No. I p-h-3-4-r that slush pile.
Anyway, it's a blessing and a curse right now that I'm not married. A blessing, because I don't have to worry about having kids any time soon, which I know is allowing me a kind of freedom others don't have. A curse because I also don't feel like my life is settled. Part of me is seeking stability, without really knowing how to go out and look for it. Also seeking someone to either pay my bills or do my freaking laundry, because I apparently cannot cope with all the trappings of adulthood and pursue a writing career at the same time.
I will attempt not to make any more Hyperbole and a Half references, but holy God it makes me feel so much better to know that there are other people experiencing this situation. Go read her This is Why I'll Never be an Adult. Seriously. My soul is bared.
I'll simplify with the four things that seem to be the biggest contenders in my own life:
- Day job
- Writing career (dream)
- Laundry/dishes/chorestuff
- Sleep
Pick two.
For serious. For shizzle, even. Most of the house is fairly clean. Just not my room. And to be fair, the things all over the floor in my room are clean too. Just not... put away. I did two loads of laundry last weekend. Saturday night, I grabbed clothes out of the dryer and stuck it on my bed thinking, "HAH. I will have to put this away before I'm able to go to bed." Seven hours later, I'm dragging myself back to my room to go to bed, and it goes something like this.
Me: There's laundry on my bed.
Laundry: *sits there*
Me: I don't want to fold and put away my laundry. That would take too long. And I'm sleepy.
Laundry: *smirks*
Me: All right, laundry. You're going on the floor. I'll fold you in the morning.
Laundry: AAhhhhhhhhhhh!
Me: zzzzzzZZZZ
Needless to say, the next morning I got up, and did I fold laundry? Hell, no! I went to my personal training lesson, then I went to the local coffee shop and worked on my book. I get home, and my roommate is doing laundry.
Skrybbi: I took your clothes out of the dryer and put them on the bed.
Me: Awesome. Thanks.
Laundry: *sits there*
Me: We meet again.
Laundry: *smirks*
...you can kind of see where that's leading. Am I housewife material or what? Hell yeah. (Please? Let me stay home and write, and I will seriously make you ALL THE SAMMICHES.)
Anyway. My epic, whimpering, borderline-anti-feminist incompleteness aside...
SCHEDULES!
Like I said in my last post, I've had to shift my schedule and expectations around in order to get everything done. Plan B seems so far to have been more successful than Plan A. I'm still scheduling out my lunches and evenings, and even if I'm not actually doing what I've written on my schedule, that's generally because I'm continuing on with something from the day before, or a time sensitive issue.
As some of you may know, I participated in a 35-word pitch contest on Brenda Drake Writes with my novelette BULL-RUSHING THE GHOST. I hadn't been expecting to find a market for it, since it's a novelette, so finding somewhere to potentially sell it was extremely exciting. I did receive a submission request for the story, so I will keep you updated. More on the contest later, too, because I've done two of these now, and they're pretty awesome.
Despite schedules and deadlines and lots of working much harder than I probably should in general, I still often feel like I'm failing to put out the amount of work I'm hoping for. I'm hoping the summer crazies will die down soon and I will be able to focus a bit more.
That said, the daily schedule is helping. I've set some daily goals that are allowing me to keep better tabs on my time during the day and give me the bread-crumb feelings of accomplishment I need to keep going. I definitely recommend setting one up, even if you don't hold yourself to it completely. Often, I look at my schedule and see not necessarily what I've written, but the possibilities that are there, and that more than anything drives me to work.
As far as my laundry goes... it's still on my floor. Though, as long as Skrybbi doesn't mind that my room isn't clean and I forget to take out the trash most of the time, I'm probably cool for at least a little while. I hope.
How are you balancing work and writing? What techniques have worked for you? Have you finished or submitted anything lately? DO YOU WANT TO DO MY LAUNDRY?