Write Now, Fish Later

Hey Kids,

Today would’ve been a lovely day to go fishing. It rained all day yesterday and this morning we woke to blue skies and sunshine. Of course if I had been going fishing, I would’ve been gone long before the sunshine ever showed up.

I had thought seriously about breaking out the kayak. This past week I had received some new lures in the mail and I’ve been hankering to give them a spin. I watched the YouTube videos on their use, the strategy, and the secret methods. Yes the sunny Sunday was to be my fishing extravaganza.

But there’s this thing about working.whining

I know the day job is Monday through Friday. So the weekends are for fun, right? Except when you have decided to write yourself out of the miserable existence that is working for other people.

So I passed on the angling and took to the writing. Good progress was made and the sun streaked across the sky and back into the western horizon. Day over.

Work is the name of the game. Without it nothing happens; with it, anything can.

There’ll be other days to fish. With any luck, they’ll be during the week between Mondays and Fridays.

 

Post 3-085

Dragons or Princesses

Hey Kids,

I watch YouTube videos on a regular basis because they inspire me. I’m not much of a social butterfly, so these people are my friend replacements. On occasion, they are life altering, thought provoking, and/or sources for sage life advice.

Today I came across this little nugget:YouTube-logo-play-icon

All the dragons in our lives are perhaps princesses expecting us to be handsome and brave; all the terrifying things are perhaps nothing but helpless things waiting for us to help them.
Jean-Luc Godard Histoire(s) du Cinéma. Via the Neistat Brothers.

YouTube. Who would’ve thunk it?

 

 

 

Post #378

Goal and the Problem

Hey Kids,

What is the goal? Finish the latest book.

Is this the only goal? No, I wish to also replace the income of this overnight job.

What is the problem? Time.time

As it is right now, I’m working 72 hours/week at the jobs. With travel and required lunches, that totals about 85 hours a week. That leaves me 83 left. If I sleep 4 hours each day, that would take off another 28 hours, leaving me 55. Within those 55, I need to make sure the sweetie feels loved, get some chores done, and pretend I’m part of the human race. I do think, however, that at least one hour can be devoted to writing activity and at least 30 minutes to the maintenance of this blog.

Why am I writing this down, I’m basically writing out loud. I’d love to have some outside pressure to keep me on track. Feel free to call me to task in the comments.

So this morning (2:45AM), this blog is written. One task for day #1 done. Later, I’ll find my hour and get some work done towards the finishing of Book 2.

 

Post #355

There is no Fat Lady

Hey Kids,

The goal was to post every day. I failed.

I admit the failure but refuse to call it defeat. I had lost the battle a week ago and changed the post label from “day” to “post”. But today I openly admit it. The thing to do is to start again. And so I have.

Work has me on the ropes right now. Between the day job and the overnight job, my 49-year-old body is showing signs of weakness. I’m tired and the main casualty has been my writing.

In addition to the problems with the writing of the blog, any real progress on the second Porter Rockwell has halted, as well as work on my other projects. I am very frustrated right now. My day job has become a no-win situation and the night job is insanely idiotic in its managerial approach. Neither of these things are new developments, but I have allowed them to derail my goals.

Like my daily blog posts, the trick is not to accept defeat. Instead, it’s time for a reboot. Pick up where I stopped and restart.super-hero

The Porter Book needs some heavy rewriting. I have learned from the past that surges and marathons are not the answer. Consistent, daily effort wins out every time. Like the blog, it takes time each day, and that time has to be dedicated or it doesn’t happen.

The other projects need consistent effort as well. Maybe not daily effort, but something of a weekly quota.

Post 336 is a reboot. I hope to make at least another 336 before I need another.

 

 

Post 336

Crappy is Better Than Zero

Hey Kids,

I apologize for yesterday’s post.

Once actually awake, I reread the post. Wow, error fest.

I’ll confess. It was written at 2 AM and I had been awake since 4 AM the previous day. I think I may’ve been getting a little punchy. Add to that, I wrote the post with my phone and with its shattered screen.

I do not think that those conditions mean that I it shouldn’t be noted that the post was a mess, but I will say that, at that moment, in those circumstances, I produced the best work I could.

I have since reread the post, edited the errors, and smoothed out the wording. So you can go back and see it, but the embarrassing errors have been fixed but others, of which I am ignorant, may have been created.

Funny thing, the very act of writing that post goes along with the point I attempted to make. Sometimes you just have to do it to have results. And results, although not perfect, indicates you are doing. And doing is more than half the battle; without it, there is no battle.luke-yoda-1088x816-444552969187

I committed to write a post for each day. If I had decided that I was too tired, or that my phone made it too difficult, or I claimed brain-dead status; any of those reasons would’ve meant I failed.

The post was crappy but it was done.

And today in correcting the crappy, the point weaved into my head once more. Tonight I find it my inspiration to write this post and to evaluate a few other goals that I have set for myself. Just do it. Then do it again and again. Until the results produce that which you want.

I wrote this post tonight in near same circumstances.

I’d say the crappy post worked after all.

 

Day 327

Failure is Not an Option

Hey Kids,

I knew the NaNoWriMo thing would be tough to do this month with so much going on, but I decided to jump into it anyway.tumblr_mvlcokDhGQ1qc0c3bo1_500

Everything was going great, until this past week when things got a little hairy at work, I began a new second job, and Thanksgiving made its appearance.

The plan was to work ahead, in preparation for this week in particular. I didn’t.

The plan was to finish early in the month and avoid this whole week entirely. It didn’t.

The plan was to make sure there was no way I could fail at achieving 50,000 words written before November 30th. This plan is still alive.

Goodbye_QuitterI hate to fail. Especially when everything is within my possibility. I am responsible for falling behind. I will be responsible to hit the mark.

Failure is not an option.

 

NaNoWriMo: 44,078/50,000

Day 278