Half Way or Dreams

Blog No 187

Just a short one this week. It’s been too hot and I haven’t been sleeping well. I had a dream about being in school (which I haven’t been for some time). I don’t think I could call it a recurring dream (or a nightmare) but it’s something I’ve dreamed about before and it’s always uncomfortable. Having never been a fan of school (specifically the testing and grading, I enjoyed the learning) dreaming about it isn’t fun. Specifically it’s a dream where I am unprepared. The unpreparedness varied from not studying for a test, or not having homework finished, to having not attended classes all year. I believe it all stems from my early days as a student, when all those fears were real, because I didn’t pay attention and didn’t do any work. Eventually I got my act together, so having those anxieties now is usually related to other things in my life.

I assume, I’m not psychologist. What I do know is we are more than half way through the year. I don’t know when or how that happened, but January was six long months ago and it has passed us in a blink. I refer to January because that is when I started this version of Pilot. I expected it to be a quick effort, knocking out 40 000 words in a couple months, zipping through the rewrites and edits in one more, completing the layout in a week, and having the book ready to be printed in early summer. Being at that deadline and not finished the first draft is likely the cause of my dream the same way the heat is the cause of my restless nights. Again, I have no proof, I just know I’m anxious about it.

Thankfully, I’ve been a bit better with my writing lately. Justin, one of the original founders of Adventure Worlds, is finding his way back to the writing world, giving me the opportunity to have scheduled writing sessions where I go and meet someone and feel forced (or encouraged, I’m not sure which) to get down big word counts. The boost also helps keep the daily writing going. Progress leads to progress and knowing I’ll have a day or two with some good writing lets me feel better about not doing so well on the other days. It becomes more about the trying than the end result, which helps with the end result.

I still have a long way to go, but I’m closer than I was. Maybe after a few more of those writing sessions, my nerves will calm down and I’ll be able to see the finish line. Having Justin come back may be just the thing to get both of us to where we need to be. I know it will help with keeping Adventure Worlds going (and maybe even thriving). It’s hard to spend a lot of time on the site when I have books to finish. Many hands make light work. Hopefully next week I’ll be far enough along to have another update post. We’ll see. I do have a busy week ahead of me. Maybe another reason for those dreams?