Monday, February 15, 2021

Valentine Gift

Silver Thaw by Wayne Woodcock

This year I gave myself self-care for Valentine’s Day.

Permission to kick back, relax, and enjoy the simple things. A conversation with a friend. A walk in the park with my dog. The beauty of nature in a silver thaw.

Permission to replace self-criticism with self-acceptance and to be proud of small accomplishments. A productive writing day. Meeting two writing goals in one week. That’s the “trick” to accomplishment – setting goals and meeting them.

I’ve strayed from the literary path and lost the daily writing habit. I stopped setting small, easily-attainable goals. Without the structure of a writing habit, my progress has floundered.

Baby steps will lead me back to productive writing habits. I can’t write a novel today, but I can write 500 words. And I can do it again tomorrow and the day after. For at least five days a week. Writing daily keeps the story fresh in my mind so I can be more productive with less stress.

These are the lessons I have to keep re-learning every time I stray off the writing path.




Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Sluggery Basics

When I was asked to create an online class based on a short fantasy piece I wrote for an anthology a few years ago, I was hesitant. But OmniOcademy “offers a whimsical interactive approach to education, entertainment, and enrichment,” so I felt my topic would fit right in.

I hit the internet and began researching slugs. I found some wild and crazy reproductive behavior, but I wanted to keep the material family friendly. Although Sluggery Basics: Raising, Training, and Showing Your Slug is based in fantasy, many scientific facts are included. The early chapters apply the pet care of dogs and cats to slugs. Later chapters equate slugs to horses.

It’s been stressful developing the Sluggery manual, taking a serious online writing craft class, working on the third Detective McGregor draft, and trying to have a life all at the same time. Now that the writing class is finished and the Sluggery manual is organized and under control, I’m less stressed.

In the last couple of days, I’ve seen the course come alive online. An intro page for the course exists on the Ocademy website. I’ve seen content from the first half of the course online. Today I watched the newly created introductory video. I’m excited.

Now I’d better get back to work and finish the remaining chapters.