Week one of the writer's life

I've drunk a lot of tea and I'm feeling free, as Ian Hunter never quite sang. One week into my season of writing and there's not much more to show for it than a pile of teabags in the compost caddy and a vague aura of tranquility, though I'm enjoying the pre-breakfast walks and big rollneck jumpers of the new regime. I never did get used to the filtered air and unseasonal temperature of a mechanically-ventilated office.

I've had a rejection for a story I sent out in March (seven and a half months to read 350 words!), and I've sent out another story to a new magazine, but there's been no step-change in my submission habits. NaNoWriMo carries on apace, but sadly that's a snail's pace and I'm averaging only about twice as many words as if I'd had to cram all my writing into my lunchbreak, as I used to do. If I was including all the notes I'm writing, however, I suspect I'd be nearer the mark (and I'm certainly doing better than last year). I have been doing a lot of poking around the internet and calling it research: Cumbrian folk songs, terraced houses to rent in small Yorkshire towns, maps of the north Pennines. Are you intrigued yet?

Thankfully I'm also finding time to read. I was a bit concerned that without that 40 minutes of sitting on a train with a book, I might fall behind. So far this week though, I've finished the Doctor Who novel (7th doctor, one of the Virgin New Adventures) I was reading for the last few days of commuting, read the first couple of chapters of a novel I'll be reviewing for The Bookbag in a couple of weeks, and worked my way through chunks of two creative writing books (one fresh out of the library, one I own and have read before). And I've messed about on Twitter a bit. Obviously.

All in all not a bad start to a break from the 9 to 5. Further updates to follow.