Another
uneventful week. As in, I did okay on the goals, nothing happening which should
have kept me from doing more, but life goes on.
Here
are my goals for the past week and as usual, green highlight is goal
accomplished, yellow highlight is at least worked on and red print is a total
failure.
1) Promote the new book,
“Where the Sky Meets the Sand” five times.
a.
Shared on Facebook that I’ll have the books at a seminar
I am attending in November for the day job.
b.
Posted to my other blog a deleted scene from the novel.
c. Posted to Twitter and
LinkedIn the dates of my book signings in November.
2) Write three thousand
words on the new novel. I wrote 2,794 words. So close, that I had to give it more than
just yellow. (And
Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback, is out for the season with a
broken collarbone. Actually all of Wisconsin has been wearing black all week.
Our pastor even incorporated it into his sermon last night.)
3) Post three times to my
other blog, The Dino Chronicles. Done.
4) Read four other blogs
and comment on three of them. Read five, commented on two.
5) Clean up and organize
my emails. Nope.
I just keep looking at them.
6) Non-writing things to
do:
a. Scan a dozen of my mom’s old pictures into the computer. Nope.
b. Get one box of stuff
out of that spare bedroom. Work on selling some of the stuff in that room. Nope.
c. Work on three things
for the nonprofit, Tumaini Volunteers. I signed us up for a sale in
December and worked on the year-end audit report (our fiscal year ended
the end of July, so we are a bit behind).
And
next week:
1) Promote the new book, “Where the Sky Meets the Sand” five times. I really need to get on this. The book is selling rather
poorly on Amazon and has only got ten reviews.
2) Finish the rough draft of the new novel.
3) Post three times to my other blog, The Dino Chronicles.
4) Read four other blogs and comment on three of
them.
5) Clean up and organize my emails. I’ve always
tried to keep my inbox less than 50, but it’s up near 100 right now.
7) Non-writing things to do:
a. Scan a dozen of my
mom’s old pictures into the computer.
b. Get one box of stuff out of that spare bedroom.
Try selling some of our stuff, maybe post to Craig’s List.
c. Do three things for the
nonprofit, Tumaini Volunteers.
I
don’t know. Sitting here writing this this morning, a sudden wave of depression
came over me. I think I could just quit the whole writing thing and get on with
life. Read books and watch TV shows like other people. Go to the movies. Go out
with the girls after work. Drink alcohol. Something, anything that normal
people do. I feel like my home office has become a dungeon that I have been
banished to, instead of a healthy place filled with creativity and life.
Whew.
That feeling passed. I just had to write about it, I guess. I’m living the life
I want to, no matter how dysfunctional it feels at times. I am who I am.
Wow, love that pic!
ReplyDeleteWriting can be rough sometimes. I feel that way often. But the joy in writing tends to bring me out of it. I'm glad the feeling passed for you.
Nice work on your goals this week.
Thanks, Erin. I hope you meant you love the picture of great-grandma, coz the picture of me needs some work. I took it on a whim as soon as I got home from the second-hand store. Did I mention my outfit cost three bucks?
DeleteThere have been times - not many, but a few - when I've had a similar feeling about homeschooling. Mostly, it was when the kids were in the 5-10 year old range, and there'd be a rough patch, and I'd think, "I could just send them to school and not have to deal with everything, all day, every day."
ReplyDeleteIt always passed quickly, too - and now they're 16 and 13, and I haven't had that feeling for a long time now.
Sometimes, though, taking a few minutes to indulge that fantasy helps...as does looking at why the feeling might have cropped up in the first place.
I hope it's done with you now, and leads to a time of deep joy in your writing.
I second Erin - that is an awesome pair of pictures! =D
I think this is going to be the first year no one at our house is dressing up. Lise has mentioned it a time or three, but not really done anything, or liked the ideas I suggested, and earlier today she said it was too late. She doesn't seem particularly upset. I think it's more about the dressing up for her, anyway - she has a flair for the dramatic, but she's also been much more of a homebody the last few months.
I tend to only write in my study in the late fall-early spring. There's no window in the room, and though I tried to make it cheery, with pops of color, I really like a window to stare out and let my dreams and words take shape. Only in the cold weather do I not mind not the windowlessness.
Luckily my home office does have windows. Of course the downside to that is all the time I spend staring out them watching the wind in the trees or my cats napping in the sun. Instead of writing.
DeleteI have to ask, Chris, is the feeling of depression caused (possibly) by the fact you actually are trying to use a home office? I mean, it's a nice myth that writers are solitary people who need to hide in the writing cave to get stuff done, but the truth is often more complex than that. There will be days and sometimes even weeks of solitude, but there are also very social writers who work best in group settings and need lots of social input to fuel their craft.
ReplyDeleteMight I be so bold as suggest you sign up for your local NaNoWriMo group and attend a write-in or two? Not so much because you want that 50K word count, but because it'll give you a sense of what works best for you (keeping in mind that what works best now won't always work best in the future). If I were you, I'd also try cafe writing, library writing, mall or park benches and even the corner table at your local bar (many will serve tea and a small nibble so you can people-watch and scribble without alcohol). Perhaps being around people but not directly interacting with people will be good for your creativity...
And at the worst, it doesn't work and you can head back into your writing cave.
And just so you know, I think your picture pair is awesome!