Showing Up

A theme emerged from the shambles that was July. The universe hit me with notes about “showing up” and “the first five minutes.” A zen monk might have contributed.

Status

The Wizard’s Cat
At long last, I’m within a few words of the end of this initial draft. I’ve written more this month than I have in the previous year and it feels great.

Everything Else
Back seat on all of it. I know there are things that need doing to clear up old issues but getting the Cat off my desk has my sole focus.

What Am I Reading?

Looking back at my content library, I apparently read a lot of less than engaging samples. The book(s) I can recommend this month are the continuation of Sarah J. Hoodlet’s Way of the Wielder series. I recommended book 1 in last September’s post. Books 2 and 3 have come out since then and I just caught up with the story and it’s just as good, possibly better, than I remember.

It’s fantasy with a unique magic system and some extensive universe building. Each member of the cast of characters each brings their own contribution to the tale. It’s a story I loved spending time with and enjoyed every moment.

Some notes: The series gets a little racier (what the kids call “spicy” these days) as it goes on. Very tastefully done. There’s a hint that there might be a new series in the final chapter. It’s not exactly a cliff-hanger but very much a story thread that could grow into something in the future.

I really liked this series, but – as always – don’t take my word for it. Grab a sample and see what you think.

About the Newsletter
I publish a newsletter every month on the 15th. You don’t need to subscribe to get the mid-month update. You can find them archived on my newsletter’s public page at Kit.

Looking Forward

Something about August seemed to snap everything into focus in the middle of the first week. The “better place” I mentioned in last month’s post bore some fruit.

First, I decided to give up the idea of walking every day. I was failing at it regularly so I re-calibrated my expectations to be a 40 mile month. That’s just two out of three days. Surely, I could do that. The month became a series of 1, 2, and 3 days. Take the date, divide by 3. If the result is zero, no walking. Otherwise, walk.

Seems silly but it worked. I walked 42 miles last month.

Second, along with the walking came the mental and physical health boosts of getting up and moving first thing in the morning. This fed directly into my writing time and yielded major dividends. With almost 50k new words, the story got through the mushy middle and pushed through to what I think is going to be a satisfying ending for book 2 (wink, wink).

It’s still going to be weeks before I get this through the editing and publishing process. I’ve learned not to predict this stuff. Still, this first complete manuscript is the key milestone toward releasing the Wizard’s Cat into the wild.

I thought a lot about “showing up” and the importance of applying it. Early in the month I was reminded of the importance of sticking through the first five minutes. Those first five minutes always suck. For months, getting through them had been problematic. Sure, a few days I could get some words down. Some days it felt like I turned a corner only to run into a brick wall by the end of the week.

The walking helped all that. So did playing games. So did the Bradbury advice: Don’t Think.

So I showed up, threw away all my word sprints and gamification and planned interruptions, and just wrote for an hour at a time. Yes, I timed it so I would take a break and walk around a little between sessions.

And thanks to the Paul Loomans book, I’ve Got Time, I discovered that relying on intuition actually helped. By doing less scheduling, simpler planning, and working on kairos rather than chronos¹ time my ADHD became much less of an obstacle.

Will this new found energy stick around as the weather turns cooler? I hope so. Racing the sunrise to walk before the day heated up gave me a non-negotiable starting point for the day. Throwing out the “streak” mentality by enforcing a regular reset helped a great deal. Having the 40 mile goal gave me an achievable milestone to shoot for without having to be “perfect” to get there.

Most of all, the satisfaction of finally seeing this story come together, however flawed it is at the moment, has put new wind in my ancient sails.

I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Until next month, safe voyage.

1. Ancient Greeks Had Two Words For Time