There was something in the air the last few weeks of February. Not just me, but many people around me, where nothing, and I mean nothing, seemed to get done. I’m gonna hop on those coattails for a bit and chalk it up to mysterious forces.
As you will see the month of February 2023 was terrible. I’m working on a big project and it’s taken a lot of my time. So much in fact this blog post will probably be shorter than my regular summaries.
| Week 1 (1st – 3rd) Reading: Total 3 / 3 Writing: 3 / 3, 9 HRs – Free Writing: 3/3 – Drafting: 4 /3 sessions (9 Hrs) | Week 2 (6th – 10th) Reading: Total 3 / 5, 1 / 1 Writing: 3 / 5, ~5 hrs – Free Writing: 3 / 5 – Drafting: 3 / 5 sessions ~5 hrs (I didn’t keep track.) |
| Week 3 (13th – 17th) Reading: 4.5 Hrs / 7 Hrs Writing: 3 / 5 , 10 hrs – Free Writing: 3 / 5 – Drafting: 5 / 5 sessions (10 Hrs) | Week 4 (20th – 24th) Reading: 2 / 5 Hrs Writing: – Free Writing: 1 / 5 – Drafting: 4 / 5 sessions (15 Hrs) |
| Week 5 (27th – 28th) Reading: Jack All Writing: Ask Jack – Free Writing: *bugs bunny NO meme* – Drafting: 1 / 2 sessions (4 Hrs) |
Monthly Total
Reading –
– Short Stories – 6 / 11
– Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Switch to hourly metric
– Short Stories, Novel, or crafting article/book – 7.5 Hrs / 12 Hrs
Writing –
– Free Writing – 10 of 20
– Drafting – 13 / 20 sessions (43 Hrs / 20 Hrs)
Now that the raw data is in front of us, I’ve been able to work out a bit of the problem; split focus. Distractions from The Project with the 1000 Days are creating anxiety inducing competition between what I want and what I need to be doing.
Last night while driving home I had an epiphany on how to smooth out these rough conflicts of interest into a coherent synergy of thought, form, and purpose.
Similar to what I did with the reading component of this 1000 Days project, I’m merging the writing aspects as well. All future writing will be in service to The Project I’m working on. What project is that? It’s a secret. How big of a secret? “It’s so secret, even I don’t know what I’m doing.” kind of a secret.
My writing group, and the Misses, are in the loop but otherwise there are wraps. Layers of wraps bundling the ideas into a whole wheat creamy filled burrito of creativity and design. Ornish approved varieties only, I have my health to consider in my advanced years.
The plan is for a fall announcement. Hold me to it. Because the window is closing and if there isn’t a fall announcement, well all the improvisation, adaptation, and effort will not overcome the opportunity window when it closes.
But if I can still write daily, read daily, and work toward the 1000 Days to an MFA, but in service to the Project it will not be wasted time. Every day you write and read is worth something.
Back to it.
-Malcolm
Short stories:
Rocket Ship to Hell (https://www.tor.com/2013/07/20/rocket-ship-to-hell/)
Digital Rights by Brent Knowles
Coward’s Steel by K. C. Ball
Written in Light by Jeff Young (This was an interesting story. Great alien concepts.)
The House of Nameless by Jason Fischer
Time and Time Again (1947) by Henry Beam Piper
He Walked Around the Horses (1947) by Henry Beam Piper
The Lorax (x3), Cat in the Hat(x3), Sneechers and Other Stories (x3) by Dr. Seuss
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see? (x5)
The Storybook Knight by Helen Docherty and Thomas Docherty
“Empty Green Pants” by Dr. Seuss
Novel: Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Crafting Article: http://neil-clarke.com/a-concerning-trend/
It was good to catch up on your life and see where your energies are going these days. I had no idea you had built yourself into a regimen of certain things to do each day based on a distant goal but I commend you for it and wish you best of luck.