Writing Report January 11, 2020

A new year, whoop-dee-doo.

Creatively things slow to a crawl around Thanksgiving and come to a dead halt between Christmas and New Year’s.

Some creative work gets done, as well as some side chores re end of year bookkeeping, etc., but for the most part between family and social obligations, the lack of activity in the markets, and a dozen and one other distractions, little if anything of substance gets done.

I’m reviewing and updating my work habits and office policies.

This year I’m adding something new:  Tabulations of how much I write daily.

Now, to keep our terms straight, by “write” I means anything transcribed into the computer with the intent of eventually sharing it with the rest of the world.

And, yes, that includes these writing reports.

It can be notes or a finished story, but I’m putting the daily total down.

If I start a story and it takes me a couple of days to complete it, then only that day’s new total get tabulated.

If I’m editing a pre-existing document, that doesn’t count -- though I may count an extensive addition (i.e., a page or more, not just a sentence).

Anything written by hand doesn’t count until I transcribe it to the computer.

I’m curious as to how much I actually write in a given year (as of this post:  15,824 words for the year), especially since my writing schedule has been rearranged over the last year.

If I were free the schedule my day as I see fit, mornings would start with me reviewing e-mails and social media while still in bed, posting a few responses, taking notes and page links for future reference.

I’d rise, exercise, then get behind the keyboard around noon.  The bulk of the afternoon would be devoted to getting ready for the real productive work later that night, though some short pieces and editing would be done during this period, too.

A break around seven for dinner, some social time with Soon-ok (which could include me reading while she watches TV or listens to music), then as soon as she goes to bed at ten the really productive work can start, with me coming to bed around two in the morning.

(Of course, when I’m really on a roll, all that goes out the window, and I’m at the keyboard except for bathroom and hydration breaks until sheer exhaustion drives me to bed).

However, in reality, as the Scottish poet once observed, “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley…”

Soon-ok has her own schedule, and she likes regular order.

As often as not we’re up and at the gym before I can read all my emails, much less do my social media posts (check me out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/buzzdixon, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/buzzdixonwriter , and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/buzz_dixon_writer/ ); that takes an hour to ninety minutes.

We often visit our plot at the community garden, which can run from fifteen minutes to an hour, or we go grocery shopping, another hour or ninety minutes easily.

Some days there are household chores to attend to.  I’m lucky if I can get behind the keyboard by one in the afternoon (and then, a big part of the time is finishing my social media interactions).

Soon-ok likes to eat around five-thirty or six, so that cuts into my afternoon.  On top of that, while she tries to give me time to think and write, as often as not I’m interrupted by requests to get something down from a high shelf, or open a can of beans, or clean Jeffery’s litter box.

Jeffery.

We inherited my aunt’s cat when she died and it’s my last mitzvah to her to take care of him until he dies…a moment that can’t come soon enough.

Oh, I can hear the gasps of the cat lovers from here.  Relax, we are not cruel to Jeffery, we love him and will miss him when he’s gone, but…

…he definitely craves attention.

Right now he is laying at my feet after having sunk his claws into my leg to get my attention (this is being typed around three in the afternoon).

We feed him and clean up after him and sit and watch TV with him (a habit he got into with my aunt) in the evenings and late at night.

Oh, didn’t I mention that aspect of Jeffery’s daily grind?

He’d watch TV with my aunt well into the night, and when we brought him into our house several years ago, he would howl relentlessly until somebody came down to watch TV with him.

Now, prior to that I would listen to mp3s while working into the wee morning hours, so while I could ignore Jeffery’s howls, Soon-ok couldn’t.

As they say, if the momma ain’t happy, nobody happy.

In order for Soon-ok to get some sleep so that I could get any amount of work done the following day, I need to watch TV with Jeffery from ten to one or two in the morning.

(I try to stretch out my creative period by writing in notebooks or doing sketches or reading while watching TV, but that’s a drop in the bucket to what I could do if I could focus uninterrupted.)

So instead of spending time with Soon-ok after dinner, more often I’m upstairs trying to get my decks in order for a brief (thirty minutes to an hour) period where I can write without interruption before she goes to bed and Jeffery and I delve into the glories of YouTube.

Jeffery’s old and thin now, you can feel the sharp bones protruding through his fur, and as noted he’s laying at my feet, breathing heavily in his sleep.  He doesn’t appear to be in pain and he has plenty of food and water, a clean litter box, and several places around the house where he likes to sleep.

Once he’s gone, that’s it:  No more pets in this household (we aren’t pet haters, we’re just not temperamentally cut out to be pet owners).

The little counter at the bottom of this document tells me I’ve reached 1,047 words, so I’m gonna call it quits on this post.

© Buzz Dixon