Winter Sports

I am writing again. As in WORKING ON MY MANUSCIPT. It feels good. I managed five pages before lunch. Progress! At last.

It’s a good day to write. According to the weatherman, it’s warmer in Siberia and Iceland today than it is here in southwestern Pennsylvania. I believe it. It’s darn cold. Last time I stuck my head out the door, the thermometer read two degrees. Add the wind to that and…well, I don’t want to think about it.

I’ve tried not to complain about the weather here on Writing, etc. I do enough of it around the house. I usually start my battle cry of “I’m sick of winter” about the second week of November and continue with varying degrees of exasperation right through March. This winter had me spoiled, though. At least until recently. Now I’m really sick of winter.

I have to admit, though, it is great writing weather. There sure isn’t anything enticing me to wander outdoors, away from my computer. Nope. I’ll stay snuggled in my office chair with a cup of some hot beverage and work on pages, thank you very much.

Apparently there are some people who like winter. They enjoy the brisk, invigorating air as it whisks across the snow pack. They enjoy such things as skiing and snow tubing and sledding. Not me. I’ve never been skiing and my knees aren’t too interested in learning it now. I used to go tubing and sledding, but that was back in the day when I bounced instead of splatted.

When we had horses, I had to be out in this weather, constantly breaking ice out of water buckets and cleaning frozen stalls. The wood shavings I used for bedding would be frozen, too. I had a pick ax in the shavings bin to break the stuff up. So if any of you are wondering if I miss having horses, the answer (for today, at least) is NO.

However, winter has always been my favorite season in which to write even though my stories are generally set in the summer. If I have to look out the window at wind-driven white powder as it howls around the corner of the house, I can at least let my imagination take me to another time, when beads of sweat trickle down my character’s back. OK, so maybe it’s hard to get the description exactly correct, but if I finish the first draft during the winter and spend the summer on revising, I can add those touches when I’m actually feeling them.

The current WIP (that’s Work In Progress to the uninitiated) has taken way longer than it should. I started it last spring. But it was a rough year for focusing around here, so it’s still unfinished. Good thing I don’t have a real deadline yet.

I am setting my own deadline, though. Finished first draft by April. That’s in addition to my goals of writing and submitting one short story or article each month. By the way, no, I didn’t manage to submit anything in January, but I had a good excuse. So I plan to double up in February. It may be the shortest month (HA! With this weather, it sure doesn’t feel like it), but I still intend to submit TWO pieces to catch up from last month. The one short story is about done and another one is on its way, so I know I’ll make it.

Once the distractions of daffodils and warm sunshine start to lure me into the outdoors, I make no further promises. But for now, I’m writing!