This is terrible. Awful. Why would you do this to yourself? Stop already. This is literally the drizzling shits. And offense to anybody who’s ever written anything.

Just a glimpse into the thoughts I go through every day while writing.

Okay, not every day. Some days I skip my writing. I know I shouldn’t. But I try to have 1 day per week to do everything else: grocery shopping. Searching for jobs. Doing laundry. Literally everything else, so I can focus on writing for the rest of the week. Maybe that’s a bad habit, but it’s an established one now. And bad habits are hard to get rid of, or whatever that saying is.

Having said all that: I’m 15,907 words in. I should be at about 35,000 words. At this point, I might as well swing for the fences. What’s the worst that can happen?

Right. So, I guess that’s all you need to know at this point. Let me get back to my writing. Because to a certain extent, I still believe I can reach my goal of 50,000 words. As nuts as that will sound to anybody who’s ever written fiction. Or anything else. I can do this. All you need is the right environment, lots of tea and a bit of an obsession with your characters and the journey they’re engaged in.

Let me plunge back in. And maybe we can get a chant going?

I can still do this.

I can do this.

I can do this.

Now you…

See you next week – with something very special. Until then: Merry Christmas from the catsitter and Balto 🙂

Words are hard. Especially when they are supposed to form coherent sentences that merge into a coherent paragraph which, hopefully, blooms into a coherent text. Even worse: the longer you haven’t written on a consistent basis, the harder it becomes. It’s like working out: do it once and you’ll feel fine. It feels like you can go on forever. The second time it’s a little harder. Muscles start aching. The third time around, you start to question why you’re doing this at all. This is the point where many tap out and quit. But you’ve got to persevere.

My first week of SiNoWriMo has been like this. I’m at 6,263 words – not nearly where I should be but I’m still kind of proud of it. And it’s getting easier every day,although there are slower days when even the simplest sentence is hard work. But I keep on fighting through the pain.

On the upside, Christmas time is around the corner and I should be able to catch up. Why? Let’s be honest: there’s no sense in applying for jobs during Christmas week. Nobody will look at those applications. People are home spending time with their families and stuffing their faces with inordinate amounts of food…not that there’s anything wrong with that! I’m just pointing it out. Anyway, my point is that I will gain a week of focussing entirely on this new project and I should be able to make a good final sprint.

There’s other things I could talk about right now, but I’ll save those for next year. And I don’t want to waste too much time. I need to go back to writing.  Hope you all have a wonderful week.

PS: Yes, I know this was two days later than announced. You know what though: that’s okay. Sometimes life just works out like that. I need to stop being so hard on myself anyway. Let’s be honest: would anybody have noticed the delay? Does anybody care?

I thought so.

Welcome to December, the season of torturous Mariah Carey and Wham songs. It is intended to be a time of contemplation and slowing down. The reality though, as we all know, looks very different. The three weeks leading up to Christmas are some of the most hectic of the year and Christmas itself – well, it depends on your family, I guess.

To cover up my growing frustration about the job hunt (what’s a German got to do to get a job around here?) and because I’m special, I decided to create SiNoWriMo – Simon Novel Writing Month. Screw NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November! Yet, the goal is the same: 50,000 words in a month. Let’s see how it’ll go. Two-and-a-half days in, I’m at 3,512 words. So I’m off to a good start.

There are also news on the podcast front: I’ve got four people lined up to appear on it, but we’ll only be able to record our first sessions in January. Which is fine with me. My goal was to go on air at the end of January and make this a monthly thing. So that suits me perfectly (no, I won’t tell you who my guests will be.)

I’ve also finally got around to create an editorial calendar for this blog. The consequence? I’ll try to post on a weekly base from now on. I’ve got a few literature-related ideas but they require a bit of time. This means that, in December, I’ll just be chronicling my progress in SiNoWriMo. Beginning in January though, this blog will be completely dedicated to book reviews, writing tips and podcasting. There’s even a certain method to the madness, so there’s lots to look forward to. Hallelujah!

In the meantime, I’ll still try to get a job. To be honest: I’m frustrated. 50 applications in and nothing to show for. Sitting on my butt for hours on end with nothing to do drives me nuts. To paraphrase a line from The Shining: all play and no work makes Simon a grumpy jerk.

Enough of the whining and complaining. Let’s stay positive. I’ll see you next week with an update on my SiNoWriMo. Until then: stay literate.