A struggle to get going after few days off
- Karina
- Jan 20
- 3 min read
18. Tuesday 20 January 2026
I was expecting to feel bad for not having written every day, but I’m okay with it, and rightly so; I need a break. That said, I have struggled to get back into my writing and editing today, and I certainly don’t think that what I wrote today is my best work. I’ve realised that to attempt the ten chapters I’d like to write this week, seeing as I barely did anything on Saturday and took Sunday and Monday off while I stayed in Edinburgh, I’d need to write two chapters on two days and three on two days. For a while, it looked like today would be a one chapter kind of day. Miraculously, and largely because I’m home alone, I squeezed out three, though the end of the third is largely a cut and paste, which I have yet to edit because I was tired and it was late.
Every day I work on my novel is different. I know there are writers who work every day from, say, 9 to 5 and this works for them. I really struggle to write consistently. Some days it comes easily to me and I can write loads and generally be pleased with it (I wouldn’t say that means I’m always pleased with it when I read it back another day though). Most days, I have bursts of productivity interspersed with all manner of other activities, most of which I created so as to feel I was doing something useful rather than sitting and staring blankly at a screen. Procrastination.
Today’s additional activities included sitting with a jar of sourdough starter between my thighs in an attempt to bring it back to life after a feed (this included constantly checking it for bubbles and life – it appears to be working!). I did a wash, wrote out a comprehensive (and largely unnecessary) To Do List, took a radiator out to the cabin, fed the birds four times, had a walk, skimmed pebbles on the river, lamented wearing a white jumper while shoveling coal Ovals, updated a couple of not-diaries (arguably, I write too many things) and researched sourdough books. I also did more faffy little things that are too mundane to write out, but they’re things I really didn’t need to do.
I also spent a while dwelling on the fact that when I was in my twenties and thirties, I didn’t have to spend ages reminding myself of what I’d been writing and thinking three days earlier. I only went away for one night but it feels like a month in terms of my struggles to reconnect with my writing.
Tomorrow, I’d like to write two or three chapters in a more efficient manner than today, as well as checking the copy and paste section at the end of today’s work.
As for Edinburgh, I walked, visited book shops, saw the Society of Scottish Artists’ annual exhibition at the RSA, had excellent Polish food (lunch at The Percy with Chris), an exceptionally good Nepalese thali from The Khukuri, near Haymarket, memorable coffee from Fauna and a warm simit with cheese and tomato, eaten while sitting on the sand at Portobello beach. Every time I visit Edinburgh, I want to live there.
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