I had a lovely long weekend last week—lots of reading, lots of pondering, lots of relaxing.
This week, I’m up to 31 ideas for Storystorm. So, technically, I’ve completed the challenge, but I’ll keep going. One week left!
I’ve been thinking lately about writing and routines.
Before March 2020, I had a routine that was working fairly well for me. When I was in the office, I would write over my lunch hour, usually in one of our tiny conference rooms (called ponder havens—yes, I work for a tech company).
I’ve now switched to working remotely. I no longer go into the office, I tend to work through my lunch break, and while I no longer have the commute, I haven’t considered how to use that extra time.
Plus, I learned something significant this past weekend. Audiobooks are one of the ways I fill the creative well. I did most of my listening during that commute. I don’t just miss audiobooks; I need them. They help me create.
So, I’m looking at small, incremental changes I can make to my day to get more listening and more creating done. At this point, my days are fairly routine, so now’s the time to find those new margins where I can write.
Writing Wrongs 
I’ve started to listening to more audiobooks since the beginning of the year. I’ve been focusing on collections of essays or short stories. This may be my focus for the rest of 2021. I’m trying to steep myself in the ways by which other writers express themselves in this shorter format which seems much more manageable to me.
At the moment, I’m listening to a novel, but I’m reading lots of short stories (Best of Tor 2020). I really love the shorter format as well.