Day 1,612 - Early morning, more writing

Seminary starts tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM. In preparation for the need to be up and able to teach, I've been adjusting my alarm clock earlier over the last few weeks. Today, I set it for 5:30 AM, the time I will be waking up at for the next nine months of weekdays.

It wasn't so bad at first today. I took the time to sit down and write. I got 323 words written and nearly finished the ship battle. It's taken a few interesting twists. It's an intense scene, and a lot happens in a short period of time.

Sadly, my mind is struggling now. It is wandering in a sleepy way. It's just not trained yet for this early in the morning!

We'll see how writing goes this week. I won't be home until 7:40 AM is my guess, and so not sure when I will be able to write. I am for now planning on 7:50 AM to 8:20 AM.

Day 1,609 - The battle continues

I wrote yesterday also, just didn't post.

The battle on the ocean continues. One of the antagonists three other crew members is dead. Another is hiding. The antagonist, Mahfoud, is seriously injured with a shot to the thigh. One of the Guardia Civil's original crew of five remains, two meeting their end today. The last one to die revealed Mahfoud's location, and Mahfoud is already slowing down from pain and blood loss. 

The battle is almost over. A great chapter. 

598 words between the two days. Going good.

Day 1,607 - Bloody Battle and Ship Configuration

How do you balance an intense gun fight with not being too graphic? This is an adult oriented action thriller, so just saying someone went down won't cut it. This is the question I've faced in the last two days of writing. I've settled for now on saying what part of the body was hit and something to the effect of "red bloomed" or "neck ripped apart", but not dwelling on the actual appearance. I can let the reader decide how those things actually appear. Besides. It's a gun fight on the open ocean. I don't think the parties involved will stop to stare and consider the intricacies of a wound they or others inflicted.

Forgot to post yesterday. Combined word count is 244 words, most of which was today. Made good progress.

Day 1,605 - How do they do it?

You know, I run a company, a startup. I've been VP of a national property management firm I helped build. I know all about time blocking, scheduling, etc. I think I am pretty good at managing my time.

Yet time and again, I fail to find the time to do solo activities like writing. The reality I've realized is that I put myself last. If I have not scheduled out a block of time for something like writing and become dedicated to it, then it doesn't happen.

Even more, if that time happens to be when anyone else s awake, I find myself choosing to spend time with them or for them. It's not a bad thing at all. I like that family is where my heart is.

It just makes for a very slow creative process.

How do others do it?


I have been out of the writing loop for a month. My nephew went back home a little over a week ago, and I am settling back into schedule. Except next week I start teaching seminary, which will throw me back out of schedule. It's nine months, so I will need to figure out a new one. I won't get home until 7:40, and will still need to work out and get to work. We shall see.


85 words today.