So April went pretty well, with me getting back into the pace of regular writing. The first week of May… well, I wrote 6800 words or so, which is not shabby at all, and yet falls short of the 7500 I was aiming for. 700 words, that’s not much, right? Except that these things are hard to catch up on and then you get left behind, and…

Looking back on the week I can see my errors. I did great for several days, not only knocking off the 1500 word target comfortably, but also burning through to do lists, which incorporate necessary tasks, housework, exercise, Pendlerook business, other writing/editing, and those things I’ve been putting off for weeks or months. I’ve discovered a few rules of thumb, like that if I don’t factor in exercise I don’t exercise, and that if I want to actually complete a day’s to do list, it has to be a) realistic and b) not have more than 10 items on it.

Things didn’t get problematic until Thursday, a day when I only have about 3 hours at home, and those hours with a baby, which means one naptime. Trying to pack a whole 10 item to do list into that day was a mistake. Deliberately cutting short the amount of writing I had to do that day, to make it up on my much friendlier Friday (in which I have five hours at home before the school pick up, with baby, and at least two naps) would have been fine if I didn’t also have to do items for Friday. 2000 word Fridays are possible if there is nothing else to get done. I was aiming for 2500… plus STUFF.

Btw in case it’s not obvious, ‘nap’ as a unit of measurement is roughly an hour to an hour & a half when the baby (not ME) is napping and I have time to do things without my attention having to be shared.

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I found out yesterday that Power and Majesty could be in the shops as early as 25 May, which threw me into a bit of a tizzy. June still sounded safely and longingly far off, but May arrives on Saturday, and really, I’m already getting an armchair in May, do I deserve a book too?

(the armchair will be my combined mothers day & birthday present and I am ridiculously excited by it, who needs surprises? I want a CHAIR)

There are many tough parts to being a writer. The long period of not getting published is pretty much agony, but believe me, it’s not as bad as a long period not getting published after actually getting published, because if there’s one thing getting published gives you, it’s the expectation that it will happen again.

Having your expectations punctured is compulsory, for a writer. Getting accepted for publication is not the Happy Ever After you may think it is – it’s page one.

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I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. Thank you, Doctor Who podcasts and RTD writing book, my obsession has now reached epic proportions. My brain is officially full of Doctor Who.

I woke up this morning, early, with a burning revelation about how Planet of the Dead could have been fixed, and redeemed beyond all measure.

(SPOILER CUT for those who haven’t seen it, or who don’t want to kick themselves for not also seeing this easy scripting fix which would make the story ten times better)

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