The Grand Plan 2: The Timetable

The lovely friend came around today to plan my writing schedule. This girl is scarily good (and brings croissants, always a bonus) – and I now have a timetable to work to. Wahey!

I have decided I am only going to focus on one novel idea, the idea that is most finished, eg I know exactly where this one is going. It was an idea I had in June 2004, whilst on the train to work. As with all ideas I get, I seem to get a glimmer of the idea, and then, just like a merry go round, I have to let it go and not worry it to death. If it is a good idea, it will circle around and pop up again in an inappropriate place, usually when I have no pen or paper handy. If that happens, I have been known to type it all as a draft text on my phone – now surely you have to be dedicated to do that. The second time around, I will see more of the story and off it will go again. With this idea, I saw the beginning and the end straight away; it was the stuff in the middle that grew from there.

My timetable is now strict, considering the budget only lasts until Feb at a push. I finished the Chapter Plan this week, so I know exactly what is due to happen, and it feels so good to have that in front of me. And the chapter plan gives me 18 chapters, so we have worked out I have to do a chapter a week to be within my budget, starting from next week.

I love having this structure. I love someone caring what I am doing… oh I know they all care, but I love it when the people I respect treat it seriously, like a real job. I haven’t told my family I am doing this, as far as they know they think I am still in full time employment, as I couldn’t deal with my mum fretting. Sometimes she goes into ‘glass half empty’ mode, and I am nervous enough without having to think constantly yes it will all go wrong and I will have ruined my life! Haha (nervous cackle).

But I am really excited, to tell the truth. I really love this story idea, it sort of verges towards dark comedy and that is a genre I definitely like to play with. And, totally off subject, that newspaper idea I had a while back? They asked for my picture earlier this month, and I assumed they would possibly do a small pic byline beside my next article. So I almost dropped the paper yesterday, to see a huge picture of myself looking back at me. Eek! Still unpaid mind you... but definitely on target to soon take a deep breath and ask for payment (grins).

Curse these meddling distractions

Why can I not just leap out of bed and get started? Eh? Eh?

I have lots to do - jobs to apply for, and article ideas to send away - ooo, tons of stuff. Yet it is hard to get motivated when working at home, especially when you are used to fulltime employment and working in a busy office environment. The change now to working for myself from home is immense - I haven't worked from home since 2002, so this year is definitely all change. So my day goes as follows:

I get up roughly when John leaves the house, so around 8.30 am. Shuffle downstairs, make porridge, have lemon tea. Read post. Laugh at bills. Turn on computer.

Now here is where the time wasting factor creeps in, as I check four email addresses for anything work orientated or interesting, and then my favourite blogs to see what they have been up to (more on these later) and read any news articles that catch my eye. Then I pop here to update and already it is 11 o’clock!

My gaze flicks at this point to the time and I start feeling a little panicked I still haven’t actually done anything of note. This puts me into ‘tidy the flat’ mode, as I cannot work until everything around me feels right (see the first ever post). Why is this – an excuse to put off doing anything? I often wonder about that. Maybe my special skill is creating plausible excuses.

So this tidying takes me to midday, as even though this is a flat, it is a rather large flat and the two of us seem to make an awful lot of mess for some reason. Also, it doesn’t help that the majority of our clothes and shoes are still wet and dripping from being viciously de-mudded yesterday.

At this point I will put on inspiring ‘let’s get going!’ type music. A swift look at my ipod playlist and it seems Pink Floyd, Grandmaster Flash and Buddy Holly are all waiting to inspire me. Hmm, Pink Floyd will either inspire me or make me want to creep into a small dark corner…

At 12.30 I will feel peckish and head over to the kitchen. We haven’t been shopping for a while, so the choice for lunch is as follows. Old bread, old fruit, one sachet of miso soup, rice, Branson pickle, cream and old potatoes. Now I am no chef, and barely a cook, so that list doesn’t make me think ‘oh – Branson Pickle Cream Pie!’ or anything like that at all. It make me think blend the old fruit to make a fruit smoothie and go to Tesco’s.

This will be now 1pm (after having to clean up from the mess the blender made) and I will be back checking emails / writing articles / polishing CV. I will also be tempted to pop on MSN and chat to my pal over in France. If I resist the MSN temptation, then I will have remembered that I have to pay some bills, and check my next driving lesson doesn’t clash with meeting up with another pal, (who just sent me a book today - ‘How to be a Social Diva’ – wonder what she is trying to tell me? Heh!)

The upshot of checking and thinking about paying will mean I have to go into town and go sort these things, as well as buy some food. So then, although it is only 14 minutes away, it will take me around two hours just to get everything done, as I also have to parcel up some pickled onion monster munch crisps to send to my good pal Suz in Cape Town. Apparently you don’t get pickled onion monster munch out there, and my friend misses them, and she has just got engaged which means she and her hubby-to-be really need pickled onion breath for a while, so I think.

I will be then back here for around 2 / 3, providing that I don’t get further distracted in town. Ah – but I still need to go to the library don’t I, and research these London magazines – ah phooey.

Okay, back here at 4pm. Then I will again check my emails, see if anything new has happened (5pm) and only then do I settle down and start working. At 5pm. This is pants. As John comes back from a days honest toil at 6.30pm and from then on I find it hard to work, not because he interrupts me, but because I like to sit with him and play chess / chat / watch Top Gear, as well as anything I can quickly flick over to on UK Gold / ITV4 / Men & Motors without him noticing.

So where am I going wrong? I need some direction!