Writing progress - whuf

If I were going to sum up my current writing progress in a single word, that word would be: "Whuf." I keep trying to come back to it. I like what I have so far -- I mean, it's only a page and a half of opening, but I like it. It's not even like I don't know where to go with it next. 

No, mainly it's just that everything around me is being busy and stressful and by the time I sit down to work on the story I have nothing left to put into it. 

I love writing. I love picturing a scene and then making it come to life in words, finding a rhythm and pulling together something that fits what I'm trying to do. I love it when I can find that focus and just go with it. But right now I'm discombobulated and unfocused and very much aware that I'm not making any progress, and haven't in a bit over a week. 

Still, there are things I can do try to fix that. I've listed them before, but I'm more likely to actually do them if I list them out again. So: 

• Setting up a pattern. One that's worked for me in the past is to spend half an hour (or more, some days) doing something that clears my brain of everything else: playing a video game, or going for a walk, or maybe reading. (It can't be something like Twitter; too much stressful stuff on there.) Then take a bath or a shower and use that time to think about the next scene and what needs to go into it. Then, finally, sit down and try to write.
  
  The catch here, of course, is that this needs to occupy a couple-of-hours stretch of uninterrupted time, and right now my evenings are fraught with interruptions. Still, some of that will settle back down fairly soon, and even if it doesn't always work it's worth lining up for the attempt.
  
  
• Signing up for a writing class. I've... actually already done this; it starts next week, and it'll be online. Laurie Schnebly Campbell is teaching it through WriterUniv.com, and I'm optimistic that looking at the project through the lens of the class will help my brain get back into gear on actually writing it.
  
  
• I'm also considering getting a book coach: someone who I'd talk to about the book (not entirely unlike the way I'm trying to write about my progress here) who could offer suggestions, advice, or sympathy as needed. This wouldn't be the same as having someone proofread, beta-read, or edit; "coaching" really is the right word for it.
  
  I want to finish the writing class and see how I (and everything around me) is doing before I really start working towards that; but one of the things I miss from high school and college is hanging around in art class and at lunch and etc. talking about story and art ideas, character development, and how things are going on our projects. This sounds pretty low-pressure, and like it might really help with that. (Dungeons and Dragons does a lot of that for me, but it doesn't help with non-D&D projects...)
  
  
• Tea. Writing always goes better if you have good and interesting teas to sip on while you think, and possibly to relieve the pressure on your sinuses as well. And yes, I've already put an order in on this as well.
  

So... I don't know. Without throwing in a bunch of personal details, that's where I'm at. I feel like if I could just pull myself together I could make some real progress, but I've also got a ton of other stuff to catch up on: dishes and laundry and bicycle tires and putting a new doorknob on Secondborn's door and assembling a trampoline so the boys can be in the back yard for this summer and that's completely leaving aside the stuff I need to catch up on -- or get moving on -- for work. 

And I do think it's possible to balance those things. But first I have to stop and lay them all out like this and just try to get a handle on the whole situation. (And then I look at this and think, No wonder you haven't made more progress, have you looked at what all you're trying to keep up with? And then I feel a little less bad about myself, and that helps too.)  It's not insurmountable, it's just a lot. 

Here's hoping your 2021 is going a lot more smoothly, with roads rising to meet your feet and the wind always at your back and like that. Take good care of yourselves, my bold and noble readers, and do your best to keep the faith.