“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment” said someone called Jim Rhon. So, right, okay, I really must get back into a routine and get this next book down on paper. That’s the plan and it starts on Monday.
Today, Sunday, I am setting the alarm for 15 minutes earlier than usual so I can get up, take a brisk walk, if it’s not raining, have a shower and get to my desk by 7.30 to get my usual work done, do emails, admin blah-di-blah. That takes me through the morning until lunchtime and that’s where the routine will have to kick in. Straight after lunch it will be back to the desk, no internet on, no distractions, and at least one hour of writing, plotting, planning, noting or researching.
That will take me to around four in the afternoon, and I’ll aim to stretch it until five on a good day, when I will knock off for the day. That’s when I can watch films, play on the tablet, go out or pack boxes – which we have not started doing yet. We will when we have a contract for the new house, it’s not going to take us long and we won’t be packing for a moving van style move. Knowing me I’ll just bung things in bags and carry them along the street (it’s two minutes away) and then put them in their place…
You see! I am digressing already. The writing routine will also have to include the daily blog which, as you’ll know, I am now preparing a day ahead, so you are usually reading what I wrote yesterday. I used to do it first thing in the morning but now find that if I do that, it’s a quick and even more pointless than usual post; if I do it the day before then I babble on for longer, and sometimes even say something of interest.
The photos today were taken on Saturday when we went down to Yialos to go to the bank and then buy some cat food. We stopped for something to eat and Neil was asked to take a photo for a driving license, which he was able to do in the street thanks to a handy white wall. He’s popping back later to deliver it. We walked back up the main road, which was very quiet, and had a look down on the new jetty that’s being built. It’s still just two barges and some lumps of concrete. When we once went on a tour of the West Pier in Brighton, we were told that most of the renovation work was happening under water, and so I imagine that’s what’s happening with our new docking jetty. The preparation is the thing and most of the work is happening out of sight at the moment.
By the way, the West Pier visit was before it burned down, when you were able to take guided tours of what was left of it and in the days when two of the neon letters were not working, so the thing was announcing itself as the WE T PIE . Always made me laugh.
And then on Saturday night we had madness and mayhem with Jenine and Harry making pizzas and staying up far too late, which has made for a late start Sunday. And it’s a glorious day and we should be out there walking, And we may well be after lunch as the writing regime is not starting until tomorrow. (And will, in any case, be interrupted by moving house, hopefully in four weeks’ time.)
