Progress and small sips

Yesterday's Word Count - Blog 368, Fiction 779, Total 1147.

Challenge Total 3910

Yesterday was a long day. Full day a the job, then took Meg to physical therapy. I usually read on my phone while I wait the hour in the car, but I didn't sleep well the night before, so instead I took a half-hour nap. 

I'd intended on the full hour, but I was woken by a text from work. They were having issues they couldn't resolve. In the end, I had to go back and spend forty minutes getting things straight while Meg took her turn waiting in the car.

All that resolved around 7pm, which mean a very late dinner and a bad jump on any writing. I'd only gotten yesterday's blog done in the morning, and when Meg turned on the Yankee game, I was hard pressed to do anything but sit back with my feet up and watch Aaron Judge and crew dismantle the Phillies.

I did just that for the first inning and a half, then decided I wasn't going to bed two days in a row without getting some fiction words done. I grabbed my laptop and lap desk, sat back in my comfy chair, the chair where I spend most of my evenings reading or watching a little TV, sipped my tea, and started working on Catpocalypse Meow. 

Over the next hour, I filled out the prologue a bit, adding about 300 words of depth, which I'd characteristically left out. I have a weird habit of not describing what I see in my head when I write unless I make a conscious effort to do so. 

It's not difficult, but I spent a good part of that year of intense writing learning how to make sure I put everything on the page and left nothing in my head. As a result, two disembodied voices turned into two characters talking in a setting-rich place. 

I considered tossing it in at that point. I was tired and wanted to read a little before bed. But I thought I should at least start Chapter One, so when I picked up today, I'd be in the middle of something. I've found the old adage that's it's easier to pick up writing in the middle of a sentence or scene to be true. It's difficult to start from the beginning. It's the equivalent of a blank page.

I got almost 500 words in the next half hour, setting the scene a bit and getting things moving, and decided that I'd flexed my brain enough for one day. i let the pups outside for their bedtime relief, grabbed the book I'm reading, and went to bed. Managed about 20 pages before I nodded off, which is no comment on the quality of "The Sentinel," by Lee and Andrew Child. I'm enjoying the story - I was just dead tired.

Today should be a bit better, and I'll push myself with the fiction tonight. I have nothing to do after work, though I do have an even fuller day, 10 hours versus 8.5 yesterday. Still, I'll be home plenty early to sit down in the chair, enjoy a couple of cups of tea, and get in at least a couple thousand words.

I'm trying to be flexible here as I establish the habit. Things will happen, and it's very easy to blow off the writing when they do. I'm trying to not do that. Even if I only write a little bit some days, the momentum will build and the word count will add up. 300 words is better than 0.

Breakfast time. See you tomorrow.