Distraction

I wanted to start this week well and I started with the best intentions. My first weekly timetable was scheduled to the minute (9.30 spin, 11.00 write, 12.30 lunch at desk, 14.45 urinate, 15.00 collect children.....etc) and was the most successful to date so last night before bed, I sketched out an overview of the week scheduling writing for mon, tues and weds.

Originally mondays were supposed to be an all writing day, but as I had decided at the weekend that I was unable to spend anymore time detoxing/dieting the exercising was going to have to be geared up a notch. I am going to try and do some type of exercise each day in order to feel better, get fitter and still be able to stuff my face at will (I believe I made the decision over chocolate cake & ice cream, a time when I think a lot of the best decisions are made).

So it was that I arrived at school this morning unshowered and wearing a costume under my clothes (something that doesn't get more comfortable with age!) so that I could hit the pool straight after drop off.  I planned to glide effortlessly up and down in the fast lane for 20 minutes before coming back to hit the laptop with renewed vigour determined and able to finally enter a written competition.  What actually happened was that I spluttered along for 12 lengths in the slow lane with the senior contingent of the pool (most of them much faster than me) and then remembered a class coffee morning that I had forgotten about.

I mentally readjusted my schedule, deciding to leave the competition writing till tomorrow, but instead start on the next assignment in my writing course today. I would show my face at the coffee morning but leave at 11, make a light early lunch and still squeeze 3 hours writing in.  Predictably the day didn't quite pan out like that. The coffee went on till nearly 12 (ok, I may have been one of the last to leave). The light lunch took longer than I'd realised and simply cried out to be rounded off with more cake and ice cream.

I did manage to read some more of my Blogging for Dummies book (I have the chocolate cake page stains to prove it) and tried to implement some design changes. I had to pay online for a school trip, add some diary entries to the family calendar and then I remembered the ironing.  It's now 14.40 and I shall be leaving in 20 mins for school.  On the bright side, I have got most of my admin out of the way for this week so shall have no excuses for tomorrow.  I shall be back here, post spin, ready to really throw myself into a story for a competition. Wish me luck!

A shaky start

Technically this is week three of my new regime and I have had varying success so far.
For the first week I set a rigid timetable of writing/gymming/cleaning and stuck to it pretty well. I had to do a few admin type jobs; I moved all my Write Invite (www.write-invite.com) stories to the new laptop, I chose a competition to enter by checking which deadlines were looming (I decided on the Mslexia short story one based on the broad scope and whopping prize!) and pondered long and hard over starting this blog. I also managed to complete assignment 9 and then put it to the side for a few days as advised by my tutor  after my previous assignment was submitted with a some basic errors.

I decided to try a more relaxed approach in week two and planned that I would set out to write for 12 hours and gym 3 times.  This less rigid format which may work for a dedicated and hard-working individual was a disaster for me.  I didn't revisit assignment 9. I didn't start or even decide on a name for the blog.  I didn't manage 3 gym trips. I didn't decide on a short story for Mslexia and sadly missed this deadline. I did however update my facebook status a lot, played quite a few games of wordtwist and found out what the entire cast of Laguna Beach have done with their time since leaving the show.

Week three has proved a mixed bag - not as organised as the first week but a whole lot better than the second. I have sent in the completed and checked assignment and I have decided on my next competition. I have finally started this blog and managed to update it 3 out of 4 days. I have been to the gym twice so far and not just for coffee. I am going to go back to my rigid schedule for next week - I have realised that I need the discipline. I am also considering an internet ban for the mornings. Right after I check what the original kids from Fame are doing with themselves these days.......

That difficult second blog post

Now I know how The Stone Roses felt.

So, a bit more info this time I think.  After realising that I have set the same new years resolutions for the past 5 years or so, I decided 2011 was the year to finally fulfil them.  Or forget them forever!

I have been completing a writing correspondence course for around, ahem, 7 years (I wonder if this is some kind of record) and I take occasionally part in a weekly online competition but that is the total sum of my endeavours.  I have given up my (part-time) job and plan to dedicate the time I've gained to writing.  I hope to finish the course, enter lots of competitions, write some short stories that I'm pleased with and then write a series of best selling novels which will be snapped up by HBO immediately. Of course the last one is a joke. I mean Warner Bros.

At the same time, I'm also going to hit the gym in a big way (pun very much intended) and so by the end of the year I will be a toned, fit & published writer.  OR I will be embracing the bulge, begging for my library job back and setting some very different resolutions for 2012!

I will be tracking my progress here.  I very much hope that there is progress to track. I am naturally very, very lazy.  I waste chunks of the day on facebook and am constantly fighting the urge to crash on the sofa with a huge plate of hummus and watch Come Dine with Me re-runs. Any hints, tips or encouragement would be very welcome.

1st Post

I feel a lot of pressure here. First post. Wow. The name took me 3 weeks so I'm not expecting to achieve much in the roughly ten minutes I have before lunch.

Ok, here's the main idea - 1 year, no work, just me, a laptop and a gym membership.  Can I finally start writing?  Will I ever get past the coffee shop in the gym?

Stay tuned to find out......