The last time I added anything before today was the 5th of January and since then there has been a few changes. Apparently, there’s some pandemic going around. I now have a daughter that is approaching 5 months old and, after a difficult start with a few complications, she is happy and healthy. I’m sure other things have happened but largely things are the same – at least with me. I’m still unsure what to do with my life and I’m just taking on work that pays the bills as and when it comes up. I’m still full of ideas in my head but doing nothing about it. I’m still holding on to the hope that somehow, someday the parts will just click in to place and I’ll be where I want to be in life.
What has changed? I’ve decided that things have gone too far (specifically my waistline) and I’m going to get back into the gym and into the best shape I’ve ever been in. Unfortunately for me the gyms are closed and due to aforementioned pandemic, I’m reluctant to attend upon re-opening. So, for now I’ve been restricted to exercise I can do at home and healthier eating habits and I’ve got off to a great start; ten pounds lighter in less than two weeks. Now I am as pessimistic as the next person and when the scales showed me being 3 pounds lighter than 24 hours earlier on day one I dismissed it, but as the days have continued to pass so has the weight. Different scales, same result. Whether it’s water weight, luck, or I was just extremely fat I’ve come to accept that I am now ten pounds lighter
than I was just under a fortnight ago. Another 37 pounds and I’ll be at my goal weight. At this rate it should take me around two months – a man can dream.
In other news to clear some room in my noggin I wrote down a brief summary of every story in my head and I have 19 stories that I believe will be of considerable length. Some of which are similar to others, several them I would like to exist in the same universe, and some that standalone completely. Alongside these I have two collections of five or six short stories that I believe go well together and countless poems, songs, movie and tv ideas, themes and characters that don’t quite have a home yet.
The question now is where do I start? At times a certain section of, or idea for, one of these stories pops into my head and I run with it. I’ll play it through in my mind and attempt to make a record of everything, annoyingly this often happens when I am driving or at work so many a time I’ve pulled over in a strange place or snuck away from professional responsibilities to at least get a summary of my ideas down. It would be inefficient and foolhardy to wait for these moments of motivation to come to me and hope one day the pieces create some semblance of a finished novel so I require a plan. Do I pick one and just start writing? Micromanage and plan out a beginning, middle and end before breaking it down to chapter by chapter? Dedicate time to writing but search my mind and allow myself to go with whichever story, theme, section or character I’m feeling a connection with that day? Start with a short story as an introduction
to actual writing, walking the shallow end before braving the depths? There is no answer I can give immediately; it is going to be an exercise in trial and error. All I can do for the moment is dedicate some time to this and attempt to form a habit. I’m sure I’ll find my own way to do things, raw as it may be, and hone it over time.