It rained today.
Of course it did. Never has the weather felt so wildly appropriate.
The thing is, it would have been so easy to not write at all. It would have been so natural to just wallow–take another day off.
But . . . it rained. And, because everyone was sad, there were no visitors at my job. And that meant . . .
I got to spend a few hours with my notebook, no one bothering me. I still didn’t turn out as many words as I feel I should be, but I did start on a scene I was super excited to get to.
And I did get back some of the faith I’ve been slowly losing in myself as a writer–the sinking sensation that I’ve been a hack this whole time, or that the one short story was my prime and my work already has a receding quality line.
Remembering that I’m writing a first draft–and that my first drafts always need a lot of work–helped bring me back. Aspiring to reach the plot points I already have planned helped get past the hurdle of uncertain transitions. I managed to do both of these things today, stopping at a point where I know exactly what’s coming up (instead of being worried about absolutely everything that came before). On a good day, that’s progress.
On a day like today, you better believe I’ll take it.
Words for the Day: 733
NaNoWriMo Total: 2,465
House of Error 
You’ve certainly got far more successful writing in you than one short story. Keep at it. Over 700 words for a rainy day, committing them long hand is an accomplishment. Remember what Neil Gaiman said … one word followed by another … then another.
Thank you, sir. I’ve run into this kind of thing before actually, so maybe I shouldn’t be as openly complainy on these posts; I’m just hard on myself when it comes to my writing. In part because I wasn’t always, and when I wasn’t, the results were really bad. Over the course of my career, I’ve definitely been the most confident… about my worst stories. Kinda just keeping that reigned in now.
And, really, my doubts work on a kind of manic cycle; I wind up just grabbing something off of the Wheel of Universal Writing Doubts and wearing that for a few weeks. So, before “Aixa” was published, it was that my work wasn’t good enough. With this post, it was that I’d already withered creatively. While watching Zootopia for the first time the other day, it was that my work wasn’t unique enough. While watching Doctor Strange again, it was uncertainty about my taste in fantasy stuff. LOL So… eh. Best not to worry about it; I think it’s just how I stay honest and determined to get better. I’ll try and tone it down so I don’t worry anyone. But, regardless though, really, thanks again, man!