Starting a new editing job

I didn’t have chance to do any writing on Thursday evening, as the poet had band practice and I had to do the shopping. So we had a quick tea, and then we both went out. The band had a new PA system they wanted to set up, so it was a slightly later than usual band practice for them.

On Friday I was working on the client edit all day. All day. I finished work at around 1am and submitted it. Last week was a 4-day week, and I’ve decided that isn’t long enough for an 80,000-word edit. So I dropped the client a line to the effect that I would have to just work on them on 5-day weeks, and he agreed … to the extent that he sent me this week’s work on Saturday!

I still have to print off the hard copy, but both the desktop and the notebook switch wanted an update today, so while that completes on the desktop, I’m composing this on the notebook, again.

On Saturday we didn’t have to go anywhere or be anywhere. Leeds United were playing on the telly, so while the poet watched that (I think he wished he hadn’t …) I worked on a book review for NetGalley and I posted it here, on Amazon and on NetGalley. I also managed to write another 859 words for Catch the Rainbow.

Yesterday we nipped to the mother-in-law’s to do a very quick job for her, then when we got back we spent an hour in the garden. There are a few different pockets of garden around the bungalow, far too many to tackle all at once. So yesterday we just tidied up what we call the “bird garden”. We had two whole wheelie-bins’ worth of garden rubbish to burn by the end of just that one hour.

With me trying to pace my work again this week, the Pomodoro tomato has come out. Well, it’s called something else on the Kindle, which I can still see even if the phone rings. ClearFocus. I’m working in 25-minute bursts with 10-minute breaks and one “long” 45-minute break.

So far today, in my breaks, I’ve unloaded the dishwasher and put everything away, put one wash-load through, put one tumble-dryer-load on, hung out one lot of washing to dry, and folded some washing ready to go away.

I’ve turned the day on its head too, with my first work session being on Catch the Rainbow. I haven’t done any writing on this today, but I have done some structure work and some work on the chronology. Next time I sit down to it, I’ll be writing the next part up. And then I’ll do some structure work again.

And, of course, I’ve composed today’s blog on the notebook. The storms have, fortunately, died down, so the internet isn’t continually dropping out. But it seems a good habit to have got into, and so I’m going to carry on with it to see how it goes.

Still to do today is the new client edit. I have to merge it all into one file, print it off and then start the hard-copy edit.

The contract for the new book arrived on Friday. (Hurray!) So I’ll be going through that if I get a window. I also had an email off the subject’s great-granddaughter on Saturday, and I’ll be replying to that as soon as I can too.

The dog’s belly is making some strange gurgling noises today, and he’s been eating grass … so there’s something else for me to keep my eye on throughout the day.