A
Fortnight in the life of a Writer/Tutor
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| My weekly schedule before the end of exams |
Since
Easter it’s been all go at my Writing HQ, aka the desk in my living room. I’ve
been diligently working on the final edits of my upcoming release. Meanwhile I’ve
still had to maintain tutoring commitments as well as my obligations to
Inkhead. In the midst of all this I attempted to continue my Italian studies
via Duolingo.
Around
the beginning of May the charity I teach at asked for 6 weeks of detailed
lesson planning so they can comply with their application for DFE status. While
not difficult to do, as any teacher knows, this is incredibly labour intensive.
So glad to say I’ve finally finished that lot. However, as I’m the one and only
English tutor it also falls to me to plan next year’s curriculum. My work is
not yet done. Onward.
To add
to my May and June tutoring load, my less confident GCSE students requested
extra tuition sessions as their exams were looming. Thankfully the final English
exams are now over and done with so that means I’ll have the odd evening free
to indulge in whatever takes my fancy. Having said that though, I was recently
approached by a mum who knows my schedule pretty well. This is an approximation
of the conversation which ensued:
Mum: So, your after school club
sessions are coming to an end.
Me: (chewing my bottom lip) Yes,
that’s right.
Mum: So can you slot little Johnny
into one of those afternoons to help him get over his writing to a deadline
phobia? He loves the club and what you do there but I really think 121 will
benefit him more.
Me: (unable to resist a plea
hidden inside a compliment) I’ll see what I can do. Email me later this week.
Then,
because I clearly didn’t have enough going on, I decided to list my spare room
on Airbnb. I forgot how that meant I’d have to spruce up other areas of the
house too. It hit me when I got my first request to host and a reminder email
from Airbnb to do a spot of tidying before my guest arrives. This instigated running
around headless chicken style before I remembered there are some spare evenings
and weekends in between to get stuff sorted. Head back on chicken. This resulted in a plan of action and one of the results was this rather fabulous balcony makeover last weekend.
Of course, that's only 1 item ticked off my new To Do List so I've also decided some of my manic schedule had to be chopped. It just so happens that currently involves Italian studies and dancing. Molto triste on that score, especially the dancing. But needs must.
Now my
focus is mainly on final edits of Palindrome, sticking to the pre-release
schedule I’ve devised & sprucing up the house and garden (thank you my fabulous London BF, neighbour Kathy and your lovely dog Nelson for the assist on that one).
Of course, that's only 1 item ticked off my new To Do List so I've also decided some of my manic schedule had to be chopped. It just so happens that currently involves Italian studies and dancing. Molto triste on that score, especially the dancing. But needs must.
Let’s
hope in the coming weeks I can also develop the power to resist any more
requests to tutor in my freed up slots. I so want to go back to dancing and
possibly even remembering the odd word in Italian.
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| My weekly schedule post exams |
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