I'm trying to convince myself that getting rid of stuff - more precisely, words - can be a good thing, hence the colourful picture of a skip. Today's writing has been one step forwards, one step backwards, adding, deleting, sanding down the corners of the new plot thread and trying to make everything fit. I'm getting there, but it's not as satisfying as solid, new writing where you can watch the word count creep up. Still, I don't feel too worried. I took a break from writing last weekend to run in the Great Yorkshire Run (yes, apparently running 10k counts as a break) so I am feeling reinvigorated and ready to do another day's writing tomorrow.
I sensibly took a mid-afternoon break to plunge amongst the market crowds on Walthamstow High Street. Earlier in the week, I'd spotted a fabric store I hadn't seen before. In case you don't know, when I'm not madly typing I am madly sewing. It's my latest new obsession. I bought two new cuts of fabric for a bargain £3 a metre. Here they are, with some less bargain fabric ordered from ... ahem, Australia. Yes, that is how mad this obsession is becoming. Anyway, don't they all look lovely? What, oh what, shall I make with them? And how will I balance the juggling act of finishing a second draft and finishing my sewing projects? It's a quandary, but what a wonderful quandary to be in.
Finally, I must share with you the web link to Wordle that my friend, Sara, emailed to me. This is a gorgeous distraction for all writers. You can copy and paste a document into Wordle and it comes up with a 'word cloud' of all the most frequently used words in your document, or manuscript. Not only does this create something rather beautiful to look at, but it also highlights all those words and phrases that a writer has a tendency to overuse. I am already well aware of my own over reliance on people turning their backs, turning their faces away, turning, turning, turning. So I wasn't surprised at all to see that word crop up. But please, do go there. It's a lovely way of seeing your manuscript through new eyes. Enjoy!
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