Finding Time for Me, or Incorporating Realistic Writing Goals

I sat the other day reviewing the things I've wanted to do in terms of writing. It's been hellacious in this house lately, and I feel like I've put myself on the back burner. I'm past exhausted, and it's starting to show. But, what better way to energize myself than come up with some simple and completely achievable writing goals? Feeling the failure from not reaching other goals, I picked a slow, steady pace. So in no particular order, here are things I'd like to be doing.

• Novel - Write 500 words or more every morning. Shouldn't be too hard for me so long as I'm not stuck on it. I can spit out words pretty quickly.
• Short Stories - Reserve Tue & Thu evenings for working on shorts. Doesn't matter if I'm writing, editing, or submitting so long as it's shorts.
• Blogging - Reserve Mon, Wed, & Fri evenings for blog entries. Also, I plan to take my posts to the next level and up the content a notch.
• Saturdays - Planning, research, and similar tasks. All those little things I need to do wrapped into one day.
• Sundays - Extra writing time and the Flash Fiction Challenge every Sunday.
• Freelance - I'd like to dabble in freelance, building some writing credits and making a little extra money every month. Problem is that I'm waiting for clearance from work. They have to approve all for-profit work outside of the company.

I'm hoping that I'm not overloading myself here, but in theory, I'm thinking that each evening will have a half an hour or so devoted to writing. We'll see. It's worth a shot. I've been feeling like I'm neglecting myself, and it's making me unhappy. I need time for me.

Surprisingly Good Shrimp

Yesterday, after getting off from work, I was hungry. I stopped at Dairy Queen for the popcorn shrimp basket. I just wanted the shrimp, but that's what you gotta order. For being a dessert, and sometimes good burger place, the popcorn shrimp is surprisingly good. Not that it really makes a good pre-dinner snack (I didn't even really eat at dinner), but it's good and it hit the spot.

Hump day I got some sleep. I had about as hard a time waking up yesterday as any other day. All warm and snuggled up in the bed. But, alas, this morning Piper thinks we need to wake up at 3:30. So, I fed her another snack, and put some cartoons on. I'm hoping she'll doze back off so I can take a shower.

And this week, of all weeks, the urge to write has returned. I've taken to packing my little notebook in my purse and jotting down notes. It feels good. I have discovered that I don't like to write far out into the future. This story started with a broad overview, and I just jot out the ideas for a few scenes beforehand. When I get too far ahead of myself, I get bored.

And, in book news, Harry Potter comes out Saturday! Right, I know. You've known for ages, but I'm getting all pysched up here, and I can't wait. I'm hoping Piper takes a long nap on Saturday. Fast reading is my specialty. When book six came out, I read the whole thing twice and the ending an extra time in the first 72 hours. After I read seven, I'm going to reread the whole series start to finish. Woohoo!

No Sleep in Sight...Or The Joys of Parenting

Meet the walking dead. No, seriously, I am a zombie.

I don't do well with no sleep and Piper's decided not to sleep. And when I can get her to doze off in her reclined highchair after some Cheerios and juice, the dog has to go and wake her up. So now, she's running around getting into stuff at 4:30 in the morning and I need a shower that I can't take yet.

Today's not gonna be fun.

Long Time No Post

So, things have changed. The change seems like a good thing, but it does take time. We're getting adjusted to the new schedule. It takes some time, of course, but it seems to be pretty good.

I think I'm going to really like the New Job once I get trained in. The people I work with are really nice.

Not so much news in the writing front. Everything seems to have stalled. Once the chaos of change has cleared, I'm hoping to define a very good schedule. I just need to get used to less sleep.

Brave New Adventures

So, it’s my turn to participate in the AbsoluteWrite Blogchain #9. Following a wonderful post from Andrea on the pushing outside your comfort zone, it got me thinking to when I really started pushing outside of my comfort zone.

I’ve always been a tad bit stubborn. Only a little, I promise. I know that I gave my mom a run for her money when I was little. It’s just how I am. And I’ve always been a bit of a thinker. Not many children read from an encyclopedia just because, or to gather information. I’ve be hoarding information since I could grasp it.

So what makes me push boundaries? I’ve always had a knack for that, too. Question after question until I wear someone out. But, I like to know the intricacies of things. Is what your currently doing the best option? Are there better ways out there? If you’ve tried X before, what made it fail? Can you improve what you’re doing?

I’ve always liked to try new things within reason. Which means maximizing safety and minimizing stupidity. No, I’m not going to hang on to the hood of your car while you drive around the parking lot. Yes, I will learn to use a gun, even if they scare me, because it can be useful and I can go hunting with you.

Common sense is a wonderful spice to add to life, and I don’t like to make decisions lightly. But some things don’t affect us all equally. So, I tried to make a list of things that push my comfort boundaries. A couple of things that stuck out:

I start a new job a week from Monday. I just starting feeling like I was really comfortable in my current position, and now I get start from scratch again with people I am not sure will like me.

I’ve been encouraged to post more of my writing at AW. I don’t often like to attract attention to myself, and right now I don’t have anything polished enough to let others lay eyes on. I can’t bring myself to do it because I see so much weakness in what I have. I probably should polish up something to post for crit.

With that enlightening post, I shall leave you to how you feel about your comfort, and what activities factor those changes. Next up in the blogchain is Niteowl at http://www.periodically.org/.

AbsoluteWrite BlogChain #9

Virginia Lee: I Ain't Dead Yet!
http://blog.cathsmith.com/
hunt & peck
Life, Writing, and Other Things
periodically.org
Food History
A View From the Waterfront
Organized Chaos
Willibee
The Road Less Traveled
awchain