The Next Stage

   The last two years have been particularly busy for me. I have been completing a PGCE alongside teaching full time and it has absolutely killed me. A lot of people complain about how teachers get long holidays, but those people never see the teachers going in early, leaving late and working through their breaks, not to mention taking their work home at weekends. As it has all been new to me I have wanted to make sure that I do everything correctly and so have put my heart and soul into every aspect, sacrificing an awful lot of my free time. It has paid off however as I have now completed and passed my PGCE, from which I graduate in September, and I have secured myself a new job.
   Unfortunately however this has led to my writing suffering. I sat at my laptop a fortnight a go, embarrassed to find that my last save on my novel had been a whole year ago. I always had in the back of my mind that it had been a few months ago, but never a year. How could I call myself a writer, when I am not actively writing? I have twitter and I have had blogs, but again, I have not been contributing in the way I had always planned to, it had taken over everything.
   This (academic) year however it going to be about me and the things I want to do rather than what I need to do. I have a lot lined up but I will get there slowly but surely. Luckily when I started writing again I was excited to find that I was actually very close to finishing it, and after a week and a half off, I actually got it done. So, on to the next stage. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to be re-reading it, editing it, researching any issues I have and then getting some valued friends and family members to give me some much awaited constructive criticism, before I delve into the unknown of seeking a publisher. Wish me luck.