Sunday 13th January

I spent almost all of Friday writing, well actually reviewing, re-reading and correcting the first few chapters of the book.  It was the first time I had looked at it at all since early December.  As Catherine commented herself, Christmas has a nasty habit of disturbing one’s life.  The thing about writing is that having written it yourself you can never be sure if it is any good.  Or even if you think it is passable whether it is readable, if it flows, if it will captivate another reader – one who obviously does not know every twist and turn, every nuance, every phrase almost by heart.

So, I settled to my task, not entirely sure if I would be pleased or reduced to tearing the whole thing up and starting over.  I revised and rewrote the prologue, but actually changed little else.  I extended a couple of bits of dialogue where I felt there could be more said.  And added a few lines here and there, but actually I was rather pleased with what I read.  More pleased than I had expected I must admit.

I worked solidly for about five hours, and then stopped correcting and just re-read the next few chapters just feeling my way back into the story.  I feel pretty happy with the first part, but will re-visit the next few chapters again next week.  They are okay, but need a bit more of an intensive look.  I like to take each paragraph and read it, then slowly re-read each sentence, almost out loud, seeing if it hangs together.  You may have notice in my writing a tendency for long sentences, so I see where I can shorten them without make it too choppy.  I am also aware that I need a bit more dialogue and action.  This is difficult as a lot of the book is looking back and not at particular individual episodes but as a general sweep of mood and how things were developing.

Anyway, back into writing again – and it feels good.  I am determined this year to spend more time on it, at least a day or a half-day a week.