I couldn’t sleep last night and gave up the pretense at 3 am. The good news is that I got some chores done. The bad news is that I’m not sure how much energy I have left. I used a dragon image today, because I feel like I am slaying a dragon.

Tarot Card

9 of Swords – Dark Night of the Soul, image of nine swords dangling in an oppressive darkness above my head. My reading – Time, Patience & Faith will see me through.

Pep Tip (from the Andy Weir)

First off, you have to accept that you’re not going to be blazing away in a creative euphoria all the time. In fact, you’ll almost never be in that state. Usually, it’s a slog. So make your peace with the fact that it is a slog, but that you’re working toward a goal. Writing isn’t like playing music, where the act itself is rewarding. It’s more like gardening, where the work is hard and unpleasant, but the result is beautiful. Next, you have to accept that your story will change as you write it. Something that’s perfect and awesome in your mind will often be stupid when you write it down. This is not a failure on your part, and it doesn’t mean you suck. It means you’re a writer, and you have begun phase one of making your story better. The moment you try to put things into words is when you find all the problems. That’s natural and normal, and every writer faces it. And then there’s “flow.” Sometimes, when you’re writing, things come together easily and you can crank out 2,000 words in an afternoon. But other times, it’s torture just to crap out 300 words. In those rough patches, here’s something to keep yourself going: When you read the pages later, you won’t be able to tell which ones you wrote with good flow and which ones were hard. You’re creating the same quality of work in both cases. You might not believe me, but the next time it happens to you, check the results later. You’ll see for yourself. So when you’re having a rough patch, it helps to remember that you’re making progress toward a goal. The words you’re putting down aren’t wasted. They’re just as good as the rest.

Sprint #1

• in my lounge chair in the living room ending at 8 am, 30 minutes, word count = 713

Sprint # 2

• same place ten minutes later,  30 minutes word count = 720

Sprint # 3

• large screen in my office, fifteen minutes = 259

Sprint #4

• same as above = 406

Total Word Count Today

= 2,098

Total Word Count

=19,712

Reflections

1. Andy Weir’s comment helped me. A lot.
2. My right hand and wrist are sore.