Pure honesty: I’m writing this right before I go to bed Friday night.
Purer honesty: I’ve had a few drinks before tackling this. I’m not drunk, but I’m in a drowsy state.
I guess I could have waited for the morning, but I wanted to do my biking and dive right into Do I Need to Use a Dragon? (Fantasy Writing Tips) once I decide to get out of the warm bed. Cold mornings have made things really difficult. Having a weighted blanket makes it even crazier. I make it a point to roll out immediately to use some mouthwash and then I get back in on top of that the weighted blanket. It isn’t a perfect system, but I haven’t been late to work. Not that trucks and a game of ‘which gas pump actually works’ didn’t try their best. Yes, this will be rambling.
Work was crazy and I think every day managed to top the previous one. (That grapefruit-flavored beer isn’t sitting too well.) On top of this, my son went back to his issues with eating and I had to get creative with helping him. There was also parent-teacher conferences, taking my friend out for his 40th birthday (That was the drinking), and a few odd days. It really feels like this week was determined to cram as much bizarre and wild into it as possible. I’m exhausted. Keep zoning out on the music too. Right now, I’ve got this one going:
Seriously though, I realized it’s hard to have a panic attack when I barely have the energy to remain conscious. It was either right after I put my son to bed or I talked to him on the phone that I just crashed on the bed. Got through a few ‘Yu Yu Hakusho’ episodes, but ‘His Dark Materials’ came back on. Took me longer than I expected to get through the one episode. Introduced my son to the original ‘Animaniacs’ too before he had to go to his mom’s place. As you can tell, my week has been primarily work and cartoons. I really do wish I had more to report, but that’s just how it was.
In the writing arena, I think I’ve gotten a better idea of what I’m doing. I won’t touch the next series for outlining until Do I Need to Use a Dragon? is done. Think I’ll actually use beta readers for the fantasy tip book. The truth is that I started it 2 weeks ago and freaked out over the intro. Writing about myself is stressful and I realized that I wasn’t hiding behind a character, so the real me was coming out. Flaws and all, so I began to doubt the project. That’s why I couldn’t touch it until I put out the intro as a teaser on Tuesday. Thank you to everyone who said that they liked it. Writing it like blog posts felt natural to me, but also a risk. Couldn’t tell if I was being unique and quirky or just being stupid. I’m going to keep it going and see what happens. Maybe it will be shorter than expected. This weekend and the upcoming days off will see me making major progress on this project, so maybe it will be a summer release. Just need to figure out the cover and inside art issue.
Really don’t know what else to talk about here. Next week is Thanksgiving, so it’s a short work week. I don’t know if things will be busy or not. I’ll be writing whenever I can. Be really cool if I manage to finish this project before 2021. It’s possible since I spent two years writing notes and thoughts on each of the 70 topics. Won’t hold my breath because it depends on my mojo. Also, if New York keeps getting messy with covid, I could end up being home again. That helped finish War of Nytefall and it could help here. I feel lost overall these days, so who knows what will happen.
Goals of the week:
- Write more stuff.
- Bike more.
- Laundry.
- Pizza?
- Yu Yu Hakusho
- Sleep
- Thanksgiving
- Son time for holiday
- Whatever else comes to me
- Goal post for next Saturday with more meat to it
Legends of Windemere 
Sounds like a three day week will be a blessing. I hope you have a super Thanksgiving.
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Thanks. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving too. Fingers crossed that the 3 days aren’t rough.
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Good idea.
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Have a great Thanksgiving!!! Hope you get that pizza at some point.
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Had pizza for lunch today. Have a happy Thanksgiving.
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Hope you have a good Thanksgiving, and I hope you manage to get some well enjoyed rest!
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Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving to you too. Have a fun week.
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Had pizza tonight, and I stocked up on pumpkin beer. Managed a few words, but I had to cover for my wife at the grocery store, and make a 20 mile trip to the office to trade out finished projects for fresh ones. Plans are kind of fluid right now.
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I wasn’t as productive as I’d planned. Had more errands than expected and I slept late. Think the week took way too much out of him. Got a little of my tip book written at least. The entries are mentally exhausting for some reason.
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Mine has been pretty low-key, too. I understand about the tip book. When we started Story Empire I had to present myself in a similar fashion. It’s kind of nerve wracking.
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The funny thing is that it takes less time to write an entry than a chapter section. Yet, it takes me longer to recover for another round. I’m going to have to make a system to help. Like an entry then a tv show episode and back again. I simply can’t barrel through a few at a time like I do with actual blog posts.
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Speed isn’t all that important anyway. Quality and value might just take longer with this one.
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Just going by what I’ve worked on today, it’s hard to get my thoughts in the right order for this thing. I have my notes and I’m piecing it together, but it doesn’t always feel right. I’m in the ‘Author’ part too, so that might be another factor. I mean, I’m doing the section on cliches and that’s surprisingly tough.
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I have faith in you. I’m trying to come up with graphics to add to my story and not having a lot of luck.
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I’m dreading the graphics part of this project. I have no idea how to go about doing it since this is more than cover art.
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I just need silly ones that are relative to the story. They’re hard to come up with this time.
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Tough story to promote?
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Some things come to me later, so I have that going for me. I usually put red ideas in the manuscript, then I can move them around. I want this story to be a little more serious, but still have the banter and everything people love. So far it’s working. Maybe the graphics will come to me.
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If you’re still writing then only time will tell. I’ve found that I don’t come up with good pictures and cover art ideas until an editing run.
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Mine come at all stages. I already have an idea for the last Lanternfish and the next Hat story. Things will come to me eventually, and I have no specific timetable.
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Crazy muses and their lack of time sense. They just strike when they want.
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Yes they do. I’m not pressuring myself this time. I’d like them both out in 2021, but won’t push for a third title. Might be a bit more leisurely.
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Good luck with the goals. I especially hope you get some decent sleep. Also, happy Thanksgiving.
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Thanks. I’m getting sleep at least. Work has been lacking though. Have a happy Thanksgiving.
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