Revisiting two books I found very useful during my MA in Creative Writing at University of Wales Trinity St David: David Kaplan’s Rewriting and Paul Mills’ Writing in Action. Kaplan’s ‘Laundry List’ of weasel words, or the written equivalent of umming and erring, helps me tighten up writing, and Mills’ book is stuffed with useful and intelligent comments on the writing and self-editing process. Right now, I’m waiting for my publisher, Impress Books, to give me feedback on the first draft of my second novel. I know it needs more work and their comments will help direct my rewrite. Writing a novel is a long haul. When you get to this stage – when you have a complete draft over 450 pages long – then it’s hard to hold it all in your head, to see it as an entirety, to feel the pace of it for your reader, as you need to for rewriting.

Also trying to write a short story. Long walks would help to shake out some ideas and words, but it never stops raining, so long baths are having to suffice instead for creating the vacuus state into which words drop.