I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
(a.k.a. "one last bout of procrastination")
This morning is where things change. Yes, yes, I’ve likely said that shit before on here. But today, dear reader, I am doing something about it.
Yesterday, I walked around on like 2-3 hours sleep all day, so that when it hit 10 p.m. last night I was tired. The flip side of that is that when my alarm went off at 6 a.m. this morning, I was rested.
The idea is that the book will get six hours of attention a day, minimum. Not only six, but the first six (well, once I have my oatmeal at least). This is the schedule that got the book written, so it is fitting that it will also get the book finished.
It’s time to draw phase one of my life to a close, which means by June 1 of this year, I want to be finished losing weight (not a stretch, I’m less than 10 pounds from goal; 20 from when I plan to stop, as "goal weight" of 180 pounds will also be the new ceiling, so whenever I hit 180, it is time to watch intake) and have a finished book.
I got serious about finishing the weight loss on January 1. The book? Well, I guess that would be (checks today’s date) March 4.
For people in my life, that won’t change too much. It means when I have lunch with people it will be 1-2 p.m. instead of noon.
It means I want to be in bed by 10p, so no clubbing for now, although that said, I plan to make it a point to hit EndUp or Eagle on Sunday afternoons just to be doing *something* social along those lines.
It also means no, umm, "exciting" stuff within an hour before bed, so shows like "24" and such will be viewed the following afternoon, so I can settle into sleep thinking about the book and not how Jack Bauer will get out of his current pickle.
It means planning more activity into my schedule. This is the strange paradox of how things work. By doing my writing first, I actually have more day left in which to do things. Because, despite the less than rosy output, I was always eternally optimistic I would work on the book every day, so even when that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t go and do things like see movies or such, because I hadn’t done my writing yet. By doing it, the rest of the day opens up to possibility that hasn’t existed for a while (so stupid, but true).
It means my gym activity will be an afternoon event, rather than a morning event. Not a big deal.
It means I will possibly start answering "How’s the book coming along?" more, since there might be something to say, although honestly, the answer will still not be too interesting, but that’s beyond my control.
It means no caffeine after lunch, so sleep comes easily.
It means caffeine in the morning. Mmmmm…. tea.
I think the biggest thing people don’t realize is the huge connection between my life and the book. I’m not talking how much memoir is in the fiction or anything like that. I mean that finishing the book will effectively close a huge chapter in my life. If I knew the next chapter, I might not avoid it as much. But, as that is not the case, I still do.
But similar to what is about to happen in a few minutes in Microsoft Word, it’s going to just be time to stop focusing on the whole of the next chapter, or the book overall, and just get caught up in the moment of the word, the phrase, the sentence. Is this thing in front of me what it needs to be, and changing it when it isn’t, and keeping it when it is.
So, writing a book is basically the same way you write a life.
The most important thing is just focusing on the now. The past is over. The future will take care of itself.
(And, for the record, this is being finished at 7:30 a.m., so I will work on the book until 1:30 p.m., this blog post didn’t cut into today’s time, just delayed it.)
Postscript: OK, I had to come back and share when I saw this. I just went into Word (I wasn’t lying, I really am doing this shit today, and saw the following on the title page: (Initial Draft Started: 3/3/2005)" Well, that’s quite the wake-up call, no? A year. This draft has been written (well, started, but still) for a year. Time to wrap it up. Yikes. Good kick in the ass before I even hit the first word of the book… *shudder*
Post-Postscript: I made it to nearly 1 p.m. (It’s 12:48 right now) and just hit a chapter break, so wrapping up. Still going from nothing to 5ish hours is delightful for me. Did three chapters today, although that will slow down over time, as the early chapters already had a good batch of editing, so the later ones will need more attention. But, as with every other writing and editing pass, I still really love this book.
