Best Laid Plans...

The outlook for May was slow - breathe - manifest.

A month to recalibrate. A mental break from chasing deadlines on writing competitions and my manuscript (MS1).

A chance to review my 2026 writing goals, look at the manifesting collage I put together in January, and make a start on laying out my first draft of MS2 in a plot grid.

I should have appreciated the first few weeks of calm, ticking off my bite-sized achievable May goals.

Best laid plans and all that...

Mentally unprepared, MS1 arrived back from a developmental edit (#gulp).

So, I did the adult 'thing': stared at my in-box and closed down my email. The next day, I did the same. The unopened email begged to be read, but was I ready to find out what needed to be done?

A few days later, I braced myself with a soy chai and a box of tissues at my side. I read the letter first. And read. And read. And read. The only tears prickling in my eyes were of gratitude. This editor got my story. She could see what I was trying to do and had identified areas (many areas!) to work on and improve.

I nodded. And nodded. And nodded (#bobblehead).

Everything she said made sense.

The magnitude of work involved hadn’t hit me yet.

I reread the letter (#feelingcalmandcollected) and made notes on my Kindle Scribe (#livingthelife).

I scrolled through my manuscript - every comment, every question had me nodding again (#lotsofworkahead).

I reached for a lined exercise book to write down the big picture elements to address (#feelingorganised).

I reopened my manuscript and comment by comment, made notes to myself in three categories:

• TO DO: I can do this - resolvable

• NOTES: What I was trying to achieve/original intention, 'fix' ideas

• Q: For Zoom discussion - clarification needed/brainstorming/would this (insert idea) work?

Then the overwhelm hit!

Working out a 'fix' is one thing. Implementing it and making sure it works throughout the rest of the story, quite another (#beentheredonethat)

My migraine brain does not like battling a strong desire to fix things immediately when it's obvious it's going to need time and patience. Cue, stress and overwhelm.

I may have spiraled a little (well, a lot!)

This may be the point where I was laid up for a few days with a migraine that rejected the medication I fed it (#allabithazy).

Once I emerged and my head cleared, me being me, I got organised. Having my notes in three different places was going to make a Zoom discussion migraine inducing.

To collect my thoughts and separate the ‘straightforward fixes’ (which needed no discussion) to the more complex (for me) suggestions, I opened Excel.

I know what you're thinking.

But you already have notes everywhere. Where next? The walls?

Don't be silly (#prettygoodidea). When I'm not writing, I'm an accountant - spreadsheets declutter my head.

So that's where I'm at now. Collating all my notes.

I keep reminding myself to:

Breathe - keep the neck, back and typing muscles from seizing up.

Go slow - there’s no rush: quality over quantity.

Manifest - a fantastic, completed MS1 and a huge smile.

This developmental edit is the best thing I could have done for this manuscript.

Stay tuned.