the new year

D found this cartoon about procrastination not too long ago. During November and December, far too many of my days went like that. At one point in mid-December, I commented to D that I felt like I was marking time, like I was waiting for something but I didn't know what. To which he laughed, and said "You're waiting for your novel to magically get published." He was right, of course; I'd been waiting for that, and waiting for my knees to magically be healed. Which was foolish of me, as I know it doesn't work like that, but really, it would be easier to concentrate on things like writing if I didn't have other stuff hanging over my head.

Well, during the holiday break I promised myself that I'd get it together. I did not spend the last couple months well, and my time is too great a gift to waste like this. If I'm not going to do the work I care about, I ought to find some other way of being useful.

I'm pleased to report, today has been my fourth straight day of writing for the new book. I'm averaging over 1000 words per day. I'm not writing brilliant prose, and I doubt I can keep this up for much longer (I've been writing stuff I'd more or less worked out in my head during December, and I'm nearly through all that material), but I'm figuring out different elements of the story and getting them down on paper, and that, after so much sloth, feels really good.

Just taking a moment to pat myself on the back, there. :-)