Things that I've been doing lately.

So when it comes to all those things that I've been doing during the last couple of months, it has to be said that I've been pretty busy with my projects. I've tried my best to keep my routines going so that I could get things done and accomplish my goals. 

Indeed, since I have had all kinds of 'artistic' projects going in addition to me studying and working part time, that hasn't been an easy equation to solve. I've needed to keep myself in a good shape both physically and mentally so that positive things could happen.

In any case, when it comes to me studying and working, last week I started doing morning shifts at school as a teacher's assistant (requirement for my degree). This, I thought (lasts 5 weeks) would be very tough and something that might cause me some problems. 

After all, considering that I would now do 9 hour shifts (4 hours at school, 5 hours at the afternoon club), it would be difficult to get everything done during the day. I wasn't confident that I would have the energy to do stuff like write or play piano after work.

Fortunately, the morning shifts have been easier than I had expected. Unlike in the afternoon club that can be a nightmare, here the kids (no special needs kids in my class) are much nicer and the teacher (very good) is the one who is primarily in charge of things.

So when it comes to those other things I've been doing, piano-wise, I've been actively practicing every single day. I've added some new songs to my 'catalogue' (video killed the radio star) and have tried to relearn some of the older melodies that I had already managed to forget.

Instrument-wise, it has to be mentioned that a couple of days ago I bought myself a new piano. This electric piano (Roland fp 60x) is a solid instrument that not only sounds good but has weighed keys that feel authentic and help improve my overall technique.

Writing-wise, I've also been really busy lately (hence no updates here) and have been rewriting my WW2-based adventure book that I've been writing for over a year now. I finished the first draft in early December and have been rewriting the book ever since. 

Not surprisingly, the rewriting part hasn't been that much fun. At least in my case, I get tired really fast, and considering that I initially wrote the first two chapters as a 50% novel / 50% story-based game, I had more than enough stuff to rewrite.

Fortunately, even though I have had to add content to the first half (word count up by 10%) and I've had some things that I've had to fix (pacing), it hasn't been that impossible to do. I have just needed to take things one day at a time and not worry about the project too much.

In that sense, when it comes to things as a whole and how my projects + life are going at the moment, I guess it can be said that things are going relatively well. I have stuff to do that I find to be interesting and that keep my mind busy during the day. 

After all, it cannot be overstated how much meaning and purpose these projects keep giving me. It's genuinely great that every day I know that as long as I keep my routines going and don't give up, I'm going to get better and even get to finish something potentially solid stuff.

Still, once I'll eventually get this rewrite finished (likely one more month to go) and am ready to send the manuscript to the publishers, I hope that something good is going to happen. I hope that all the hard work is going to pay off somehow.

After all, even though it's hard to predict how things are going to go, I think I have created something solid here. The book is rather entertaining and since it has aspects in it that others usually find interesting, it should have a chance of becoming a success.