A Whirlwind Winter
My life has become a whirlwind. I keep a legal pad in front of me on my desk with my to-do list scrawled all over. Each page contains one week. I’ve taken to labeling each task with a time frame. “Work on Short Story” appears each day from 6:30AM to 7:00AM.
The amazing part is that it’s been working. I have worked on that short story every single day. It’s almost done. It’s also way too long. But I’m writing fiction and it keeps me sane. In another week or so, I’ll begin to slash much of what I’ve written to make it meet the word limit. I already know some of what will get cut. Some of it is pretty damned good. I think I’ll create a “cut file” for it, copying the slashed paragraphs into a new document rather than simply hitting DELETE and watching it disappear into cyberspace. It’s less painful that way.
“Conference” also gets a time allotment each day. But instead of a half hour, it gets more like two or three hours. On occasion, it gets four hours or more. Thankfully, I’m not playing catch-up with quite the level of panic and hysteria as I was a few weeks ago. Mind you, I’m not saying I’m ahead. I’m not even caught up. But I’m only slightly behind where I want to be.
I’ve added a bit more time for the business of writing lately. “Query” is getting time assigned to it. I have a bunch of articles that I’ve wanted to write for way too long. It’s time to stop talking about it and DO it.
But lest you think that I’m all work and no play, I sent in our rental fee for the camping site in Confluence today. We will move the camper there sometime after mid March. The fact that there is no Internet and no cell phone service both excites and terrifies me. When I escape to our new camp, there will be no distractions. I will either be focused entirely on writing or entirely on relaxing. And I plan on doing plenty of both.
The amazing part is that it’s been working. I have worked on that short story every single day. It’s almost done. It’s also way too long. But I’m writing fiction and it keeps me sane. In another week or so, I’ll begin to slash much of what I’ve written to make it meet the word limit. I already know some of what will get cut. Some of it is pretty damned good. I think I’ll create a “cut file” for it, copying the slashed paragraphs into a new document rather than simply hitting DELETE and watching it disappear into cyberspace. It’s less painful that way.
“Conference” also gets a time allotment each day. But instead of a half hour, it gets more like two or three hours. On occasion, it gets four hours or more. Thankfully, I’m not playing catch-up with quite the level of panic and hysteria as I was a few weeks ago. Mind you, I’m not saying I’m ahead. I’m not even caught up. But I’m only slightly behind where I want to be.
I’ve added a bit more time for the business of writing lately. “Query” is getting time assigned to it. I have a bunch of articles that I’ve wanted to write for way too long. It’s time to stop talking about it and DO it.
But lest you think that I’m all work and no play, I sent in our rental fee for the camping site in Confluence today. We will move the camper there sometime after mid March. The fact that there is no Internet and no cell phone service both excites and terrifies me. When I escape to our new camp, there will be no distractions. I will either be focused entirely on writing or entirely on relaxing. And I plan on doing plenty of both.
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