This week has been… tiring / refreshing / fun / kind of a blur.

Between caring for a newborn, having a lot of visitors nearly every day, and just trying to adjust to our new home life, it’s been good.

Five days of paternity leave (plus the weekend) have done me some good in a lot of ways. I got to spend time with my son, who at two weeks old already has some pretty strong neck muscles.

I got to spend some much needed relaxation time with my wife, mostly when the Nugget was asleep or at least not losing his shit.

I got some things done around the house. Not much, mind you, since we spent a lot of time lounging and napping on the couch in between bouts of crying/feeding. But a decent bit.

And, of course, I tried to get some writing time in for The Warden of Everfeld: Memento. I mostly accomplished this with Nugget asleep on my lap, or while my wife was feeding him.

All told, I wrote 3,200 words, far more than any other week since I began drafting again in July. My draft sits at 13,000 words.

I still haven’t even sniffed my 20,000 word per month goal — obviously — but I’m finding it easier and easier to find a few moments to type, even if it’s just for 75 or 100 words at a time.

What has really helped, I think, is that I’m not focusing on what I already have down on paper. I really only read the previous paragraph or sentences that I wrote, and pick right up where I left off.

I think that flexibility has come from a greater certainty in my mind. Not a greater certainty that what I’m writing is any good, but a greater certainty that I will have a chance to go back and revise and rewrite later.

The goal right now is to get the words onto the page. That’s it.

The big question is if I can keep up a semblance of regular productivity in the evenings after working all day, and trying to give my wife a little relief. Last night, our son was finally falling asleep in my arms after fussing for the better part of an hour. She asked me several times if he was asleep. When he was really falling asleep, she said she was going to grab a quick shower before he woke up again wanting to feed.

This is our lives now: my wife trying to escape to shower, and me trying not to make our son cry.

So, we’ll see. Quality time with him obviously takes precedence with us. Maybe he’ll do us a favor and learn how to sleep at night, rather than all day.

Goals for 9/21

 

1. Write 5,000 words for WoEL (or at least match last week’s production of 3,200)
2. Practice Dad Life
3. Try to sleep — whenever possible

Steve D