Nothing SMART yet

No abjectives set yet but I am settling back into the real world. The day job was okay while I was away from it but there were a couple of, how shall I put this, slight hiccoughs bordering on monumental disasters that I had to take care of when I got back. But disaster was averted and all is well with the world now. I haven't felt the need to tell my boss what happened - working on the assumption that what he doesn't know won't hurt him, it seemed like the best course to take.
Then yesterday I attended the final day of a course that was assessing my management style. Apparently I my personality is an emotional introvert and my management style is ISNF or some such combination. Basically I care about people and think about how my decisions will impact on them. Also I like to think about a problem and make a plan of how to tackle it. The world will be a better place for knowing that I am sure.
I started what is essentially the second draft of my Nice project on Monday and so far have tackled a measly nine and a bit pages which have increased about 450 words to the wordcount but have added information about the MC, who, now I come to think about it is probably a bit of an emotional introvert herself.
Must get on with those objectives though because at the minute I am putting all of my eggs in one basket and that has come back to bite me on the backside before.

Transition to the real world

Well its back to the day job tomorrow after what my friend David refers to as "that bowl of cherries called paid liesure time," i.e. a week off work. I have to be honest and say that right at this moment the prospect is not filling me with glee but then I remind myself that there are millions of people out there who would like to be in my shoes so I've told myself to "shut up whinging and get on with it."
I will also take up the pink pen again tomorrow. I have had a week of rest from that too and if I'm still on that honesty thing, I haven't missed that too much either. I have just reeeaallly enjoyed a week off.
Tomorrow though, it will be back to the real world with a vengeance.
The day job will take care of itself and will depend a lot on what has happenend during the last week when I haven't been there. The transition back will be good or bad depending on what I find in the morning and as I won't know that 'til then there's not a lot of point worrying about it. As for writing, I will take a new look through rested eyes at my Nice project with the intention of developing some of the characters and ironing out some creases. At some point today I also want to come up with a list of SMART abjectives for my writing so there will/may be more on that later.
In the meantime there are 30 pages of "Jane Ryre" left to read.

Reminicences and other random thoughts

I've just read through the very first short story that I ever received payment for. Don't know what made me do it because I haven't looked at it since it was accepted back in 2006. That one was published in TLFF and not long after I had another two accepted by different magazines in quick succession I thought I'd made it. I wasn't a best selling novelist but I was onto something. Oh poor dillusional me. If only it were that easy.
I had 7 stories accepted in 2007, but only 3 in 2008. The following year was a bit better at 6 and then in 2010 I concentrated on non fiction though I did have a couple of stories accepted early in the year. And of course between these modest acceptances there were a mountain of rejections. There wasn't a single fiction acceptance in 2011 but there wasn't a submisson either until October and as you are probably aware, I am still waiting to hear back about those.
Don't know what made me look back at the first but I am feeling a nit nostalgic. I remember how happy I was when it was a) accepted, b) I received the payment and c) I saw it in print. I may even look for the magazine later because it is sure to be somewhere. The copy of MW containing the first travel article I was commissioned to write is still sitting on a chair in the kitchen - I was so proud of that one.
But 2012 has to be a year for looking forward. As Himself happened to say the other day apropo of nothing here,"It's never too late until they're nailing down the coffin." so there's still time for me to achieve whatever it is that I am trying to achieve from this writing lark.
I submitted a short story today - the first of 2012.

Early morning reflections

I woke up early and decided to come downstairs and have some quiet time reflecting on stuff. Well no, I intended answering a couple of emails but somehow ended up reflecting.
Its now 4 months since I started to submit fiction again and to be honest I haven't done much of it. I sent off 6 things back in the middle of October and nothing since. I haven't heard back about any of the pieces that I sent off but they do say that no news is good news. Not so in this case though methinks.
So not a very auspicious restart to my fiction "career."
Must try harder.
Must also try and go back to sleep for an hour or so or I'll be no use to anyone later.

Not much

I haven't written for a week and don't plan on much for another 10 days or so which is when I will revisit the Nice project and start the second draft. Himself has been off work for the past week which has eaten into the time that I would normally write (not that I'm complaining) and we are both off next week so I can't see myself doing much. Anyway that will have given me enough time away from the Nice thing so that I come at it with a fresh approach and as it is my work of choice at the moment, that is the one that I want to concentrate on.
Number One Son is coming for a visit tonight which will be good. We don't see him a lot so I am very much looking forward to that.
Other than that, not a lot happening here. It's been bloomin' cold but at least it seems a bit warmer today but wetter. Can't have everything eh?

This and that

So the first draft of the Nice project is finished. Its still very raw and needs a lot more work before I even contemplate doing anything with it but as first drafts go its okay I suppose. There is planty of room for growth in some departments though so something to work on.
On a different note, something has been niggling away at me for months. Its to do with a situation at my last job that I thought I had got over but clearly not as it still niggles so I have sent an email to someone in authority and right or wrong its done so maybe I can put it behind me now.
I have absoloutly no idea where this morning has gone. I sat at the laptop at 10.10 am and planned on getting the last bit of the Nice project down and I've done that, I also finished the "email" that has now been sent, I've looked at a few blogs that i follow and now I'm here and the morning has just about gone. Yet I have so much more to do before 2pm when its time to walk the dog. They all revolve around the kitchen and the cooker so maybe I should turn this thing off and get on with it.