In a Slump

I've been in a reading and writing slump recently which is a shame, because I'm not teaching any classes this term and have a little extra time. But that always seems to be the case -- the more I have to do, the more I do.

I'm going to wallow for the remainder of the week, then fall back on one of my old "tricks" for reading. It's called my "rule of ten." Read ten pages every day without fail. I can always read more, but no less. It may or may not get me out of the slump, but at least I'll be making progress.

Writing is a little more difficult. It's not as portable (I can't write free hand. The computer is my tool of choice.) So, I have to make time write and have a place to write. The place part is the difficult one. My home has two teens living in it. While one is almost 20, the other is 17 and in a band -- and we have the most understanding neighbors of the group. Guess where the guys hang out?

And I live in the same neighborhood where I taught middle school for almost 20 years. That means a trip to the grocery store for a gallon of milk usually takes 45 minutes by the time I get finished talking to everyone. The library and coffee shop are worse. I never get much done when I'm in either place.

But, I'm going to try the rule of two anyway. Two pages a day without fail. It might be garbage, but it will be written garbage, and it will be mine.

Will report my progress in a later post.

Keep reading and writing.