Sunday, June 6, 2010

Sunday Report Card!

invisible_lawnmower.jpg

Too bad my kitties can't be trained for yard work...

I've been a bad girl. My only goal this week was to finish TnCop#4 and...*hangs head in shame*...I'm not finished. Busy week and a serious case of WADD (Writers Attention Deficit Disorder) derailed my best laid plans.

Monday started out pretty good. I finished the yard work I'd started on Sunday evening. I even wrote 2300 words on TnC#4. Close to the end but not there. And I knew the rest of the week was a waste.

The evil day job had me in its clutches Tuesday through Friday. Seriously in its clutches. I put in 40 hours in 4 days. Plus I have a two hour commute. Definitely no writing when I got home. It was all I could do to eat dinner and fall into bed. But that's okay. My boss was out of town and we managed to hold down the fort admirably. Didn't burn down anything, or blow up anything. I also have concrete proof that my boss is Superwoman in disguise. I always knew the EDJ revolved around her but now the evidence is in. And she's not allowed to leave for a whole week ever again! *cackle*

By the time Friday rolled around, I had a number of notes on my voice recorder. The long commute is actually good for something. However, due to the previously mentioned WADD, most of my notes were on the new story my Lil Sis helped me cook up last weekend. Great ideas! Plot developing nicely. But I need to finish the other story first!

Early Saturday morning (aka the buttcrack of dawn), I thought I'd get some writing in before I picked up Momma to go to Little Rock. Lil Sis was meeting us for a Girls' Day Out. Instead of working on TnC#4, the new story demanded I write some of the synopsis.

So after a brief outline of the prologue and the first chapter, I managed to tear myself away to go get Momma. By the time we returned home, I was too tired. I decided I'd just get up early on Sunday and work on TnC#4.

But I'm old. And I distract easily. My morning went like this...

5AM CDT

*zombie walk to kitchen* Mmmm, need coffee.
*looks around kitchen while coffee brews* Oh, pets need water.
*pouring water in bowl* Rats, I forgot to water flowers out front.
*pouring water in pots* Wow! The little trees sprouting in my front flower bed are getting out of control.
*sawing trees down* Wow! My jasmine bush is getting unruly.
*pruning back bush* Wow! The grass in the front yard is getting high!
*mowing yard* Wow! Those tree limbs are awfully low! Keeps whacking me in the head!
*cutting tree limbs* That dead jasmine on the end of the house looks awful.
*pulling down dead vines* I might as well take down the old aerial antenna while I'm over here.
*pulls down antenna* Damn, the back yard needs mowing too!
*mows back yard* Hungry. Ugh, coffee is old and cold.
*makes lunch and fresh pot of coffee*

1PM CDT

I think I need a nap... I'll work on TnC#4 later.


So let's just call Sunday a day of rest...well, from writing, anyway. I don't know how many days I'll work for the EDJ this week. I'm going to be working regular hours for a while. Hopefully for a long while. Guaranteed positive cash flow is always good! *cackle* At 30 hours a week, I can also go back on benefits and that's a wonderful thing! However, I'm hoping I'll have a couple of free days this week so I can finish TnC#4. And maybe work on the synopsis for the new idea.

Plus I had another plot bunny about a couple of guys dealing with the fallout of an ex's stupidity. *cackle* More on that another time!

So this week's goal is the same as last week's.

1) Finish TnC#4.
2) Come up with a title for TnC#4.
3) Write synopsis/blurb for TnC#4.

Hope you had and will have a productive week!

Shayla

7 comments:

Gale Stanley said...

I was at the beach with the munchkins so I didn't even try to be productive. I checked email, and wrote a blog post this AM. Oh, and I did get my book reviews done. They had a deadline so I had no choice. I came home with a sore throat but tomorrow morning its back to work.

PamelaTurner said...

Productive? What's this "productive" you speak of? (Looks around)

Finished a 25k novella literally on May 31. Never again will I write that many words in 6 days. No way.

I'm bad. Supposed to be working on my 50k and start a new challenge this month. Yes, I'm a sucker for writing challenges. Sort of like web banners. Can't stop. LOL

Went to Hypericon on Saturday, so the drive to and from Nashville plus the frenetic pace of the con kept me going. Needless to say, I crashed today. But it was so worth it.

So, yeah, back to work tomorrow. Heh!

Rachel Lynne said...

LOL Shayla, I know all about those distractions :)

I didn't get any writing done this week though I have lots of scenes running through my brain. Hopefully I will manage to put them on the screen this week. I was doing research at the library today and mentioned my latest wip to the research librarian. Shame on her but she handed me book one and book two of a mystery series involving a famous rock band and ... what can I say? It was too good, I spent all of today reading it cover to cover. I can pat myself on the back though, because I restrained myself from starting on the second book :)

Have a great week!!

Shayla Kersten said...

@Gale We all need a break now and then. Sounds like you had a great one! Now, get back to work! *cackle* Did ya hear the whip cracking?

@Pamela LOL I recognize that confusion! 25k in 6 days is impressive! Congrats! I've done marathons like that and afterward, I felt as if I'd been beat up. Every muscle in my body hurt! I can understand your reluctance to get on the 50k challenge. Do I need to crack the whip at you too? LOL

@Rachel Seems the older I get, the easier it is to get distracted. Sounds like an evil librarian! I mean, why would she recommend books? *cackle# But reading is good for the muse--at least for me--so now you can get back to work refreshed!

Ya'll have a great day! I'm off to the EDJ!

Brinda said...

I need to look into your voice recorder method. DD had mentioned doing that also when she had a commute. I drive at least 2 hours a day and would love for it to be more productive. I had no idea that you also had a commute. My progress last week? I am like the turtle on my current WIP- slow and steady. I wrote about 3000 words. My webmaster, aka my son, bought my domain name/hosting last week and is working on my new website, so I spent some time brainstorming with him on what I'd like to do with it. Wishing you a productive week!!

Denise Golinowski said...

Shayla, you are too funny! But it's SOOO true how those distractions can just haul you off into...somewhere other than writing! I'm hoping to be more productive myself so, perhaps together we'll have more luck this week. I'll keep my fingers cross for both of us. Er, that probably won't help with the typing, so I'll just wish us both luck!

katsrus said...

Hi Shayla. Dang forgot to bookmark your blog. Got it bookmarked now so I can find it. I sure missed this blog. I get distracted all the time. No matter what I do! LOL. We went to some garage sales on Sat & a crappy movie on Sunday. Marmaduke~it wasn't as funny as I thought it was gonna be & the dog was as naughty as he should of been. Even grandson didn't like it(he's 8).
Sue B