(Title of this post a naked excuse to embed this video, which is one of my ‘I need a cheer up’ youtube classics)
It is nearly a year since I started this blog – nearly a year since I made the shortlist of the YWP – nearly a year since I felt like maybe had a real shot at ‘being a writer‘.
I put that in inverted commas because, as everyone will tell you, ‘being a writer’ requires nothing more than sitting down in the chair and writing. Yet I struggle to do even that at the moment. Days, weeks and months slip by and the word count at the bottom of the document barely shifts. Needless to say I am not making very good progress with my goals. I carry around a big potato sack of writer’s guilt that gradually forces me lower and lower.
The main reason why I’m failing? Work. I can’t really go into it yet, but my school has been going through some monumentous upheaval, such that my 12 hour day has now ballooned to 14, plus Saturday intervention, plus Sundays of endless marking. The week easily becomes 65 hours and often close to 70. I read endless articles telling me to ‘utilise the morning’, but I can’t bring myself to get out of bed any earlier than my current 5.30. Evenings are a dead loss of reheating some three-day-old leftovers, marking, falling asleep for an hour, marking again, emptying the dishwasher and rolling my carcass into bed at half midnight.
The good news is I am making some big changes to my life, starting in January, which will give me more time and hopefully more energy to put into my writing. I spoke to a job counsellor recently (long story) and he said it was a rare thing to really know one’s vocation – and I do. My current ms, ‘The Hunt’, has a lot of potential and I can’t wait to dive back into it. Till then…I try to keep my head above water.
So, that’s what’s going on with me. How about you?
p.s. need more cheer ups? some of my perennial faves:
Lois and Clark. You Belong to Me Lee Adama: I’m the Baby Happy Life Day
Catherine Queen 
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