First, I want to post the link to my son’s Chorus trip fundraiser.  They are performing at Disney World next year, so they’re doing a fundraiser.  It’s just a donation thing, but I figure I would post the link and see what happens:

Donation

Now . . . What in the world happened this week?  It was a full week of work, but things were crazy with Halloween yesterday.  That holiday always creates a weird vibe in schools because the kids are gearing up for the fun.  Many teachers are too, so it can become a clash of energies on the actual day.  It’s definitely been worse though.  A bunch of other stressful work-related things probably added to the vibe.  At least we’re doing a virtual day next Tuesday, which can help.

Writing-wise, I did manage to get one section of Darwin & the Joy Path completed while my son hung out with friends.  That was last weekend, so the week wasn’t nearly as kind.  I was hoping to get some writing done on Wednesday, but a storm on Thursday forced me to use that time for errands.  The actual day of the storm would have been good for writing, but I . . . was driving through it for an appointment.  Let’s just say things weren’t on my side once Monday hit.

To be fair, I couldn’t wrap my head around the last section of Chapter 6.  I realized I had dangerous trees again.  Yes, they’re traveling through an eerie forest where there are barely any animals.  Yes, there is fog everywhere and trees make for good obstacles.  I just can’t keep having them fight the damn things, so I needed to come up with a new threat to close this part of the story.  Didn’t help that a character basically shows up and is no longer needed, which is how it was supposed to go.  Only I made an actual history for this tertiary character and they don’t even get to speak.  This one is entirely on me, but I have a brain itch to still find a way to get their history noted in the text.

My writing goal is to get through Chapters 6 and 7 this weekend.  It’s possible since 7 is a downtime chapter after an action-packed one.  Not that it’s boring, but it has more dialog and a set up for Chapter 8.  If I’m lucky, I might be able to start 8 and even get a little written during the week.  I won’t get my hopes up though.

Starting to wonder about my writing style too.  I keep wondering if it’s more simplistic than when I started.  Can’t exactly explain it.  I still use as many big words as I can without losing comprehension, but my stories kind of feel lower key.  Trying to find a way to explain this without making it sound like a negative.  Almost like the stories I’m writing might be better for teenagers and those who aren’t hardcore fantasy fans.  Maybe those who simply want a story to casually read and relax with.  Pure escapism that can trigger deeper thought if the reader wishes it to.

I think one source of fear is that I see so many readers attack stories for not being deep enough or being ‘standard’.  Everyone wants something new and surprising, but go out of their way to find a reason for a story to not be categorized as such.  Since my stories are follow traditional hero patterns with character-specific twists, I think I’d be an easy target for this criticism.  On the other hand, my son has been talking about what he likes about Beginning of a Hero and the simplicity is kind of what is drawing him along.  He isn’t getting confused by the story and characters.  Then again, he isn’t very far into the story, so that could change.  Maybe I’m looking at him as an example of what my target audience should be.  Not that I know what that would be.

Next week shouldn’t be too busy and I might be able to sneak some writing in on a few days.  I won’t hold my breath though.  The week after is going to be a wash because it’s the BIG Pokemon event for the season, which will run from Monday through Sunday night.  I will accept that right now and not get my hopes up.  Anyway, I’ll try to focus on January blog posts (minus the Tuesday stuff that I haven’t figured out yet) and working in my notebooks.  Need to make some progress, right?

Goals of the week:

1. Write more of Darwin & the Joy Path.
2. Clean the bathroom.
3. Spend time with son.
4. Don’t eat too much leftover candy.
5. Catch Pokemon.
6. Improve sleep since my anxiety has been causing issues.
7. Puzzles!
8. Figure out a show I can watch.
9. Finish more January blog posts.

Son’s Halloween costume since I apparently never posted it before: