Update Link: The Archer – Part 22

I think one of the most frustrating things about teaching is once you’re behind, there’s really no catching up. There’s always 4-5 days of lessons to plan and deliver, piles of grading, deadlines, behaviors, and once you slip just a little, it’s just treading water so it doesn’t drown you. I’ve reached the point in the year when I actively resent my job and if it weren’t for my students, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I knew four preps would be a challenge, but I just can’t seem to get my head wrapped around it. I feel like I work every waking hour, and it still isn’t enough. Which is why I woke up today and was like,  no. I called out, went back to sleep, and then spent the morning trying to get the essential things done. Did I achieve it? Who knows.

But I also have this scene in my head for the story and I wanna see if I can do it before I get too tired to write again like the last update.

Update Link: The Archer – Part 21

Hello 🙂 Hope your week is going well! I got out of work late yesterday, and I was just so tired. I ended up going to bed early.

I may have to skip tomorrow or I’ll be really late. I have my therapist appointment at 3:30, so it’s going to depend how my day ends amd how tired I feel, but if I skip tomorrow, I’ll be here on the weekend 🙂

Update Link: The Archer – Part 20

Look at me, whee! Three days in a row!

Update Link: The Archer – Part 19

Honestly, teaching would be so much easier if every week was a four day week. I’m so close to having every single thing prepped for the entire week (and in French I & II’s case — TWO weeks) but alas, time is running out and I have to work tomorrow.

It might take me a few updates to shake out the rust — I wasn’t super excited with the way I wrote yesterday’s update. I’m not mad at it or the direction it took the story, but I’m not sold on the characterization or the way I ended it. I wish I’d found another way to write that final confrontation dialogue, but that’s what edits are for 😛

I also stopped at an awkward place because I hadn’t rewatched all of the Dead Ted stuff when I was originally doing research on the story — I hadn’t planned on the Zander stuff being important, lol. It was just a reason to keep Jason around, and then you know, I ended up having to write it and it turns out that’s super important. I usually try to keep close to show canon and deviate in small ways, but honestly? I realized researching this story beat meant watching Jacob Young’s Lucky, and that’s just mean. I’ve suffered enough this year.  So I’m gonna do what I want. I’m sure you’ll understand 😛

Update Link: The Archer – Part 18

Starting what I hope is at least two weeks of straight updates! I’m trying to get myself back into a daily writing mindset now that I’ve got things under control at school, at least for the next few weeks. (Probably)

I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, and I was so scared I was getting my annual first three day weekend cold, but twenty-four hours later, it looks like it’s probably from the weather changing which is annoying but better.

My admin is getting me a class set of textbooks which is absolutely amazing. It means not only do I not have to create the entire textbook for the kids, I don’t have print copies of it for them either. It really is a huge weight off my shoulders.

See you tomorrow 🙂

TL;DR: Starting a daily writing plan. Write Flash at 4PM, posting at 5Pm. Starts Sunday, October 12.

Some good news first! I’ve got a ton off my plate the last few dates. I was able to get the bulk of the benchmarks handled and I’m all set to turn in the documentation to the district on time. I also managed to get a ton of grading done while my students were taking the SATs yesterday in class. I’m finally starting to get a head of things at school, and before you know it, we’ll be in Marking Period 2 where I have two four-day weekends in November, the holiday break, and we do a ton of media and events which are already mostly done and prepped.

Some even better news — I’m able to “see” the story again in my head which is a relief. I think I was just so stressed that I couldn’t make room for anything.

Bad news — I’m horribly out of practice with writing. I’ve barely done anything for weeks, and the writing stamina has disappeared. Plus, I’ve been so up and down with energy that I’ve been basically dying and going to bed early so that 7PM target hasn’t worked.

The best writing window I have during the week when it comes to energy is that 4PM hour. I get home, I get it set up, I write, and then go about the rest of my evening. So I think that’s the plan. Tomorrow (Sunday, October 14), and then for (maybe) the rest of the month, I’m planning to do Flash Fiction as often as I can, striving for that daily update.

When November hits, I’ll reassess where I am, if I feel like the 4PM slot still works best, we’ll keep going.

I very much appreciate the patience you guys have shown me  — I knew this year was going to be difficult, and I made it harder on myself in a lot of ways (story of my life), but I’m excited to stop working 24/7 and get back into creative projects that aren’t French, lol.

Catch Up: The Archer

Hello! Letting you know I’m kicking off a mini-marathon tomorrow. 🙂 I’ll be writing at 7 and posting at beginning tomorrow (Tuesday, October 6) through next Monday (October 12). After that, I’ll see how my schedule is.

I do however want to say that’s subject to getting an emergency dental appointment. I had to get two crowns, so two weeks ago, I got the procedure and temps and then today, I was supposed to get the permanents. They weren’t able to get one them fitted correctly so they put it in temporarily. An hour later, it fell out. They’re closed for the night, so I need to call tomorrow and hope they’ll get me in as soon as possible, even if I have to miss some work. So I might miss one of those upcoming dates if it’s after work. I know you guys will understand 🙂

See you tomorrow!

Update Link: The Archer – Part 17

Hello! First full week is in the books, I am exhausted and have a thousand things to do, so it’s like every other Friday honestly. But I miss writing and interacting with you guys, so I’m going to make every attempt to get back on track and writing more regularly.

I think I’m over the mental hump I had this summer (maybe) and I absolutely appreciate the patience you’ve all shown. I’m going to try to be pretty consistent on the weekends with Flash and then novels during the week right now. When the baseball season ends and I’m past the first marking period, I can think about doing more 🙂

TL;DR: I’m too tired and behind already to update, so I’m providing some links for you to read some of the older works. I’ll update during the week if I can, but otherwise, I’ll see you next Friday 🙂

Hello! Checking in on Saturday after completing our first week. It never fails — no matter how prepared I am, there’s always six things I haven’t thought of or eight things that throw me off my game.

This year, the crates I ordered to store student folders and notebooks are back-ordered, and not available until November, so for most of the week, I had stacks of manila folders everywhere. Then, I ordered the wrong notebooks. Luckily, I am insane and spent $80 of my own money to get extra notebooks so I was able to get together for French I, but I had nothing for the rest of the students, and I had to order more. We live in a Title 1 district, which means half our students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. I try really hard to supply the students with everything they’ll need. Not having notebooks for the first and maybe second week meant I had to scramble to figure out what to do. And by Friday, I had enough temporary storage (again with my own money because I am, as we already established, insane) so we have some sort of system.

And all of that, and I’m just generally exhausted. My favorite work shoes got a hole in the heel, so now I have new ones and blisters. I’m getting used to the schedule and the huge French I classes — I think I’ve learned maybe ten out of 55 names.

I didn’t get nearly enough done for next week while I was at work because I was putting out fires, so I’m spending basically the entire week getting things organized and back under some sort of control.

I’m just not going to be able to update this week — I don’t have the mental bandwidth. I have some links for some of my older work to keep you busy if you’re missing the stories 🙂

• Novel: Counting Stars (set in January 2000)
• Novel: The Best Thing (set in December 2004)
• Novella: Karma (set December 1997)
• Flash Fiction: Hits Different (set March 1996)
• Edited Flash: The Last Time (set February 2007)

Update Link: The Archer – Part 16

Hello 🙂 I’d hoped to update more this week, at least once or twice, but back to work brings the early alarm, work days packed with meetings and prep, and then crashing when I get home. Two days, I took naps at 5PM, including yesterday.  If you’ve been here a while, you know that September is always a crap shoot for updates.

I’m tentatively optimistic for this year. I have the bulk of prep done for September, and there’s no construction or renovations planned for my house this year or a new cat to ease in. I won’t really know until I get through the first few weeks what I’m dealing with. I have my largest classes yet — 25 in Period 1 and 30 in Period 4. I haven’t taught a class that large in a long time, but I’m also really happy that my French I numbers are up. 34 students last year, 55 this year. I have a study hall again, but only for the first half of the period. If that holds, it’s an extra twenty minutes going into my lunch.

I’m hoping/planning to update every day through Monday to make up for the fact that I’m probably not updating again until the following weekend.

I really appreciate the patience this summer — I’ve had the most horrible mental writing block, and it’s not coming back as fast as it usually does. I’m still really having trouble visualizing the story, which is a brand-new problem for me. I used to just struggle with getting the vision on screen, but it was always in my head. Now, I can’t see or hear the characters the way I’m used to, which is kind of scary as a writer, I’ll be honest with you. I’m trying to write my way through it, but I honestly don’t have a frame of reference for fixing this. My high level of productivity always came from my ability to play the story in my head when I wasn’t writing, so I was always preparing or planning. I feel like I’m trying to find my way in the dark.

I’ll see you hopefully tomorrow 🙂