50,000 WORDS SO FAR

I have now written 50,000 words towards THE NOVEL. I am very pleased with progress and have been able to devote several days on the trot to uninterrpted writing. I have also done the first edit of the first 40,000 words and made several changes. It's quite easy to have continuity errors if you are not careful and I spotted several that I was able to rectify.

I am off to Spain for a month and I don't expect the weather to be up to much so I am aiming to continue with the first draft and hopefully, by the time I come home I will be almost finished.

Resolutions - What Resolutions?

Do I make resolutions at New Year? Mmm, good question. I used to make a whole list, writing them down in a pretty notebook. I don't make them anymore. I think it's because I always set myself goals throughout the year. For example, I set a goal to finish my Writer's Bureau Course by the end of 2010 and to have my last assignment sent off. This was achieved. I said I would have the first draft of the NOVEL written by the end of the year. This wasn't achieved but I did manage around 30,000 words - not much, really but a good start.

I think it's better to have continuous goals to work towards rather than make a long list on New Year's Eve to see most of them broken by the end of January. You have to be realistic too. It's pointless saying you will shed two stone by February when you know that would be nigh on impossible unless you starved yourself. It's daft to say you'll finish your book, edited as well, by Easter when you haven't even started it. Unless you want to spend 24/7 at the computer, you aint gonna get it done!

My current goals (that have nothing to do with it being a new year) are to have the first draft of my book completed by Easter. I think this is very reasonable because Easter is later this year so that gives me a few extra weeks and so far I have now written 43,000 words to date.

My other goals are ongoing personal ones that I am giving 6 months to achieve or be well on the road to achieving.

I will keep you posted on progress.

It's That Time Again

I've had a Christmas and New Year break from everything! I've had a happy two weeks of over indulging, socialising and just generally getting away from the bump and grind of daily routine. It's now 4th January and today is the first day I am now 'back to normal.' That means back to writing for a start. I last used this computer on 23rd December when I added to THE NOVEL. I was going to start again yesterday but I was still busy getting organised after Christmas. I've spent the New Year getting the decorations down, putting away my christmas presents and generally having a good sort out and tidy up. A sort of new year spring clean if you like. Today it's back to business and I'm really hoping that this year will see me doing some serious writing.

I'm also planning at least three trips to Spain (two are already booked), a river cruise holiday in August and some theatre excursions.

What else? You'll just have to keep reading to find out!