THE DAY
So I decided last night that I absolutely HAD to finish this current section today. No excuses, no distractions, take no prisoners. I’d outlined where I wanted to go and how I wanted things to end up last night before allowing myself to read anything and then, this morning, I was looking at this coat online and thinking, wow, what a cool coat . . .
And then I thought: You don’t deserve it. You haven’t earned this. Go do your work, put in your hours, do what you said you were going to do–and THEN you can look at this coat.
So that’s what I did. Just screwed my butt to the chair and started in. Got interrupted a couple of times: the cats, a contractor to do the gutters. The latter was actually a good thing because it was getting on to the time when I would normally have left to go swim–but then I thought: No, I can swim later. (There’s an evening swim from 4:30-7:30 p.m.) Figured I could either heat up some leftovers for dinner or grab something from Whole Foods–but I HAD to finish and so maybe it was a good thing that I was blocked in and couldn’t leave.
The gutter guy left, and I almost caved about an hour and a half later, thinking–okay, bag the swim and just go to the gym . . .
Except I didn’t. I knew that if I left before I was done, I would not get back to this and never make my goal.
So I simply forced myself to stick with it–and an hour later, I was done. The section didn’t end precisely the way I thought it might, but I knew I had the right ending when I typed it.
Then I went to the pool. Did my laps and felt pretty damned good. While I swam, I thought about where and what I would do tomorrow. On the way home, I stopped by Whole Foods, grabbed something for TOMORROW, and figured on leftovers tonight.
Had some time when I got home before the husband appeared, and so I started in on the cover design lectures. (Oh boy, this next assignment is a doozy, too: author branding within a genre. I’ll choose horror/thriller, I think; it’s where i seem to gravitate. Now all I have to do is think of some titles and art and typography for THREE different titles. Oh, is that all?)
Oh, and the coat? Ended up not getting it. It was just a way of distracting myself. Now I can play a different game: if I’m done with the book before the auction ends–in 25 days–then I deserve the coat.
Whatever keeps you moving forward.
WRITING OUT LOUD
GHOST IN THE MACHINE
Day 1: 4326 Day 11: 2500 Day 21: 1800 Day 31: 745
Day 2: 2085 Day 12: 500 Day 22: 0 Day 32: 0
Day 3: 3011 Day 13: 1000 Day 23: 2700 Day 33: 4000
Day 4: 2652. Day 14: 3700 Day 24: 3500 Day 34: 2800
Day 5: 3210 Day 15: 5630 Day 25: 1500 Day 35: 4500
Day 6: 3450 Day 16: 1060 Day 26: 0
Day 7: 0 Day 17: 130 Day 27: 0
Day 8: 2756 Day 18: 0 Day 28: 380
Day 9: 4580 Day 19: 3000 Day 29: 390
Day 10: 2670 Day 20: 2600 Day 30: 380
Blog Post: 770
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What I’m Watching:
Today? Nothing. Swam instead and I don’t watch TV or any movies unless I’m exercising.
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What I’m Reading:
You know, I might try Pet Semetary. I’ve only read the first few chapters once upon a time and never gone back. But I’m in the mood for King, and it just kills me that I’ve a) no interest in the Dark Tower series and b) read just about everything else–well, except Insomnia, Dolores Claiborne, The Tommyknockers, Finders Keepers (Am I the only person in America who thinks that King’s mysteries aren’t all that good? Apparently so…), and his Straub collaborations. I will admit to having zero interest in Revival and I’m iffy on Bazaar of Bad Dreams because, frankly, his short stories have not been as good as his longer works and I’ve read a lot of these in other places. Oh, and I haven’t read The Dead Zone either. You know, a lot of his earlier stuff just doesn’t speak to me. Wow, I just realized that I’ve never read Christine. And here I was moaning about not having any more King to read… (For me, honestly, the only books of his I’ve re-read are Desperation and Secret Window, Secret Garden. Just splendid, both of those, even though Desperation is a bit clunky in places; too much exposition and “tell it, ol’ timer.” But it works, and it works really well in audio.)
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What I’m Listening to:
Handling the Undead by Lindqvist. This is a much better listen than a read; I don’t know why, but I find myself losing patience with the actual written book; I’m skipping ahead because I know what’s going to happen. Listening, I don’t have that trouble.
