Finally Writing Again!

In December 2020, whilst stuck at home in self isolation between Christmas and New Year after a close family member contracted Covid-19, I found myself inspired to begin writing a completely new novel, entirely unrelated to anything which I had written previously.

In just three days, I wrote eight thousand words, and was thrilled with the progress I was making then the dreaded Coronavirus that had plagued so much of our lives in 2020 stopped me in my tracks... literally! I contracted Covid-19 myself and became very unwell; so unwell that I completely missed the first two weeks of 2021 and was still not well enough to resume writing, despite being forced once more to 'stay at home' because we were now enduring Lockdown 3, which I discovered we had embarked upon once I returned to the land of the living. Covid left me so exhausted by simple necessary tasks that I didn't have the energy or enthusiasm to write, and I was also finding that once the school day finished, having spent so many hours teaching via a computer screen, I simply couldn't face any additional time at my desk writing. Even in the February Half Term break from school, by which point I was finally starting to feel human again, I couldn't muster the enthusiasm to sit at the computer or be creative, and the same could be said of the first week of the Easter break too, having faced so many tough challenges at school in the previous few weeks. I needed mental rest, but also physical activity, so I walked lots, did chores around the house and recharged my batteries.

Today, after a bracing four and a half mile walk in the snow, and my plans for gardening having been scuppered, I decided I needed something to occupy my time and get my brain active again. It was time to revisit the novel I'd started to write. Progress was slow; it took me ten minutes to even find it, as I couldn't recall anything about it other than the fact I'd written it, so I had to trawl through all my 'unfinished' works to find the correct novel because I couldn't actually remember what I'd called it. Once I'd finally found the correct word document, I then had to read what I'd written and make some memory jogging notes; there's no way to continue a story if you don't know what's happened previously. I immediately found myself engrossed. This one is going to be good, or at least what I've already written thus far is great, so if I can continue in the same vane, it will be!

I now need to decide where I go next with it. I know that four months ago, I had a clear plan. The problem is, I don't actually remember what that was (I really should have written that down!), so I need a new direction. I know what I want to happen in the end, and I think I know how I plan to get there now, but I also know I now need time to stew on my thoughts before I can continue writing more than the few words I've penned today.

All I will say for now, is that I think my protagonist, Ellie Chambers, will become a character I love at least as much as Maddie Lane in the Fairytale books, although I have a feeling she's more like Claire Wilson (from A Life Worth Living) than Maddie, but only time will tell!