What a week!
I have never tried to keep a diary before. It’s one of those tasks that has passed me by. Generally, I’ve always thought that they are journals for people with too much time on their hands.
Time … How to organise it, how to make best use of it. These are questions which are always tormenting my poor brain. I’ve never had time to sit down and record the events of my days. The better days it would be impossible (because they invariably involve largish quantities of alcohol, rendering their accurate recording more than a little problematic on the night, and downright impossible – or hellishly embarrassing – to recall the following morning).
My current editing/writing tools of choice. Yes, I still love the Conway Stewart, but I dare take these ones out with me daily!
But there is a lot that is worth recording.
Last week, I was so knocked sideways by a cold that I lost two days.
Usually that would be irrelevant and unimportant. However, it happened to affect me enormously because I was preparing for a talk this week to a lecture hall full of medical students. I was very keen to do a good job.
However, the preparation was badly affected by that blasted cold. It meant I didn’t have enough time to research and plan as well as I should have.
On Monday this week I had a meeting with the Historical Writers’ Association, involving four hours on trains up to Reading and back, and all the way I was working on the lecture, which I gave on Tuesday morning.
After the lecture there was the usual round of appointments with students, helping them with their essays – and thanks to the one who told me her essays and marks had improved massively since she started coming to me. It was good to hear that my work is helping.
Tuesday evening, and Wednesday too, I was basically wiped out. The after-effects of the cold hit me hard. Luckily I only dozed on the bus on the way home and didn’t sleep past my own stop. It was a close thing, though!
And then we reach today: Thursday. This morning I prepared for work with pens and paper, but as soon as I sat down, I realised my hearing aid was dead – and I’d run out of batteries. So off to Okehampton medical centre, and now it’s working again. Luckily I was able to walk the dog at the same time.
But then it was time to sit down and plan the next few weeks. I have three books to proofread in a hurry, a short story or two to write, a novella to write, a novel to write before the end of September, and another novel to edit extensively. Meanwhile I’ve also three ideas to expand upon which could one day end up as novels. And I’ve several events to attend. There are blog posts to write daily, I’ve taken up the concept of this diary, and in the meantime I also have to plan and prepare a marketing campaign for the next books to be launched.
Being an author does not mean sitting down and writing for three hours a day. It’s a full time job, with all the ancilliary work essential for any small business.
Which does leave me rather confused as well as very tired at the end of a week.
Still, tomorrow is a day off. Thank goodness for Easter! For tomorrow I will not worry about writing. All I intend doing is some painting and having fun!
I hope all those who celebrate the feast day have a great weekend, and I wish the same for those who don’t!
writerlywitterings 
When you say painting ……
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