Life gets in the way of EVERYTHING! I had set myself the goal of posting once per week and was able to keep that up for a couple of months while work was slow. However, work is no longer slow. While I'm grateful to have a job, and relieved that the hours are picking up, employment cuts deeply into creative time.
Besides that, what I'm working on these days is a book-length story (Notice how I avoid saying that I'm working on a book. A mere story feels so much less threatening.) that doesn't really lend itself to short blog posts. I've been working on this story on and off for about 15 years. I don't expect to finish it any time in this decade.
I have also been doing more drawing in the little scraps of time I find between one thing and another. I find it amazingly calming. There's something so very here-and-now about drawing. I know that real artists will plan a painting or major drawing with sketches and color tests and whatnot, but I save that kind of forethought for writing. Drawing is for being engaged with a subject NOW. At least for me.
Because I am a glutton for over-commitment, and rather overoptimistic considering my success rate with long fiction, I'm going to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo this April--National Novel Writing Month for people who don't want to wait for the traditional November session. The goal is to write a 50,000-word rough draft in 30 days. I don't kid myself that I will come anywhere close to that in the few spare hours I have, but what I want to do is find out how much I CAN write when I make a serious, short-term commitment. If I reach 10,000 words, I will consider the project a success. Why I can't find this out without a program continues to elude me...you'd think I would just write. However, I always feel guilty for spending time with imaginary people and in imaginary lands when I should be making minestrone for real humans and volunteering as a docent in a state park. But this April, I can say to anyone who asks that I have a previous engagement and not feel guilty. I hope. Is this neurotic, or what?
If anyone is interested in joining the insanity, here is the website: http://campnanowrimo.org/dashboard.
Weeeeellllllppppp. Back to work.
