Once More Into the Breach, Dear Friends

I image this in a Mr. Smithers voice.

After three weeks of catching up on my reading, housework, and social life, I am ready to jump back into my writing. I realized that I was moderately burned out, and needed to recharge my batteries.

Consider the battery recharged.

I spent last week pondering what I should/wanted to work on next. I've decided to finish the novel I set aside in November, tentatively named REDEEMER, since the interest has come back, and I have ideas on how to fix the problems that made me set it aside in the first place. This story won't leave me alone; it refuses to be forgotten. So now I get to look through all my notes (another benefit of planning a novel--if you have to stop for a long period of time, you're not going to forget all the cool stuff you had in mind) and try to get back into the swing of things.

I had fun these last three weeks, but I am itching to be writing again. This time, however, I plan to balance out my time. Writers spend so much enery trying to carve out time for our writing, we forget to plan for other activities, like reading and socializing with our families. There will be times that a deadline will force you to eshew reading, spending time with friends, and housework, but I don't think it should be the default setting for writers. 

Maybe you guys have this figured out already, and I am just slow on the up take. I tend to go all in. I throw myself into a project and focus on it solely that until it's complete. I can multitask, but it's not my default setting. So when I am working on a book, everything else falls to the wayside, which isn't a good long term strategy, both for my creativity and for my personal life.

So from now on, I am going to budget time, not just for writing, but for reading, and housework and all the other things I need to take care of.

I spent the last three weeks quite busy, and I don't want to give up reading in favor of writing again. So I plan to reorganize my time more efficiently. 


And now, my accomplishments for the last few weeks:

*Several trips to the shopping center with my best friend, with many books bought. 
*Moving up to Medium on Guitar Hero. The learning curve is at a 45 degree angle, by the way.
*Started beta reading a book I've had since December. Sorry Joe. :D I should be done by the end of the week.
*Went to North Carolina this last weekend to meet my husband's extended family, and attended his great-grandmother's 90th birthday party.
*Caught up on housework and still in the middle of spring cleaning. I have too much stuff. 
*Started a role-playing campaign with my husband, twin brother and sister in law. I am the DM, or the dungeon master, which means I control the story. It's really interesting to tell a story and watch the audience/characters interact.
*Read a ton of books, and I have even more on the "To Read" pile.

Here is a list of what I have read:

The Iron Duke, by Meljean Brook
Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Steampunk'D Edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg
Sunset and Sawdust by Joe R. Lansdale
Haunted by Chuck Palahnuik (unfinished)
John Dies at the End by David Wong
Lost Echos by Joe R. Lansdale

I am still working on Haunted, because...well...it's Chuck Palahnuik. There's a story in there that made me physically sick to my stomach (I didn't actually throw up, but it was a close call). I was just getting over a sinus infection, so I decided I would just set that aside. But if you've ever read Palahniuk, you know that he casts a spell on you while you read. The main character could be the worse person in the world, and you're still reading to find out what happens to him. 


Don't forget, I am having a blogfest on April Fool's Day! You should sign up!


How do you budget your time? Can you multitask well? What's on your current To Read list?