ROW80 Round 5 - 3rd Update

Another week with little writing done (until today, anyway), though I kind of have a valid reason. After going shopping (for art stuff. What a surprise) on Thursday afternoon, I got what turned out to be a dodgy meat pie for lunch and ended up with a bad case of food poisoning (it was like the Blitzkrieg on my digestive system, though thankfully the worst seems to have passed now), so for the last few days I've been too busy curled up around a bucket to be able to do any writing, and since yesterday have been bummed out because of some bad news (see end of post). However, this morning I've written almost another 1,000 words, and hope to get a bit more done before I go to work. The scene I wrote came out quite well, I think - very dark and a bit disturbing - so I'm hoping I won't need to change it too much or get rid of it once I've written more of the story (the scene doesn't appear til the last third of the book).

I did get a few notes jotted down for background info about the world politics and magic structure, so at least I was a bit productive, and it has prodded my brain towards writing a few actual scenes, which I've tentatively started to type up on my computer. My main sticking point is a royal character, who is important to the story, but I'm having trouble making her feel like she 'belongs' there, or at least that her actions/motivations are believable. I've also been sketching a fairy picture, which my nan requested to put on her fridge (she used to put my paintings on her fridge when I was five; twenty years on and not much has changed), but it's become one of those projects that just refuses to turn out right.

I have to admit I did spend a fair bit of time this week looking at paint sets (I really want some acrylics, but it doesn't look like I'll be getting them for a while), which most likely distracted me from writing. Still, now that I can't buy art supplies anymore, I should be able to focus more on writing than on browsing online art supply shops.

I've also been trying to finish off the last of the workshopping feedback since I have a meeting with my writing group next Saturday, so even though I'm not doing much of my own writing, it is at least something writing-related. Haven't done much on my thesis, though, which is kind of bad; I really need to get that sorted over the next week or so in order to send it to my Honours supervisor for feedback, but finding the motivation to open that document is a real struggle :(

In not-so-good news this week; poor old Rex had been a bit down lately, so yesterday we took him to the vet, worrying that he'd relapsed into a serious condition he had three years ago (a genetic disease common to German Shepherds where ulcers/furrows form in the bowel/intestine, causing bleeding, lack of energy and loss of appetite, and eventually death if untreated or if treatment is unsuccessful). Our fears turned out to be correct. We've started him on the medication again, so all we can do is hope that it works this time as well. We caught it earlier this time, and he's desexed, which works in his favour, but since he's male, old and has had the condition before, his chances are lower. We're giving him lots of cuddles and he seems in good spirits, even if he's a bit more quiet than usual, but hopefully he'll return to his happy, bouncy, psychotic self once the medication kicks in. Since the treatment will cost around two and a half grand, I won't be splurging on new books or paints or coloured pencils any time soon (or even chocolate and energy drinks, most likely), but if it means I'll (hopefully) still have my doggy in a few months' time, it's a sacrifice I'm more than happy to make (of course it had to happen right when my hours at work have been reduced by more than half).

Give Judgemental Dog a cuddle for good luck.

See how other ROW80ers are going here.