Monday

Despite breakfast out yesterday, a game of tennis with Keith (I won - even with a sprained calf muscle! Those lessons are paying off - now if only my improvement impresses the Wednesday evening social comp..., finishing the latest Simone Kirsch novel by Leigh Redhead, having a nap and generally futzing around, I still wrote 2952 words of Zelda last night.

Other things I'm thinking about is Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. I'm really sceptical about self-help feel-good books - however some of the things Rubin is on about are things I've been thinking over the past few years. My attempts at putting into play my own happiness project have been largely defeated by - well, myself, I suppose! A failure of focus? A sense of being over-stretched? The whole life/work/writing balance that is ongoing and, often, as much a question of attitude as time.

So I've been delighted to discover Rubin, have found a beautifully huge blank book in my blank book collection and, during my spare time while I'm away on my country writing & marking retreat, I'm going to plan my own twelve months of happiness. I won't wait for the New Year - I'll start in December - which I think is pretty fitting considering it's one of the most stressful months according to popular wisdom, suicide numbers and other important statistics.

I doubt that I'll meet the NaNoWriMo 50,000 words - writing & marking season & a bad cold/hayfever don't mix, but I'm still happy I signed up for it - it has certainly made me more conscious of striving for a daily writing time, even when I haven't been able to put it into practise. I'll probably make it an annual event.