Thursday 27 July 2023: A fair day

Yesterday went fairly well.

It might be because the to-do list wasn’t very long, but I still shifted a fair few words and pages.

I had two writing projects on my to-do list:

1. Catch the Rainbow
2. Project Management for Writers: Gate 2

The idea was initially to do a bit of something on both of them. But when I checked my schedule, I should have started work on the project management book on Monday. I baulked from doing anything like that, though, because of my mountain of proofreading. Then I checked ahead and realised this book is in my schedule for several weeks.

So I sat down and started work.

I already have a Scrivener file for all of the project management books. Yes, this means that the file just keeps getting bigger and bigger, but it also means everything is in one place. When I worked off a memory stick, it really was a problem when the file got to big because it got slower and slower. Now I work off my hard drive, and back up my work to an external drive, Scrivener isn’t as laggy.

So I set up the folder in my binder for Book 3, which also just happens to be Gate 3, and I created files for each of the chapters, including the two front matter parts (introduction and the gates) and the one end matter part (about the author and more from the author are usually in the same section). And I settled down to fill these front and end matter parts first.

By the time I came up for air, I’d written 4,071 words. That’s an excellent start.

I’d loaded some books onto all of my Kindles and I wanted to use the paperwhite. It’s lighter, and it’s easier on the eyes. But it’s old now (5th gen), slow, and the battery’s wearing out. So I hopped on to Amazon and asked one of the techies which paperwhite is the best replacement that still has 4G. The techie assured me that the 11th gen paperwhite was the one I wanted, so I ordered it and a cover.

Then I started to read the reviews…

BIG mistake.

Apparently, it doesn’t have the mobile connectivity I wanted, but it can conned to the internet using my phone as a hotspot. The thing is, my old 5th gen 3G still works even when my 5G mobile phone doesn’t.

I also take my paperwhite camping, because the screen is much easier to read in bright light, as well as the 3G connectivity… But the 11th gen apparently can’t be used outside in the UK and Europe for some reason.

Uh?

People have paid for the ad-free version and there are still ads on the main screen… and most people who know me know how much I can’t stand intrusive unsolicited adverts.

And the so-called 6-week charge-holding period? That used to be 8 weeks when the 11th gen first came out? Too many people were having to charge theirs overnight, every day. That’s another thing I like the paperwhite for – it’s long charge-hold.

Anyway, I ended up scrolling through pages and pages of very negative reviews and by the time I’d finished, I cancelled the order. I need to do more research before making my decision, which would have been easier if others hadn’t complained that Amazon wouldn’t let them return their devices. In the meantime I’ll carry on with my old workhorse.

It was almost dinner time by now, and I had an appointment to get my hair cut at 2pm. So while I had my dinner, I revised another one of my online workshops, Writing Into the Dark.

I had to pause the videos while I went to my appointment at 1:55pm, but there were two others still being ‘done’ before me when I arrived at bang on 2pm. He didn’t get around to me until 2:30pm. He didn’t apologise.

I got back home and the poet was back from his business trip, so I made us a pot of tea and we caught up on the gossip. Then I finished the Writing Into The Dark workshops before coming here to write the blog.

I still had a short story to brainstorm (Terrors From The Toy Box). There was another one (After Tomorrow), but they were an either/or and I went for the toy box. And I still had proofreading to do. I decided to do the proofreading, and if I hit the day’s quota, then I’d have a look at brainstorming the toy box story. I’d already had a few nightmares in the past few days, though, so the poet wasn’t really keen on my giving it too much thought.

The next and last job of the day was proofreading. I only managed 22 pages before tea was ready. I had every intention of coming back to it so I could at least stop at a suitable place. But then we started to watch Wire in the Blood and the evening was gone.

But overall, the day went fairly well.

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