Monday, Day 216
Staying-at-home-mom is a though job.
To keep my sanity, I need to work… more !
But keeping a young kid busy/away from me while I do so as proven to be oh very very difficult.
Ten minutes in front of the computer, and kiddo would swing by, starting to do everything possible to steal away my attention.
But !
But if I grab a pencil and a notebook, a copy of a map I drew years ago and some first-end and start working on the world-building for my next writing project.
I’ll try, dear fellow writers. Anyway, it’s that or playing daycare and hide&seek until nap time!
Tuesday, Day 217
Deciding to work on the world-building of the canonic fantasy part of my middle-grade fantasy project has been a lifesaver.
While spending time with kiddo, I have something to turn my thoughts too, something to brainstorm. But it’s work I can also let go easily.
I’m working with the roots, so to speak, with the genre canons. With what makes me so, so happy when I read a good fantasy novel, no matter for whom the novel is intended.
How do you, writers of fantasy novels, go about with world-building?
I sure hope you’re having fun. I am!
Wednesday, Day 218
I love cloudy days. It’s soothing. People stay home, I have the streets for myself, when I get the chance to get out that is.
In this pandemic time, it is also kind of reassuring. Fewer people in the streets. You know.
But today, we’ll get the paint out and play with colors. Just another day in confinement…
Thursday, Day 219
70 K words !!! We’re there, fellow writers. We are there!
After two-hundred and nineteen days, I’m 15 000 words away of finishing the novel. That was the plan anyway: a 85K words first-draft of a YA novel.
Looking at it today, I’m probably going to end up with a little more then 90K words.
That’s before the revision and editing, but still, I would have love to come up with a « cleaner » first draft, because oh dear, oh dear, I really have a hard time editing and copy proofing.
We will see, my dear fellow writers, how this novel will turn out. Right now, I’m still debating one crucial decision: going traditional or going indie?
Friday, Day 220
What is a mental breakdown?
Let me re-phrase that right away, because I used an outdated word.
What are, for a parent in confinement with a very young kid, the signs that you are developing a form of mental illness, such as depression, anxiety, so on?
Well, we should watch out for MANY signs. The symptoms I seem to have been developing since the beginning of April:
- feeling anxious, depressed, tearful, or continuously irritable.
- difficulty getting along with or tolerating other people
- difficulty focusing or remembering the events of the day
- withdrawing or avoiding normal social situations (How can one do that in confinement? Simple. Not appear on the phone when there’s a virtual birthday party, avoid any form of contact with friends, avoid talking with family members.)
Now, one has to be careful here, because we are living in unpredictable, pandemic times. In confinement. I may just be feeling the effects of prolonged isolation from normal.
Also, when it comes to scheduling, I’m very strict. This week in my part of the country, the schedule changed every. day.
For now, I will ask for my hubby-to-be to help. I’ll take a self-care extra-hour.
It will be better tomorrow.
Saturday, Day 221
Writing in bed on a Saturday morning, a great radio show gently blabla-ing in the background. That and my kiddo favorite CD.
You read that right, dear fellow writer: a CD! Just wait until kiddo is big enough to handle a turntable.
Back to writing in bed. It’s the loveliest thing, when nobody is yelling my mama-name or is asking me where this and that is. When it’s peaceful, quiet. Except for the fridging mourning bird, mourning is life out since 4 am on the roof. Oh dear Mother Nature, help me…
This morning, I’m getting rid of a very bad chapter. It was awful. For real. It was so… on the surface of everything, so one and only level. And sooo cheesy-gewy-gnagna. Also, the characters were acting kind of out of their… characters.
They evolved so much since I rough drafted that chapter, more than 200 days ago.
I was fun, but the time flew by and sooner than later, I found myself having to get on with some Spring chores I’ve been postponing to the point it gets on my nerves because it’s not done yet.
Tomorrow, Mother’s Day, it’s gonna be me, the writing project and earl grey. All morning long.
See you then, fellow writers !
Sunday, Day 222
My Mother’s day gift was the very best gift of all: a bookstore gift card!
In a blink of an eye, the gift card was gone. I’ve got some books for me, and some for kiddo. The kind of books I’d put on a wish list, saying « one day, maybe, maybe ».
Funny enough, buying all those books gave me a motivation boost to work on my stories. Even going indie publishing seems almost simple and easy this morning.
* Note from this crazy writer on a quest: self-publishing is NOT easy and simple, and I know it. I know, I know.
But, I don’t know, I feel positive vibes this mornin’ !!
Even thought I made drastic cuts to a chapter yesterday. The next five chapter might be tricky, because we have the build-up, the mid-point, trials and… plot twist !
Note, dear fellow writers, the plot twist does not blow up any roof of any kind, but it’s an efficient one. I would even say a satisfying one, since I’m surfing the rainbow of everything is awesome.
My dear fellow writers, thank you, again and again, for tagging along in this crazy writing quest. I wish you all the good words!
Until next Sunday, stay safe !
Marie Alice Writes & Reads 