Month: October 2023

The best part about writing is the writing itself. Honestly, the part that I dislike is the planning. I can get lost in all of the planning–though I realize how important that part of the process is, especially to me. I have to plan, because I am not a pantser. That is a slang term for someone who just sits and writes by the seat of their pants with no plan in mind. I used to think i was that person until I realized that a lot of my so-called ‘pantsing’ was actually plotting. Plotting is not planning. Planning is sitting down with yourself and deciding what needs to be done and when and by what time and allocating time to do these things. It is organizing your day/life around what chapters need to get written and what sections of what projects need to get handled at what time. It is not free flowing. It is not me with a laptop in my lap and hearing the click click click of keys as I thunder through paragraphs of text. I need so much more of that in my life.

I realize I get there by planning.

This doesn’t make the work of planning any easier or more palatable. Instead I put it off and try to sit and write, but I get lost in realizing how much needs to get done and nothing gets accomplished. That is why planning matters and significant time needs to be devoted to that art form so I may practice the art form I am actually good at.

Some Thoughts:

1. Writing faster today. So much so that I only gobbled up five minutes getting that first bit out. That means I need to rely on some more of these quick hitters to get me to ten.
2. Letter writing is an art form in of itself I am not very good at it, though I continue to try to write them for my love, because she deserves to be romanced.
3. I really have been struggling with the words lately. I think clearing up some more of the background noise (work) is giving me the space and confidence to sit down and write what needs to be written.
4. I spend a ton of money on food. I spent $150+ dollars this week while my partner was away for the last 4 days. That is bad mathematics. I need to go back to cooking my own meals. I cannot exist on the one bowl of cereal and the meal out a day.
5. Perhaps when I get to the next step of living healthy, the words will start to come faster. I believe there is a mind body connection at work where one must be of sound body to be of sound mind. The one clogs the other and vice versa.

I should call it a working Saturday, because I’ve spent a good chunk of the day doing just that. Still, I’m not there yet. I am not where I need to be in order to feel caught up and able to roll into the next week ready and active. I have a few more chores to cover on my end. Some of it involves getting ahead with a handful of classes, but the key area is getting back on track with the writing projects. My partner suggested a major checklist/calendar complete with dates. She is correct in that. She is usually correct in such things. I’m on that. I’m also on the way towards feeling especially good about the chances of hitting these marks. I need to settle into a daily routine that is routed in single action. In other words, I need to stop the multi-tasking and once I have that locked in, I need to kill the time wasting. Then it is on to a better physical routine. See, even in this statement there was growth. Normally I would try to tackle all three problems at once. This, as you know, is foolish. I did the research–not a huge amount, but enough to see the visual numbers of how bad multitasking is for productivity. This quote from lifespan.org explains it all: “Multitasking makes us more distractible and prone to errors. For example, individuals rated as high media multitaskers (number of hours using multiple devices simultaneously, such as watching TV while also using a smart phone or tablet) showed poorer attention on cognitive tasks. “

Poor attention on cognitive tasks ought to be the name for kryptonite for writers. Only through focus can we achieve. This too is becoming part of my way. I guess I’m on my way to becoming part Mandalorian and part Jedi. Equal parts, I hope. This can only be achieved through deliberate practice. So practice I shall.