New year, old me. Beginning of the working regime was relatively brutal. December was great, because it was efficient. I carried on waking up at 5:30 and writing until the school chaos began. It was great. In November, I'd won NaNoWriMo, but the story wasn't finished. I made a plan to carry on with the writing mornings until Christmas and hopefully finish the first draft. And I did! Exactly on the dot, December 24th, as planned in my diary. It hardly ever happens.
I had one Saturday morning off, didn't get a lie in, but wanted a computer free day and it felt weird and wrong. Christmas Eve was strange, because besides it being Christmas and me slowly finishing all the things that need to be done for the festivities, which mostly involve food, and minding an overexcited child, I was mourning my characters. For two months, I've started my day with them, wrote about them, and during the day kept thinking about them, occasionally ran to the desk and made a small note about an idea that came to me. While writing the story, I was already quietly plotting what will happen next. Because even if readers are not interested, I am, and I want to spend more time with them. Therefore, Christmas Eve was bitter sweet. I was with my husband, child and pets, all of us healthy, I should be grateful and happy. But the characters whose story had received the most delightful 'The End' in the morning, were on my mind. It was a mixture of mourning and longing. Very strange mood.
I started reading a book, hoping to get lost in another story. But I noticed that I was a little removed, slightly aloof, simply in a writer's mood that many other writers may understand.
During Christmas, I had a break. Morning routine disappeared, I went for a booster vaccine and was unwell, therefore my rhythm had changed. Getting back to school was painful. The alarm clock was still set at 5:30 and I decided to leave it like that. And since the 6th of January, I was doing my best to really wake up. I am still keeping the draft on the ice, working on formatting instead. Not easy to do first in the morning, but at least it is getting done, during the day, I would find too many excuses not to do it. Formatting is a pain. This week, I am slowly reading the proof copy. I would call this process 'comma hunting'. I am on a look out for misspelled words, nonsensical sentences and such, but what gets to me the most at this stage is punctuation. I had edited, read the text aloud, but still, I find things....
But writing mornings aren't the only thing on my mind. I am also taking active steps to starting up my business, opening up new opportunities and hopefully starting to work. All of the things that were on my mind or on one of many to-do lists are being taken care of. My energy has changed. I have more of a 'can do attitude'. I firmly believe that the two months of intense writing and discipline helped me to set my mind up this way. The year is young and the world is my oyster. Even if January feels endless, and moving towards its end, the energy, like the Moon, is slowly waning.
