I’ve had a two month hiatus in working on my WIP, and so my documents, notes and ideas have lain dormant.  Not really ever forgotten, but just parked in long-term parking.  I shall be getting out the papers in the next couple of days, and hoping that I can slip back into Lanzarote of the 1730s.  I haven’t had a two month hiatus of writing, in fact, it’s been pretty prolific, with an estimated 66,000 words over almost two months of daily blogging about ‘life on the water with Whinchat‘, and I’ve enjoyed it so much.  If only I could apply the same rigour to my more creative work, I’d have knocked out a decent half a novel in that time, but then, blogging, in that unstructured, unrefined way, isn’t the same as crafting a novel.  There’s not much about plot, conflict, structure, and the mechanisms underneath that make a novel readable.

It’s made me think about picking up another idea for a book, one that I’ve mooted before, and I’m wondering if I have the ability (and discipline) to work the two alongside each other.  I’m not sure what the proffered wisdom might be, but when I was in full-time employment, I used to do this as a matter of course – work on multiple projects, clients – and my work didn’t suffer.  This other one is not fictional, but more life writing, and therefore it’s not as if I shall get muddled with characters or plot.  I think I might give it a go.  I might find that the differences in styles mean that it suits changes in mood and inspiration.  I’m not a very linear person either, so what have I got to lose?  Really?  Not much.  It’s more art than science, or at least, I hope it will be.

The other great joy in my sailing trip has been the ability to devour books.  I’ve been a pretty voracious reader, with a couple of reviews still sitting in draft to be published.  That has felt like a real indulgence at one level, but I do think it sharpens my critical mind, and therefore my writing mind.   I’ve been out of the loop on news, and so I shall have to see what I’ve missed in terms of matters YewTree/Savile-related.

Anyway, it’s lovely to be back, and here’s to a productive couple of months after a lovely long siesta!