Writing and editing and planning, oh my!

I only have a three-day week this week. This isn’t because of any actual holidays. It’s because I have two appointments in Solihull, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. And as it takes around 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get back – on a good run – plus the time to get ready (me, the car, the dog) and the time there, that’s two days wiped out completely for me.

On Thursday we also have an appointment at either end of the day in Doncaster, which means we can’t leave on Thursday until after 9am and we have to be back by 5pm. The dog is having a day at “his nanna’s”. He’ll enjoy that.

We also had a busy weekend – again. On Saturday we went to ‘G’ for the alphabet adventurers. Due to traffic, it took us a very long time to get there, but only 2 hours to get back. This means we have that to write-up as soon as we can, as well as the photographs to edit and the video to edit and produce.

Yesterday the poet spent the morning mixing concrete and building fences, we spent the afternoon visiting,  and then he finished the fence. There are still two gates to go up and whatever fencing required in any gaps.

We would have gone to visit my mom yesterday too, but as I’m there tomorrow and Thursday and we’re both there Thursday, she might get two visits this week instead.

Already this morning I’ve found a time-logging app so that we can both see where all of my time seems to go. I know a lot of it goes on housework, which isn’t really what I gave up the day job for.

I gave up the day job so I could write, but I’ve been very busy these past few weeks editing and proofreading other people’s writing. I delivered two back last week as well as another at the end of the previous week to the author. I’ve already started the next one, but I’m also awaiting those author revisions.

Today, then, I started by not doing any housework, other than letting the chickens out. In a moment I have to stop the current timer (“write blog post”) and start the next one (“check on chickens & change water”). I’ve already completed two other time-logs (“admin” and “Catch the Rainbow” – wahey!). I’ll see how much more I get through in one day by not doing any housework.

Other writerly jobs for me this 3-day week include:

  • planning work The Beast Within – a Marcie Craig mystery
  • write #1 (draft 1) Bramble Jelly
  • write #2 (draft 2) Go, Go, Go Joseph
  • write (type) #3 (draft 3) Is this where you pee?
  • edit & submit Pippa & Davey Forever

Looking at that, the only one that should cause real consternation is the first draft. I love planning and I love editing. Writing the first draft takes a little more stamina and dedication.

Reading jobs this week are:

  • finish reading book #10 for NetGalley
  • finish reading book #41 for 52 Books in 52 Weeks

If I finish reading both of these, then I might write-up the reviews.

Client jobs are:

  • edit one book for lovely already client
  • check in with author of book sent at end of previous week

Not sure where this one fits in, but …

  • hand-write ‘G’ is for … for the alphabet adventurers

We keep all of the adventures in a single book or “bible”. The first write-up is where the fact-checking comes in, then we both use the write-up for voice-overs (mostly the poet, sometimes me) and the blog post (me).

The bible includes the date we went, the date I write up the first version, and the date I write the blog post. The blog post coincides with the day the video is published online, so all the links work.

So that’s the plan for this week, but I won’t beat myself up if I don’t achieve all of it. I’ll check my time-logs to see where I’ve lost time and where I can grab more time from. Those two days out won’t help, though.

What’s on your to-do list this week?

4 thoughts on “Writing and editing and planning, oh my!

  1. It’s actually a slow week for me. One article due next week, so I sit and wait for interviewees to get back to me.

    We were to head to Stirling for the Runrig concert. Alas, we did not get ourselves organized at all, so we now have tickets to a show we aren’t attending. 🙁 No trip to the UK this month, sadly.

    So the weekend will be fussing about the house and cleaning up after the window installers (the reason we didn’t get our act together and plan our trip). They were neat, but there’s a bit of touch-up painting to do.

    1. What a shame you didn’t make the concert – or the trip. Perhaps make the most of some unexpected time and recharge? Oh yes, and to enjoy the new windows! 🙂

Comments are closed.