Writing

I edited twenty pages today, which is my highest daily page count since I started this particular edit (now on page 94 of 207). That said, I don’t feel as pleased with myself as I might have expected.

I’m on page 70 of 207, so pretty much a third of the way through. It’s sort of going okay but this version is not going to be as polished as I envisaged. But I should give myself some slack, because I am at least making progress.

Why am I finding it so difficult to work through this edit? I suppose I’m doing okay and making progress, but I definitely have quite a lot to go over again. There was one chapter today that I spent ages on. I pretty much rewrote it. It’s still all wrong. I highlighted the entirety of the chapter in Word. I couldn’t look at it anymore. I think I need to write down what points I need to make and rewrite the chapter again.

I feel like I’m slacking. I edited for less than an hour this morning and probably another hour, maybe a bit more, late afternoon. And that’s it (though I do still have the manuscript open so will probably work on it a bit more this evening). In my defence, I did have some errands to do in Melrose and Galashiels so was out from 9 until 2.

I’m not sure whether I’m progressing at a decent pace or not. I’m up to page 23 of 207, which means I edited a mere 15 pages today. But that does include rewriting a whole chapter, which took me quite a while to get on with. I don’t feel I’ve done as much as I could, but in some ways I feel like I’ve done more than I expected in light of the fact I’ve estimated a month; today is day two.

I did it! I finished the highlighting on Saturday and today I started the big edit. When I got to my desk this morning, I realised my glasses were dirty, so I looked for a lens cleaner and gave my glasses a good clean. Oh no, the X key is a bit sticky, I’d better go and get a cotton bud, prize off the key and clean it … so, yeah, I didn’t start editing for quite a while.

All is going to plan B, which is twice the speed of plan A. I highlighted to the end of chapter 42 of 51 today. I feel surprisingly underwhelmed with myself. I think I’ve been a bit head-down working for quite a while and I need some kind of “reward”. Not like a treat, more like a big motivational boost.

Wow, it really did rain and blow a gale today; quite the distraction. I highlighted up to the end of chapter 32. I’ve abandoned “edited” as highlighting seems a lot easier than actual editing and rewording/reframing/rewriting.

I had a walk (in approximately seven weather conditions over an hour), baked sourdough, ate sourdough, had a siesta, read a bit AND edited up to the end of chapter 20, meaning I’ve gone through 84 of 207 pages with my highlighter pens. I went through nine chapters today, again more than the five I’d set myself as a daily target.

Today is day one of my scene-by-scene edit. Although I didn’t write or edit anything on Thursday, before my friend Kyla arrived, I marked scenes on the print out of my manuscript. On Sunday afternoon, I cleared my desk in anticipation of starting work today. I am pleased with today’s efforts.

I’m feeling a bit gloomy about my novel today. That said, I have printed it out ready for next week’s scene edit. Narissa and I had our weekly writing catch-up, which largely consisted of her feedback on having read my manuscript. I honestly can’t convey how beneficial it was being able to talk about the story and the characters. She had plenty of constructive criticism as well as saying she’d enjoyed it. However, I couldn’t help but feel there was something wrong.

I have finished going through version 4 in Eclipse (steno software) again. Editing has been minimal but I know that every single time I reread it, I can make changes. That’s one of the many reasons why I know it’s not ready yet. Tomorrow, I’m going to have a chat with Narissa (who’s just finished its first ever read-through by someone other than me), make a few changes from our conversation and then I really am going to switch from Eclipse to Word and print it out.

Today didn’t go to plan, but it worked out well for my editing. Last night, I’d packed a bag of activities as I expected to be out all day from 07:00 in Galashiels and Peebles (car service, MOT and errands). I set off as planned, wondering if the road would be too flooded for me to drive through it, it having rained and been windy all night and ongoing. I got through the first floods, noticing that the river was exceptionally high and the water deeper than I’d ever been throu

Progress was somewhat laboured today. I’m planning to go to Edinburgh for the day tomorrow, I think I’ll be out on Sunday, on Monday my car is booked in for an MOT and service in Galashiels (50 minutes’ drive away) from 10am and I am hoping to go from there to Peebles to complete my errands before places close at 4pm (to be on the safe side). My friend Kyla is coming to stay from Thursday until Sunday.

This round of editing is tiring me out. I’m currently on page 50 of almost 250 pages. I’m getting through it far faster than I expected. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, but I am inclined to think it’s bad. But the more times I go through it from start to finish, the more familiar I become with my story and the easier (in theory) it is to make changes and hopefully make it as good as I can.

Creepy AI "me" with extra thumb, extra leg, a three-fingered hand and a missing pupil. My AI instruction was: Woman with short white pixie-cut hair, wearing warm black clothes lying on a large, black beanbag with a laptop on her lap. She is inside a wooden cabin. There is a mug of tea and a Mars bar next to her. 36. Wednesday 25 February 2026 Well I certainly didn't expect to have finished my first, more general, edit of version 4 today, after only three days working on it. Y

I slept overnight in my cabin last night, got up and brushed my teeth outdoors in the fairly ferocious wind, then made myself a coffee in my coffee percolator, which I drank outside, feeling unexpectedly smug. I then worked in the cabin all day and have made good progress. I'm on chapter 20 of 51, though that is no reflection of how much editing I need to do.

I’m now back home in Scotland after a two-week break in London, which mainly consisted of catching up with my mum and 13 friends, which to the Scottish-living version of me amounts to a year’s worth of socialising in a fortnight! I had a really lovely couple of weeks and had considered staying an extra few days, but I felt ready and excited about starting the big edit. Well, I say “big edit” but that’s what I thought version 3 would be. It wasn’t. It ended up being a rewrite.

This morning, I finished reading version 3 of Crime Writing for Beginners. And I am significantly happier with the book as a whole than I expected to be. Also exciting is that I gave the first three chapters to my friend and writing buddy, Narissa, to read and we met up this morning and had a chat about my story so far. I am so, so glad I asked her to read it. It is definitely the right time to have feedback and I can’t fully convey how much I enjoyed being a

Today has been an unsettling day (my mum is kind of fine but did have to go to hospital in an ambulance; I live about 400 miles away – she was discharged early evening, fortunately, and I’ll see her early next week). Both before and during all that, I did actually finish version 3. I know I should feel really excited but, unsurprisingly, I feel distracted by other things.