth wrapped up today, which’ll be super is I can as I’ve got Black Blood scenes that I know I need to add clawing at my brain for attention.
I’m still getting used to my new desk set up. It’s nice having that extra space to have my laptop but I need to get used to it. I do like having the space to just push my laptop backwards when I’m not using it and not off to one side so I can write with a pen etc. I still make a lot of notes by hand, and am getting back into the habit of brainstorming with pen and paper.
Speaking of brainstorming, I’ve been working on a rewrite for a short story I wrote years ago. At first I thought it would be a few elements added to fill it out a little, but now it’s growing and I think it’s more novella/novel length story. So I’m seriously considering this being my NaNoWriMo project for this year. Yeah I said it, NaNoWriMo! (You ready for it this year *Chuck?). It’s never too early for me to start preparing for NaNoWriMo. I’ve found when I’ve got a novel for NaNo I need to be prepared for it. So that’s what I’m doing. (side note, I’m out of tea!!!!!!!!!).
I am going to get some words wrangled now. I’d like to have my writing done by midday as I’ve got bits and pieces to do in the garden with my dad and then a few other non-writing bits like tidying and so forth. I do have an appointment via phone this morning so it may be more 1pm that I aim to be finished with the words for the day.
After some busy days I’ve got a lot to get done this morning. I’m going to spend half an hour editing after I’ve written this post and then it’s to work on other bits and pieces before midday.
I’ve already got a lot done, so it’s been productive so far.
This morning I have finally taken my desktop off my desk. It’s barely been working for months now and until I’ve got the money to get it looked at (which will be some time), it’s just taking up space. So I’m going to pop it into a cupboard until then. It is frustrating as its a good desktop and when it is working I use it a lot, but its not and I do still have the laptop so it’s not like it’s stopping me from working.
Right, that’s it for now. I’m going to crack on and see how much I can get done.
1698 words done, and a short story first draft done! Seriously happy with this. It follows a lovely afternoon with family. I’m really happy with the way the story has gone, and I’m looking forward to diving into the edits this coming week.
This story is for an anthology that I’ve seen the call for. So I’ll get it in as good a shape as I can before getting it to my beta readers and then off to the editor.
I already have the next story underway, as I’ve mentioned in the last couple of posts. It’s a way off being finished, but I’ve got a good feel for it. This is for an anthology as well, I’ve got to check the submission window and see what time I have to play with.
These two stories are for an anthology series and I’ve got a feeling that this one, that isn’t even a thousand words yet, has it’s deadline before the one I finished today. So I’ve got to look it up in a minute.
I’m really enjoying having my own little space to write. It was nice just going in, popping the window open, getting some music going and just writing. It’s a nice space with a good feel and even though it’s not nearly done yet I can see little things that I want to do to it as I go.
Dizzy hanging out in the office, okay not hanging out but asking for dinner! 🤣
Today has been good, a little emotional at times, but not bad emotionally. One part of my life is shite, and will be for a while I believe but I’m not letting anything defeat me. I’m fired up, and can see how (writing wise) the next eighteen months could go.
I have had a good day, well aside from waking to see I had to do a forth coat of paint this morning. That green really was a bastard to paint over. If I could go back and slap myself sixteen, seventeen years ago I would do. That said, I think it looks good. I ran out of the paint I was originally using, so used some my parents had left which I actually like a lot more.
It felt good though, best part of two days of moving furniture and painting. It was nice to do something practical. The news I had Monday hit me harder than I realised and having something I was able to get physically stuck into that is something I needed. I’ve been doing something that will aide my long term goals with writing. I know how lucky I am having this space and I’m going to make the most of it.
As you can see from the pictures the original colour was very patchy after two coats. I’m okay decorating, but it’s not something I’m skilled at. That said, the fourth coat went on well this morning (sorry I forgot to take pictures), and I gave it a couple of hours to dry. I literally had just enough to do that fourth coat and two in the wall cupboard.
Once the paint had dried it was time to get the furniture in place. Although an office I need to have my wardrobe and a chest of draws in there. The wardrobe was the hardest to move just because of the weight but I got it where it’s going. Then slid the desk against the chimney stack and then a plastic unit by the chest of draws.
Raven investigating.
I had shelves in one of the alcoves which I couldn’t get to go back in, so my dad is going to get some wood and make me three more shelves to replace the ones that didn’t fit back in. After probably twenty years, they’d warped and it just wasn’t going to work. Having those shelves there will be handy, so I’m glad I’ll still have some there.
The green lampshade will be going at some point.
The layout was easy, one of the things I like is a nice bit of floor space. I don’t like feeling boxed in too much and how it’s laid out now I like.
I like the basics of this set up. Desk in the middle, printer to my left. You can see the brackets for the shelves on the left hand side alcove. That will pretty much stay like that. I’ll probably get a new unit for the printer to go on one day but it’s not a priority. The shelves I’m going to use for file storage.
On the right hand side in the other alcove you can see containers of paperwork. That is mainly old drafts that I almost threw out when I moved out, I’m glad I didn’t. I’ll find storage for them now I’m back here. That’s my history as a writer. I’m not going to just toss it aside. The sad part is there’s a lot more and when I was planning to toss it, a lot got mixed up. So I’ve got a lot to sort out at some point. eventually there will be a book case in that alcove.
Some new curtains will be added as well.
I really like this layout. I’ve got plenty of room to move and pace when I’m stuck. Once I finished getting it all sorted (the wall cupboard is still a bit of a mess but that’ll have to be sorted properly later on), I had a shower and got a little bit of writing done. Only 487 words but good words.
This evening I’ve also edited 16357 words this evening after I ate. This gets my zombie novella done with this stage. Tomorrow I’ll print it out and red pen it in the next few days.
I’m thinking about what’s going to be handy to have in here, I think one of the first things will be a dry/erase board, which I think I’ll put on the wall above my desk. I don’t really need much, but there’s things I’ll add to the space over the next few years that’ll be both for decoration/inspiration but also practical things that’ll aide with the writing process. I’ve got a few items to decorate the space already, which are things I have in my room. I’ve just got to choose which ones.
So, it’s a been a very productive day. I’m looking forward to taking advantage of the space and upping my productivity. I know how lucky I am having this space, I really do. I’m not going to squander it.
How about you? Do you have a space to write in, or is it a case of writing wherever you can.
Woke up this morning and checked to see how the paint has dried…patchy. Very very patchy. So I’m going to have a bit of breakfast and then get that fourth coat on. I’m going to try and clear out that walk in cupboard and do it all in one go. Then it’ll be putting everything back where it needs to go, and then maybe get some words done.
Good evening folks, a quick little post tonight. I’ve been decorating what will be my office. I also had a phone call to take at midday and drop my car off and then pick it up from the garage. So not a whole lot of time today to write. But I did get 238 words done on a short story.
It was snatching words in two quick sittings, and tomorrow may be the same. The majority of the painting is done, I just need to paint a wall cupboard and then it’s done. I’ll do that once I’ve got the furniture back in and I can clear out the items in the cupboard. It’s literally a five minute job. The only reason I didn’t do it today is because I didn’t have room to put the items that are in there.
I’ll have some pictures in a post in the next couple of days. Today it’s a picture of another note book 😁
Hey folks! Over 800 words today. I did a little before work and just spent half an hour doing the rest. I think I know where I’m going with this story at the moment, and hope I’m getting the vibe of it just right.
As I said last night I’m going to be decorating what’s going to be my office over the next couple of days. I’m not going to go too mad. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just what I need it to be.
I was speaking to another writer about writing spaces and they had some great tips about how to set a home office up. This person is a established writer who has got themselves to the point where they can write full time. It’s also someone who I respect greatly so I take what they say seriously. It’s definitely given me a few things to think about that I hadn’t thought of.
So, the next couple of days are going to be busy. I’m gonna take pictures as I go and post them up here for all to see.
This is going to be good for both my writing and my soul. Its going to be something practical that I need to get stuck into and it’s groundwork for a project that’ll take some time. I’m not gonna have the office exactly how I want it but the end of the year, cash flow alone won’t allow that. But getting it cleaned and a fresh coat of paint on the walls is a good start and I can build slowly and steadily from there.
A new writing pad 😊
Time for me to log out now. I’m gonna drop my car off for a little maintenance first thing then straight back home to make a start.
A slower day today, 363 words. That’s more than I started the day with and it’s my fourth day in a row writing. I haven’t written four days in a row since late March! That’s not good enough. I know it’s better than I’ve been doing at times this year, but I still need to do better. To achieve what I want to achieve I need to do better.
I think I’m progressing well. It isn’t that long ago that I was posting here that I’m going slowly and I know it’s going to take time to get going again. That seems like a long time ago, but I know it wasn’t. I’m a little surprised by how quickly I’ve progressed, and yet I’m disappointed that I haven’t got moe done. I feel like I’ve failed today because the news I had yesterday has hit me a little today. Nothing harsh but just didn’t have any oomph. I felt like I was trying to chip the words into a rock with a piece of celery. I tried to stick it out though, and although I’m not happy with what I’ve written, I think it’s something I can work with when I came to edit.
The morning sky the other day.
I’ve given myself the task of some decorating by the weekend. I’ve got a space that’ll primarily be my office, but it needs pulling into shape. (I’m going to document it I think). So writing will likely be on the back burner but I’m still planning on getting words down. The idea at the moment is to build up some consistency. Working everyday to get myself into both the mindset and habit of writing being work. If I want to achieve what I need to then I need to treat this as more than something to pass the time.
And not for nothing, I need some consistency because before we know it…..NaNoWriMo 😉
Peter Germany's World 