A Good Idea?

Back during my Teaching Practice in January, I wrote a book. This time around, my idea to write an awful lot seems to be happening during exams.

Creatively speaking, it's where my mind is finding itself. I've written four pieces of over a thousand words each over the past week. It's for a future project, specifically that website/blog thing I've mentioned recently. Again, no name reveal yet, on account of the fact that I need to own the domain name first. I need some degree of security.

Is it a good idea to take on such large projects during my exams? Probably not. I mean, with Teaching Practice I could easily finish my work for the evening before moving on to my own writing. With exams, I have to focus a lot on the content that's due to come up on the paper in some way shape or form. Not only is there a lot more work involved, it's a lot more necessary to actually remember it all as I go to sleep (or at least when I sit down to answer the question.)

On the other hand, exams seem to be a great time to channel creative energy into projects that I don't necessarily have to do all the work on now.

I'm planning a day out with some friends, planning a project with a friend, planning my website/blog, and trying to sort out my life. Nothing too big, obviously.

This time of the year is ideal for making decisions about what to do in the immediate future, in most cases. In previous years, I've know how the summer would turn out. Usually, I would be alone for long periods of time, what with friends' work schedules and re-locations back into the countryside of Ireland, or beyond into the world. This year, things are less certain for me, but not in a scary way.

If I find full-time employment, I'll still have weekends to do work and hang out with friends. And evenings. I won't lose them.

And if I remain on my part-time hours in the bookshop, I'll have a lot more time to explore massive projects that will consume much of my time between getting out into the world to socialise and see new places (on some imaginary extra money...)

Basically, I don't see the summer as being a hollowed out block of time this year, which is usually how it ends up by September each year. I suppose the big difference this year is that September won't necessarily end whatever break I find myself with by the end of exams. It won't do to settle into a routine of doing nothing, because it'll be difficult to get out of.

I suppose that's why I've been planning so many different projects. I want to make sure I'm not idle. While it's probably not a good idea to write a few thousand words per week during exams, I can still do some planning. Planning has never hurt me. Right now, my plans are obviously subject to change (even the date I have in mind for my day out as mentioned above is subject to change), but it's not a bad thing.

Life is moving on, and I've been taking the steps I need to that'll make it less terrifying no matter what state of employment I find myself in after exams (as in full-time or part-time). Plus, knowing I can churn out a thousand words per night is something of a comfort, even when the pressure is on with college. Yes, I should be putting my time to good use for my studies, but the simple fact of the matter is this: studying is boring when it's with exams in mind. (Learning for the sake of learning is genuinely more fun. Stay in school kids.)

Good idea or not, I'm going to keep going as I have been. And I definitely won't give up writing something every day.