May 17

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 211,775
• Today’s word count: 25
• Thoughts: I’m getting back into the habit of showing up to write every day. It’s not resulting in a lot of words. Yet. That might take me a while. I’m realizing I’ve been through a lot and my mind and body need time to recover. That’s not going to stop me from being impatient and pushing myself, but my goal is to learn to be kinder and gentler with myself.
• Tomorrow’s goal: All I want right now is to show up to write. Whatever words I manage to get out will be enough. I’ve had so many days with no writing at all that even a word is an improvement.

May 18

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 211,788
• Today’s word count: 13
• Thoughts: I showed up and wrote. It’s not much but it is something. I’m not complaining about it at this point. Writing at all is a win for me. Feeling like writing is pretty great.
• Tomorrow’s goal: As long as I keep wanting to write I believe I will be successful. Showing up is half the battle so I’m at least halfway there.

May 19

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 211,806
• Today’s word count: 18
• Thoughts: As soon as I got up I knew today wasn’t going to be a good day for writing. I needed to keep busy and distracted to avoid anxiety. I did what I had to do and eventually I did relax. It just didn’t leave a ton of time or energy to put into writing.
• Tomorrow’s goal: I’m hoping I’ll be in a better place to write. It might not end up working that way. It’ll depend on how I sleep and how I feel when I wake up tomorrow morning, but I can’t help hoping for a better day in the near future. I’m still working on being patient.

May 20

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 211,842
• Today’s word count: 36
• Thoughts: I showed up. I wrote. Maybe I could have written a bit more if I’d arranged my day a bit differently, but there’s nothing I can do about that now. I’ll just keep trying every day.
• Tomorrow’s goal: I don’t know what to expect. Fridays are pretty chaotic. I have errands to run. It finally feels like summer instead of a prolonged early spring. I might be more distracted than usual. Then again, I might find myself more focused than usual. Who knows what will happen.

May 21

• Project: Random side story
• Total word count: 27
• Today’s word count: 27
• Thoughts: I took a nap and had a dream which prompted me to start jotting down some thoughts for a story connected to The Dreams but not actually part of the main story. Am I plotting out a fanfic of my own story? Is that possible? I don’t know, but I’m going to play around with it a bit if it encourages me to write again.
• Tomorrow’s goal: I don’t know what to expect. Maybe I’ll be inspired to keep working on the dream idea. Maybe I’ll hop back over to working on the third draft again. As long as I write something, I’ll be happy. I can feel myself getting back to a writing mindset!

May 22

• Project: Random side story
• Total word count: 78
• Today’s word count: 51
• Thoughts: I messed around with the idea that I dreamed about yesterday some more. It’s not the most productive way to spend my time, but it has me thinking about writing again. That part is nice. I should do that more.
• Tomorrow’s goal: Hopefully I’ll be able to write some more. It’s going to be a really hot day so I’ll probably be grabbing my laptop and hunting for the coolest spot in the house. I don’t know if it will make me more or less productive. Last summer this strategy was a mixed bag. Admittedly, part of the problem then was the portability of the Switch and my copy of Final Fantasy XII.

May 23

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 211,990
• Today’s word count: 148
• Thoughts: It was so hot today. I can’t believe it’s still May. It felt like July. I only managed to write at all by hiding somewhere slightly cooler with my laptop. It ended up making me more productive. I don’t know if I could repeat or improve upon what I managed to do today by doing the same thing again. I’ll still try anyway.
• Tomorrow’s goal: The heat isn’t supposed to last so I don’t think I can try to replicate my methods exactly. I guess I’ll have to try to find another path to productivity. At least I have a bit of momentum to work with.

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