This is the blog post I don't want you to read

This last week has been a big week. I’ve signed up to do a marketing course. Nothing big about that really except that it is a year-long course with lots of homework. So far, so expected and so difficult – those who know me well know how I struggle to fit everything in as it is, so taking on something this big . . . But, as we all know, because the lights are never all going to be green at the same time, there’s always a reason to procrastinate. On the one hand, this course is only presented every 12-14 months, got to do it now. On the other, I’m away nearly all of November, so I’ll be playing catch-up for a while afterwards, should take it next time.

But then there was the tipping thing for me and the reason why I pressed that buy button. The course is really a business course and I wouldn’t know how to apply it to be applicable to fiction writing. But I know someone who does, who uses this system and who is running a course alongside the business one to dovetail it to fiction writing. And that someone is that the author with whom I have taken the best writing courses I ever did so I know, with her help, and more work, I can make this er work.

So the scary news is

I’m effectively doing two year-long courses together

The good news is

over this next year I am going to be writing a lot of fiction

The bad news is

I now need to buy a roll of wallpaper on which to write my ‘to-do list’ (with thanks to Nicola, who is also embarking on this madness, for that fabulous idea)

And despite being daunted, I am excited!

Why is this then the blog post I don’t want you to read?

Because now it’s out there in the big wide world, I’m accountable to the goals I’m setting and the tight timetables. So you will nudge me if you see me straying, won’t you?

A wise man once said

I recently learnt that Confucius said that ‘it doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop’. And then in one of those once you see something once, you see it everywhere experiences, I’ve noticed lots of other people saying the same thing in all different ways. And it may seem pretty obvious, but to me it’s been a real eye-opener.

I am the world’s worst at beating myself up if I don’t hit my word target for the day or don’t manage to do any writing on a particular evening, and then I get stuck in this ‘I’m so behind’ spiral and all that serves to do is to derail me further. Two of the people closest to me have both reminded me in this last week that I write because I enjoy it, so I should enjoy the journey as well as the reaching the destination. This is my shiny new goal.

I’ve got rid of a daily word count, I’m not even keeping track of how many words I do each day, but I am trying to write every day and if that’s only 100 words, that’s okay. The days I do a lot make my smile brighter, but the few words here and there added when I can, are making my work in progress grow astonishingly fast, which in turn is making me look like I’m auditioning for a toothpaste ad.

Confucius also said ‘choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.’ Wise man, that Confucius.

Your starter for 35

This may sound a little nerdy but for the last two years I’ve been keeping a list of the books that I’ve read (yes, okay, it’s a lot nerdy). I decided to do this because I read very quickly and so I can’t always remember what I’ve read. When I’m actually reading something I’m totally immersed in the plot and invested in the characters, so much so you could tell me you were leaving a million pounds right beside me and, if I’m reading, I wouldn’t hear you or notice when someone else made off with the money. But once that book goes back on my bookshelf, is returned to the library, or is filed in my Kindle cloud, I’m totally invested in the next one.

The number of books I’ve read this year has just passed the number I read in the whole of last year (the 35 of the title, which will have book bloggers and my teenage-self rolling about laughing at how few this is) but it’s great to see for someone always moaning about a lack of time. And it’s fascinating to see how eclectically I read – I don’t think I can say I read in a favourite genre any more. It’s also amazing how it’s almost like a journal in how it maps out my year – in January I wasn’t well so I read 9 books, in April I was editing in every spare second I had so I didn’t read any.

I wish I’d started this list years ago, not least so I could remember the one book I read so many times when I was ten, you’d think the title would be tattooed on my brain – about a gang of kids led by a boy called Ginger, if anyone can help me out.