I'm Baaacccckk!

I’m baaaaaccckk!

Yes – It’s true, folks.  This Is Not Hitchhiker’s Guide is back in business.  What happened, you ask?  Excellent question.  The answer is not that I was tripping about the galaxy with ne’er do wells.  I actually just finished my Master’s Degree.  So, while I was doing copious amounts of writing, it was all very scientific and, in some ways, not nearly as much fun as writing this post.  I am hoping to post at least 3-4 times per week with some of the old favorites, like Random Sunday and the Book Reviews, add in some prompt responses to sites like Studio 30+ and OurWrite Side, and maybe even a few new things.  Who knows.  Just like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, there will be generous portions of nonsense and 100% genuine fun!  Buckle your seatbelts and hang on for the ride.  I’ll see you on the other side!

Realization

I've come to a realization.  I know it's not a profound one, but it is an important one.  I've come to this realization before, but, like many others, I keep forgetting it as I get busier.  My realization is this:

I need to make at least a little time for myself regularly.

If I don't, I start to lose pieces of myself.  And that makes for a miserable me.

You see, and if you're a regular reader you probably have seen, I have been neglecting this blog some again up until the last few days.  That was when I had my realization.  I've found that even in the few days since I started to make a point of writing again, I'm a little more relaxed and I am finding it easier to get my other, required, stuff done.

So, let that be a lesson to you.  Find those things you enjoy.  Set aside a little time each day for them.  The few minutes you take away from "more important things" will benefit those "more important things" so much more than had you spent those few extra minutes on them.

Random Sunday – Workouts, Writing, and Life

 As I’m sitting here writing this, I’m rather uncomfortable.  I’ve been trying to work out to be in better shape and look better in a two piece when I go to Hawaii in May.  But, man, it hurts.  Why does working out have to hurt so much?  I’m convinced more people would work out if it didn’t hurt so much.

I’ve noticed my writing has suffered a bit lately.  Might have something to do with all of the things already on my plate.  I haven’t had much in the way of inspiration recently either.  I’m not happy about it.  I need to figure a way out of this writing slump.  If anyone has any great ideas, let me know.  Until then I’m going to work harder at writing for the prompts at Write on Edge and Trifecta.  Not sure what else to do.

I’ve also come to the conclusion that life bites.  At least a good portion of the time it does.  There’s just been a lot of stressful, unhappy making things going on.  Might have something to do with why I’m struggling to write as well.  Hmmm.  Bears some reflecting.  I need to decide what to do about the crappy things happening.

So, yeah.  There you have it.

And Now the Explanation

First things first - If I have done this correctly, this post should automatically post on 7/10/2013.  If it did - yay me!  If not, I haven't managed to figure out how to write a post ahead of time and schedule it for later.  That will complicate my life more.

So, now, assuming I did everything right, here's the explanation for yesterday's Ode to a Neglected Blog.

My son is now 11 months old.  He crawls like crazy everywhere.  I estimated that in one day he crawls more than a mile.  Yep.  He's very busy.  That means I am too.  Here's the other kicker with him.  My father has taught him to LOVE computers, iPads, phones - in short, anything tech.  That means no using computers when he's around.  Yesterday he managed to peel two keys off my laptop keyboard.  I didn't even know those keys came off until then.

I also lost my job late last month.  The hospital I worked for decided they were not going to continue to have my program.  So, I got laid off.  Luckily, though, I did get a job right away.  The best part is that I don't start the new job until the end of July.  So, for the month of July, I get to have time off, get paid my severance from the hospital, and be able to relax knowing I have a job to start later.  But that also means I have been working overtime to subdue the laundry and dishes that were about to stage a walk out in protest of their neglect.

The last major thing that has been keeping me away from my blog and the writing prompts is that I also started grad school about 3 weeks before I got laid off.  Thankfully, it is all online.  That means I don't have to spend the time commuting to classes.  But it also means I tend to have a little more leg work on my own to do at home.

So, in a nutshell, that's my life right now.  I am working on developing some new habits to squeeze in more personal writing time and not neglect this blog quite so badly.  Wish me luck and hope to see you around a little more in the near future!

An Ode to a Neglected Blog

Sweet blog,
I have not forgotten thee,
Nor have I forsaken thee.

Thy brilliant flashing cursor,
Crisp, black letters
And jagged page hits graph.

Mine sweet son,
Crawling as he does
Consumes time as baby food.

The laundry
Has staged a revolt
And brought the dishes with.

The professors post
Bi-weekly reminders:
"Thy scholarship must improve".

Bosses mine
Drove me off
"Thou art not needed."

But the time has come
For thou and I
To renew our acquaintance.

Getting Back On Track

Yeah.  I've let this slide for way too long.  Then, of course the sometimes brainless wonder that I am, I started to compose this post at work on a notebook there.  Guess where the bit that I had written is...

In my defense (shaky as it is), I have been chasing my now 9 month old son around.  He has learned to crawl quite well.  It's pretty impressive, to me at least, how fast he has gotten.  T has also figured out how to pull himself up on things.  He's working on the walking while holding on to something.  However, T can be rather ADHD and forget he can't stand without aid yet.  Yep.  You guessed it.  Then he crashes.  Most of the time it isn't a big deal.  However there have been a few instances that led to a bloody lip, a bloody nose and a scratched cheek.  Thankfully not all at once.

So, besides working full time and attempting to keep up with this disaster called my house, that's what I've been doing as of late.  But, Angela's post over at Write On Edge today reminded me I need to shake the rust off that has all but rendered my writing skills unsalvageable and start putting pen to paper again.  Figuratively or literally.  Hopefully I'll be able to carve out some time and you'll see more of me around again.

So What The Heck Am I Doing?

Write on Edge had us forgo any fiction pieces this week.  Instead the prompt is to talk about what our writing goals are.  So, here goes.

Most of my writing goals are short term at the moment.  One goal I have is to write at least 4-5 posts per week here.  Much of those tend to be fiction but I'm trying to branch out a bit into non-fiction posts as well.

Another goal I have is to finish a WIP I started several years ago.  The story has grown way beyond what I’d thought.  It's currently at about 78,000 words and is only 2/3 done.

A third goal I have is to edit two completed drafts of novel length works.  One is from NaNoWriMo 2011.  The other is from Camp NaNoWriMo 2012.  The first draft has been reviewed a time or two but I needed some distance (and input from my sister) to seriously revise.  The second draft hasn't been touched since finishing it in June.

Once these short term goals are met, then I can entertain some new projects.  I don't have as many concrete long term goals.  Here's what I do have:

I'd like to get a final draft of my NaNoWriMo 2011 novel finalized on Smashwords.  It's up there as a draft in the special NaNoWriMo catalog there.  But I want it as a final draft.

I'd also like to get the Camp NaNoWriMo novel up there seeing as it’s a sequel to the first NaNo novel.  That'll take a bit longer and more work.

Finally, I'd like to eventually get something of mine published as a paid piece.  I think that'd be awesome.  I have not yet had that opportunity.

So, there it is.  There are my goals for my writing as they stand currently.  Here's my disclaimer, though.  I have a 6 week old baby here.  They are subject to change at any moment based, well, mainly on his whims.

Now I'm Doing It Too...

I recently read a post on Write On Edge about finding a multitude of other things to do pretty much in an effort to avoid actually writing anything.  Everything was rationalized so nice and neat.  I thought to myself that I could relate to that, but I've been doing better at not doing so as of late.

WRONG!!

I have been realizing over the last week or so that I have been finding excuse after excuse to avoid picking up a project.  I'm about half to three quarters done.  I know the ending.  I just need to get the story from where it is now to that ending.  And I haven't.

I've been writing other prompts, adding labels to old posts, changing around the look of my blog a little, playing on Facebook, Trifecta, Write On Edge and other sites, and playing computer games instead.

The saddest part is that I don't know that I really realized I was doing it until the last few days.  So, in an effort to motivate myself to get a COMPLETE draft of this story done, I am setting a new goal.  I want to have that full length draft done by the end of my maternity leave.  Unless things are way slower than expected, I should be out soon and that gives me 6 weeks.  I don't care if the draft is so horrible I'd rather hide it than look at it again.  I know I need to finish this draft.

I will try to occasionally update ya'll on how that's going so I know someone else out there is aware and watching to see if I make it.  If I forget, please feel free to ask!  My new About Me page has my contact information on it (see that procrastination is coming in good for something!).

The Journey That is Writing

OK - so maybe I'm a little slow on the uptake or late to the party or whatever you want to call it.  But I've been realizing something interesting recently.  See, I went to school for psychology and work in behavioral health because people fascinate me.  Not large groups - individual people.  What drives a person to do what he or she does?  How does a person come to the conclusion he or she does?  Why do individuals do what they do? 

What does any of that have to do with my realization?  Quite a bit.  You see, it's dawned on me that we, as writers, all ask those kinds of questions.  Usually the people we are studying are characters, fictional or otherwise, in our works.

But, even more than that, I've realized that so much of our writing is really more about us than it is the people we write about.  Our writing, fiction or non fiction, is a reflection of our souls.  It's our likes, dislikes, motivations, questions and uncertainties that come through.  Our writing lets us explore ourselves in a way not possible in real life.  Even if we are doing it in the most out there science fiction way where characters aren't even human, I think we're still looking at some piece of ourselves.

For example, the Write On Edge prompt this week is about location.  We were challenged to write a piece where the location is the centerpiece.  As I contemplated how I could use this prompt, the answer came to me.  But, the answer was a location that I loved.  Even though the answer came in the form of a glimpse into the life of one of my characters, the place he's reminiscing about is essentially a place I've visited many times and love as well.

Maybe this is what other writers mean when they talk about writing what you know.  Maybe my pregnant brain hit the overload point hours ago and none of this makes sense to anyone but me.  It was just something interesting that hit me - that this journey we take as writers to explore a world, whether it's fictional or otherwise, is really a journey to explore some part of ourselves.