It's been loads of fun hanging out with new friends on the AtoZ blog hop and checking out their blogs! I'm still with limited Internet access, so I can't link up, but if you'd like to hop on, you can do so here.
This week's letter is...H....for ... Hanging
Not as in dangling from a rope, but as in being left hanging. Or leaving things hanging, suspended, or unfinished.
During my auditor years, I visited schools on a daily basis to ensure they followed safe accounting practices. For each of the three different types of audits we performed, I knew how to schedule my work week. Some audits lasted days, some weeks, but for each, I enjoyed the satisfaction of wrapping up an audit and turning in the report.
When I switched to working special audits, my calendar might be blocked out with the same task for months. Although I adjusted, I never really liked this aspect of my job. You see, I value accomplishment, and I appreciate checklists and enjoy checking tasks off as I complete them.
Since writing a book takes months, to help me overcome this negative vibe, I created an Excel spreadsheet to track my forward progress for every book. Not only does the spreadsheet offer me a sense of accomplishment by entering my daily word count, it also gives me an ending date, something tangible so that I don't feel as if I'm hanging forever.
Sometimes leaving things hanging is unavoidable. Like now. We booked our cruise months ago, not knowing our son would accept a job in Washington DC, about 10 days before our sailing date. We promised to help him move his stuff to DC when we return.
As a writer, sometimes I leave my characters hanging, whether it's in a particularly intense scene or, like now, because I couldn't give them their happily-ever-after before I hopped on that airplane. I tried, I really did, but life got in the way. That, and latching on to every available minute with my son. My characters will be there when I return home. My son won't.
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| Our son and grandson |
What about you? How do you feel about being left hanging? Or leaving things hanging?
Labels: #lovemyfamily, A2Z blogging, A2Z meme, auditor, calendar, characters, checklists, empty nesting, Hanging, organizing time, schedules, writers life
