Writing Through Lockdown Two...

Tomorrow the second lockdown is being lifted but the UK will still have strict rules within a tier system. The past month I managed to squeeze writing a novella into my daily life by signing up to Nano WriMo - where you write 1666 words a day towards a novel to reach 50k words by the end of the month. At the end of each day, you log in how many words you have written - so sometimes it's more and sometimes less but it keeps you motivated and accountable.

I became a real creature of habit, where I would rise, shine, look out of the window and see if I recognised any birds (as I have turned into a wannabe twitcher), had a morning coffee, poached egg on toast and peach juice (yum) while reading BBC News and Times online. I had a shower/bath, made my bed, put on a load of washing, fed my nine hens at the bottom of the garden, washed up from the night before, met a friend for a dog walk, had lunch, read a chapter of my book, did yoga/pilates, more household chores such as cleaning the bathroom, dusting or hoovering. Then from 4-6pm, I sat down and wrote for Nano WriMo. Afterwards, I would prepare dinner for my family and watch a good drama on television. At the weekend, I had a bonfire with my husband on Saturday - highlight of my week and on Sunday we have started a family tradition of afternoon tea and watching a Christmas film. Rinse and repeat.

Doing Nano WriMo was a good fun way to be creative and escape the news and talk of Coronavirus. I spent two hours each day writing fiction and at the end of the month, I have a raw novel, which now needs to be left alone to settle while I get on with Christmas, life, etc until January, when I will pick it up, read it through, edit and re-write. I only reached 30k words but I am still pleased that I managed that. My writing buddy, Serena, wrote the full 50k word count and we cheered one another last night with a glass of bubbly via Facetime to celebrate our achievements.

This month will be spent writing Christmas cards, wrapping presents, going for more atmospheric, foggy dog walks through sodden, trodden leaves in the woods, plus all of the above plus whatever safe activities we are allowed during this trying time. Keep safe everyone and enjoy the festive season as well as you can and maybe sign up to do some fictional writing to distract yourself too.