I keep telling myself that it’s nearly Christmas and time to think about winding down the year and making a few plans for 2023.

Not sure why, but for some reason, I wasn’t listening. Among other things, I have been busy writing. After long months of dragging my heels (for so many reasons,) the words have been pouring out of me at the rate of more than a thousand a day. I am really enjoying feeling like a writer again.

But planning? Surely there should be more than enough time for thinking about new projects next year…

I have been threatening to learn how to use Scrivener for longer than I care to remember, and something about this new burst of enthusiasm has made it seem essential, so I am following my instincts here.

The fact that Microsoft Word has been tinkering again and made some changes that are definitely not helpful might have something to do with it.

My first attempt went pear-shaped very quickly, even with the Scrivener for Dummies handbook! But instead of stomping off in frustration like I usually do when faced with complicated techno jargon, I became obsessed with finding a solution.

I spent the afternoon on YouTube, looking for someone to unlock my stupid brain.

Thanks to Joanna Penn from The Creative Penn, and William Gallagher, I seem to have grasped the basics. It may take me a while to use the system for my current WIP, but it looks hopeful.

I recently promised a post on my progress, which will follow soon. How’s that for optimism?

We hope you are all managing to keep warm in these freezing times…