Hmm. So-o-o-o not keeping up with my self imposed once-a-month (reduced from once-a-fortnight last year) commitment to write something for my blog!
And it’s not that I don’t want to write something, it’s not that I haven’t got anything to say, it’s not that I don’t want to talk to you... it’s just that there seem to be so many competing priorities at the moment.
I get it.
We are all busy.
Busy is, in fact, the current addiction. Some of us even validate ourselves by how busy we are. It’s a sign of our success. Look at me. I’m busy.
If we aren’t busy, we tend to look for something to do.
Idle hands and all that. A vestige of the Victorian era.
Last weekend – when I had it in my head that I was due to scribble up another blog post – I just hit overload and stalled. I spent the entire day doing pretty much nothing. No housework, no gardening, no going for a walk or stretching myself into unimaginable shapes for yoga, nothing. I didn’t even read a book (which is my usual go-to when I need to escape from reality).
I did write a little something, a tiny blog post for Georgia on my other website, but nothing on my current work in progress (Ha! I say this as though there is only one!).
Eventually I watched a movie. I watched The Dish, which is a nice feel-good comedy with great music.
And then I went to bed early.
I'm totally not sure whether I was just feeling burned out, had a low level bug, or whether I had inadvertently glutened myself the day before... but it was not a good day. Except for The Dish, which -- did I say? -- has some great music.
I was feeling a bit more on top of things on Sunday. I went and picked up a book I had on order and sat down to do some reading. I also designed and ordered a banner for myself for next time I’m doing a presentation. I count both as being writing related.
...my new banner...
I made it through the school week with some actual writing each day on my wip – although not the ambitious 1500 a day that I had set myself the previous week (and achieved on five out of seven days).
My excuse was that I was cogitating on where I should include an important plot point. The whole story changes depending on where I choose to unveil a big reveal. I’ve made my choice now, and this morning the words flowed to finish a chapter that had run aground while I wandered my way through the pros and cons of indecision.
I have just hit 20,000 words (20,001, actually, according to my wordcount tool) and written the first sentence in the next chapter. With 25,000 words to go to reach my target, I feel as though I am well on my way, and trying not to remember that I had set the end of August as the date upon which to complete the first draft.
Hmm.
Don’t think that is going to happen.
I’ve rescheduled that date for the first draft to the end of September – and, yes, I realise that if I stuck to my 1500 words a day it would be done well before then, but I have these competing priorities that I have to work around. So, I’m being realistic and working on them, too.
I started out by making some visual reminders – one for ‘writing’ and one for ‘other’ --
...this is my writing reminder... the other one is just full of boring stuff like housework and school planning and remembering to go for a walk even though it is [censored] cold out there in the morning when I 'have time' and completing the census form which I did start to do, honestly....
– neither is complete, but there are enough keywords to keep me on track!
Some things are more enjoyable than others... some more important... and some more urgent (which is different)! But I have the jumble out of my head (and diary) and onto something I can stick up on my wall and look at.
Voilà. Here I am. Working on my blog.
And enjoying it.
I preceded this by knocking off a proposal for an events committee that had been clogging up thinking space, and will follow it up with an attempt at finishing off the census and getting that out of the way.
Wish me luck.
I’m also hoping to get Chapter 14 pretty much completed by the end of the day, too.
And there will be housework.
Really.
NB: there was indeed housework, although the publishing of this post was somewhat delayed and the census is still waiting to be completed, as is Chapter 14... What can I say? There was a phone call from my gorgeous daughter (which means that I can put a tick in 'family time' [insert smiley face] so I am sorting out my priorities)...