Today I moved from one state to another.
Today I moved from this …
… to this:
From a whiteboard covered in scenes and scribble to one covered in nothing but possibility.
Today I sent the draft of a new manuscript off to my editor. It’s a sequel to Duck for a Day and I’ve been working on it for far too long, as is the way of these things from time to time or perhaps more accurately, always. But the main thing is that the draft is done and it’s off my desk for now and onto someone else’s.
And circumstances have conspired to mean that I don’t yet have the editorial report I’m expecting for another book, which means I can’t start edits yet and have some clear space. Which means I can dive into thinking and pottering about with a new project, at least for a little while. And if I do enough thinking and pottering, it may grow legs quickly enough that I can start working on it, and that will be my project for the second half of the year.
Of course, there is another duck book percolating, thanks to a stray remark from the always-inspiring Deb Fitzpatrick, but I suspect that can wait a bit, at least until the duck’s stern, flinty gaze becomes too difficult to bear.
There is other news on the horizon and in the wings and in the many and various crannies in which news is wont to lurk, but that is for another time.
For now, I shall stare at my clean slate and perhaps begin to scribble a little.
And yes, I am aware that the slate isn’t entirely clean. Those things you see on the right are magnetic buttons. And also a couple of geckos. Obviously. Every writer needs a gecko or two.
Meg McKinlay 
I'm glad there might be another duck book on the way! And I like the geckos. I also like your (unintentional?) pun/subliminal promotion of two books at once – 'until the duck … becomes too difficult to bear'. 🙂
One comment, though – that scribble on the bottom of the whiteboard doesn't look like part of a duck book (yes, I am obsessive enough to blow the image up…). Is that from something else?
Jess
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Wow. How wonderful to have a clean slate. I am working full-time while trying to break in to the writing world and I can't imagine what it must be like to just have writing time. Maybe one day …
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Jess – nice catch re the duck/bear thingy. I love it when readers notice what the writer didn't. And yes, you're right (again) the scrawl on the bottom is the beginnings of a (non-duck-related) poem. I hadn't realised the jpeg was blow-upable and am not sure how to prevent that. Still, I doubt anyone is clamouring to plagiarise my scribbled scene notes and parts of poems.
Anon – sadly, it's just a clean slate writing-wise. The rest of my world continues apace. This includes various forms of what I call 'part-time' work, which, when added up, regularly total over 30 hours a week. I suspect there are very few of us who actually 'just' have writing time. I'm not sure I'd want to write completely full-time actually, though a few more hours wouldn't go astray.
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