Snow, feeling a bit solitary and thinking about decluttering

This was the fourth attempt - all previous ones had three hands. Why are "my" eyes closed? Why do "I" have black eyebrows? Why is there a fire within the sofa? My instructions to AI were: Woman with white pixie cut hair and thick black glasses and a black jumper, lying on a comfy sofa with colourful throws over the sofa. She is editing a manuscript with seven different coloured highlighter pens to choose from. There is a lit woodburning stove near the sofa.

45. Friday 13 March 2026

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. It helped a lot having Narissa read my manuscript and having my first ever chat about it last week. I suppose that once I finish this and start on a proper, thorough edit (no highlighter pens!), I will then need to ask someone else to read at least part of it. Although I’m kind of enjoying this phase, I also feel a bit – I don’t know, sludgy, a bit stuck in a rut. I’m not stuck in a rut … I can’t explain. Maybe it’s that I’m feeling solitary and maybe I need to feel a bit less on my own with this. Writing is great, I love it, but it is a solitary activity most of the time and maybe I need a break from being solitary about it.

                I did more highlighting, chores, highlighting, walk, highlighting, lunch, etc today, which was good and productive. Narissa and I also had our weekly chat, mainly catching up but also talking about writing and what we’re planning to do next. It’s great having someone to check in with about writing progress – so that is a non-solitary aspect of my writing life.

                This morning, it snowed, almost horizontally and with a ferocious, cold wind. Then the snow disappeared, the wind calmed down a bit and the sun made a few appearances. The house felt colder than outdoors so I lit the burner late morning and I ended up doing most of my highlighting in front of the fire. I was lovely and warm but I definitely find it easier working at a big table. I have (if all goes to plan) one more day of highlighting to go!

In other news, I’m thinking about decluttering so decided to fill a bag of books to take to charity. I succeeded. I’ve been listening to podcasts about decluttering and feel I’m making progress towards getting the right headspace to get rid of more stuff than usual. I’m also thinking of doing the 30 day challenge, whereby on the day of the month (eg 1^st), you get rid of the corresponding number of items (whether bin, sell or charity) for thirty days, which totals around five hundred items. Today is the 13^th, I reckon I bagged up more than 13 items today, but I haven’t started, so I suppose it would be cheating to unbag those things and give myself an easy day when I do start the 30?!