No, really, it is. Since deciding to come up with random journal subject lines, I'm finding it even more difficult than ever to write them. Random is all very well, but then you have to

a) not be obscene
b) not type in anything confidential.

Anyway, today's not-very-random-random-title is sorted, so onto the entry.

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I started revising my YA novel this weekend, and I'm now almost half way through the second draft. Most of the difficult revisions will be at the end, but I'm pleased to make such good progress. I've been ignoring the odd awkward bits of writing. Partly that's because I don't want to get bogged down with the fine detail at this stage, but mainly because I think it's not so important. The truth is, if the story is good and is pumping along, nobody much notices the the occassional lapse in writing. If it's no good and the story isn't moving, no amount of polishing will make it good. I've just started re-reading Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Now, I think this is one of the best fantasy series in recent years. It's original, exciting and challenging. But there's no denying that the writing in the first of the books isn't that hot. Oh, there's nothing particularly wrong with it on a sentence-by-sentence level, but it isn't clear writing. It's often difficult to work out what is going on. (Later on in the book, and in subsequent book, his writing matches the conception, and the books are nothing short of superb, but the first one is challenging.) I would hold the first book as an example of a book that succeeds brilliantly despite flaws in the writing.

No doubt, of course, I will polish the awkward passages in my book before I send it to agents. I'm fairly incapable of submitting anything I know has faults in the writing. But not yet.

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On Saturday night, I had the best night's sleep I've had for weeks. Apart from a few brief interruptions, I slept in until 9.30 on Sunday morning. I wasn't tired all day. It was almost unheard of. Naturally, of course, that meant that last night I hardly slept at all, so I'm back to my normal exhausted state again.

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The weather has finally turned to Autumn here, after a slow start. It was frosty last night, and the weather forecast for tomorrow is very cold. The leaves on one of the trees outside my office window are all brown. (Although they are green on the one next to it). I like Autumn. I like the chill freshness in the air and clear light. These are the last days that I'll actually see daylight at home during the week. Soon we'll shift out of summer time and it'll be travelling home in darkness. Soon the chill will be pure cold, and I'll be missing the sunlight and thinking the winter will never end. But for now, this is a beautiful season.