Rabia Gale

alchemical fantasy

goals

midmonth thoughts

So far this month, I have:

  1. Got a total of 9K words on the new book
  2. Revised and submitted a short
  3. And am in the process of revising another short

My plan was revise and submit three shorts this month. One was to be the latest Elinor story, but I think I need to write a prequel first. The story I have just doesn’t have the high stakes and desperation that it should. I know, I can’t give Elinor a break. Things have to keep getting worse for her.

I went back into the vault and dug up a short I wrote a few years ago (titled Glider World: A Story; intriguing I know). I’ve always liked this story, but something about the way I resolved the plot bothered me. I thought up a fix, but that would mean gutting the story, changing the locale and throwing out most of the 7K words I’ve written on it. Worth it? I don’t know. I see short stories as one-shot things; either they work or they don’t, moving right along now.

My next contender I can’t find a good market for.

It’s not been the best writing month for me. My constant companion has been this niggling little voice whispering and whispering, “Why bother? There are so many better writers out there. Just sit back and enjoy their books. Why bother? There are so many books in the world already, more than anyone could possibly read. Why bother?” I’m ignoring it, but I’d be lying if I said that it hasn’t negatively affected my motivation.

This is not a very cheerful post, is it? How are you doing?

I’m still here

A concerned email last night from a writing buddy alerted me to the fact that, gosh, I haven’t been online much.

That’s because I’ve been good about keeping my New Year’s resolution and spending less time on the Internet.

So, I’ve been doing other stuff. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing.

I have been: chauffering kids to gymnastics, preschool group, romp’n’stomp and the libray; researching, writing and ordering kindergarten-level curriculum; reading lots and lots to the kids; doing art and crafts with the kids; getting a good headstart on the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge I signed up for; crocheting a scarf for the Princess; watching Planet Earth (my Christmas present; wahoo!); and holding baby, lots. As usual.

Then there was the evening I took myself and my headache off to bed at 7 pm.

And our sixth wedding anniversary yesterday where I felt that it was important to spend time with D. instead of us working on our laptops (crazy, I know!).

And the sweeping of floors and the doing of dishes and the washing (and drying and folding) of clothes that must happen, or else we would be living naked and hungry in a pig sty.

The good thing is that I am being fairly productive.

The bad things is that I am being productive in ways that are not writing. And, what is even more concerning, is that I haven’t been thinking (much) about my stories either. They’ve been completely crowded out by the rest of my life and all its attendant thoughts.

Something that needs rectifying soon!

How have you all been?