I spent this morning reviewing what I did over the summer and writing about it, noting the lessons I’ve learnt from the distractions, and from the eBook publishing I’ve done. It was useful to review and reflect. I also noticed how the time since 30th June (when I became freelance) has stretched and elongated – it seems ages ago – but the actual number of days I’ve spent writing has been few in comparison. The other days were spent on holiday with my family (camping / Bournemouth), looking into part-time teaching, or looking after the small boy, not sitting on the sofa eating crisps. But evaluating like this has helped me get a sense of where my time goes.
I spent this afternoon sequencing scenes in my crime novel. By that I mean that the thing is written in draft form but needs a better structure and a greater level of threat and suspense. It’s pretty tiring, I think because it uses a bit of my brain that is under-exercised, i.e. the bit I use for sequencing needs oiling. However, it’s a really useful exercise. Part of the reason it’s useful is that I know exactly what I need to do: I answer a set of questions for each scene in the book, and note down any queries (there are lots) and any holes in the story.
I had a story rejected today – not too bad, as I was pretty sure it would be. Nice words in the email too, so the rejection was one of the nicest things that happened to me today. It suggested that I send the story somewhere else, so I went hunting for story competitions. There aren’t many that will let you submit 6K words, but I found one with a deadline coming up and sent it in. I re-read the story and feel good about it. I can hear my writer’s voice emerging again, a more mature version of the voice I had in my first two novels.
By the way, here is a handy list of short story competitions in case you need one.