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Hey Reader,

It started out as just a quickie and escalated fast.

Yesterday I planned one of those jobs that should have taken half an hour, but my brain turned it into a 3-hour frenzy of activity.

Actually, that’s not true — my slovenly behaviour over the past *cough*year*cough* turned a quick chore into an epic quest.

Sunday is change the bed clothes day and I usually push a hoover around at some point before we put clean sheets on.

But yesterday morning I woke up to a network of cobwebs approximately 3.2cm from my face, with the offending webspinner and its spindly brethren grinning at me from nearby.

A quick glance around and I was seeing the entire bedroom through new, cobwebbed eyes: when was the last time I dealt with this dusty mess?

Judging by the Halloween haunted house style draperies, it’d been a while.

So I dragged the hoover upstairs and got to work, thinking a quick waft around would do it.

Two hours later, I had all the bookshelves pulled out, the bedside tables on their sides, and the bed dragged into the middle of the room.

It was not pretty.

Quick count:

• 17.3 kg of spider silk
• 54,291 dead woodlice
• 2,205 spider carcasses
• A pair of socks I thought I’d lost
• 1 piece of Christmas wrapping paper
• A bag I haven’t seen for at least 4 months

So all in all, a successful haul really.

Hoovering done, I turned my attention to the floor. We used solid oak for the floor and the staircase up to the bedroom and I decided to do a deep clean.

PSA: do not — I repeat DO NOT — use furniture polish on your wooden floors and stairs.

I learned my lesson last time when I polished the floor to such a shine that my stockinged feet accelerated me to an appreciable percentage of the speed of light and slammed me into the wall.

This time, I was sensible and mopped with a gentle wooden floor solution.

TA DA!

It’s amazing what a pleasant place a bedroom is when you don’t have to fight your way through Charlotte’s web.

Anyway. What does this have to do with writing?

Nothing at all, except it made me think of all the prep work we neglect when it comes to writing a book.

If I’d kept on top of the spiderwebs throughout the past few months, I wouldn’t have had to spend 3 hours up to my nostrils in dust yesterday.

If we put in some groundwork before we ever start writing our books, the whole process becomes an order of magnitude easier.

Wondering what that groundwork might be?

Aha. Well. Keep your eyes peeled because I’m running a masterclass soon and you’ll be invited.

​Click here to get on the waiting list.

TTFN,

Vicky 🫡

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