Over the last month, I have managed to start rewriting my book in earnest. Most of this year so far has been spent coming to terms with just how much work is needed to make the book as good as it can be, which involves the painful process of deleting thousands of words, restructuring the plot and completely changing some of the characterisation. It has taken a long while to get accustomed to this, and I've only stopped resenting it since I've got back into the flow of writing.

I've now written about 6,000 new words for this latest draft - a prologue, chapter one and chapter two  - and it has started to feel gratifying to get the revised plan on paper. The most satisfying part of the change is emphasising the real core of the story - the romance between Chloe and Freddie. Previously, this didn't get started until the second half of the book; now the seeds are sown (no, that's not a euphemism) in the second chapter.

My other preoccupation is getting the bloody thing finished. In fact, that's been a preoccupation since I started. I have drafted various timetables which give me enough time - in theory - to finish the book by the autumn. But realistically, I'm pretty sure this won't go according to plan, and I'm now intent on giving myself an uninterrupted week of writing after the summer break to ensure that I get it absolutely, finally, totally finished.

Watch this space ...