Act Two Twist

Reality is ridiculous. 

This has been one of the wildest weeks of all time. Where to even begin… 

Last entry I got to humble brag about finishing a novel I’d been working on, freeing me up to return to focusing on my main project, Codetta. After a couple weeks of methodical note-taking and read-thru outlining, I was eager to use this entry to talk about how much 18 months of reading and writing has really paid off - I’m now able to read through Codetta and put words to the frustrations I had two years ago, when no matter how much editing I did, I couldn’t figure out how to make my book suck less.

Now I know! Or, I should say, at least I have an idea of what’s wrong with it now. I understand things like tone and structure far better than I had before, and I’ve been able to confidently make notes while re-reading on what can be done specifically to improve the novel and all its parts.

However life, being what it is, has elected to throw some more chaos into the work - and not entirely the bad kind either.

Between crazy day job stuff, our apartment lease ending in a couple months, and a mini-vacation to the gulf for me and my significant other, this has been one of the busiest months in recent memory. Thankfully, I’m back in the swing of productivity, both in terms of working on Codetta and in other places as well. I do have the habit of overdoing it, but I have to say that somehow working like mad has begun to pay off.

This is a weird thing for me to talk about, or even muse on for too long - but me and Josie, my significant other,  are now under contract to buy our first house… It’s not a done deal yet, but regardless, I’m having such a hard time comprehending that this is actually my life. I never thought I’d really get to a place like this. I’m so incredibly fortunate, especially looking back on everything.

So yeah, I guess I had wanted to talk more about the experience of returning to a book after some time away and how wonderful it is to actually have an idea of how to make it better. But seeing as how wild things have been, what I’ve found myself needing today is perhaps just a moment to sit down, meditate on how wild a time it’s been, and express my thankfulness to the universe for where I’m at.

Yet of all the things going on in my life right now, none have made me feel as proud as I have of Josie. Obviously, she’s my favorite person, but I’m constantly surprised by how amazing she is. For the past few months, Josie has been taking ice skating lessons. She’s never really skated seriously, it’s sort of a new thing for her. I’m incredibly proud to say, that after a few short months of practice, she won first place at her first ever figure skating competition (skating to the music from Spirited Away, I might add). It was an amazing performance, and really compounded a lot of things that have been going on in our life. Her victory inspired me to the point where I’ve never felt so confident and ready for life before.

This is a feeling that of course has extended to my writing. Buying  and moving into a house may take a lot of time and energy in the coming months, but I know that as much as it’s an investment in my future, it’s an investment in my writing as well. Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll be penning these entries from a writing office / creative studio of my very own.

My plan for next month is to have the structure of Codetta re-outlined, or at least close to being completed by the time I do my next blog update. The ultimate goal is to have the entire next draft done by late July, though this is likely an ambitious goal, given my writing pace with my new day job. Either way, I don’t plan to slow down until my next vacation in early August, so look out for more updates on my progress every month. For now, I’m going to try and eke out a few hours of cooldown time with what’s left of the weekend.

Whatever your goals are, keep moving on them, step at a time - but alo don’t forget to savor the rewards when they come.