The title really does cover it all. This was the first week of summer school, so I went back to getting up early and heading off to work. The days are shorter, but that also means they’re more compact. Some hours go faster than others. I’m glad the heatwave wasn’t around to give us trouble, but Monday had a big rainstorm. Still, I made it through everything in one piece and have an idea about my general schedule. It’s definitely where some days will be better than others.
As far as writing goes, I did my best with Darwin & the Deadland Queen. I only finished the first section of chapter 2 and got about halfway through the second section. I ended up having a bunch to do to prepare myself for summer school and the horrible heat on Saturday was a pain. Others things kept turning up to draw me away from writing both physically and mentally. I made an attempt during the week to get a little bit further, but I only made a paragraph before exhaustion took over. Next week should be better because I’ll have more time in the evenings.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle was Pokemon Go-Fest. To explain, this is the biggest event in the game for the entire year. Special Pokemon are around and every evening has something going on. I promised my son that I would take him out for everything, especially since one of his friends got back into the game. I wasn’t going to disappoint him, so that was how my week went. Busting my butt at school, rushing back for dinner, and going out for Pokemon. Hard to fit writing into such a schedule, but I really don’t feel bad about it. This was a great father/son week and I’m not going to have too many of those left as he’s almost seventeen. That means 18 is around the corner and he might not have much time for me. Enjoy these events while they last.
I did try to tinker with Coven of the Gray a bit. I’m having some doubts. I like how the characters are coming out, but I’m now worried about the method of storytelling that I set up. I have a chapter book outline, but I found that some coven members are getting more chapters than others. I can’t have them all converge on the hero because he isn’t that kind of warrior. They’d crush him, so he needs to encounter them either individually or in pairs along the road to the fortress. So, I’m not at about chapter 11 of 15 in the outline and still have 6 coven members left. This feels off since I still planned on there being 3-4 sections per chapter like in Bedlam. Maybe I should switch to each ‘chapter’ being a short story where a single coven member (or 2) are encountered and defeated. There are pros and cons to both methods, but the way I’m going now is starting to be a problem.
Another change coming up next week is that I’m going to be cooking dinners on Monday since I get home earlier from work. With Go-Fest over, I’ll be able to get home, take my son out for a bit, and get home to cook. This can also give me some leftovers for school and I’m trying to avoid buying as often as I can. Trying to eat less too, so it’s been yogurt, protein drink, and Nutella sandwich most days. Tuesday and Thursday are turning out to be the cheat days only due to the situations. Either way, I’m going to try to eat better and get back into cooking. So far, penne with vodka sauce, chicken cheese enchiladas, and restaurant style chicken lo mien are on the list.
Not much else I can talk about in public. The other situation is still on-going and I don’t know how long it will take to settle. It’s definitely taking up a good portion of my attention and adding to my stress. That’s probably another reason it now takes me a day to write a single book section. My stress is already high, so writing in my current mental style makes me exhausted fairly quickly. I find that my brain is now trying to edit as I go, so it’ll stop if I overuse a word or subconsciously sense I did something wrong. Not sure if this is a more mature way of writing than when I just went with it and cranked out chapter sections that I would edit later. It does cut down the editing, especially since my fear of messing up continuity forces me to stop for research at various moments.
Anyway, I’m currently rolling out of bed to make lunches and pack supplies for Go-Fest by the time this post goes live. The event goes from 10 am to 7 pm today and tomorrow. My son is determined to complete his list of catches. So, it’ll be eating on the road, lots of hydration, praying for no rain, and having a late dinner. Glad I taught him to do the laundry, which he got done yesterday. That would have been an added headache to the chaos.
Now for the goals:
- Enjoy Go-Fest with my son.
- Catch a shiny MewTwo.
- Stay hydrated and sunscreened.
- Eat less and better.
- Sleep when needed.
- Work on Darwin & the Deadland Queen. Low on list because 1-5 is all the weekend.
- Tinker with Coven of the Gray. At least decide on chapters or 10-13 short stories.
- Work.
Legends of Windemere 