WriteLife

I sit here, writing this blog post, having just started my last chapter in the third book of our series; Darkness, Set Us Free. I’ve only written about 1500 words, nothing too remarkable. But, I have the strange sensation of coming full circle.

For those who have been following along with these blog posts, you might remember my very first post: A Little Something about Endings. This first post talked about the challenges I had writing the last chapter of the second book in our series; The Price of Pandemonium.

And today, I have the chance to reflect on coming to the end of another novel (almost, my chapter isn’t the final one in the book). This is the first full novel Sarah and I have written from start to finish since our early days writing at high school. The other books we’ve discussed in these blog posts already had their bones. And, although large swathes were completely rewritten and extensively edited, starting from scratch, nada, nothing, is a different beast all together.

writing a novel is easy when you have the bones. Like this beautiful window frame. But what about when you start from nothing?

I’ve learnt a lot about writing a novel through this endeavor, and I thought I’d share some of them with you:

Don’t sweat the small stuff – If that paragraph isn’t perfect, that’s OK. There’s plenty of time to fix it with the (innumerable) edits to follow.

Good bones are key – Get those major plot points in there. The rest can be manipulated later.

Some words are better than no words – Just. Write.

As you can probably guess, this book has had its ups and down. My writing has improved. Our characters have undergone some serious character development. And I will always remember that a lot of the work done was during a global pandemic. Something I’m sure no one will forget anytime soon.

 It’s a strange feeling; coming to the end of something you’ve plugged your heart and soul into for the past four months or so, but that means something new is right around the corner.

-A

LabLife

I am writing this blog post on Sunday (NZ time), the eve of when we find out if we will spend another couple weeks in lockdown, or if we get to move to level 3. Though, I have no idea which way the decision will swing. I obviously hope, as a country, we’ve done well enough to move to level 3, but I understand if we need to stay in this strict lockdown.

Stay home. Save lives. Break the chain of transmission.

Tomorrow (Monday) our country will know where we stand.

Consequently, lab work is still, firmly, off the table. Sorry. And, I won’t bore you all with my plight of writing a research paper, and completing edits from the journal for another.

Instead, here’s a throwback to better times in my laboratory.

Please stay safe. Stay connected. And be kind.

-A

Happier times in the lab: Balloons and lab equipment.