Someday Syndrome

I've been reading a blog called "Someday Syndrome" that deals with procrastination. Sure enough, someday I will ... what? Write my novel? Finish my fish pond? Grow up? Ummm, no, that may be pushing it a bit.

Alex Fayle asks a series of questions to get you started. Here are his questions.

1. What is my "Someday"?
2. When do I want to complete it?
3. What are the big steps to get there?
4. What am I doing right now to move things forward?
5. How much progress have I made since starting?
6. Anything missing?

I thought these were very good questions, and might actually be able to help me get started.

What is my "Someday"?

I've started writing three short stories, and each one grew out of control, only to be abandoned as I started another one. NaNoWriMo is coming again in November, and I'd like to be prepared for it. Meaning, having these other stories out of the way. I've want to finish Raider, Green Land, and Shadowsmith by October 31st.

When do I want to complete it?

Well, I want to finish them by October 31st, but ... I've got lots of excuses why I can't, or won't. Perhaps I need to set time limits on each of them. I have six and a half months to go. That gives me two months each, plus 2 weeks leeway. So, finish Raider by June 15th, Shadowsmith by August 15th, and Green Land by October 15th. Give or take a few days. Raider and Shadowsmith are nearly finished anyway. At least, in my head. Green Land keeps getting longer, so I put it last. If I don't finish it, it won't keep me from having done the other two.

What are the big steps to get there?

First, I need to find the notebooks I have the stories written in. I do most of my work long hand, then type it up. That is where I usually have problems. If I have it written down, the story is finished enough for me to enjoy, so why go through the effort of typing it? It's like doubling my work. I also have to work out the details of the endings. I've got the general idea in mind, just not the details. So, find the notebooks, type what I have, and work out the ending.

What am I doing right now to get there?

I've found almost all my written material for Raider already. Unfortunately, a few pages are missing from one of my notepads, so I had to go back and reconstruct the missing material. Its been nearly 3 years since I wrote those pages, and I'm a bit fuzzy on what was there to begin with, but I think I did okay stitching my seams together. I haven't looked for the rest of Green Land or Shadowsmith yet. If I find them now, I'd just lose them again anyway.

How much progress have I made since starting?

I found all my printed material from Raider, and re-read it, so I knew where I'd been, and my characters names. Then I forged on through my hand-written material, filled in that one gap, and wrote a few more pages.

Anything missing?

Yeah, I haven't typed anything up yet. I need to start typing what I have while I have a chance. Faith's laptop broke a while back, so she needs the desktop on occasion. I can write while she's on here, but I need to type while I have it available to me.

This is my "someday." What's yours, and what are you doing about it?

Walking with Ryan

My son and I went for a walk the other day to the corner market, to get a couple drinks.  He talked as we walked through a parking lot, heading for a narrow gap in a chain link fence.  At one point I had to grab his shoulder to point him in the right direction, because he kept drifting into me.  It was a bit annoying, since there was only one obvious exit.  But, he's only 10, and was talking at the same time.  I can't really expect him to walk in a straight line while his mouth is open.

I find the same thing happens in life, in general.  I found myself walking beside other people, metaphorically speaking.  We may or may not be headed to the same place, but we are beside each other for a few days, weeks, or even years.  (Its hard to believe my wife and I have been walking side by side for close to two decades.  I'm just not old enough to have been married that long.)

Some of the people I walk with wobble back and forth, getting in my way.  I'm heading for a specific place in life, and they're steppng in front of me, veering into my path, or forcing me off the sidewalk altogether.  Most of the time, this is unintentional.  For example, I want to be a writer, a real writer who spends his days at home ... um ... writing.  However, my boss won't pay me if I don't show up for work.  See, this is what I'm talking about.  How can I follow my dreams if I'm expected to spend so much time at work?  Of course, there are other drains on my time, energy, and money.  All of these 'things' force me off my elected path.

The same can be said of my spiritual life.  I want to spend more time with God, to truly grow in righteousness and grace and knowledge of God.  All those things the apostle Paul prayed for all Christians to experience.  However, I have a family, so I can't just hare off and become a monk, forsaking all the world in pursuit of spiritual perfection.  Nor can I honestly expect my family to leave me alone to just "leave me alone" while I have a quiet time spent with God.  Our house is too small for me to hide in.

Then there are 'friends' outside of my family and my church.  These are the ones who distract me, showing me other ways of spending my time and my money and my energy.  They aren't specifically targeting me and trying to draw me off the path to God.  They are more like my son, just going their own way, wobbling around, bumping into me, and subtly nudging me off the sidewalk.

Ryan and I finally made it to the corner market and got our drinks.  I knew where I was going, and guided him along the way, too.  I suppose there's a lesson in that, too.