7500

You know, I was quite convinced that I'd posted here yesterday, but apparently not! And to think that I was blaming blogger for being rubbish.

Got another 2500 yesterday, in between shopping and cooking and cleaning, before our guests arrived at six.

We've just dropped them off at the station now, so I'm settling in to try and get some more words before tea.

The first week has gone really well, actually. I think that having a deadline, even one quite far away at the moment, and having the Write On guys hovering in the back of my mind has really helped me get stuck in.

I suppose I should have some goals for the next week, but I'm off to Gothenburg on Wednesday morning and don't get back until Saturday night. I probably won't have much in the way of internet or even computer access while I'm out there, and I'll be working pretty much all hours, so it's difficult to know how much I'll be able to achieve.

Ideally, I guess, I'd like to hit 10K total tonight (which is very optimistic) and then get another 2500 over the next couple of days.

Then, while I'm away, I can concentrate a bit more on plotting and thickening the story, and perhaps get some words down if I get the time.

Maybe I should just see how I get on tonight first!

5000

This is going well.

A solid 1500 words this evening, introducing some key members of Emily's family, and getting Em and Joe on stage together again, even if only briefly.

In the real world, Simon has almost finished fixing the rotten windowsill in the study, and is now stripping wallpaper ready to start decorating.

Suppose I'd better go help him, actually.

Brussels

Urgh. Just back from Brussels. Just horrible. So very glad that meeting is over. Urgh.

No words, but in the very short space I had for thinking (about 15 minutes early this morning) I answered some important questions I had about the primary conflict.

As soon as I've had some sleep (and more painkillers) I think I should be able to make good use of this new knowledge...

But definitely sleep first.

3000

Managed to steal some time today to write Emily's first scene, and amend Joe's to fit. Everything is coming together for the opening, I think, but I suspect that there will be a lot of going back and forth and fixing bits of this story throughout.

Right, must go clean the bathroom, then start the beef, ginger and cranberry casserole going so that it's ready when Mary gets here.

Might try and get a few more hundred words down in between, though...

Study-less

I'm typing this at the writing desk in my spare room, which is clearly not in any way built to house a computer. Simon has done something with pieces of wood to make it vaguely workable, but I think my wrists might break if I have to work here too long - they're resting on rather sharp edges...

The reason for this is that, six months after we bought this house, we are finally in a position to decorate my study. We've done the lounge/diner, and the bedroom and even the spare bedroom, and now it's my room's turn. Except, while we were decorating all the other rooms, we dumped all these half-full boxes of stuff into the study. Which I now need to sort through before we can start removing wallpaper and so forth.

Still, it's easier to think in here than in the study at the moment; I don't work well when I'm surrounded by mess and clutter. And the study will be lovely when it's finished.

My wrists hurt.

2000

Okay, managed to rewrite that scene to a decent length, and improve the general content too, so I'm feeling moderately satisfied.

Hopefully I'll be able to get a decent amount of writing done this weekend, but I also need to start clearing out the study ready to decorate (I'll work so much better in there once it's clear and nice to be in!)

Then my cousin's coming over for dinner tomorrow night, and I promised Simon that we'd go in to London on Sunday.

And then I'm off to Brussels with work on Monday.

Guess I'll just have to make sure I keep the notebook with me at all times, and try to get some longhand work done...

1000

Right, dug out the first 1000 words I'd scribbled on this.

They're dreadful, but I think I know how to make this a viable scene - and at least getting in to it has made it easier to visualise the whole.

Hopefully I'll have some time to rewrite this tonight or tomorrow.

Challenged

So Michelle Rowen (http://www.michellerowen.com/blog/) challenged her readers to write a novel along with her.

In the hope of group inspiration (and public mockery if I fail) I'm in - novel deadline, 1st August.

Well, it's about time I started writing this thing anyway.

Might need to try and uncover my desk, though...