It’s been a little while since I blogged, so I wanted to hop on to give you a little update on how things are! I’ve been doing lots of reading and writing, and every time I look up it seems like another week has suddenly whisked by!
I had a great time doing the Summer BookHiBearNation the other week, and I will be posting a wrap-up for that soon. I also went on my post-birthday book shopping spree (I tend to do these sorts of updates over on my instagram @thewritinghideout but will be doing a haul post here soon too hopefully). What with that and the various readathons left in August - Schwab Readalong, A-Spec August, and the MythTake book of the month are the ones I’m trying to tackle - it feels like I barely stop long enough to blog about all the reading I’ve been doing!
With the changes to rules happening constantly about distancing and what is open, I’m starting to get itchy feet to be out of the house, too. In normal times, I can’t tolerate a whole day in the house by myself, and that feeling is definitely returning now we’re actually allowed out more. I’m spending a lot of time at a distance in friends’ gardens and really enjoying not being stuck at home by myself, but it does mean that the days are racing away from me a bit more than they had been!
The other thing that is demanding a lot of my time and attention has been my writing. I am re-writing my WIP on the back of feedback from friends, and it’s taking a lot of time. I have to write 1.5-2k a day to get it finished by the end of the summer holidays, because I know I’ll struggle to write that much once I am back at work in September. Recently in the heat my brain has really slowed down, and I’m at the point where I just want it to be done but equally I have about 20k left to write. That’ll give me an overall wordcount of just shy of 100k (again) so will have to go over it and hack it down to 85-90k which will be a challenge. I’m finding it quite frustrating that I’m not writing as succinctly as I’d like, but also for the last week my brain has felt like it has been literally melting out of my ears, which explains a lot.
Productivity is the name of the game, so I think I’ll be rattling through some quick reads in the next week or so as that always makes me feel as if I have ‘achieved’ something and tends to then make me more productive with my days in general. I’m also really looking forward to getting my teeth in to editing the earlier chunk of my WIP and hacking it down with wordcount, as I really feel like I need that sense of forward momentum.
How is August treating you all? What are you reading / enjoying at the moment?
