Writing a book part 14 - picking up the thread

Over the summer, I've written very little of my book. Despite lofty thoughts of spending days in the British Library reading rooms alongside hundreds of other lofty thinkers, I ended up leaving it fallow for pretty much all of August.

Now that the new term approaches, and with it a more regular routine, I am picking up from where I left off. Since January, I've written 31,820 words - so about 4,000 words per month. I've got around 12,000 more to write to finish my first half, so I should be able to get it done before Christmas, just.

Returning to the book after a short hiatus has been easier than I expected. I was able to continue writing straight away, without needing to re-read any sections or remind myself of the plot or characters. I still think it's fairly good too, which is a relief, and I'm enjoying writing my current chapter, which introduces one of the main characters and explains some of his back story via a long boozy lunch in an old-fashioned London club. A good excuse for some field research, perhaps.

I am getting slightly impatient to finish the first half - not least because I know how much rewriting will be necessary, and also because I still need to weave a new sub-plot into the second half, based on some events that happen in the first half. Ideally, I also need to visit Jerez to write a few chapters that are set in the vineyards there, but I'm not going to manage this before Christmas. I guess I'll just have to use my imagination.