An Update From The Writing Front

Ah, writing... the only problem with it is that some writing gets in the way of other writing, which results in guilt over not getting the other writing done, so an attempt is made, but then even more guilt is felt over not getting the first bit of writing done because it's actually on a deadline but I'm stressing out over it so much that my instinct is to relax by doing a bit of the other writing, and... I've lost you, haven't I?
Don't feel bad, I lost me too. It happens a fairly often. For purposes of explanation though, the aforementioned 'first writing' is the revision of my science fiction novel and the second ('other writing') is this blog.
You see, I promised a few friends several months ago that they could read (and critique) the completed first revision of this science fiction novel. I was nearly 'done' this revision, so I gave myself what I thought was a generous window of time to get the last of it done by telling them I would get it to them by the end of December; or, worst-case, January sometime.
When the Christmas crunch began, I eased the deadline back to mid-January. Following Christmas, I threw myself back into what remained of the original, unedited rough draft -- and found much more remained to be done than I had anticipated. Still, if I was diligent and didn't fritter away my time in the iTunes Store, I would get it done before the deadline.
Alas, not only did the iTunes Store have a particularly strong pull this month, I suddenly had an abundance of church meetings to attend and I was also in 'new camera' mode (that's a story for another post though. Once the revision is done). That and everyone else in the house suddenly needed the computer. Desperately. Right freaking NOW. Lest they die horrible, tragic, violent, bloody deaths.
Of course, the computer decided that this month would be a good time to give its processor a little well-deserved R & R.
So instead of working two hours a day, which would have been the minimum required, I'm working a half hour a day on a computer that's suddenly decided that Notepad is too arduous to run without much complaining; never mind iTunes, three text files, Microsoft Word, a flash drive (for backups), and email (for more backups).
Now it's the last day of January -- my worst-case deadline -- and I'm on page forty one of nearly two hundred.
And everyone says National Novel Writing Month is stressful.