So...it's been a busy couple of weeks for me. The short version: I landed a "real" job. Don't get me wrong, I've been working "real", 9-5(ish) jobs since I graduated from college two years ago, but I just landed a job doing what I'm going to grad school for: being a youth services librarian. I start in two weeks.
What does this mean for writing? Well, for starters, I will have my afternoons free, at least for the time being. Of course, a lot of that time will still be used for school, but it should - in an ideal world, at least - give me more time for writing. Maybe I can even get a chunk of this thing done soon.
I've realized that there's no way in hell I'll have the novel done by the end of the 2012. Looking back, that was probably an overly optimistic goal. Working two jobs, going to grad school, and writing a novel? Yeah, that's a lot. And I'm finally okay with admitting that. Thing is, I graduate in May, and I know deep down I'll have more time to work on it then. I also know myself and that I'm going to go a little stir crazy not having school to worry about; I did the same thing during the year I took off between undergrad and grad school.
So the bottom line is, I'm still going to work on this thing, and hopefully I can now turn it into more of a routine. If (when) I don't finish it by the time I'd set for myself, though, I'm not going to be terribly disappointed. I'd rather take my time with it and have it come out right than rush through it. At least I have a much better idea of where I'm going with it now than I did when I started.
On a side note, I started re-reading The Great Gatsby last night for the first time since junior year of high school. That book really inspires me, so who knows -- maybe that'll help me with this :)
