PERSONAL NEWS
WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK!
IS THIS CRAZY, OR WHAT?
I’m now in my sixth week of 16 hour days—a temporary phase I hope—and seem to be surviving remarkably well on it. In fact, I’m thriving—and pain free—which is a wonderful feeling after being in some agony from mid April to mid August. The accident was entirely my own fault—but I certainly paid the price for it.
That’s the good thing about pain. It really makes you appreciate the pleasures of being without it.
Sheer bliss!
After failing to eat enough protein after my accident (I know better so my only excuse is that I was badly concussed) I have recently been watching my diet like a hawk—and the effect has been dramatic. I have boundless energy and am sleeping like a log. I just wish I had been so health conscious throughout my life.
One thing that does seem to be making a great difference—in the sense of feeling better physically—is getting up and moving around every 20 minutes or so. Agents and publishers apart, positively the worst thing about being a writer is being deskbound for hours on end—and now recent research says such behavior is killing us. Well, I know merely being alive is bringing one ever closer to death (Now is that any way to motivate the human race?) but the thought that my office chair is the Grim Reaper in another guise does not really set me up for the day. Normally, only critics pose that level of threat—and they respond to reason (if accompanied by brute force)..
Who knew that being a writer could be so hazardous to one’s health—and without even a Fatwa being involved. Evidently, Salman Rushdie was doubly threatened.
But, I am fighting back.
I thought regularly popping up like a Jack-in-the-Box it would break concentration—and perhaps it does—but, with practice, I seem to be able to snap back into focused mode—certainly where writing is concerned. And regarding other matters, I’m getting there. That said, my correspondence is still in arrears. As a consequence of various tests I started in late March, I have been drowned in e-mail—and though the situation is much improved, thanks to that marvelous program, Sanebox.com, I still haven’t caught up. My apologies to all concerned.
So what am I working on with such intensity? Well, losing so much time has left its own trail of chaos in its wake—which has to be coped with—and my e-mail flood is a time-sink in itself (albeit I’m learning a great deal from it) but mainly I’m focused on the last stages of getting my publishing venture rolling. Right now, I seem to have 90 percent of a considerable amount achieved, but 100 percent of nothing—or else I’m making last minute revisions.
As an Israeli general once said, “A plan is no more than a common basis for change.”
I seem to be changing and tweaking a great deal. Does that mean I’m being indecisive?
No, I certainly can be indecisive, but I’m past that stage. I’m now firming everything up—and feel confident in the overall direction. As for making refinements, that is no more than normal.
Time to go back to work. It’s kind of fun in an exhausting way. That said, I look forward to chilling out as and when. My lazy side—no mean performer—is feeling neglected.
VOR words: 564
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