(April 27 – May 3)
Still working on the ‘horror’ chapter and, in what is fast becoming standard practice, the story has already taken a slight twist of its own. Accordingly, I have gone back to re-edit the first half.
This process of swift rewriting has highlighted one nagging concern with my writing, which perhaps stems from the fact that the first draft (for me, at least) is always about just getting the damn story down. As such, my first drafts typically suffer from excessive dialogue tags. I always pay attention to how other authors avoid this, but it’s one of those things that doesn’t seem to come naturally to me; and, therefore, one of things that requires significant work in the subsequent edits.
However, there’s no point having beautifully crafted dialogue tags, or alternatives, if there’s no story in the first place, so I’m trying not to let this distract me too much.
One good thing
This week marks the end of the Easter holidays. While schools are open, I’ve decided to keep the Kinderbesten at home for at least the next two weeks. My one good thing this week is how generously the teachers have prepared for this (in spite of having the rug pulled out from beneath them mid-break, with the surprise announcement that schools would be open after all for all parents who ‘choose’ to send their kids in). It allows for a bit more structure in the learning-from-home day and ensures that my Kinderbesten are able to keep up with their peers in the classroom.
One bad thing
The above being said, I find that having a lesson plan to follow (and assignments to monitor) does require a lot more organisation on my part. I clearly need to put some more time into organising and managing the Kinderbesten’s work, which will be my main focus area for improvement next week …