Getting back into practice isn’t as easy as it sounds. Like going off a diet or breaking training, dropping any good habit means you have to pick it up again. And again. And again.
Having hard-and-fast deadlines helps. That’s why I’m writing this morning, because I’m trying to establish Saturdays at noon to account for myself that week. If I’m lucky, I can squeeze in another between now and then and meet my three-posts-a-week quota.
I do have hard-and-fast deadlines on two volunteer writing projects that I’m working on. The draft of a fundraising brochure is due tomorrow; it’s about halfway there. And in a little over two weeks, I’ll be giving a speech. The draft of that is due at the end of the coming week. I’m making progress on that, too.
So you might say I’m getting back into shape. I’m just not jogging out on the trail where everyone can see me yet.
Observations: Daily life, including holidays and travel, can seriously cut into writing time. I cannot type in the car, for example, when we make our frequent long trips. But a writer’s mind and eye are always at work. Our Independence Day celebrations, for example, yielded photos for this post and “Red, White, and Blue.”
And sometimes it takes time for impressions to set in. The photo that accompanies this post was taken at an Independence Day fireworks display at Knight Point State Park, Vermont. I was taking hundreds of photos in hopes that a few would turn out. I was so busy that I didn’t see this flower until I was reviewing the individual frames.
Interaction: A few Likes both here and in Facebook, which is not bad considering that readers fall out of the habit too. I also had an Independence Day call from fellow blogger Shekhar Dasgupta on “Red, White, and Blue.”
Professional development: A little light reading of material from Writer’s Digest and the Chicago Manual of Style.
Next week: More hectic travel, but time for final drafts of the brochure and the speech. Maybe a little progress on my creative projects.
In case you missed it …
-
Journeyman Journalist, 1979: C’est la vie
Reading Time: 2 minutes Any writer who doesn’t want to become a laughingstock must do research and understand the subject thoroughly.
-
Journeyman Journalist, 1979: Managing editor
Reading Time: 2 minutes As ego-boosting as the title of Managing Editor may be, the root of the title is managing rather than editor.
-
Journeyman Journalist, 1979: A little gossip
Reading Time: < 1 minute Opportunity knocked once, then knocked a little harder. And then it just shrugged and walked away. Was it more than just gossip?
-
Journeyman Journalist, 1979: A pain in the a**
Reading Time: 2 minutes Procrastination is seldom fatal, but that’s not a certainty. A heart condition, cancer, a serious infection — can be deadly.
-
Journeyman Journalist, 1979: Giving thanks
Reading Time: 2 minutes One thing that’s still unchanged: My worries are really blessings. That’s good advice from a 24-year-old to himself a half-century later.