Writing & writing & writing

A month or more ago, I wrote myself another schedule* which I do on a regular basis, refining the list to fit the time available. On this schedule, I included my writing time. All the writing conferences I've been to has included at least one speaker saying, "You have to put your butt in the chair and just write." Although I've also heard "you must write everyday" that hasn't quite worked out. With my new schedule, I have "writing and submitting" on my Tuesday, Thursday time slot. It's been working out pretty good actually. I won the Rejected Letter Contest for this term in my critique group. On MWF, I work on editing my completed theater book. So I'm kind of writing everyday, except sometimes my schedule goes unheeded out of other pressing needs--money-earning work, class preparations, etc.. Well, thinking about it, I realized I've been writing a lot, and not just for story telling; special letters (not just flash emails) is also writing. I've managed to write:

• Four Elvy (character's name) stories.
• Weekly letters to my missionary son for the past 10 months or so.
• Non-fiction article about my cats.
• Non-fiction article about reverence.
• Outline for a new script for children to perform.
• Blogging (okay, I noticed that I've missed a few weeks of adding a new entry; I've been writing stories).

How exciting! I'm actually writing. (Sometimes I have to point little wins out to myself because I often see where I'd like to be compared to where I am and think I'm making no progress.)

*Scheduling: I happen to like lists and schedules. It keeps me focused. Given the time, I may spend hours dinking around and not getting anything done. Then comes the busy schedule all of a sudden (such as money-earning work or needing to fix the roof) and I have no time to enjoy creative pursuits--writing, drawing, sewing, crafts, playing Catan--or no time to actually get the house clean or de-cluttered. So many wonderful things to do in this life. A schedule helps me remember what I really want to do.