Slowly Becoming Accustomed to Early Rising...

I have never been an early riser, though if the occasions call for it, I could grit my teeth and bear it. More than once, when I've done this, I have appreciated the beauty of what early morning offers; the realisation that the day doesn't go to waste; that there are more you can pack in a day because of it.

Still, every now and then, my body protests of waking up around the same time I usually wake up during the week; my mind chastises me for not seizing the opportunity to sleep in, when you have the freedom not to be dictated by other people's schedule.

But I am, more and more, beginning to get accustomed to waking up early; at least two hours prior to when I usually wake up during the weekend. It has that certain sense of comfort, roaming around the still-quiet house, listening only to the hum of the air-conditioning, hearing my brain tick and work, filled with all the words that might not have come so easily when the husband creature rises up and create additional sounds...

Tick... Tick... Tick...

No, that's not the sound of a second hand of the clock ticking... that's me ticking off the list as I finished writing section upon section.

I spent a large chunk of my weekend doing nothing but writing, vigorously trying for my hand to keep up with the speed of my brain, spitting out ideas after ideas, sentences after sentences, punch lines after punch lines.

Granted, in the end, my brain always runs ahead of my writing, but I must say that I'm quite pleased with what I've accomplished this weekend. Operation 'filling in the gaps' is definitely in progress!

Filling in the Gaps...

I know, I know... I've been absent for the past 2 months - travelling in a completely different country for 5 weeks and being thrown into the deep end back at work straight after, with 3 cluster meetings happening at the same time in 3 different venues will do that to you.

It doesn't mean that I have been a slack-ass in the writing department, though. It also doesn't mean that I don't go off in a tangent...

I think I've written about my writing process before. I don't write in a linear process. It's basically whatever I think of, I put down in pen and paper. Sometimes I have a clear idea as to where the section I'm writing should go, and slot that in-between the appropriate pages on my Word document. Other times, I just keep writing, and then I have to look at the rest of my half-finished novel, and determine where this passage would fit in best.

I think I've also mentioned about the 'difficulty' of finishing a novel. When it's about three-quarter done, I find my brain has to work that much harder to think of the 'tying-in' sections to finish that whole chapter off.

But on days like today, my brain is full of ideas for several tying-in sections, and I must say that I have to embrace that wholeheartedly whilst they're fresh in my mind. So I dubbed the rest of this month 'filling in the gaps' month, and maybe, just maybe, Lizzy & Michael III will be... dare I say it.... FINISHED!