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Reading and Writing

Work has a way of keeping me away from writing.  Put another way, I’m not making writing a big enough priority in my life.

Reading is going great.  Today at work, the reading group got together to discuss our book.  It was a good conversation.  And I managed to finish two chapters in my audiobook, The Left Hand of Darkness.

But I’m not finding the time for writing like I should.  I have to watch out for the shoulds.  This is something I want to do, not something I should do.

I do have some time tonight, so I’ll give it a whirl.  But I only have time tonight because something else was canceled.  I want to find a regular writing time so I can build a routine, a habit, of thinking about writing and doing the writing.

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Reading and Writing

I wrote again today.  I’m still writing in a personal, journal style, even though I’m writing poetry.  And I’m writing poetry because I can’t find my way yet to writing narrative.  I need to take more time and brainstorm ideas for short stories.  I’ll do that next weekend.  Brainstorm short story ideas, as well as characters.

I’ll spend time this week talking to my daughter about writing.  She’s got the habit, and knows that the practice is the art.  She and I can brainstorm together to come up with ideas this week as I drive her to school in the mornings.

Reading has been easier.  I’m through two more chapters of The Left Hand of Darkness and I’m finished with chapter one of the book for work.  Reading is always easier.  Sometimes I wonder if I’m not a writer, but just a reader.  And then I remember that I have good ideas for longer form works, I just need to practice writing again and again until I’m ready to write my first, horrible drafts of the projects.

I did more research, reading Eyewitness to History.  So I’m hitting on all thrusters, even if I don’t feel like I’m making much forward motion.

Tomorrow is a busy day.  I won’t get the chance to write.  I probably won’t even get the chance to read, except for work.  But I’ll be back Tuesday, continuing to make incremental progress as I learn the craft by doing it.

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Reading and Writing

I’m back from both of my trips, and am happy to be home.  I’m taking the day off from work to reset life.  I’ve got a couple of errands to run and had an appointment this morning, but I’m trying to leave as much of the day as unstructured as possible.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want to read and write, though.  I’m currently reading The Left Hand of Darkness by the late Ursula K. Le Guin.  I’ve enjoyed her works in the past, but this one is so far reading more like an ethnographic report than a novel.  The world building is intricate, but the narrative is plodding so far.  I hope that the book becomes more involved in the coming chapters.

I’ve got to reread a book for work for this coming week, so I’ll be jumping back and forth between Le Guin and the work book.  The work book is good, and I’m looking forward to the reading discussions.

And I wrote a stanza on the plane last night, my first writing in several days.  It was terrible writing, but it was good practice.  I’ll practice writing again later today, after I’ve run my errands.  The focus for now is to build the habit so that over time my writing will improve.