Read this on galpod.com.
April certainly has been a long month. The days blend like a long dream, and you can't tell what day it is or how long it's been since anything of note happened. Not having goals this month didn't help this sense of meandering. I did manage to establish a routine of writing for two hours every weekday morning. It doesn't sound like a lot but to be honest if I'm sitting down and writing for those two hours I miraculously get more done than I was before school closures in a full school day.
Before the closure, I had a whole school day to write. So I would go for a run, and come back and make myself a cup of tea, and then a snack, and then figure out what's for lunch, and then read some, and then there's not a lot of time left before I have to get the kids anyway so what's the point. Now, I guard these two hours jealously, and I spend the whole time at my desk writing. Everything else waits for after I'm done. I go for a run before (not having to drop the kids off at school helps), and I do all the lunch/laundry/cleaning/cooking after, and these two hours are my writing time, and no one can have them, not even my kids.
My kids have been amazing throughout all this, by the way. I've talked to them after a week at home and explained that I need to be writing and we talked about how we can work around my writing time. My daughter wants me to witness her doing schoolwork, so most days she waits until the afternoon. My son sometimes prefers to do schoolwork in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, but he's pretty independent about it. And I've been clear that after my writing time is over, I can give them my full attention: we read stories, I listen to all the things they want to tell me, we cook together or clean the house together. I still need to read in the afternoon, but I do that when they've finished their work and are talking online with their friends.
In short, our daily routine has changed a lot, but we managed to work out a new routine that is working out for everyone. I think it's time to have some goals for May. Tentative, cautious goals, but goals nonetheless. So here are my goals.
Blog once a week.
Run twice a week.
Write for two hours every weekday.
As for writing goals, I think I can restart some of them. They're small on purpose, but I would like to get some sense of accomplishment at some point. That would be nice. So here we are:
Finish a synopsis for LP (that title will probably change, but I still think of it as LP).
Make a list of agents and send the manuscript to five.
Continue editing LP.
Finish editing the academic paper I've been working on.
Edit/stylise The Missive (the first draft is done, but it needs work).
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