Back to the chair
Weeks in Review: August 29 - September 24, 2022
It's been almost a month since I last posted a weekly update- yikes. I won't bore you with the silly details of my absence but if I can quickly summarize a few events:
A brush with COVID knocking me on my butt for a few days
My family (including my 9 month old son) also contacted COVID. Everyone has recovered, thankfully.
A little vacation in New Hampshire with the family
Daily chaos of parenthood
In the background of all of this, I’ve been in deep thought about lost time and the days I missed my word count.
Then I realized that shit is pointless.
That’s all in the past now. Yes, I've fallen off the horse with writing these weekly updates, essays, and most importantly fiction, but all that matters is getting back in the writing chair and starting again. So if on the off chance you've been pondering what the hell happened to me, fear not! After a small hiatus, I'm happy to be back in the fiction factory.
This week I've got about 2,200 new words of fiction for a new story that I should finish soon. In terms of recent mailing to top paying magazines, I've lost track on how long it’s been since my recent submission, but I can't focus on that. My main focus is writing and releasing new stories for submission. During my COVID days of rest, I did ponder on new essays to write and publish on here that I think would be fun to do.
I've been dedicated to the studying of the craft - specifically reading a bunch of short stories. All this inspired by Ray Bradbury's challenge to new writers of reading: a short story, a poem, and an essay a night for the next 1,000 nights. So far it has been a fun exercise discovering new writers and devouring the stories in their respected canon. For those interested in learning more, I’ve included a link to the lecture by the legend himself, Ray Bradbury, at Point Loma Nazarene University for your viewing pleasure.
The basic message I want to instill in you, dear reader, is if you are doing a challenge or attempting a life of producing works of art, or fancy yourself a craftsperson and fall off the path then I implore you: GET BACK UP AND KEEP GOING! Acknowledge you’re off track and get back to it as soon as possible. Don’t worry about lost time, don’t panic over missed days, and please, please don’t beat yourself up. Things happen. That’s life. But the sooner you get return to your work, the better!
That’s all for now. Back to the writing, studying, and practicing writing fiction.
‘Til next time.
Great to have you back at your keyboard, Frank, hope all at home is back to much better. Looking forward to more words from your world.
I was just thinking about you, and how you're doing. Good to see you back on the saddle, aimed for the horizon.