I have been working on my second book, Sudden Deaths, for seven months now. Up to this week I had written 18,000 words, or about a quarter. At that rate it would take me almost two years before I completed the first draft. We are back in ‘I don’t even buy green bananas’ territory.

So I decided it was time for a change of gear. If I write 1,000 words a day, or, more realistically, 7,000 words a week (good days, bad days), then I should finish in about eight weeks, or early November, which would give a reasonable prospect of a release in February.

So the next question is, ‘Is that feasible?’ I started a regime where writing takes precedence over everything else (well, almost – I couldn’t bail out on watching the Last Night of the Proms with friends, obviously) on Tuesday. Over the last five days I have written over 10,000 words, so I’m doing double the target and it should be possible to complete the first draft by the end of October (working to the original target, but as a minimum).

Second draft, end of November. ARCs produced and distributed to anyone who wants to read them in December. January for final edits. Publish in February.

What could go wrong?