Life Log #15

Hello. I hope you are doing well.

It’s nothing too exciting this week, just another life log. I’ve been working on a couple other posts but they’re taking a bit longer than I thought they would have at first, so those will be coming later.

This week has actually been pretty productive for me. I’ve been doing a lot of writing and a bit of outlining. I was actually looking at my progress tracker the other day and thought ‘there is no way I’m going to be able to finish this by the end of the month. I have just under two weeks and about twenty milestones to reach’. The thought of ‘I can’t do this’ persisted. But then this other part of me, the one that survives on spite and malice, said ‘watch me!’ So that was the voice I decided to listen to.

I think I’ve been making pretty good progress. Just today, the 20th when I’m writing this, I’ve written three scenes. So that puts me three milestones closer to my goal. And if I finish this post today, that will be four.

I think I found that by putting things in the perspective of ‘I bet you can’t do all this’ instead of just getting overwhelmed by everything, I can get a lot more done and feel better about it. I still need to be careful that I don’t bite off more than I can chew at one time because I am really bad at that.

I’m hoping that I can continue to get things done because next month I want to do a reading challenge I set out for myself. I also want to pose that challenge to any of you who want to participate and compete against me. I think that would add a level of fun to it. So I want to start that without any outstanding projects. That’s probably my second biggest motivation for this month.

That’s about everything I have to talk about today. And unfortunately, I don’t have a question for you today. So, you know what? What is your weirdest hobby/fascination/fact you learned recently? I would love to know if you’d like to share.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. And if it’s not wonderful, I hope it gets better. Stay safe, and I will see you next time.

-T.R. Flynn.

Life Log #14

Hello. It’s been a while.

I really needed to take a break in May and it kinda continued on through June as well. I guess I felt really overwhelmed by everything going on in the world, and there was quite a bit of stress going on at home. It really took a lot out of me, so I am glad that I took that time.

I was working though. I spent a lot of time working in the yard, started on a mini garden for myself, and did quite a bit of canning because of a surplus of produce given to us. I also fell down the rabbit hole of watching homesteading videos, it’s been interesting for certain. I also spent a bit of time making art. Nothing too interesting I don’t think. Just little dioramas out of cardboard, hot glue, and paint.

I have done quite a bit of reading as well and even changed my reading goal from 50 books this year to 80. I thought it would be realistic because I read 80 last year and I’m already at the 40-book mark currently.

I’ve also been trying to use this time to be kinder to myself. If you’ve been around for any amount of time, you know that’s something I struggle with. I don’t know if that’s because of intrusive thoughts and trauma, or because I know I can do more and therefore hold myself only to the highest standards all the time even when I can’t keep up. It’s exhausting. So I’m trying to change my perspective to be more understanding of myself.

I actually want to make a post about that in the future too. I think that being kind to ourselves is something we all kinda struggle with, so talking about it and telling stories could help. That’s what I think anyway.

I hope that after this break I can get back to work with renewed vigour. I have a new method for tracking progress and I’m hoping that it works and helps me get more work done regularly. If it does I will share it with you. I always want to give something a try before I have any opinion about it.

And I think that’s about everything I have to say at the moment, so I guess I’ll leave this here.

What have you been up to these past two months? Did you do anything exciting? Start a new project? Found a new interest or hobby? I would love to know if you’d like to share.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. If it isn’t wonderful I hope it gets better. Stay safe, and I will see you next time.

-T.R.Flynn.

March 2021 Wrap Up

Hello. I hope you are well.

It is the end of the month, and I might be the only one who thinks this but March felt like it went by really fast, but also dragged on. I’m sure we all feel that way at some point, so I know I’m not alone. It was just one of those weird months, I guess.

On the bright side, despite this month being weird, it was incredibly productive for me. I was very happy to look back and see everything I was able to do. So I’m extra excited to share it with you today.

I finished the rough outline of Aithne’s Journey. And I’m pretty sure this outline is one of the cleanest ones I’ve done. Granted I’ve only been outlining for like three years now, not very good at them still, but I’m very happy with this one. I do know that I’m probably going to have to go through and fix some things, change some things, you know. But I’m over all very happy with it.

I only got to the end of Part 1 in Amilia. So I’m about a third of the way through the first pass of editing right now. It is a slow process, but it’s a necessary one.

I didn’t make a map or anything for Crows yet. But I figured out a rough number of named characters, named most of them. I have some points I need to expand upon before I get too deep into outlining or anything. It’s still slow going with this project for right now. But now that I have the outline for Aithne’s Journey done I can start spending more time on this. So I’m very excited.

Even more exciting, I finally wrote a thing for Side Quest! I know, I was surprised too! It’s good though. And now that I have that done, the rest should be easier. ‘Should’ being the key word, I genuinely don’t know at the moment.

And over the course of this month, I read a total of 9 books. Granted five of them were short. And four of those five short books were audio books. So, I’m not going to give myself too much credit there. But I am going to be proud of myself, and you can’t take that from me.

So, yeah. It was a really productive month for me. I’m very happy with what I was able to get done. I am a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to finish the sewing project that I set out to make at the beginning of the month, but seeing everything else I was able to get done it’s really just one creative outlet for another. At least in my opinion. I’ll finish it next month… yeah, next month. I can’t be the only one who is screwy with days right now.

And while I was able to get a few herbs to start off my garden for the year, just the other day it snowed. So, needless to say, I haven’t been outside to garden recently. I haven’t planted anything. It’s been cold and miserable. This is the first time today I’m seeing the sun from my window, so that tells you how the weather here has been. I am a little disappointed in that because I would have liked to get out and get my hands dirty, but there isn’t much I can actually do in that regard. I’m as much a slave to mother nature as the rest of us.

That’s all I have for you today. What was something that happened this month that made you smile? I’d love to know if you’d like to share. Something that really made me smile this month was a friend came to visit and we got frozen yoghurt.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. And if it’s not wonderful, I hope it gets better. Stay safe and I will see you next time.

-T.R. Flynn.

March 2021 Goals

Hello. I hope you are doing well today.

Spring is hopefully just around the corner. It might very well start snowing where I am. I’m looking forward to gardening this month. There is much that my mom and I want to get done in the back yard. I think we’ve settled into enough of a routine here that I can comfortably have an herb garden.

So because of all the outdoor work that will need to get done this month I’m not sure what exactly I will be able to get done, but I’m hoping the sun will do me well.

So, let’s get on with it.

1. I would like to get Aithne’s Journey outlined, at least roughly. And some of you might be questioning this, what do you mean a rough outline? Sometimes I need to go through two or three renditions of an outline before I am happy enough with it to start writing. This isn’t strange for me.
2. I would like to get at least half way through the second draft of Amilia, adding in as much as I physically can along the way.
3. As much as I said I need to pump the breaks on Crows I still have a couple things I want to get done for it. Like make a map of the setting. Figure out at least the main two characters names, figure out how many named characters with backstories I’ll need. Very light sort of things.
4. I want to get a Quest written this month. Even if I just start it, I need to figure out how I’m going to go about writing it, and keep up with it.
5. Lastly, I would like to read 4 books this month. I have no concerns about that.

And that’s about all I have for goals this month. It’s bound to warm up here in the second half of the month I’m sure, but I think I heard weather reports of more snow at least for the first week or so. It’s warming up here if nothing else. I’m looking forward to sun. As much as I like it chilly outside, I do have depression and it can be made worse with the darker winter months. So Spring will be a welcome change for me.

I am trying out a different lay out in my bullet journal for the month. I’ve been wanting to try out different methods for goals and being productive for a while now, so this will be a fun little experiment.

So, what are your goals for the month? Do you garden? Are you going to take the opportunity that continued quarantine is kinda giving to most of us and start? Would you like to see pictures of my gardens? That one might be too personal, but you know what, I’m asking anyway! Let me know what you think in a comment. I’d love to know if you’d like to share.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. And if it’s not wonderful, I do hope it gets better. Please stay safe, I know it’s tempting to go out, especially for Spring Break, but it is still not safe. So if you do venture out, please be careful. I will see you next time.

-T.R. Flynn.

February Goals 2021

Hello, I hope you are doing well. We are back and continuing on with me publishing my goals for every month. Maybe at some point I’ll try out different measures of time for goals, but at the moment it’s not broken, so I’m not going to fix it.

This is the shortest month of the year, but I still have some pretty advantageous goals. I’m feeling pretty good and really do want to see what I can get done, especially since I’m trying to form better habits.

Anyway, let’s see what I’m hoping to get done, and then reconvene at the end of the month to see if I actually did anything.

1. I want to get all the big edits I have put down done for Amilia. Finally get some good head way made for this project. And if possible, start on the second draft.
2. I want to get at least another 30,000 words written for SDM, so I’ll be on track for the 100,000 I’m estimating it’ll turn out as.
3. I want to get all my ideas for ‘Aithne’s Journey’ out and in order so I can start the rough draft of the outline, next month.
4. I’m hoping I can write at least one Quest this month to make up for my lack of work on it last month. We’ll see what actually happens.
5. Next up, I want to start getting ideas out and working out some of the bigger things, i.e. timeline, setting, place for inspiration, etc, for a new project I’m calling ‘Crows’. I’m not going to make this my main priority for the month, so I’m not going to be too upset with myself if I don’t get very much done with it but I at least want to get the meat of the ideas figured out.
6. Lastly, I would like to read at least 4 books. If you didn’t read my post from last week, Do Audio Books Count?, I will link that here (https://trflynnofficial.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/do-audio-books-count/). I said that I upped my reading goal for the year. I went from wanting to read 25 books to wanting to read 50 books. This is because I discovered the the majesty of audio books and have been listening to them basically non stop. So if I can read more, I want to.

I know, it’s a pretty large list. Especially for me. But this year, in addition to making it about creating good habits for myself, I want it be about experimentation. But experimentation in earnest. Finding things and methods that work for me, and how and why they do or don’t, or what I can change about them to make it work for me. That’s my hope anyway.

So, that’s all I got for you today. What are your goals for the month? Do you have a big list of things you want to accomplish? Or because it’s a shorter month, are you sort of taking it easy? I’d love to know if you’d like to share.

I hope you’re having a wonderful day. And if it’s not wonderful, I hope it gets better. Stay safe, and I will see you next time.

-T.R. Flynn.