Fair to say August has been a challenging month with only a week available for writing. In that context, my review against plan for August is as follows:

  • Finish first redraft of book one: I made a good start on the redrafting of four of the thirteen chapters and rewrote the introduction
  • Redo chapter plan for book two: To be carried over to September.
  • At least 1000 words of new nature writing, over and above my book chapters: Yes, wrote a 2,280 word article for a commission.
  • At least 2 pitches for feature articles to magazines: Didn’t manage to pitch this month.
  • 1000 Twitter followers (up from 972): Not there yet, but 984 as of today. Have been mulling on the etiquette of trying to increase followers this month…
  • 90 followers for this blog (up from 83): Nearly, now 89.
  • Botany learning plan to support creative writing: Had fun on holiday in Devon finding saltmarsh and coastal plants like Sea Aster and Sea-purslane and the Strawberry Clover pictured. I’m going to need some help with identifying my willow samples though.
  • Writing residency: Had a lovely time co-leading an online workshop with the inspirational Billie Ballard, but I’m still humming and hawing about the best way to launch a writers forum.
  • Regulars: I’ve just about kept on top of blog posts but it seemed sensible to have a month off my newsletter in the circumstances.

My plan for September is as follows (taking into account that I need to hand-in a 20,000 word portfolio and a reflective journal for my nature-writing course which comes to an end this month):

  • Re-do the book proposal for book one ready for sending out
  • Deliver my two commissioned articles, and begin research for an article due in October
  • At least one new pitch for a feature article to a magazine
  • 1000 Twitter followers (up from 984)
  • 90 followers for this blog (up from 89)
  • Learning – focus on aquatic plants and gull id this month
  • Writing residency – planning for Oct workshop and write September diary.
  • Regulars – weekly blog and monthly newsletter