End of the new home writing hiatus
Moving into a new home is never easy. It ruins routines, adds pressure that has no business being so dominant in my life, and disrupts any social activity. Maybe most damaging of all is that it trashes an author's schedule.
Revisions on my novel sat idle for slightly more than a month. I prefer to write on my PC, but I was limited to my laptop. I thought the time between writing sessions would be much shorter, but weather (too many nights of below-freezing temperatures) delayed our move-in date because it delayed the installation of our driveway. No driveway, no installation of carpeting. No carpeting, no final inspection from the county. No inspection, no chance to do our move-in. Longtime Anderson residents said they never saw such a protracted cold spell. The weather finally broke, but everyone with a delayed concrete project demanded action. The first warmer day went by without a new driveway. Our builder finagled a way to get on the second-day pouring schedule, but we had to wait for proper curing time, and there was a second cold snap. We finally got carpeting installed almost a week later, and we received the all-clear from the county inspector. Did that clear the way for my return to being an author? Nope. We had a mountain of boxes to unpack, and a PC to get installed.
Finally, last Saturday, my schedule was clear enough for AIC. I felt like I won the lottery. I just finished one revision of the novel. Now I'm ready for the next run-through for analysis and repairs.
I didn't let all writing go unattended during the lull. I concentrated on two short stories. One I shortened slightly to fit the 1,500-work limit required for the Writers Digest short story competition. That one is properly submitted. The second was a new creation tentatively titled A Life of No Apparent Value. It is partially written. Still, nothing replaces a novel in one's hierarchy.of favored projects. I feel liberated. I revise in the middle of the night, early the next morning, and maybe some moments can be snatched just before dinner.
I feel at home, at last. It's more than just the new digs. It's doing what I do, whenever I want to do it.
Revisions on my novel sat idle for slightly more than a month. I prefer to write on my PC, but I was limited to my laptop. I thought the time between writing sessions would be much shorter, but weather (too many nights of below-freezing temperatures) delayed our move-in date because it delayed the installation of our driveway. No driveway, no installation of carpeting. No carpeting, no final inspection from the county. No inspection, no chance to do our move-in. Longtime Anderson residents said they never saw such a protracted cold spell. The weather finally broke, but everyone with a delayed concrete project demanded action. The first warmer day went by without a new driveway. Our builder finagled a way to get on the second-day pouring schedule, but we had to wait for proper curing time, and there was a second cold snap. We finally got carpeting installed almost a week later, and we received the all-clear from the county inspector. Did that clear the way for my return to being an author? Nope. We had a mountain of boxes to unpack, and a PC to get installed.
Finally, last Saturday, my schedule was clear enough for AIC. I felt like I won the lottery. I just finished one revision of the novel. Now I'm ready for the next run-through for analysis and repairs.
I didn't let all writing go unattended during the lull. I concentrated on two short stories. One I shortened slightly to fit the 1,500-work limit required for the Writers Digest short story competition. That one is properly submitted. The second was a new creation tentatively titled A Life of No Apparent Value. It is partially written. Still, nothing replaces a novel in one's hierarchy.of favored projects. I feel liberated. I revise in the middle of the night, early the next morning, and maybe some moments can be snatched just before dinner.
I feel at home, at last. It's more than just the new digs. It's doing what I do, whenever I want to do it.
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