Zighing with relief ...

OK, so I know technically this isn't a proper Z word but this letter is tricky, especially finding something writing related.

I'm pleased to have completed this challenge, in a round-about way anyway. I know I was late on a few occasions and I did go for a two-in-one option at one point but I've just about scraped through with it. I'm kind of glad that's over now though, hence the zigh with relief.

I'm much more comfortable with my blogging now and think I'll be able to post every few days now without much trouble. It's nice not to have the pressure of blogging every day.

My intention is to keep posts on how my writing is going along with things I've written, what I'm reading at the moment and now and again I might throw in something else that I like to pass the time with.

Thanks for listening, well reading :-)

Yet another late post ...

So, this is the penultimate post then of the A-Z Challenge 2012. The month just seems to have flown by. I have definitely taken much more from this event than just the satisfaction of completing it.

I have discovered some wonderful blogs out there, so many different voices with a huge variety of topics. I've acquired some new followers, who I really want to thank for dropping by and liking my ramblings enough to stay for more.

I've looked at enough blogs now to know how I want to improve my own, with features and new tools for networking. Special thanks to The Masquerade Crew for pointing me in that direction.

I've also gained a lot more confidence with my blogging. It's a bit nervy when you first start, worrying if anyone is actually interested or whether you're just sending messages to empty space. Either way I'm happy, it's just somewhere for me to get my worries and wonderings out of my system so I can progress with my writing.

I really think this will be a boost to my writing confidence too. In fact, watch this space as I will be putting up one of my stories for you this time next week. Eek!

X ray still pending ...

It's been a frustrating few weeks for me.  I've had the odd bout of RSI over the last few years, but mostly it's only lasted a couple of days and then after a weekends rest it goes away.
Not this time though, I'm now going into week 8 of this episode.

The pain conecntrates around my thumb of my right hand, both in the muscle at the base and all along the digit.  I can just about type without too much discomfort, especially when I wear my brace, but writing by hand is totally out of the question.  If I wear my brace it looks like my 3 year olds writing, if I don't wear it my hand cramps up in  pain.
The pain also seems to be migrating up and along my arm almost as far as my shoulder.  It makes lots of every day activities very difficult and painful.  It's the writing that I'm the most frustrated with though.
I used to keep a daily, handwritten journal, but there's no way I can do that now.  I can barely write two lines.  I look at people admiringly now when I see them scribbling away, it's something that I love doing but can't.  When I'm at the development stage of a story I much prefer jotting things down on paper, having thought diagrams for everything often with lines and arrows all over the place.  I just can't achieve the same effect using the laptop.

I endeavour though, my writing is one of the few precious things keeping me sane at the moment.  I've seen the doctor and the occupational therapist and am currently waiting for an x ray and to see orthopaedic triage.  Unfortunately it could be up to two weeks just to get the appointment through.

Lovely!

Vampires and Werewolves ...is there still room for more?

OK, so I know I’m cheating a little here by combining V and W together, but after rushing my daughter to the doctors this week with breathing difficulties, which is about as much stress and anguish as I can handle,  I’m not feeling too bad about missing one evening.

I’m really thinking about the whole Vampire v Werewolf scenario and just wondering if there is really any room left for any new variants on either theme.  There are so many books and/or movies that come to mind, Buffy/Angel, Twilight, Underworld, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, to name but a few.  Is this an area that has been done to death, as it were?

I very much enjoy a good vampire and werewolf story, and many are adapted for different audiences.  The Twilight saga is very definitely for the teen market whereas True Blood is a bit more grown up (at least the TV show is!). 

At some point I think I’d be interested in writing something along these lines, I’ll have to get creative though and put an even newer spin on it.  Either that or go back to the classics.  Bram Stoker’s Dracula is still the best.

Unable to concentrate

I am now back at work after having a week off, and I am finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing.

I work in a science lab but I have RSI at the moment so I’ve been relegated to the office writing all day.  This may sound alright but it really isn’t the kind of writing I’d rather be doing.  I’m supposed to be doing proper work right now but I just cannot get focused enough to get on.

My mind keeps wondering to all kinds of story ideas, ideas for my blog, wondering whether I should try article writing, online freelance writing, anything really that’s writing of some sort.

Unfortunately I have access to the internet on my work computer which means I have a lot of distractions that I can access.  I’m just not strong enough to resist the temptation either.

Oh well, maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to make a better job of actual work so I can go home and do some real work, he he.

Talking the talk

For the past few days I've been starting to lay the foundations for my novel, finally making progress on the few ideas I've had rattling around in my brain for far too long.

I'm developing the characters so I know exactly who they are, where they come from, how they behave etc. I'm nearly at the point where I can start putting together the first stages of a synopsis.

One component in the life of the protagonist is where she works, which is also quite crucial to the story I want to tell. I haven't established yet just what kind of work she is going to be in, it's something I really need to think about in order for the whole thing to work.

One of my main concerns, once I've found what she does, is making it seem real, authentic, with enough detail to be convincing.

This is going to be one of my first proper pieces of work and as yet I have not ventured too far into the realm of research. I think this is putting me off a little as I'm unsure exactly how to go about the research, and whether people would take me seriously enough to help me, being an amateur and all.

I really want to make sure that the lead knows what she's talking about, talking the talk, and that I can write fully enough to make it convincing.

Any tips or advice on any of this would be greatly welcomed, I'm very aware that this post makes me sound like a true novice.

Saturday? Sunday? Still here!!!

Well I'm only one day late with this one, yay me!  To be honest I'm surprised and pleased with myself for even getting this far.  Usually with a challenge like this I've given up after about a week.  I must be growing as a writer.

I'm becoming much more comfortable with thinking of myself as a writer now, which I think can be half the battle.  If you don't think you're a writer then you're holding yourself back right from the start. 
I feel happy writing stories that I know that I'd like to read myself and I'm not worrying too much about the end product being sold for huge amounts of cash.  If someone else likes it that's fine with me.  I think I may have mentioned this in a previous post and may be at risk of repeating myself a little bit, but it's the truth.

I don't know about you guys but it's not enough for me to actually just think about a 'thing', to really believe in it, to make it real, I find it useful to voice it to others and pass on these thoughts.  There aren't many people I actually talk to in person about my writing ambitions (in fact there's only one and you know who you are ;-)) and so I'm finding this blog truly invaluable for getting this stuff out to people who (hopefully) understand where I'm coming from.

So I thank all of you for bearing with my ramblings and offering support.  It means a lot and I hope I can return the same.  Happy blogging!!!

Relief

Relief is my R word for Friday (I'm very aware that I'm now doing a lot of this challenge retrospectively – another R word, ha!).

I spent all of Friday constantly checking my phone and computer, awaiting the all important email that would decide where my daughter will start school in September.

I'd filled out the first and second choices but I was really hoping to get our first choice. For months I've tried to get used to the idea of her going to the other school, kind of a worst case scenario type of thing but until I was so close to getting the result I didn't realise just how much I wanted our first choice. It was as much about getting the first choice school as it was about not getting the second choice school.

So the email didn't come which meant I had a very fitfull sleep, worrying about what was going to happen.

The letter finally came in the post yesterday morning and I was so pleased to get the first choice I was in tears, hugging and kissing my daughter. I'm sure she'd thought I'd finally lost it, but the relief and happiness I felt was just overwhelming.

Bringing up children surely is a stressful business!

Quality or quantity?

I have been agonising for days over what topic to choose for my Q day.  I realise that a lot of you out there are much more organised and have outlined every days post from the beginning.  Unfortunately, I do not have that time on my side at the moment so I’m flying by the seat of my pants just a little bit.

So, this post is a continuation from my P post, which due to my falling behind schedule was also only published today.

Anyway it’s here now.  This two posts are quite nicely linked I think, going hand in hand together.  Being an impatient sort of person I always used to be a bit of a make-doer I suppose, getting something done enough for whatever the criteria is and then moving on to the next thing.  It’s a philosophy I’m very much trying to break in more than one aspect of my life at the moment.

I think writing is going to be the area that’s really going to help me make that breakthrough.  I really want to have something that I enjoy and that maybe I could be quite good at and that people will be interested in.  I know that if I apply myself properly and fully I’ll be able to achieve all that I want to, but to be honest a lot of the time I feel really very lazy.

I kind of get into a ‘what’s the point in even trying?’ state of mind and subsequently abandon whatever ideas I may have been nurturing.

So, instead of worrying about all of that other stuff I’m going to get on with just writing for me, hopefully writing for you (if you’re still here!) and anyone else that cares to listen.

Patience

One thing I’m coming to terms with while honing my writing skills is that I need to have a certain amount of patience.

Now this is certainly not something that comes particularly easy for me, I’m usually trying to race ahead to the finish line without really concentrating much on the journey.  This means that the result is generally not as good as it could be.  Knowing this only serves to make me feel worse about the way I have been working.

I have been making notes for when particular writing competitions are due and trying to schedule when to write all of my entries, but in doing so I’m concentrating more on getting a finished product together rather than worrying what it actually looks like (more on this in my next post, Quality or Quickness).

Writing doesn’t necessarily have to be a slow process, it depends largely how much time you can devote to it each week I suppose.  Once momentum gathers things can fly along quite nicely.  It does need patience though, to take the time to make sure everything is as good as it can be instead of sending it off as soon as you think you need to.  It’s a hard thing to do, playing the long game and waiting for the rewards.  I’m sure that over time this is by far the better way.

It had better be anyway …

Over half way now ...

So we are now safely past the halfway point in this A-Z Challenge. I'm pretty pleased that so far I've only had two late entries.

I've had some positive feedback from people, I'm gained some new followers and I've enjoyed exploring new blogs too. There is certainly a wide range of people and interests just waiting to be shared.

I've also taken a few notes on how to improve my own blogs appearance and my blogging activity in general. Once this challenge is complete I plan to make a few changes, adding links and features such as regular stories and possibly even some poetry. This was something I hadn't even considered until starting this whole thing.

I'd like to thank everyone for their support and advice and hope that in the future you stick with me and let me know how I get on with my new ideas and adventures.

Here's to what's to come!

Not enough time ...

Oh my, so another late post. Yesterday just seemed to be a much shorter day than usual, and the list of things I had to do kept growing and growing.

It's my own fault I suppose, I went away from an afternoon, evening and morning and when I got home the house was a complete tip. Not a small mess, but a huge mess in each room. I didn't know my daughter had so many toys!

Couple this with a hangover on Sunday, which meant I was really in no mood at all for any cleaning or tidying. So yesterday, with daughter in tow, I attempted to rectify the mess but to no avail. She was like a mini whirlwind behind me, spoiling all of my good work.

All of this activity means that I had no chance at all to do any writing of any kind. I'm very disappointed in this, not only because I didn't manage to produce anything, no matter how small, I also missed the satisfying and warm, cuddly feeling I get from knowing I've done something.

Coupled with the fact that I missed a deadline for a competition, with the story just about ready to go, all in all it was a very unproductive day.

The upside to this though is that I can now put the story that I was going to send up on my blog for you lovelies to read.

You have to look for the positives in everything!

Motivation

OK, so I know this is coming straight after my last post, but I have a busy day today and I'm worried I'll forget again.  I can't actually believe I'm posting two blogs today, I think I may be getting the hang of this!

Anyway, todays post is about motivation and what keeps you going with your writing.  When I first started out, inevitably my head was filled with wonderful dreams of writing my first novel in six months, having it picked up straight away and making lots of money from it.  Boy did I have a lot to learn!
Now I've been doing it for a while I've woken up to the reality that it can be a hard job earning from writing and even if you manage it, it may not be as fabulous and glamorous as first thought.

None of this has put me off though, in fact I'm pleased to say I'm past that phase and my motivations have changed for the better.  I write because I love exploring characters and scenarios and seeing where they go when they take on a life of their own.  I also want to improve my writing, taking criticism and using it to make myself better.
My main hope is just that people will like what I write and will want to see more.  That kind of positivity is reward enough.

Of course if I manage to publish for profit then that'll be a bonus, but for now I'm happy typing away.

Late post! Oh no ...

Well, I'm very annoyed with myself for not posting my L post on the proper day.  The last two days I've been so tired though, I must have just crashed out before I got round to it.

The post was going to be entitled 'Looking forward to next week'.  I'm off work now until the 24th April and I'm really pleased for a rest.  I get to spend the whole week as a full-time writer.
I've got a rough plan of what I want to get done but I'm not going to be too specific about things (see earlier post!)  It will just be nice to send the little one off to nursery and have peace and quiet to concentrate on work properly.

Of course having these plans is one thing, getting them done is another.  It is also highly likely that I'll spend much of my time either tidying and cleaning or watching dvds and drinking tea.  Hmmm.

My main goal will be to get some work done on my novel.  I've had the idea bubbling away for about two years now and I have the basic outline jotted down.  What I want to do now is work out my characters and then start on a full synopsis of events.  If I get nothing else done but that (and my A-Z of course!) I'll be happy.

Keeping up with everything

I've always tried to keep things quite organised for myself, doing an Open University degree while working full time certainly takes a lot of time management.

Now I'm working part-time, doing another Open University course, I'm a mum full-time and I'm trying to work on my writing.

All of this means that I need to be organised really or I'll be in danger of getting into a proper little muddle.

I started out by setting specific tasks for every day. I could then check everything off the list as I went along. This works brilliantly for boosting your confidence when you manage to keep up, but if you start missing these self-imposed deadlines then it can have dire consequences. Once you've missed one, chances are you'll miss another and before you know it you're playing three weeks of catch up. It also means competition deadlines are missed, leaving more unfinished stories and a very negative feeling over everything you do.

These days I'm taking a much more relaxed approach. Instead I make one to do list for the whole of the week. I don't assign tasks to specific days, I just know I have the whole week to do what's on the list. I can then fit things in as and when I can and I don't need to feel guilty that I've missed a daily deadline.

This way I find I'm a lot more chilled out, I can do the tasks that I fancy at the time rather than doing things because I'm 'supposed' to that day. This flexibility in preference also means I do a better job of everything as the enjoyment is still there.

I must say, I much prefer the new and improved lifestyle. This week I have managed to complete an OU assignment, keep up with my A-Zing and I've completed the first draft of a short story for a competition. Some editing to that one over the weekend and it'll be ready to go. I've even started an outline for the next story.

Excellent!

Joining a writers group ...

I started getting into writing a little over a year ago, but it has only really been since Christmas that I've started to take it a bit more seriously. I've met a few people online now who share my interests, and I have one or two friends that I have been brave enough to talk to about it. Of people I know and see every day, only three have ever really read anything I've done.

There is a writers group in the town where I live but unfortunately they have enough members at the moment. I have often thought about joining a writers group and having like minded people to bounce ideas off and to read and give advice about my work. The idea of meeting people and reading my work out loud does fill me with a certain amount of dread I must say.

There is an element of safety I suppose about sending work to anonymous people and not worrying about their immediate reaction. You don't have to take the criticism directly on the chin as it were.

I'm definitely getting braver with what I'm doing though and I'm wondering if it's time to take another step in building my confidence.

I was contacted by another person wishing to start a writers group in the town, who was asking who would be interested in starting it. Apparently I was the only other person was interested so sadly it never got further than the initial query. I was a bit dismayed by the reply of one person who only seemed interested in joining the original group as they had already had a couple of anthologies published. He wasn't interested in a group without this experience.

To me this just said that he was only interested in milking from other peoples success, he wasn't willing to try and work for it in another group. I'm actually quite glad we didn't have a group with him in now.

Are any of you in a writers group or have any experience of them?

Ideas, ideas, everywhere ...

I have so many ideas for possible stories that come to me at the oddest of moments.  A lot of the time they come when I'm really not in any position to make a note of it, such as driving around a roundabout or walking back from town trying to keep my little one away from the road.
The ideas come to me and I try for dear life to hold onto them, hoping they'll stick long enough for me to make it home.
Up until now I've never really been one for carrying a notebook around with me, I tried it once but never used it.  I'm thinking now though that I really need to get one.  Even a brief thought or sentence about whatever it is, just so that it isn't forgotten forever.  That'll free up more space for even more ideas too!

I have already got a few ideas jotted down, and I used to wonder if they really could be turned into anything substantial.  Of course, they aren't just going to spontaneously transform themselves into a magnificent piece of prose; it takes time, mulling it over, expanding ideas and avenues.  That's the beautiful part of writing.  Just letting your mind wander to wherever it wants to go, and hoping you can get everything down before it disappears.

Heroism, genuine and unwavering

There has been a lot on the television about the Titanic in the last few days, as we remember the tragedy that claimed the lives of so many 100 years ago.
I was watching a particular programme this evening and couldn't help but feel moved by the bravery and heroism of some of those on board.  The plight of Jack Phillips struck a definite chord.
He was charged with sending radio messages from the passengers to people both at home and onboard other ships.  He took it upon himself to radio for help as soon as the disaster occurred.  He didn't stop with just one message though, he remained at his post as the ship itself went down until the person that was recieving his messages only got part of his last sentence.
This young man did all that he could to ensure help came and that as many people could be saved as possible.  Inevitably I find myself wondering what I would do in a similar situation.  Of course we'd all like to say that we'd help everyone else to safety and stay to go down with the ship, but in the face of certain death do any of us know just how we'd react?

There are plenty of other stories from this disaster that are equally remarkable and emotional.  After all, as the narrator said, it is no longer about the ship going down but about families torn apart and brought back together again.

My hope is that one day I will be able to convey these kinds of emotions and feelings in my writing, and to be able to evoke sympathetic feelings in the reader.  With plenty of practice I know that one day I'll get there.

Genre - decision, decisions

I've had the title for this post on this day for a little while as deciding on genre is something I've been thinking about a lot.  I've got into the habit of reading through the blogs I'm following first before getting on to doing my own, and I'm glad that I did today.
A blog that I've been following by The Masquerade Crew also had the same title, and if you haven't discovered it yet through the A-Z Challenge you can find it here http://masqueradecrew.blogspot.co.uk
So I hope that I can compliment this post a little rather than going too far off point.

I love reading and don't tend to focus too much on just one genre, I much prefer to read from quite a broad range.
Unfortunately when it comes to writing I just can't decide which genre to focus on.  I have more than a few ideas that I'd like to develop at some point but they cover two or three different genres, and I'm not quite sure that I would be able to mix and match properly.  Each idea is more suited to just one genre.

Writing short stories is a good way to experiment with different kinds of genre, and I find i'm comfortable with more than one.
The concern that I have is that authors tend to be known for a particular genre, and once I had written one kind I'm not sure I'd be able to try something different.  As you can tell I'm feeling quite optimistic with my writing today!

Rather than dwelling and wasting valuable writing time, however, trying to make an 'ultimate' decision, I'm going to focus on the novel idea that I've made the most progress with so far and see where I can take it.
You never know, I may even feel brave enough to put some excerpts on here for your scrutiny!

Finding the time, and Fitting everything in

The world we live in is a hectic place, everyone seems to be in a constant rush to get everywhere and do everything. I too am guilty of this, but just recently I've been trying to slow my pace down a little bit and attempt to stay much more relaxed for a lot more of the time.

It's because of this hectic lifestyle that I would find it very difficult to find the time to fit writing in alongside all the rest that I felt I had to be doing. I work for 30hrs a week at the moment, and each morning I have to organise my three year old (no easy task!), get her to nursery and then get to work. I can't remember the last time I actually made it in for 9am.

Then it's a full days work before pick-ups, getting home, sorting dinner, cleaning up, bathing little one, coaxing her to bed and finally getting her off to sleep. By the time I'm done it's getting on for nearly 9pm. After all this I just want to sit with a cup of tea and rest, but more often than not I'm falling asleep in front of the television or with book in hand.

I really found it hard to find some point in the day to do anything creative. I mentioned this dilemma to a writer friend of mine who has much the same problem, only he's got two little ones under four. He said they have a rule in their house, to only do household chores until 8pm, after that whatever is left to do can be left and they can chill out and do something relaxing.

I'm now trying to adopt a similar philosophy in my house, no easy task really as I sometimes find it hard to concentrate when I know there's mess lurking.

I have also been thinking about a comment left on my blog yesterday by Reb Alexander at http://witchwayblogspotcom.blogspot.co.uk, about establishing a time slot each day to commit to writing. Doing this challenge has certainly set me on the right path to this aim and I'm slowly getting into a routine that hopefully I can maintain.

Enthusiasm - an intermittent entity

My enthusiasm for writing comes and goes in cycles.  Usually it depends on how tired I'm feeling, and after a full days work and then finally getting the little one to bed, all I want to do is chill out.  This mostly involves trying to read and then falling asleep without realising it.
At these times I just don't have the energy, either physical or mental, to sit down to do any writing.
This will continue for a few days and before I know it a week has gone buy and I'm annoyed with myself for wasting yet another week of potential writing time.

I'm learning that writing can be a fairly solitary endeavour, and this in itself can contribute to enthusiasm putting his coat on and leaving for a while.  I've really felt the benefit this week of having so many excellent blogs to discover, to find that I'm not the only one having these thoughts and feelings.  There's a whole new community waiting to help me entice the enthusiasm back, and help drive me forward with all the ideas I have floating in my head.

I only hope that some of my blogs may help others keep going as much as they help me.

Daily word counts ...

Over Christmas I was getting ready for the start of the New Year, determined that I was going to make something of my writing.  I set myself some goals that were quite realistic; I wasn’t by any means setting myself any unachievable tasks.

One of these goals was to write at least 3000 words a week, which could be counted from any of my writing be it blogs, journals or stories.

I started out quite well, and for most weeks I’ve managed to get over the 3000 mark.  The last couple of weeks though, I’ve really gone downhill and I’ve barely managed 100.  

In my defence one week was spent lying on the sofa barely able to move with the cold and flu.  I am also suffering with severe RSI in my right hand which is now spreading all up my arm.  I had been doing really well keeping a daily journal which was completely hand written, but unfortunately I’ve had to knock that on the head.  I tried typing instead but it just doesn’t have the same appeal as proper writing by hand.

So my daily word count has been seriously dwindling, as has some of my enthusiasm.  I began to wonder if it was really healthy to keep such a strict eye on what I was doing each week, and if it was putting too much pressure on me to meet the target.

After a couple of weeks of almost non-existent productivity though, I now know that keeping track of how much I’m writing in a week is definitely a good thing, at least for me anyway.  Knowing I’ve got this target spurs me on to get things done and as we all know, when you get going you get into a rhythm that becomes easy to maintain. 

Doing this daily blog has certainly boosted my word count for this week, and long may it continue!

Competitions - if you're not in 'em, you can't win 'em!

So I've chosen competitions as my subject for day 3 of this challenge.

I am a subscriber to the monthly Writing Magazine, and find its pages full of inspiring stories, tips and advice.
As soon as it pops through the door I eagerly sift through the pages to get a glimpse at the articles, but the first thing I concentrate on are the competition pages.  There are four main competitions across the Writing Magazine and its supplement, Writers News.  They are usually for short stories, 1500-1700 words on a variety of themes.
Scanning through the pages of Writers News also reveals a cornucopia of competitions to be entered, for novels, short stories and poetry.

So I go through jotting down details, themes, word count, deadlines, etc. and plan out just when I can work on each one to get done for the deadline.
I have all the best intentions of entering as many competitions as I can, but inevitably life gets in the way and the deadlines come and go without even a first draft finished.  I have a lot of stories that have been started but not finished yet.

I used to be very strict with myself about setting deadlines, writing weekly to-do lists and weekly word counts to aim for.  After a while I realised I was spending more time scheduling when to write, that I should have been spending actually doing some writing.

So nowadays I'm trying to be a lot more chilled out, spending more time writing and if a competition catches my eye I will go for it.  I'm not going to get too upset with myself though if I miss another deadline.  After all, I've started a story at least and there are plenty of other places to send them to!

Blogging

OK, so I realise that having a post about blogging is kind of cheating but my blog is about my writing life, which is what my challenge is about.  And it begins with B.

I haven't really been blogging all that long, and I'm still getting into the habit of posting more regularly.  That's the reason I took on this challenge really. 
I often have the worry that no-one is actually interested, or reads anything I post, but that's not my main motivation.  As my blog is about my writing journey it is very useful for me as a reflective tool, to get my thoughts and concerns out of my head where I can see them and make more sense of them.  It's excellent for tracking my own progress and seeing if I'm going in the right direction.

Of course any feedback on my blog would be very much appreciated, both positive and negative.  Do let me know how I'm doing and where I could improve.

Eventually I will start posting stories that I've written for your consumption, that's going to be my next big step in building my confidence.  I'll let you know when to expect the first!

Almost missed it!

So today is the first day of the A-Z Blogging Challenge and I've almost missed the very first entry!  That just about sums up my level of organisation at the moment.

All week I've been trying to decide on a theme for this challenge, something to keep focussed on throughout the month.  Many things came to mind but I thought that as this is a blog about my venture into the world of writing, I would use it to keep track of my thoughts on how I'm doing with it.

As can be gleaned from this first entry, organisation is not a strong point.  I've got a lot of story ideas bouncing around in my head, a few have been jotted down and I have at least half a dozen short stories started but nowhere near finished.

I now have this challenge to keep track of, hopefully doing the right letter on the right day, and to top it off I'm trying to do everything one handed!  I have a rather bad case of RSI in my right hand and the brace I have is not the most comfortable when doing any typing.  (I'm using this as an excuse for any typos I may miss by the way!).

So my first aim for tomorrow is to write my post for B first thing in the morning.

Until then ...