Life distracted me this past week—with writing. My chaotic life has not slowed, and neither have the unexpected events that seem to plague me. A water main broke, leaving us stranded and without water early Friday morning. The crew worked the entire day. They fixed it around 3 PM, only to have another section about 20 feet away burst. They were troopers, though, and worked through the night. I woke Saturday to the wonders of hot running water and indulged in the joy of a warm shower.

Supply chain nightmares are also vexing my existence. At the beginning of August, I ordered a large piece of furniture for a family member with a 30-day lead time. In September, I received a notice that they damaged one box in shipment, and they were sending for a replacement. They agreed to hold the order until all four boxes were deliverable. Last week, they contacted me again. The replacement piece arrived, and they assured me they were delivering four cartons. So, we scheduled a delivery window. The truck showed up with three of the four boxes. I have spent countless hours on the phone attempting to locate box number four. This week, the saga continues. Is it any wonder I’ve had migraines this week?

Despite those time-sucking challenges, the writing portion of my life is going well. I finished and submitted my final assignment for my online course, and I started working on the draft of Book One. I completed almost 14 pages for just over 4,000 words this week. You can’t imagine how nervous I was to submit those fresh (mostly unedited) words for review. But I shouldn’t have worried. They loved the story and offered insightful and oh so helpful comments on the work. Yippee. This week I hope to incorporate their suggestions, perform a little light editing, and proceed. Yesterday, I took a break. This week, it’s full steam ahead.

I always remember my number one writing priority. My core habits are strong, and writing a little every day is my secret weapon. Yesterday I wrote 0 words.

Did you write yesterday?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Did you write yesterday?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Did you write yesterday?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Yesterday, I made more slow progress towards finishing my final homework assignment. At least with a decent night’s sleep under my belt, I felt better able to concentrate, and I didn’t need to wonder about the meaning of the sentence I just finished reading. Hooray for minor victories. Another small win happened with the delivery of my new keyboard. I can’t wait for the weekend to dedicate a block of time to integrate my new toy into my setup. Imagine the joy of not needing to worry about a sticking space bar. I can feel my word count increasing exponentially.

I always remember my number one writing priority. My core habits are strong, and writing a little every day is my secret weapon. Yesterday I wrote 605 countable words.

Did you write yesterday?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Yesterday, work continued, and I’ve made small steps forward on my final homework assignment. It is an arduous process that is complicated by a demanding 9 to 5, constant interruptions during my scheduled writing time, and lack of sleep. My brain has returned me to a routine where I find it difficult to fall asleep and therefore logging fewer hours than I need to function at optimum levels. So, I am pulling all the nite-nite sleep hacks out of the box. I ordered blackout curtains. I am monitoring my daylight exposure, abstaining from nighttime screens, and thanks to the blast of cooler weather, my room temperature registers the recommended 62 degrees. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping something works.

I always remember my number one writing priority. My core habits are strong, and writing a little every day is my secret weapon. Yesterday I wrote 358 countable words.

Did you write yesterday?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Yesterday, work began on my final homework assignment, and it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. Distractions, interruptions, and a constant struggle to realign my focus once more left me feeling hopelessly frustrated. I don’t recommend writing while irritated. It’s not pretty, and nobody wants to see ugly writing. But since today is the first day of fall, I plan to do something different by taking a brief break and enjoy the harvest moon.

I always remember my number one writing priority. My core habits are strong, and writing a little every day is my secret weapon. Yesterday I wrote 479 countable words.

Did you write yesterday?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Yesterday I completed and submitted another massive assignment for my online class. Since curiosity got the better of me, I counted and was surprised to discover I hit a total of 2,264 words. Hmm, not bad, I suppose. With one more lesson in the Ta-Done column, I forged ahead and began work on my final submission. I am about three days behind where I hoped to be, but I have made tons of progress in the right direction.

My To-Do List tasks got a little quality time too. I dug my 27-inch monitor out of storage, found the cables, and hooked it to my laptop. With luck, my new keyboard will arrive soon because the sticking space bar is driving me bat-scat crazy. My dream for a big boy 49-inch curved-screen monitor is on hold for now. Some day I’m sure it will be the focal point of my new office. I better add some killer speakers, a high-end camera, along with a host of other must-haves. But today, I am focused on completing my outlines and moving into Phase II—writing my three first drafts.

I always remember my number one writing priority. My core habits are strong, and writing a little every day is my secret weapon. Yesterday I wrote 341 countable words.

Did you write yesterday?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Did you write yesterday?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Did you write yesterday?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

I’ve been a horrible person. I haven’t been updating and sharing my writing result here with all of you. That’s because I’ve been distracted by, obsessed with, totally focused on the work required by my online course. This week, I finished all the modules, completed and submitted one massive assignment, and almost finished another ginormous homework task. I also filled an 80-page notebook with handwritten notes for the class lessons, read and took more notes on two reference books, drew multiple pictures of a fortress, and began creating a map for my story world.

This spurt of work happened because last week, I dared to create an ambitious writing goal. I didn’t hold myself back and set absurd expectations, colossal amounts of daily work, and an unreasonable deadline. I am close to being on schedule. Because I have burnt myself in the past with my over-zealous tendencies, I built in weekly catch-up days and time for relaxing. Once I deploy my built-in buffer, I will be exactly where I intended to be. I’m so excited.

Another To-Do List task is ordering and integrating a new keyboard into my system. The space bar on my laptop is sticking, which means I often have no spaces between my words as I type. Talk about a royal pain in the patootie. It is ok since my To-Do List has a task for me to rework my office setup. In my dream setup, I will have two big screens — ok, who am I kidding? I would love to have a big boy 49-inch curved screen monitor. When you’re dreaming, you might as well dream big. But for now, an ergonomic wireless keyboard (with a spacebar that doesn’t stick) would restore my typing speed into my normal 80 WPM range. If I hope to keep meeting my deadlines, I’m going to need it.

I always remember my number one writing priority. My core habits are strong, and writing a little every day is my secret weapon. Yesterday I wrote 0 countable words.

Did you write yesterday?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer