updates

So, I finished the first part of The Schrodinger Paradox not too long after I’d posted the last time.  I had to back up around 2K words (got stuck) and go in a different direction, but the finished first draft was 36.5K words.

I’ve been working on part 2, on and off.  I started with 2.5K words, backed up a bit, rewrote some more, then kept going.  I’m just under 4K words, right now, but it’s a little bit slow going.

The full blood panel I mentioned showed that I was very low thyroid function, despite the meds, so my doctor ordered a sonogram on the gland.  And then scheduled a thyroid uptake and scan for me, set for next month.  One item in the instructions is making life difficult, right now: I am to go off my thyroid meds–the only think keeping me functional at around 60% of what I used to be capable of, instead of hovering around 25-30%–for the next four weeks.  I can’t take supplements containing kelp or iodine or eat seafood for the two weeks prior to the test.  And I can’t have salted foods for the two days prior and two days of the test.

I’ve been off my meds for two days, and I’m already feeling the brain fog creeping up.  I’m feeling my energy (what little I had) bleed off.

It’s going to be incredibly difficult to do anything with my fiction until this is done with in early mid February.

Hell, it’s going to be difficult to do the things I must do: classes start a week from today, I don’t have a textbook ready (and may well have to simply wing it, taking notes and working on the textbook as I go).  I don’t have my course site ready (will be working on that starting this evening, since I have to rewrite the Course Policy Statement, and come up with a course schedule).  I’m pretty sure I’m going to be depending heavily on the Hacker book* this semester.

Right now, my plan is to start with one of the harder but more useful papers that I’ve taught every semester, then move to teaching a paper in each of the three major research styles.  Paper #1 will be a practical proposal, paper #2 will be an MLA researched persuasive.  Paper #3 will be a paper in APA, over a topic in a hard or soft science, business, or in teacher education.  I’ll push for persuasive, but will accept otherwise; third person perspective will be a must.  Paper #4, the last one, will be a Chicago style paper, and will be over a topic in history, communication, or current events.  I should be back to medicated and functional part of the way through paper 2, which will make the rest of it a lot easier.

The last thing on my list of updates is that I’ve started outlining and drafting a basic writing guide, one aimed at adults who’ve been dis-served by their education, and haven’t learned the basic building blocks of writing.  I’m actually starting with the parts of speech, and will be discussing building sentences.  I’m also planning on having a glossary of terms that may have never been properly defined.  If there’s anything in particular you’d like to have explained with more clarity, please leave a comment and let me know.

Right now, I’m still working on explaining the parts of speech.  I’ve got nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs done; I’ve got adverbs, articles, conjunctions, and prepositions outlined.  The project is currently sitting at around 2K words.  I’m planning on working on it as I can, since this is knowledge that I’ve had, and have been teaching for years.  It’s easier to get that out, at the moment, than it is for me to think of new material.

 

 

*The Hacker book I’m talking about is A Writer’s Reference.  It’s pretty basic, but good for its function.