Sunday Summary and #ROW80 Update

  1. To all the moms out there, Happy Mother’s Day.  I’ll be leaving in a while (after mass infusion of caffeine) to go see mine.
  2. I didn’t get around to posting yesterday because I was busy ripping out the rest of the scene I wanted to finish this week.  Made it.  It’s actually been a really good writing week.  4540 over 5 writing days, plus some significant note taking for the NA bunny.  I am down to 3 scenes left…and maybe and epilogue depending on what I do with the last scene.  If I can sort out all the details of my final fight scene, then I MIIIIIIIGHT get finished by end of next weekend.  Maybe.  It would make me really happy to be able to send this off to CPs then and to take a week to play with something while they rip it to shreds.  And maybe watch some more Downton Abbey season 3.
  3. Over the last several months, I’ve been experiencing this subtle shift in my perspective, in my expectations, having a lot of mini-piphanies, and generally starting to come at this writing professionally thing from a slightly different perspective.  This has been really good for me, I think, because I really feel like my creativity is burgeoning.  I’m having lots of ideas and like it’s easier to get back into the fun of writing.  And I feel less pressured and stressed.  For the last five years, I’ve had myself on this bullet train, trying to Accomplish Things because once certain things were sorted, we were going to be starting a family.  No, I’m not pregnant, but it’s on this year’s agenda.  And that’s been this huge Ticking Time Clock because I have always felt like my life and all the things I want to do with it, will be over when I have a kid (I’m not talking rational thought here)–at least until said kid is in school.  I waited so long to start pursuing this writing thing as a career, and it really felt like I HAD to MAKE IT before I had a kid.  Because then I’d lose all momentum because the kid would suck my brain during pregnancy (babies are parasites–if you don’t take in enough nutrients for both of you, it starts taking stuff from your body–creepy, unromantic, and totally true), steal my sleep for at least two years once here (and we have established I am NOT A NICE PERSON when I don’t get sleep), and just generally be a great big massive TIME SUCK that I can’t just put in a kennel or outside when it’s being loud or annoying (Reason number 71 for why puppies are superior to babies–they also house train much faster).  Yeah, I know, perhaps not the healthiest view of parenthood.

    Anyway, the year we plan to do this is finally HERE, I haven’t made it, and…it’s like finding out that that axe that’s been hanging over the back of my neck is actually made of rubber or on a different track altogether or something. I’ve really come to accept what my friend Aly is always telling me: You can do almost anything you did before with just one kid.  I mean, yeah there will be changes and adjustments.  But you figure it out and it’s not that big a deal.  It’s when you get into multiples that it’s harder.  Since we’ve settled on just one, that pressure feels somewhat abated.

    And now that my five year plan has turned out to be a big illusion, I’ve taken a time clock off.  Which is a great thing because you CAN’T predict (usually) how things will go and what book or books will launch you (or if).  And trying to do so is crazy making.  The last couple of years, I’ve had a LOT of personal crazy.  And it really stifled my creativity and my ability to produce.  :see long dry spell since last self pub release:  :hears crickets:

    What’s got me thinking about this this morning is this post I just read by Justine Musk (who always seem to have thought provoking content on her blog) about Provoking The World.  In particular this little bit here: What if you tossed aside that five year plan and fully lived each moment in front of you, explored it, followed those whispers of intuition? What if you put your ear to the ground of the culture and spent some time listening, listening hard?

    This brought forth a huge resonant YES in my brain when I read it.  I feel like this is what I’m trying to do with my writing now.

  4. We went to see Iron Man 3 on Friday night.  It is my favorite of the trilogy.  SO MUCH BETTER THAN 2.  And courtesy of the teenagers behind us who did not shut up for the ENTIRE MOVIE, I have a public service announcement:

    LOL and OMG are text abbreviations.  They are not words unto themselves.  Saying LOL instead of actually laughing or saying OMG instead of actually Oh my God makes you sound like an inveterate MORON.

    That is all.

5 thoughts on “Sunday Summary and #ROW80 Update

  1. I love the little passage you quoted from Justine Musk. Because of so much that’s happened in the the last six months or so, I’m really learning to live in the moment. We can have all kinds of plans, but if we’re too rigid with them, when they don’t pan out, we feel like it’s the end of the world. I’ve learned to live a more flexible life. I want to write for a living, but I’m pretty sure it won’t happen, at least for awhile. But WHAT IF IT DOES? Part of the joy of life is that there are so many surprises. I know there are bad ones, but what about the good ones? If you’re not where you want to be in five years, then be patient. It might happen in seven years or ten years. And your friend is right about having a kid. Things aren’t always harder, just different. My kids actually learned to sleep straight through the night LONG before they were two years old, so maybe yours won’t steal your sleep for two years. LOL. Just keep writing, Kait.

  2. I agree with LL about kids. A friend just had one and before he was a year old, he was sleeping through the night. I’m sure there will be a learning curve being a new parent, but you’ll figure it out. You’re not the first mom whose had to juggle a new baby plus other responsibilities. Maybe the first few months you won’t get much writing done, but who cares? Get to know your child. Get used to being a parent. And always remember, when things get tough, just say, I’m Kait Effing Nolan! (T-shirt? Mug? Iron on tattoo?) Problems don’t beat you. They’re analyzed into submission and bent to your will.

    1. A lot of the sleeping depends on whether the kid is breast fed or bottle fed. Bottle fed babies tend to sleep through the night faster. Nature of the beast. Maybe we’ll get lucky. But I’m not going into it expecting that.

  3. Great post. And no, it’s not “mean” to think about kids that way – just realistic and honest from your perspective. Or at least, I probably think that because that’s how I felt before my own. The kidlet is 2 now, and no, I don’t have as much time as I did before for writing, BUT, I think I probably make better use of the time I have, have greater focus, and zone in on what really needs to be done. When they’re really small, they sleep, you can work. When they get older (ie: mobile and sleeping less), it really helped me to have 2 afternoons when someone watches the kid and I know I have time to write. You can always squeeze in more later, but at least you know you have some time scheduled for you and writing. It does work. It can work, and indeed, the older they get, the better it gets. My two cents, at any rate.

    Oh, and love the public service announcement. Is there some way to actually reach that audience? 🙂 Have a great week.

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