Quarterly Writing Update

Last year, I began chronicling my mindset shift/strategy shift of "writing by the numbers." If you want to read about that, you can start here.

As with last year, I set a goal of writing for 50 days per quarter for 2022. For Q1, I wrote/working on my writing for a whopping 27 days. At first glance, that's a number to be disappointed in: barely half of what I set out to do. And for a hot second, as I tallied those results, disappointment filled me.

But then I put things in perspective.

I sustained a major injury to my back in mid-December; hurting myself to an extent that I'd never before experienced. I spent the rest of December and a big chunk of January barely able to move, getting pain under control, seeing specialists, etc. I started PT. Acupuncture. For the first time in my life, I had to rehab part of my body. I couldn't sit comfortably. Or lay down.

It was not easy.

Slowly, over time, I got stronger. Started to heal (I'm not all the way there yet, but I'm much, much better!). I got back to work--slowly, in short bursts. I managed to figure out strategies for teaching and commuting to my day job. I wrote the draft of a short chapter book and began revisions on another. When I'm writing, I feel like myself, and between the not-writing and my injury I spent a big chunk of the beginning of 2022 not feeling like me. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

Now, here we are at the beginning of Q2. I can write for longer stretches. I have newfound excitement for my projects, and newfound appreciation for my physical well-being. I'm trying to take it slow and stay mindful of when I need to rest and recognize that I still need to heal. But I can write again. I'm me again.

And that's perhaps the best accomplishment of 2022 thus far.