Hello and many thanks for the welcome!
Oh my words also rebel from time to time. When I was young I used to think writing was all inspiration and very little editing, now, however, I think most of my work is 10% inspiration 90% redraft, redraft, edit, edit and more edit. The secret, for me at least, is to trick my mind into enjoying the editing process as much as the initial brain-dump/draft. Sometimes things just flow and others, not so much (is probably putting it mildly).
I shall definitely have a better look at Actifit (and have also followed @tattoodjay).
No rush with reading my stuff, I have a habit of saving books to read at just the right moment but, if someone asks me how I know it's the right moment, there's no way I could answer. It just is. But this does mean I'm never one to rush anyone else into reading anything; I'll certainly make suggestions, but whether they read them immediately or in a year or two really doesn't matter. And Steinbeck is illustrious company to share a paragraph/reading list with!
What you say about the knife is a key thing, it really does make all the difference. In recent years I've been trying to challenge myself by improvising, using stone and bone instead of steel and the difference is substantial. I think making stone blades makes me appreciate my knives even more.
I'm looking forward to reading more of your own words, and talking more too!
Thanks again,
Alex