Yesterday I signed as completed my own project of editing, and then posting, a daily 500 words from a draft story I wrote during lockdown. The point of the exercise was to force myself to keep working on the third draft of the not-yet-ready novel lurking on my computer.

The effort was way more than I’d bargained for, and so was my appreciation of anyone who took the time to look in – thank you!

What did I learn from the process:

• huge respect for fiction authors, especially those who commit themselves to long, long periods of solo endeavour without knowing if anything tangible (ie an actual book) will ever result from the process;

• double that respect for those struggling to fit such writing in with the demands of young families, or caring responsibilities, or full time jobs, or all three … or maybe just one or two;

• walking away from my own writing for as long as possible is really helpful;

• the terror and joy of having a reader, or even readers;

• the power of a daily deadline;

• the relief of finishing;

• WordPress.

I cannot claim to be a WordPress expert, but the platform was straightforward and helpful. My next project is to see if I can work out how to turn the draft book into a podcast.

Thank you again for your time and company.

Georgie

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023