Welcome Molly!

So, if you've been paying attention you'll have noticed that I haven't posted in three months.

By complete coincidence my daughter Molly was eleven weeks old today. Welcome, Molly!

I may have mentioned in previous posts that there was a major task hanging over me; a novel reorganisation. I wanted to put the murder on page one and move early action to flashbacks from there.

It seemed a Herculean task. I've been pondering it for ages.

Today I decided to just get on with it. I want to enter this years' Debut Dagger, and you only supply the first 3000 words to the competition. No point doing it until the murder's on page one and I'm fairly happy with it.

With Molly gurgling at me from the corner of the sofa, I went through my MS and noted where alterations should be made. It took about an hour. Then I implemented the changes in the doc. That took exactly an hour and five minutes.

Now I can print it out, read through it, and smooth the rough edges. Any inconsistencies introduced by the new order of events can be eliminated. Then I can send it off.

Two hours, for a job that's been hanging over me like the Sword of Damocles for months.

I also removed the childish nickname my characters have for the murder victim. The nickname gave me a distaste for the MS a long time ago. Only now that it's gone do I realise that this is partly why I've done no work on the novel since April.

Of course pregnancy and work commitments were also responsible. But it's a useful insight - if you've come to hate your writing, look for the small changes that'll make you fall in love with it again.