Last week, my dad helped me to put together a daybed, which has become our guest bed and my new writing nook. Having this new space to dream in feels powerfully symbolic. It’s the beginning of a new phase of writing for me.
Working towards completion of the sequel to The Dress has been so much harder than I ever imagined. Violetta didn’t sleep very much at all during the first four months and now, when she does take naps, there always seems to be so much to do in a very short space of time – laundry, bits of housework, essential emails and phone calls, the online grocery shopping…
Slowly, slowly, I’m snatching a little time for writing. I find myself thirsting after these precious half hour stretches. And it’s a very different way of working from the one to which I was used before. I’m learning to drop as quickly as possible into the writing, working as fast as I can and whenever I get the chance, and then scribbling new ideas in my notebook before bed when I’m just too tired to actually write.
Piece by piece, I’m getting this book written. It’s such a pleasure to sink back into the world of Fabbia and Ella, to turn their story over in my mind again. I have about 20,000 more words to write before pulling it all together and starting the editing process. Finishing it now feels tantalisingly close.
