Ugh, squiders, nothing is getting done around here. I mean, I suspected my productivity would drop off precipitously while I’m caregiving for my spouse, but when you add on that yesterday was a virtual day, it has meant that I have had everyone, the whole time, since last Thursday.
(I’ve complained about virtual days before, but essentially the larger, mobile one’s school, whenever the district declares a delayed start, throws in the towel and is essentially like IT’S YOUR TURN TO TEACH YOUR CHILD, SUCKER. The school closes, but sends home a ton of work for each child to do, and you’ve got to wrangle your child into doing six hours of work when there’s invariably snow on the ground.)
(I don’t know that the spouse has ever been home for one before, but I think he hates them even more than me, ha.)
(Seriously, screw whoever came up with this plan.)
Also, my plans for the month have been slightly thrown off anyway because I’d like to try and get a mentor through Author Mentor Match, which is happening on Feb 13. I need a variety of submission things (which I have for the most part), including a synopsis, which I do not. So I’m reading back through the manuscript to remind myself what happens when.
(The trick is to not get sucked back into books 2 and 3 after I finish book 1.)
I’m going to submit the first book of my high fantasy trilogy that I have been working on forever, because despite my re-writing three times, it continues to not quite be there. And I’m hoping a mentor might offer some good tips for getting it that last step.
(I’m leaving a couple of notes here, because re-reading it, I do see what the issue is. It’s that the first…seven chapters don’t feel terribly connected to each other. More like related vignettes than anything, with threads of main plot/relationships connecting them. I suspect this is because the first part of the book covers about five or six months of time. I’ve tried to compress the timeline previously, but have always run into issues because there does need to be time for certain plot and character elements to be believable. Once we get past that bit it’s fine.)
ANYWAY ON TO THE PROMPTS
Why do you love writing?
That’s a very interesting question, really. I love my stories. I love taking abstract thoughts and weaving them into something complex. I love creating characters and seeing what they do.
Do you always love writing?
I mean, yeah, I’d say so. For the most part. There have been periods where everything feels awful and I am depressed about my skills, but I’d never actually stop. I might say I will, but I won’t.
What do you do when you (gasp) don’t?
Oh, huh, this is kind of part of the last question. Sometimes I take a break, and work on something else creative, like drawing/sketching, or sewing, or costuming, or scrapbooking. Sometimes I switch projects, or spend some time working to determine why something isn’t working (which may require having someone else at something, or doing more research). Sometimes I take a week off and play copious amounts of video games. It kind of depends on what’s going on, both with writing and life in general.
I hope your February is off to a good start, squiders!
Copious amounts of video games ha! I think that might be a fair few WriYers tactic judging by chat 🙂 What do you play?
Virtual day sounds amazing (I would have loved that as a child) but I think that’s probably a personality/temperament thing. I would have torn through the work and mum would probably have had to badger me to take breaks (it was the other kids I couldn’t cope with, not the work). We don’t have that in England (so far as I know) probably because Snow Days are rare and so it doesn’t matter if kids miss a day of school. I guess if they happen a lot then those missed days add up.
Anyway sorry I’ve got totally off topic. Do you have any of your drawings up to view?
I love time management games. Or turn-based RPGs, or even MMORPGs, though I’m not allowed to touch those very often because I get sucked in and nothing else gets done. Or puzzle games, or old-school adventure games. I’m not terribly picky, really. 😛
I don’t know if I would have been good at virtual days when I was a kid. I am a horrendous procrastinator, and always have been, so I imagine if left to my own devices, it would get done, but probably later in the day.
I do occasionally post drawings here at the blog! But I don’t have a dedicated spot for them (though if you click on the Landsquid tab, I have some consolidated there).