Halfway There

I am halfway through physical therapy school, and PT school is pretty much the reason why I haven’t been blogging at all. It’s the reason for me not doing a lot of things, in fact. I’ve hardly been mountain biking because the trails are 45 minutes from where I live, I usually spend about 2-3 hours at the trails, and it’s another 45 minute drive back; therefore, that means less time to study or do schoolwork. I do bike in between terms, but obviously not enough to get me in any shape for races (which I REALLY miss doing).

I remember thinking before I even started PT school that I was going to continue doing everything that I was doing, from writing to biking to even working almost 30 hours a week. PT school has humbled me. When they tell you not to expect A’s in a doctorate program, they absolutely mean it. You’ll work the hardest you’ve ever worked only to sometimes pull a C on an exam. It’s so much more demanding than I ever could have imagined, and nothing would have been able to prepare me for this. The amount of material you’re required to learn is often quadruple what you were expected to know in your undergrad years. I’m in a flex program too, meaning I take less credit hours than the residential program–and it’s still a struggle! But it’s a struggle that at least allows me more breathing room than the residential program. And you do become more efficient with studying as your brain adapts to this influx of information.

This program is truly a lifestyle, one that demands only the most passionate students, one that demands sacrifices you never saw yourself making. I am simply too mentally drained by the end of the day to do any writing or anything at all that involves even half a brain cell. Even on days when I let myself have a break from studying, I’m still too drained to do anything demanding. (Painting is a different kind of demanding from writing.) So I game and I paint and I sometimes read. I work ten hours a week and no more.

But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on my writing life. Recently I became inspired for a YA book that does draw inspiration from my time in PT school. I ordered a pack of notebooks so that I can use one of them to outline said novel. Perhaps I won’t start the novel itself during school, but I’ll at least have an outline ready because outlining is definitely less draining than actually sitting down and writing a story. In fact, I may just work on outlines to feed that writing bug–and by the time I graduate, I’ll have enough ideas for a decent amount of novels.

In the meantime, I’ll work on this blog a little bit before the break is over with to reflect what I’ve been doing.

The Dancing Writer’s Chamber

My messy writing desk…and my cat.

I primarily write at this messy desk you see to the left. But I’ll on occasion write in my bed when my body isn’t feeling up to supporting itself on a chair. Every Saturday I’ll probably be writing at Panera Bread, and I’d like to start writing outside when the weather permits. But mostly, that disorganized desk is where I do everything.

I’ve never been an organized person. I try to be, but it all falls apart. But, hey, my messiness has worked for 22 years of my life. I am an organized mess.

So where I write isn’t anything special. I might even write at work sometimes, if lulls permit.

How long do I tend to write? I try to write a chapter a day, so this could be anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, or shorter, depending on the chapter. If I’m really in the mood and I don’t have anything else planned, I’ll do more than one chapter. The most I’ve ever written in a day–besides being manic–was 8,000, and I was on a serious roll.

Tomorrow I plan to write in Stolentime, one chapter, because I have so much stuff to do tomorrow: get my pin number to register for classes at my uni, start designing a t-shirt I will use to promote my book, blog, social media to keep widening my audience, make stuff for the giveaway, and then of course ballet. I wouldn’t be The Dancing Writer without ballet, although I am going to have to start getting on to my boss about giving me my Monday nights. Ah, well, the summer intensive will be here soon, and I will be having that considering I’ll likely be paying for the entire thing ahead of time.

In any case, where do you all tend to write? How long do you write? Do you have word count goals?