Today was my first “official” day back at the writing grindstone, and–as somewhat expected–things got off to a slow and bumpy start. I always find it tough to get back into the flow after even just a few days away from the keyboard (one of the reasons having such an irregular writing schedule has been challenging), and after two weeks off for the holidays, I’m definitely rusty. Got this week’s flash fiction story off the ground with 600 words written today, but they’re meandering and slow. I have a feeling I’m going to blow right past my 1.5k target without even trying.
But the day was a good day, despite that. I did manage to get the Little Guy down for a nap (he didn’t nap at all yesterday), even if it was only for about an hour. A few of my writing buddies from high school came by, too, which was a delightful break to an otherwise frustrating Monday. They also helped me weather the Little Guy’s first major (and obvious) temper tantrum. He’s had little meltdowns before, but nothing like this. It was almost (tragically) comical–he’d slowly fade down his rage (getting distracted by a toy here and there), and then pause, look at us, and whenever I asked him if he was OK and done, he’d lose it all over again and ramp it back up to 11. Sad, but a bit eye-rollingly funny, too, in its way. Poor guy. I just tried my best to be patient and let it play out. After a while (probably 10-15 minutes, though it felt like an HOUR to me!), he came running and raging over to me, crawled up onto my lap, and was fine. o_O He was fine for the rest of the evening, ate well, and went to bed without much trouble (always a minor miracle).
So all told, it was a slow week’s start–writing wise–but it ended on a high note socially/personally. Here’s hoping I can shake this funk tomorrow and get this story wrapped up without too much pain and suffering… :)
Maggie Slater 