I had such high hopes that I would write daily.
I had it planned and scheduled which was painful for me as I hate/loath/am allergic to scheduling. I really wanted to make time to write though so I had a stern talking with my inner anti-time keeping device, just want to play Skyrim naked or read, inner child. I got her to agree that creating and sticking to a writing schedule was a brilliant idea that I would enjoy - and I did for all of one month. Then my classes entered a new phase in which I had to pay attention to them or suffer the consequences. My writing schedule sailed off like a cut-string kite.
I'm up to my eyeballs in school this semester. I haven't done any photography since Christmas. I've written one shitty first draft of a short story since school started and I feel like my neck is going to snap from jerking away from the ideas that roll with rhythmic inevitability through my brain trying to grow into time consuming to get down, stories or poems. The enormity of trying to memorize, understand, synthesize, and regurgitate the vast quantity of stuff I'm supposed to know for school jerks me the other way. I had to pick and school won. I have let myself write a little when I can and I promised myself this: Yamazaki whiskey if I do well this semester. I'm going to be going to graduate school some day so I have to be a good little student now while getting my BS and work my ass off to get good grades.
Since I don't want to loose the random ideas I have, I've started using Evernote (http://www.evernote.com/) to keep track of things that pop into my brain. It has been wonderful. I've kept notes on ideas for dialogue, plot, characterization, tidbits of research, overheard things I like, and random pictures and links I come across that give me ideas. It's incredible and free. It syncs between my phone and my laptop and did I mention it's free? I highly recommend it as a great time and mental peace saver.
Strangely, I think this time has been good for my book. The ideas that I had that I wasn't sure of have crystallized or been tossed and the whole thing feels as if it will be less shaky and liable to fall over when I get time to actually put the rest of the words down. I seem to be acquiring something called "planning" which has always sounded like "scheduling" to me, so of course I hated it with a passion. However, I want to write well and while I've accepted that my first draft will be crummy, I do want it to get better with subsequent drafts, be enjoyable and tell the story that is becoming clearer in my brain every day.
I guess my inner child is growing to accept that constraints like restraints, can be fun when used with care - they can actually be quite satisfying.
