This whole “I want to focus more on my writing” thing has me all blocked and finding all kinds of stuff to do that ain’t writing. Last Sunday, I told the social media that I’m going to bring back my Sunday blog. Yet, here I am. Watching the sunset over the construction at Rio Vista where they are, once again, rebuilding the dam here. From my perch on the deck of Ivar’s River Pub, I sit at a large picnic table in solitude though my three-drink set-up (coffee, water, mimosa) are doing just fine keeping me company.
I decided I had to leave the apartment and find a place where I could sit outside and write. It was the only way. My dishes desperately need doing. The laundry seems to quadruple with every load I finish, and I haven’t even seen Encanto yet! If I were to stay home, there are PLENTY of other chores I could tend to, and just sitting there writing doesn’t even feel productive. Sigh. Pasta. That’s what I need. Scenery too. Pasta and scenery will get me going, and TBH… It has! Here I am at the last blue line of a hand-written page! Look at me go! Okay, we all know this is shit writing, but at least I’m exercising the damn muscle. And that’s what I gotta do…exercise these writing muscles. HARD. Like lean the fuck in. Here’re the places that I’m going to challenge myself as a writer in 2022:
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This blog. Which is easy enough. I’ve done this before. I can do it again. How are can it be? OMG I’m so undisciplined right now. Ugh, I hate this pandemic, but nonetheless, I’m posting a new blog each Sunday. For real, y’all!
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Admission essays, research proposals, statements of intent, etc. etc. That’s right! I’m looking to apply to fully-funded grad programs. Oh boy…academic writing…yeeeee!
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Writing retreats. I’m gonna apply to some of these too. Some of them are ones you gotta pay to attend and others are ones you’ve gotta be accepted to or through scholarships. This is a really unfamiliar thing for me, but I want to experience and learn more through retreats.
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Guest posting and contributing. It’s high time I start submitting to statewide and national sites and publications. We miss 100% of the shots we don’t take.
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Publish my children’s book. I mean, I’ve been working on it since 2010. It’s ready. It’s time. It’s happening.
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Dabble and dip my toes into the Amazon-Kindle-verse and write stories, essays, and novellas with a pen name.
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More books. I have 2 more books in stages of non-completion, and they should exist in this world before it fully collapses.
I have a handful of other goals and intentions for this year, and I’m certain I’ll discuss them in this blog. But, for right now, I’m very proud of myself for knocking this out today. The hardest part is committing. After I get these dishes done, it’s on! Let’s go!