Slow Start

Well...progress of sorts has been made, but not the amount I had initially wanted.

I have this short story I've been wanting to write for a while, and I thought that a good place to start might be to get this one done to kind of get back into the mind and rhythm of writing.

And while it is only a short story, I am doing an outline and character summary for practice and to make sure I have the elements and arc of the story straight before getting the story fully underway.

So that is where I am at right now. I am drafting this into five 'chapters' or scenes and using elements that I have dreamt up and sketched out in random notes scattered atop and inside my desk that will complement this story. Some of the design elements are really interesting, or at least I think they are, and while I am not going full on world-building, I do have several cultural elements that I am excited to write about and explore.

My goal is to keep this piece short but intense and if it falls within the length requirements, I will submit it to the Writers of the Future contest.

Getting back to the keyboard

So...wow! This is my first blog here and I have something to admit...I have an addiction.

My addiction is allowing myself to not progress. I have reasons--so many reasons that I could write a whole post about why's and the how's I have held myself back from my dream of finishing my novel and several other stories, or why I have abandoned my goal of getting back into shape with my P90X (and X2) workouts.

But that is not why I am here today. Today...now...I am just here to admit that I have an addiction and to see what I can do about getting 'clean' and getting SOMETHING accomplished.

I guess that is the first step, right? Admitting that I have an addiction?

I guess the next thing I have to do is to set myself some goals. But...and I think many of you will agree...setting goals is a challenge. We all want to see results, and because we like things to happen right now, we want to see some immediate results. This can lead us into setting to high of a goal, burning out or getting frustrated, and quitting again.

Of course, I cannot set too small a goal, because then am I really making any strides to getting over my addiction to being lazy and not making progress?

Hmmm...so something in moderation.

As the title of this post indicates, I want to resolve to getting back to the keyboard and making some head way in the novels I have started. Since I have not been working, I have not touched my novels and ideas for others have just languished as little notes on my desk in a clutter that I know my wife Tiffany just hates.

So, I think something along the lines of a block of time each day that I will dedicate to writing is something I need to do. Two hours seems like a reasonable amount of time too, say starting at 8:30pm and diving into the work...ignoring the siren's call that is TV or video games (curse you Diablo 3!), and really focusing on getting some movement on either redrafting some chapters or transcribing my hand-written drafts of chapters into an electronic format.

I think that will be a good start...though I should leave myself a day each week where I do not have to write and can catch up on some episodes of my favorite shows like Breaking Bad, Dexter, and Rookie Blue.

Anyway, I think this will be a good start. Well, and also checking in with this blog not and again and reporting on my progress or to talk about any problems. Right now, with no readers, this will be more for me and to get my thoughts in order and to see in a visual format how I think I am doing.

Cheers for now!