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Thursday 6 August 2015

The fun or formatting and writing something new

I finally got my Novella sent off. I spent a week editing. After a long break I thought it was about there. I thought trying to ready a poem was bad enough but there are far more words to tinker with in fiction (in this case approx 15,500 words). Then I had the nightmare of submitting on line. Actually it was more the formatting to fit the guidelines that had me running screaming - headers, footers and page numbering which I needed different to the normal due to having to submit a synopsis (yes, I needed one of those again!) and a cover sheet all in one document. Word's advanced features nearly had me suicidal. I had to watch several YouTube videos until something finally worked and I got my different numbering only to find the headers had changed! I got round that one. I couldn't face anymore. Now I have a long wait (December) to see if I even reach the long list.

I've been taking a bit of break from writing but I miss it. I have loads of editing waiting but meantime I have decided to enter a flash fiction competition. It took a day of mulling and sketchy notes, then just getting something down before I had a light bulb moment and wrote something I like. The word count is 250 - not a lot to conjure up a story. I need to take one last look at it and then submit.

Whenever I take a break from writing for a few days I wonder if I will ever get back into it. I know I need time to do other things and stand back from the laptop for a while, get some air and make the most of summer. With no holiday plans for the summer it is easy to just carry on but I know come September everything will be full on again. I've signed up to a few online courses starting in September and then I'll be involved with the church group I lead. This is my last year leading it, so hopefully I will have more time in January.

My enthusiasm for poetry writing has waned a lot lately but I still want to submit a set of my best to a magazine and have another go. My poetry seriously needs an overhaul but now is not the time.

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