Time Consumers

Work, outlining for NaNo, taking care of Magnum, and trying to figure out how I accidentally erased my blog background and how to get a new one I like - these are the things that have kept me beyond busy this past week.

I love my job, so work isn't a problem, just a time consumer. My boss has moved me up to 5 days a week in preparation for the busy tourist season (which starts this weekend with VooDooFest) and given me all the busiest morning shifts (yay! means more tips for me!). But she's been out sick for a few days and that left me with having to train the new girl. Not exactly my idea of fun, especially when she has no experience whatsoever in a coffee shop. Or any customer service industry. She's never even run a register before. But she's learning and will continue to learn. I just wish I could train her on some not busy shifts instead of when I have customers lined up out the door and every table filled. I can do one or the other well and in a timely manner (deal with the customers or deal with training her that is), but not both. One will suffer while I focus on the other. Which means the poor girl's training is going to last longer than expected.

Outlining for NaNo has been fun this past week. In the past my outlining was boring. I'd guesstimate how many chapters the book would need, make up an outline with that many bullets and then list 2-3 plot points (major and minor) that would happen in each chapter. A common way to outline, but I hated it. I did it for every story I worked on, but it was like pulling teeth, and I rarely ended up following the outline anyway. So this week I've been trying something different. Instead of one outline document I have three. One is titled Informational tidbits which  just has random (but important) facts about the society and the characters the story centers around. 

The second is a character list. In it I have each of the major and minor recurring characters and have written a one page, almost synopsis of each. In the synopsis I talk about what their relationship is to others in the story, what their main conflict is, and a little bit about their personality. (I really don't care too much about looks and rarely described my characters physically - at least in the first draft. I save that for rewrites when I'm already tearing my hair out.) Here is an example:

Justin - The oldest of Kendra’s siblings and twin to Jordan. Outwardly he has embraced the lifestyle demanded by their society. He makes himself available to all women in the village at all times. Handsome by any standards, old enough to live in the men’s dorm rather than at home with his mother and siblings, and a member of the elite Night Watch at only 19 years of age, he is much sought after by all the women and barely has time to satisfy all the ones who request sex from him. The only issue he has ever secretly had with the laws the original Matrons set up was that fathers don’t exist. Promiscuity is the name of the game in an attempt to make humans once again the dominant species on earth so women rarely know who impregnated them, and if they do, the relationship is not acknowledged. But he loves children and wants to be a part of any child he fathers life. He doesn’t want to be just an “Uncle” as all men of age to live in the dorms are called by children. He doesn’t want his children raised by the community, but by him and whoever the mother is. When he finds out that Serena is pregnant and he is the only possible father, he struggles with what the right choice to make is.

The third is an actual outline, but instead of bullet points for plot points I have these as my bullet points (though more might be added):

1. Characters
2. Setting
3. Emotional connections/growth
4. Conflict

It really seems to be helping me understand what I want to happen better than the other format did.

Magnum too has been a wonderful addition to BS's and my household. We absolutely adore him. Only he has separation anxiety. Which leads him to bark like a maniac anytime we both have to leave the apartment, and we have no idea how to cure him of it. So far I've been dealing with it the same way I did with my daughter when she went to preschool. Can we say "Not working"? Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Same with my problem with the blog background. I am at a loss and could use any help you readers could give me to fix it.

So all of these have been completely occupying my time and leaving me very little free time. Yet, psycho that I am, I am still job hunting for a second job.