A beginning

It's a little embarrassing that my quota for this week is to earn $20 a day writing web content. Generally I earn $0.015 per word, so the average 500 word story is worth $7.50. That requires research, writing and proofreading. When I started, a job like that would take several hours. Consider that in the past I have never earned more than $25 in a week this way.

Tuesday I slept in, didn't get started until 11:00, had to take a break to run errands, and finally reached my quota by 7:30. It was a long, mentally exhausting day and a long way from paying the bills, but a big step forward.

Yesterday I started at 10:30 and reached my quota by 3:30. I had the rest of the day to dig in the garden, weave, make dinner, play Candamir with Danny, then work on interactive fiction for several hours before bed.

This morning I was out of bed before 7:30. I felt a moment of annoyance about the hard work ahead, then thought, "Wait a minute! I can choose how to spend the day, and this is my choice." I'm happy to be working in my own office. Through the open window 10 metres away, a cardinal is singing in the top of the honey locust. This is the most beautiful March weather in memory and I'm not stuck following anyone else's agenda. I can see the routine becomimg comfortable and invigorating, not so tiring. With a daily block of content writing in place, I can begin to dream about other freelance writing projects. Next week I will set new goals and a more rigorous schedule.

Just say it

I have a bad habit of not saying what I think. So I keep thinking it and thinking it. And thinking it again. Sometimes I even start to believe people know what I'm thinking, though of course they do not. There are times for discretion, but generally it's better to just say stuff than let it roll around taking up valuable thinking space.