I managed to hit my desk by 9am yesterday morning, so that’s something. We’ll ignore the fact that I then went to get dressed …
At least the garden wasn’t swarming with work people by the time I was ready to start work … ha! Famous last words …
I’m trying to share some pictures from our new surroundings. If they have anything to do with the blog post, all well and good. But often, they don’t. They’re just decoration. Rather like today’s.
If I don’t have anything suitable or one I quite like the look of, I’ll try and find something more fitting online. But if I have a nice one of our new surroundings, that’s what you’re getting.
I’m struggling to get some of these pictures off my phone at the moment. For a few days, all works well. But then once in a while I have a day when either WordPress or the phone won’t let me upload a picture. I have to save the picture to my memory stick first and then post it from there.
I’m due a new phone now anyway. I really like the one I have as it still fits in my pocket and is quite lightweight. The storage on it isn’t very good, though, and there isn’t the space for any new apps. That means the government’s new Track and Trace app has no chance right now …
The mobile phone company have already contacted me to offer me a new phone of their choice and a new contract for an extra £30 (that’s extra) a month. Erm, no thanks. I’ll choose my own phone, ta.
I believe that mobile phones should be exactly what they say they are, and mobile should equal small.
I remember when they were the size of a house brick when they first came out. We seem to be going backwards. The poet’s phone is almost the same size as my Kindle Fire. Perhaps one day they’ll be the size of a television!
So I’m looking around for a nice, compact, mobile phone that will still fit in my pocket.
Catch the Rainbow
First job of the day was Catch the Rainbow. My target word-count was 782. I went to make my ritual cup of tea, and then I opened up Scrivener.
I had one scene to finish, which I did, and then I did another complete scene. They’re only little scenes, but I managed to write 988 words. Yay!
I had to fix a plot hole as I had a funeral service with no body … and then they were going to the crem … Erm, no they weren’t. Not without a body. It was really a memorial service for two people, with both bodies concerned still lying in a morgue awaiting further investigations.
Only my characters weren’t going to the crem because they didn’t want to. So I had to have them not going to the wake instead. Oh, the trials and tribulations we face!
I saved the Scrivener file, compiled it to Word, and closed it down.
I’ll leave today’s target at 782.
Diary of a Pussycat
I had about 10 minutes left to look at Diary of a Pussycat. My target word-count was 429, but before I could even start, I had to find the file. My WiP (work in progress) drawer has all of my outstanding projects in, and one client project that was abandoned had to come out and go into the recycling bin as the client had decided not to continue with it weeks ago.
I got “into the zone”, but was in the middle of writing up the exercises for Chapter 45, completely lost in my own little world, when there came a tap upon the office window. The painter was back, and he wanted one of the doors opening again. (Sigh!) And I had to find my way back into my own little world once more …
I’d just about got there again, when they came to collect the poet’s hire car … Nobody told me they were coming to collect the car. It’s a good job I knew where the car key was. (And no one told the poet they were coming to collect it either.)
And then my time was up. Not only had I only written 228 words, I’d also finished filling a notebook and had to find another. (Yes, this writing project is currently by hand.)
Ah well. That was 228 words more than the day before, but it did bump today’s target up to 437.
I went to find another notebook from the same set, so I could carry on with the exercises today, and the only one I could find is one we’ve already started Wormy’s Kitchen in. He’s only used 4 pages, though. I’ll find him a fresh notebook if he wants to carry on with it.
The whole file for Diary of a Pussycat went into the “to-do” basket on my desk, rather than getting hidden away in the drawer. I should be able to go straight to it today.
Ghostwriting
I girded my loins with another cup of tea, as well as 2 (sugar-free) biscuits, opened the Scrivener file, flexed my fingers, and began …
… and hit a brick wall.
Scrivener wasn’t playing nicely and I had to remind myself how to get it to let me use my own italics, instead of underlining them, and how to use my own chapter headings, instead of duplicating or removing them. So I had a bit of a faff, playing around with that.
Then I re-opened the file and re-read the outline for the opening scene. I re-read the character descriptions for my two main characters, and went off to grab some images from the internet. With those safely stored on my memory stick and one of each pasted into my Scrivener file, I started again …
… and then I was distracted by what my hero might be doing in my opening scene. So I did an internet search and now have a whole folder full of online resources for the period in question. I decided that he would be reading the paper …
… and then I wondered what exactly he might be reading in the newspaper at the time. So I started to scour the internet again and somehow ended up with a subscription to the British Newspaper Archive.
All I wanted was a topic that would capture his attention. But, goodness me, I could have read and read and read, for hours.
I had to snap myself out of it and bring myself back to the page. I had dinner at my desk and the dog went without his walk, while I stared at the screen wondering how to open my story authentically.
But once I’d started, there was almost no holding me back … until I got distracted again. This time, I was searching for (1) a suitable title (gentry), and (2) a suitable name for a minor character.
The upshot is I now have pages and pages of online resources. And before I knew it, the day was over and the painter had gone. I only managed to write 401 words. I read it to the poet, though, and it didn’t sound too bad out loud. he said it was “good”, but I have to stop over-thinking it.
I didn’t manage any more work yesterday.
Hopefully today will be better …
Jobs to do today
Today’s jobs are the same as yesterday’s. I’ve changed the target word-count for Diary of a Pussycat, but I’ve left Catch the Rainbow the same as yesterday. The ghostwriting target will stay the same too, for now.
- blog post = 500 words ✅
- Catch the Rainbow = 782 words
- Diary of a Pussycat = 437 words
- Ghostwriting Gig #1 = 2,000 words
- this week’s proofreading job
Word meters as at 9am today
I’ve noticed that when the email alert comes through for a blog post that the word meters are just solid colours. Are you seeing that too? Or is it just me?
Catch the Rainbow
45,788/80,000 words. 57% done!
Diary of a Pussycat
39,939/50,000 words. 80% done!
Ghostwriting Gig #1
401/63,000 words. 1% done!
(Word meters from Language is a Virus.)
