Can you leap back? I’m not sure. I’m certainly striding forward in my hopes, dreams and aims for 2023. (see last post)
Two weeks ago I searched for the unfinished manuscript for the third in my Mystery Inspired by History Series. (I finished writing it in October 2020, in lockdown, at the time I was told that both of my parents had been taken into hospital.) Since then I have been unable to write creatively until now, and I know my parents would be encouraging me to get on with it, if they were still alive. It’s time.
I was suitable surprised to find that I had already written well over 50, 000 words. Almost certainly over half way! After the joy this discovery gave me, I set to work:
I Converted the Manuscript for Kindle
I converted the unfinished manuscript to epub (you don’t need Mobi anymore) on Calibre e book management Library (click on the picture above), and then sent it to my kindle using my kindle email address. If you don’t know your kindle email address, you can find it under Your Account on your device.
Now, I could read it at my leisure without printing out all of the document. My contribution to saving the planet’s resources,
Located my story notes
If, like me, you have numerous notebooks, and a poor memory especially after Covid, this can take a while. I have tried to write clearly on the front of each notebook what it contains. Anyway, I eventually found the right one and the notes which were conveniently listed it:
- Brief chapter outline
- Side by side how the story within a story links with the main chapters
- List and description of characters in both stories
- Rough plan of chapters still to be written
- Maps, which are the same as those in MISSING Past and Present
What to do and in what order?
Now I had all that I needed:
- I read through my chapter notes carefully.
- Next I read the last three chapters I’d written, on my kindle.
- Then I acclimatized myself with the characters, trying to visualize each in my mind’s eye and even enjoyed pretend conversations with them, bringing each alive once more.
- I took a deep breath, enjoying the quiet of the house,
- … and then I started to write.
- As easy as that.
It was fortunate that on Tuesday, when I knew my husband would be out of the house curling, (Yes, one of the lovely things about our life here in Scotland is the variety of activities we find ourselves participating in) the internet was down at home and so I had no distractions whatsoever.
At the end of the morning I was so surprised that I had written, 2,300 words.
I edited them on Wednesday and then this afternoon, when my husband was out with the Rotary judging the school children in their Burn’s Poetry Recital Competition, I managed to write another 1,000 words.
What has surprised me most is how easy it has been to absorb myself wholeheartedly in this imaginary world, which had laid dormant in the back of my mind for over 26 months. That’s remarkable isn’t it!
Diana Jackson 