A . . . single . . . paragraph.
That is the only progress I made with Darwin & the Deadland Queen. I had started the chapter section a while back and meant to finish it last Sunday. Never happened because stress and allergies caused me to be bedridden. It was like everything hit me at once and my body just gave up. No fever and no tests came back positive. Crawled back into my pajamas and flopped onto the bed to sleep the day away. If I wasn’t sleeping, I was staring at the ceiling fan trying to focus on thinking through the section. Probably for the best, but it was frustrating.
The rest of the week wasn’t author friendly. My students came back on Monday, so I had to get back into that groove. Special education has the fun addition of kids and teachers needing time to reacclimate. So, there was a lot of chaos since we had to remember systems, schedules, and make adjustments. Not to mention meetings, assemblies, and new faces. I was tired by the time I got home and then had to take my son to Pokemon or an appointment. It was always 9 PM by the time I got to do things for myself, which meant no writing since I had to call it a day at 9:30 PM.
My son started his senior year too. So, last weekend had a lot of prep work for that, including a little supply shopping. His schedule is interesting with the heavy subjects at the start and then electives for most of the day. This year has the added headache of applying for colleges too. We’re trying to navigate the timing and what is needed, which is difficult with other things going on. I need to look into FAFSA and other things while he needs to start asking for letters of recommendation. On the plus side, he’s going to be in charge of a few things, which should be good for his independence and responsibility growth.
Another factor this week was court. I won’t go into details about it, but things happened and the life event will continue. No idea how long this will go or how it will end. Fingers crossed that things work out. Either way, I was too exhausted to write or do more than eat pizza after I got home. By the time I regained my energy and will to go outside, I had to run errands. This is when I found out that they were having a free ZZ Top concert in the park and got caught in the traffic on the way home. It was pouring for the entire time I was out too, so I got home tired again and drenched. This is when I got the single paragraph written and then had trouble knowing where else to go.
This weekend might only see me finishing the chapter section. It’s a 3-day one, so I might finish chapter 5. There’s a big Pokemon event all weekend, but I don’t plan on being out for the whole day. One issue is that I wrote a character into a corner and I don’t know if I can draw out his rescue any longer. He really ran into the trap fairly quickly, which makes sense for him. This isn’t sitting right for me because I imagined this bigger before I fully designed this character. It’s a supporting one and I was hoping this was their big scene, but they might be more minor than I planned.
With any luck, I’ll have an easier week. This might be the only ‘normal’ one that I have since the next two are messy. One has a medical procedure and the other one has the next court date. School year is only a week in and I keep having to take days off for things, which I hate to do. Stress will probably trigger a collapse at some point too. That’s why I need to use this coming week to take it easy as much as possible. If I can get writing done then I’ll see it as a bonus. Still, the goals are going to be:
- Finish chapter 5 of Darwin & the Deadland Queen.
- Buy supplies for Halloween costume.
- Go to bed early.
- Remember allergy meds.
- See ‘Coyote vs Acme’.
- Try to get some walking in to relax.
- Lego time to relax.
- Just relax when I don’t have anything big to do.
Good luck with all that! I always find September chaotic as well.
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Thanks. If it’s anything like last school year, it’s going to messy until the end.
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No worries with the writing, Charles. We know the book will be highly entertaining whenever you have time to work on it! The start of the school years is always challenging.
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Start of the school year is just the latest obstacle. It’s getting harder and harder to find writing time, which means I return with less memory of what I did beforehand. If I read through it all, I won’t be able to add anything new.
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I’ve had that problem myself – I get distracted and when I go back to pick up where I left off, I find myself repeating what I’ve already written. I’ve taken to keeping chapter summaries so I know where I am.
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I can’t even find the time to do that.
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I’ve accomplished less this year than any year before. I need to find a way to be more disciplined. I might have diverted for a ZZ Top concert even if Billy is the only one left. He is very talented.
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Looked like a lot of people diverted from whatever they were doing to see the concert. Didn’t matter that it was storming beforehand. People showed up to claim their spots in the bad weather.
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Hope the week becomes easier. Those first days of school must be hair raising
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Doesn’t look like it. Too much is going on.
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Your son’s schedule actually sounds pretty good. The heavy subjects in the morning, when he’ll be able to concentrate better, then a relaxing afternoon. Based on experience, you should start checking out the FAFSA soon because you need things like IRS documents. It’s easier if you give yourself time to get those all together.
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I looked into FAFSA, but only one parent can fill it out. Given the current situation, I can’t just do it. It goes to either the parent who provides more or the one who makes more.
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Charles, I truly admire your perseverance through such an overwhelming week. Sometimes even one paragraph is a victory. I hope the days ahead bring you some much-needed peace, rest, and brighter moments. Take good care of yourself. 🙏
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Thanks. Be nice if next week will be peaceful, but it’s looking rough. Faculty meeting, meet the parents meeting, lawyer stuff, work, and a few appointments mean I’m going to be exhausted by Wednesday evening. Might be smarter of me to try for extra sleep instead of writing time.
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Take it as easy as you can! Sleep instead of write. I hate the first week of school when everything is new, including the children.
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This is actually the second week. Just got a lot of other stuff coming up. Most of it tomorrow, which is going to suck.
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