I didn't write for FIVE DAYS.
Yes, I did that just two weeks ago, but this week I only managed 1299 words, which is the fewest this month at the very least. I'm pretty sure it's the least I've written weekly all year.
But you know what? I'm actually surprisingly okay with this....
First of all, Thursday was Thanksgiving, Friday was Black Friday - which I had to work - leading into a long drive to my mom's, Saturday was my extended family's Thanksgiving celebration, Sunday was last-minute socializing with the family before another long drive home, and then yesterday I was just lazy....
So, really, my only lazy day was yesterday, although I guess there were some hours I probably could have snuck SOME writing in the rest of the week.... Meh. And I was only really lazy for the last 3hrs of the day last night, since I had work and then Zumba. And I was actually pretty busy at work, so I couldn't write anything during downtime there.
I dunno. I think I came to terms with taking a step back this month after all. Give the story some more time to brew. It sucks that I haven't been as motivated as I was to write “Peeping Tomcat” last year. "One and the Same" just isn't calling to me with the same energy.
This story is all "potential scenes" but no real drama that I've found. Nothing as gripping as PT. This has made me kind of lackadaisical while the story figures itself off in the back of my brain. More and more pieces seemed to fall into place while I was doing my long drives, but they're not fully-formed yet. Perhaps when I do my last word-sprints session at writing group tonight I'll manage to get them on paper.
Right now, I think I'm just happy with the knowledge that I FINALLY hit 10,000 words on Wednesday. Less than 2500 words away from a quarter-NaNo at least. It's kind of a pathetic showing, but it IS still better than some of my other past attempts. Plus, I am still determined to finish writing this story, whereas other NaNo projects lived and died within those 30 days. There's something soothing in that resolution.
My other resolutions - the ones I was able to keep up with up until last month - are falling to the wayside, but I'll hold onto this one. I'll just have to try yet again next year to post something new EVERY month, and write at least 4 days out of EVERY week.
I'm training for both of those writing goals by first trying to get my butt out of bed in the morning!
Sad to say, but since I don't have to be at work until 9:30, and Hubby tends to not need to be at work until 8am or so, I usually set the alarm for 7am, but not get out of bed until closer to 7:45. That's a lot of morning to sleep through - and cuddle through - which always leaves me with virtually no time outside of work to accomplish anything.
Let's take a trip down my normal daily break-down, based on the time-audits I've been doing since July.
I take Hubby into work at 8am, roughly, every morning. I then spend the next 90min or so getting myself ready for work. Sad thing is, I generally need about 95min to get ready, so I'm either bringing breakfast with me, grabbing something simple like ramen for lunch, and/or show up to work about 3min late. No time there to do much of anything.
After work I have Zumba two days a week, which has been bumped back to start at 6:30. Which means, between getting changed into workout gear and walking to the dance studio, I have about ten or fifteen minutes of awkward time. I have a hard time writing anything out on my phone - I'm not the greatest texter - and my netbook still takes a stupid-long amount of time to start up, let alone pack up. It doesn't seem worth it to try to start up a document to get some quick writing in during that short lull between activities.
Zumba ends at 7:30ish, usually a little later, and so by the time I get home it's nearing 7:45. My hair is insanely thick, and I keep it medium-long, so washing my hair alone takes me about 10min; not to mention scrubbing the rest of my body. So I'm usually hopping out of the shower a little past 8:10ish. It then takes me roughly 20min to at least DRY my hair, let alone style it... This tends to take me straight into the Monday night football games and dinner. If Hubby and I decide we're not really feeling football on Monday - or if it's Zumba on Wednesdays - the two of us tend to use this time to bond by watching one of our other shows while also catching up on the day.
It's now about 10pm, and I can either be a responsible adult and go to bed, or - the more likely answer - this is now when I scroll through Facebook, my email, DeviantArt, and Tumblr in order to catch up on all of my notifications. Congratulations, it's now somewhere between 11pm and 1am, and my eyes are so strained that I can barely keep them open. Time for bed.
Tuesdays consist of me starting my day writing this blog, and that's been averaging around 4hrs worth of work between writing, editing, and tracking down any graphics I want to include. Add in another half-hour or so for promoting on all of my social media sites. With my usual "up around 8am" schedule, this usually leaves me with nearly no time to get dressed for the day, and I usually shove a bagel or something quick down my throat while I'm editing. Then I go to pick Hubby up from work, and we do our weekly grocery shopping.
It's a WEEKLY trip. It's just the two of us. We really shouldn't need all that much, and yet we always seem to take at LEAST an hour to do our shopping. I'm not sure how.... Add in another half-hour or so to put the groceries away once home.
Next up is laundry. Between prepping the laundry, driving to the laundromat, starting the load, separating the hang-dry clothes from the rest of the wash, starting the dryer, packing up the now-clean clothes, driving home, and hanging up the remaining wet laundry.... that's another 2hrs or so gone, and I haven't even folded the rest of the laundry yet.
With lunch thrown in somewhere in there, it's probably about 4pm now. If I'm lucky, I can get an hour or so writing in before writing group starts at 6pm. Otherwise, we are now off to do other errands: cleaning the house, running to Walmart or something to pick up things we've been needing for at least a week, getting hair cut or working around doctor appointments, etc.
After writing group ends at 8pm, Hubby and I have TV shows we watch until 11pm. Then, once again, I can decide between being a responsible adult, or staying up later to go through all of my "online maintenance": Facebook and DeviantArt notifications, emails, and scrolling through any new content on my Tumblr dashboard.
Tuesdays are easier on the writing group "off" weeks because that's an extra 2hrs of free time, but since Hubby and I don't really have evenings available, Tuesday tends to be "socializing" night most weeks.... so there goes those available hours again. My only other hope is to write during laundry while I'm waiting for the washer and dryer to finish. If we're tight for time though, Hubby and I will do our grocery shopping and have a lunch break while the laundry is doing its thing.
Thursday is another football night, but it's also one of my only catch-up day options since I have roughly an "extra" 2hrs after work since I'm not exercising. The productivity of the evening is largely dependent on if I'm interested in the football game.
Fridays are weird. Used to be that most Fridays Hubby was out of the house playing Magic: The Gathering at the local gaming store at the end of the street. On those nights I would generally do one of two things: play catch-up, or socialize. At one point, Fridays were the weekly get-together for me and Rozsavaria, but that didn't last long before one of us would be busy or "not feeling it" that week. Fridays then transitioned into Shadow's weekly visit, but that's been kind of sporadic as well lately. When Hubby wasn't interested in playing Magic, Fridays also turned into Gaslands Night - Gaslands being a tabletop game similar to Warhammer, but using Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars.
If Hubby was at Friday Night Magic, and no one was around to socialize - or I wasn't feeling up to peopling - I'd "catch up." Which could be a variety of things: cleaning, shows only I want to watch, reading fanfiction, emptying out my Tumblr drafts, and, of course, writing.
Lately, Friday has been used to drive down to my mom's house, and going to the movies for "date night"....
Saturday is probably one of my better bets when it comes to writing time. There's no football or primetime shows I like to watch. At most, while I'm having dinner after work, Hubby and I will catch up on two of our Disney shows: Andi Mack, and DuckTales. That's an hour; about hour-an-a-half if Hubby and I chat about our day right out of work.
Sunday tends to be Cleaning Day. I get out of work at 4pm, and watch football all day while folding laundry, dusting, vacuuming, picking up the living room, etc. Generally there's little to no writing done on Sundays.
So, yeah.... most of my writing has to be done at work, which has fewer and fewer downtime hours lately, or I have to learn how to give myself more free time outside of work.
Preferably free time where Hubby isn't active in the house. We tend to socialize then, which is fantastic for a marriage, but trash for writing. Getting up an hour or so before him seems to be my safest bet. It's just so hard to get out of bed when he's snuggling next to me; keeping me warm and cozy. Especially with winter kicking in so early this year!
Speaking of, one of the comic book creators I follow has a potential explanation as to why winters seem longer and longer lately.
Long and short? To help her become motivated in her main comic book series "Blood Stain," Linda Sejic has started this goofy side-project called "Punderworld." It's a re-imagining of Greek myths; mostly focusing on the ROMANTIC relationship between Hades and Persephone. In other words, in this version he didn't kidnap her and force her to become his wife, she legitimately loves him.
Anyway, my point being, Hubby's warm and snuggly and smells good, and the bed is so soft. I don't want to have to climb out from under the covers; especially in the winter.
But climb out I must. Most adults - excluding those who work second-shift and/or overnights - tend to be up by about 6am so they have time to do things before work. Mostly these morning hours are used for cleaning, ironing the day's clothes, prepping lunches, and/or exercising. Me? I can sit quietly in the dim sunlight of the living room and write for an hour or so before Hubby needs to go to work and/or I need to get ready for work myself.
I can do this. Once upon a time I was a morning person. I was actually that annoyingly awake and energized morning person.... getting old sucks.
I had to be up, and take Hubby into work by 7am today, which did give me a head start on my crazy-busy Tuesdays, as well as a taste of this new regimen. It will take me probably until the end of the year for it to become habit, but that gives me time to adjust.
If 2018 can be an amazing writing year for at least half of it, and a decent writing year for another quarter, then perhaps I can keep "training" myself in this less-than-stellar final quarter. That way 2019 can be amazing year-long!
And part of that "training" is to attempt to get some more words written this morning since my blog is done super early today.
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