Level Completed – Writing 101 – Day 51
Running, running, and stop…to catch my breath. I am in that moment now, you all have been there. You have been running headlong down that hill and when it started, it was fun, but at some point gravity took over and you realized you had to keep running faster or you were going to fall down and probably break something so you are running faster than you ever thought possible just trying to keep your body over your feet and now you have reached a place where the slope has flattened out and you no longer feel like a tumble is imminent so you stop and bend over and gasp for air and beg your lungs to quit hurting and the oxygen to somehow absorb through your skin and please, world stop spinning. Yeah, that is where I am right now.
I want to say this is a break, but honestly, a break always
feels like just the eye of some large storm. That is because, unlike in
fiction, life keeps marching on. There is no quiet ending spot. Life marches on
and you know the next big challenge is just getting closer and the
merry-go-round doesn’t end, so this brief respite always feels like a
preliminary to another monster creeping up on you. I always try to tell myself
to relax, and enjoy the moment.
This past month I pushed myself as an author harder than I
have ever done before. According to my statistics, I wrote 7 blog posts, 2 short
stories, a speech and a poem. These were all drafted, edited and polished. All told
I counted the work as being worth 31,700 words, which is far short of the
NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 but is a far cry more that what I would have done
without the push, and I am extremely proud of what I was able to accomplish.
Honestly, it is inspiring what I was able to do. It makes me look forward to
possibilities of what I will write in the future.
Speaking of the future, the most recent story is in critiques,
then it will be sent for editing, then final polish and a submittal by the end
of December for inclusion in another anthology. The other story I wrote this
month was submitted for an anthology, but I haven’t heard if it made it in or
not. A story I wrote last year at Christmas did make it into an anthology,
which is extremely exciting. I will put information on how to order yourself a
copy of the anthology at the end of this post. I can’t remember exactly, but I
think this is the first time any of my work will officially appear in print.
There may have been a couple of school pieces, and a poetry book I personally
printed on an old copy machine and self-stapled, but other than that, I don’t
think I am printed anywhere officially. So, yeah, I am excited.
I am not sure what is next. I don’t see any other short
story submissions right away. The last story was an exhilarating write, and there
is still some work to do on it. It makes me want to write more, so we shall
see. I am trying to bottle some of that energy up and aim it at a project that
has long been hanging over my head. The Nicholas Tales. They are both my pride
and joy and the bane of my existence. They were the impetus for my re-entry
into the world of writing, but they have languished in editing no-man’s-land for
over a year now. It is a mentally daunting task to dust them off and polish
them up. In actuality it is not that hard, but some part of my brain is dreading
it. I just need to dig in and get started. If they are even half as good as I
remember them to be, it is going to be a delight. I think that may be part of
why I am stalling, what if they are not as good as I remember? Ah, time to set
those doubts and fears aside, and have at it.
I think that happens to a lot of us. There is something that
we need to do and it becomes such a giant project in our minds. I struggle with
this all the time, to the point that I have learned to accept is as a part of
the way my brain works. My job is not to fight it or punish myself for my
weakness. Instead, I have to outwit myself, come up with strategies to overcome
the reluctance, and head out with my helmet on to attack the deed. Usually, it
takes a lot of me getting worked up and building myself up mentally, and then
the job turns out easy and somewhat fun. Don’t ask about how long it took me to
change the porch lightbulb. You would’ve thought I was changing a bulb on the
last lighthouse on a lonely rock in the straits of Gibraltar. “The intrepid
lighthouse keeper, clad in his bright yellow slicker and long harpoon in his
hand to fend off the wild sea devils, braved the typhoon winds in his little
tugboat, to wrestle the giant lens up the endless stairs and fix the crack in
the Fresnel so that the lantern might be reignited, casting clarity to all who
drew near.” Yeah, that. I’m not dramatic or anything. Well, now you can see my
front porch at night. Honestly, it was cold and the thumbscrews were difficult.
(Insert smiley face emoji here)
So, that is what is on my plate at the time. I probably won’t hit 30,000 words this month. I do plan on tracking it, just for fun. If I can break 10,000 I’d be happy. Every little bit forward means I am moving forward. It isn’t easy when you are doing it, but when you can take a minute on a day like today, catch your breath, and look at how far you’ve come, well, it just might be worth it. At the very least, the sense of accomplishment feels good. If you have something you have been putting off doing and all you need is a little bit of encouragement from a caring friend, well then, here it is. Go for it. We are all rooting for you. We can’t wait to see what you do.
Oops, almost forgot, here is the link I promised:
“The link for pre-orders is https://cearts.square.site/
Thank you all for reading and I look forward to finishing
out the year with you.
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