18,472, surprises and shout outs

Morning followers, so nice to see you return, it really does keep me going seeing the blog visit rise each week. Thank you.

I’ve had a decent writing week, whilst on holiday from school. I didn’t manage to hit my goal, editing twenty chapters, but I did manage to edit 18,472 words – which is a fifth of the novel. Quite an achievement for me, so I’m not going to be disappointed regards missing my goal, maybe it was simply too optimistic.

Anyway, I’ve surprised myself by actually enjoying the editing process – that is a first for me. I love the initial writing, but the work for draft two usually sends me into a confidence meltdown. I usually find myself running about in circles, doubting my style, my tone and even my plotlines. Not this time – which feels like such an achievement. Instead, I’ve encountered moments of joy and laughter, when I’ve come across a detail that I can’t remember writing, which shows my development as a writer. I’ve added a new counter to my panel to track my progress on draft two.

I attended a writers’ meeting on Wednesday, it was a very quiet night but I was simply delighted to have made it without cancelling. Yay, my routines are back! It was great catching up with Alex and Janis, who each read a piece and received a critique. It is a tiny group but I still gain support and inspiration from hearing their work and seeing their progress.

I spent a day reading Roald Dahl’s autobiography ‘Boy’ which has sat on my ‘To-read bookcase’ for quite a while. Anyway, what a delight? He doesn’t bore you like some autobiographies, I always find there’s a huge section in the middle not worth reading - Dahl excluded this by focusing on his childhood. He paints his memories in vivid detail but within each the reader is able to connect the experience to his writing – he really did pull from his experiences to produce his beautiful stories. Anyway, a joy to read yet, small enough to consume in one day.

I’m currently reading ‘The Peacock Emporium’ by Jojo Moyes – a recommendation by a colleague, after I raved about Moyes’ ‘Me before you’. I’m am page 175, and have to say I’ve had a couple of surprises along the way. I love it when you’re partway through a book when you stop reading, urgently flick back to a previous chapter and scan for details only to realise – you’ve been had!

O.K. what are my goals for this week? Well, given that the madness returns from tomorrow – my plans for today revolve about a last ditch attempt to edit draft two. Next week, I haven’t any writers’ meetings so intend to spend each evening continuing the plod. I’ve set a self imposed deadline for draft two as 21^st June – so just three weeks to complete. Please return; pretty please as it does motivate me knowing you guys are watching my progress.

Finally, a huge shout out to various countries, who regularly view this blog: Russia, Malta, USA, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Sweden and finally, my British buddies – ‘thank you’.

Remember you can follow me on Twitter by searching for @odwyer_author – I always do Follow Fridays, so watch out for your mention!