These days with the pandemic still in full swing my activity level has gone down. It generally happens like that every summer: for the first month I run like crazy, enamored with all my free time, and the second month I move more indoors to pursue hobbies. I went through this cycle in March/April, and my running has still slowed down. I used to run every other day, with walking in between, and now I’m good with getting out twice or three times a week for the moment. I write this with the hope that it will spur me to go for a run today.
So what occupies the majority of my time, you ask? Well, since my high school is out officially for the summer, I split my time between building/tweaking my classes for next year, gearing up for teaching sum II, and writing. Always writing.
Some days I just outline. I have a journal I keep with all my book ideas—a throwback to my lab days when everything was written down by hand. Once I hit the main highlights of a story, I get excited and start writing, filling in the details as I go. I start out a planner, then move to pantser.
Some days I abandon my school work and write all morning and into the afternoon. When I am in the zone I try to write five single-spaced pages a day. When I’m in a time crunch I try to get in at least one page. When I’m really in a time crunch I write at least one blog post, to come back to and edit later.
Other days I feel a little burnt out on writing, so I take a break and concentrate on my school work and record some lectures and build tests. I also read through some of my finished stories to edit and refine before sending off to my editor.
In the evenings I am usually brain dead and sit on my front porch with some tea to wind down. I bust open my tablet and strategize for my website, or surf social media.
It’s not that I’m lazy, it’s just I have so much to do. But now in writing this I feel a little guilty, and am going to go for that run, or perhaps a walk around the neighborhood.
What have you been doing during the week lately?