Re-Focusing, or how I intend to write again

Well I've certainly been out of touch with everyone since my last post, which was many days ago. Unlike my normal posting schedule, I needed to lament in the words I posted last week and really think about what is going on in my life and why my writing has taken a turn towards the non-existent. I would like to first thank everyone who commented on the last post with their words of encouragement and support. I am grateful to have supportive C.N. visitors but I also don't want to get out of this community that I'm just starting to immerse myself in. I think it's important to outline what is going on in my life, some thoughts I have and then let you all know what I have in store.

For starters, my post schedule is going to need change for this blog. My job has a constantly-changing schedule and beginning last night I began working nights. I've been dreading this for weeks and I am personally not happy with the fact that I am now down to a very short amount of time to spend with my wife. Additionally, this changes a lot of how much free time I have. Previous to starting this blog, I wrote the Robert book in my time between getting home from work and when my wife came home from her job. That hour or so meant I got some good writing time in. Well that schedule is long gone and I personally felt I didn't have enough free time. That combined with work frustration meant my writing drive diminished.

Another issue is that I can be lazy at times. It isn't necessarily lazy in a bad sense, it's more that other things I want to do push writing off to the side. Perhaps I felt writing was becoming a chore? I am not sure. What I do know is that I want to get back on track. My new night shift means I have many hours each morning with nothing to do. There is already almost nothing on my TiVo. This is the perfect opportunity to get my ass in gear.

So here is where I intend to go from here:

1. On some great reflection and advice of Auria Cortes, I am going to re-work my plan for Spirit Hackers. I am going to sit down and outline the story. While I don't like to do outlines, I feel having direction will give me motivation to write because I will know where the story is going. I would like to have it all hammered out within a week or so.

2. Once the outline is complete for S.H. I plan on setting a daily writing goal. I don't know what it will be yet, but I would like to get at least 1,000 words written each day. I will adjust it as needed but I think this is a good starter length.

3. My posts here on Copious Notes will change their schedule a little. Due to my hours and days off changing I will need to find different times to blog and also I may need to move certain posts to different days. I already know Lyrically Speaking will almost definitely be moved. I'm not sure about my other scheduled posts. I also believe more posts will come either early in the mornings or late at night as my schedule permits.

4. Most importantly I want to get back to basics. I want to re-discover my passion for writing. I want to see this great idea for a book that I have in S.H. and get it down to paper. A big factor in a diminished drive is probably pressure I've put on myself to get this 'great book' written because in my mind it is a great story. I need to stop that pressure and again this is where I think an outline will help me.

Any suggestions or thoughts from you guys are always welcome and appreciated. I had four days off in a row due to the schedule transition, so I've been a bit out of the loop with reading all your blogs. I'm working on catching up, so expect me to be back on your comments list shortly.

Again, I appreciate all your support so far and for sticking around as you see a writer hit the wall and attempt to break through such a large roadblock. You guys are the best.