Daily Archives: 18-Nov-10

Another day, another couple thousand words

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Actually, only 1742 words today, but I finished up a chapter.  Woo-hoo!

I wondered what his spirit thought now.

That depended, of course, on what he had been, what his role in the Court was. If he was a mortal servant, his ghost walked the tiled halls of one of the heavens, or perhaps one of the hells. If he was one of the spirit creatures of that realm, though, he would, at most, be scattered, helpless for some time, until the purpose of his being was so missed that he coalesced about it.

Sometimes, or so I learned, that never happened. The world moved on, the Celestial Court with it. One might be recalled by one’s intimates, but even that memory would fade, as would the records that such a spirit had ever existed.

Only the dragons remembered.

I liked that bit.

I still have a very nebulous sense of what the Celestial Court is like.  In a way that helps, because Chrys’ understanding of it is incomplete as well.  And each time I circle around to it, I learn a little bit more.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is Friday, and I have to work all day, and my night will be filled with Deathly Hallows … so no idea when or how much I’ll be able to add.

Yes, it’s already the 18th, and I’m still all “wait, I’m done writing today … and I have to write more tomorrow?!”

On being a creature of habit

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According to this calendar, all my tasks are done by late 2012 ..

My ability and willpower to get my NaNoWriMo writing done seems to vary a lot during the week.  In fact, it’s particularly strong on …

Saturday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

… and pretty piss-poor on …

Sunday, Monday, Friday

There’s a reason for this.

Tuesday and Thursday we have karate. I bring my netbook to the rec center with Katherine, and while she’s doing the Karate Kid routine, I’m writing.  It’s an available time, regularly recurring, and so I’ve set the hour or so aside for that.  (I usually have to work another hour when I get home, but that’s okay.)

Wednesday is the NaNo Write-In at Panera Bread in Lone Tree.  6 pm we show up, I grab some soup and a baguette and a coffee, and I start to write.  Two hours, in a lounge area, set aside on a regular basis.  No worries.

Saturday is the NaNo Write-In at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch.  3 pm we show up, I grab a coffee, sit on a couch or a wing-back chair with the others, and I start to write.  Two hours, hanging out, set aside on a regular basis.  No worries.

You probably see what I’m driving at.

There's always something else important to do.

I will not universalize this, because I know that in so many things I am an oddball.  But it seems clear to me that one way that I do things, successfully, is by making a habit of setting a time to do them.  I need, and therefore set up, the structure, both in time and space.  At time X I will be in place Y and do some writing.

And when that doesn’t happen — when it’s sort of, “I’m done with work, I have the afternoon, or maybe tonight, to get some writing done” … it is much less likely to happen.  There’s always something to do, something I’d rather do, something I’ve gotta do.

I’m a creature of habit.  I can fight against that, or I can use it.  Which is what I’ve done here, leveraging Tuesday/Thursday karate and the Wednesday/Saturday Write-Ins to set that time aside.

The challenge, of course, is what happens after NaNoWriMo is over — when both the external pressure to hit a word count, the sense of a time-constrained mad dash, and some of that habitual infrastructure all go away.  If I want to keep writing, at some scale …

… what will I do then?

(I do know the answer, or what the answer should be.  The question is, will I do it?)