I had the privilege of reading two pieces of work in progress: one a piece of creative non-fiction (memoirs, travel books) and one a business book.
I love reading work in progress pieces – not sure why. Maybe because it engages the editing side of my brain, and it’s a lot more fun to edit others’ work than your own. Everything looks so clear! Doing that is giving me the tools to approach my own work with more distance and energy.
I haven’t done much writing this week though. Did some editing on “the book”, and created an “if this then that” sort of table to guide people on which elements of visible teamwork to adopt, depending on their workflow. A new one for me, I’m more of a “here’s the information, you sort it out” kind of girl. But that’s not the kind of book I’m writing at the moment…
Books I’m Reading
Meanwhile, I stopped reading How to be Famous by Caitlin Moran, even at 70%. It wasn’t going anywhere although the characters were very rounded and it was fun to be with them. I picked up JD Kirk’s Blood and Treachery instead, book four of his detective Logan series. Much better and impossible to put down.
I admire the author, who’s real name is Barry Hutchinson, very much. He started off writing space opera (not sure what the genre entails, but I think it’s comedy set in space. Apparently, his books were doing ok, but the genre was not one through which you could make a living. So he looked at the most popular genres, and picked Crime and Mystery. Well, he’s done extremely well, I’m in awe of him.
On the non-fiction side, I’m still reading Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed, which as well as giving me some little nuggets to think about, is full of interesting stories. It’s made me think about the tension of making sure I’m exposed to ideas and ways of thinking I’m not used to versus feeling comfortable with those around me.
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