Time Flies

I nearly didn't make yesterday's deadline. I really didn't actually. I published with my flash fiction half-finished and half-thought. I cheated and edited it today to be something more complete. I still don't really feel satisfied with it. It's not a great story or good writing, it just kind of is. Which is all it needs to do, it just needs to exist. That's the purpose, the goal, to get words out there, so it works.

The idea came from a fiction challenge by the author Chuck Wendig who has a wonderful blog and great tips for writers. The challenge was to use a random song title as the title of a piece of flash fiction and write from there. I just used my library and the song that came up was titled "Day Six" by Explosions in the Sky and I listened to it as I began my piece. I think it came out okay, sloppy and fast but that's what nanoprep is all about.

Writing these posts is as difficult as expected. There are simply days I don't find the time. Well, that's not being honest. There are days I put off writing, thinking I can just do it later, then realizing I need to rush something out so I can get some sleep so I'm not a zombie at work the next day.

So here it is. I'm watching the Giants attempting to get their first win of the season while attempting to rush out a blog post last minute, tired and frantic and just typing whatever comes across my brain. sakdjgsajdlkghasjldhgsjlkadhfjlaskdhfjlkasdhjlkfhasjlkdfhsdjlfhsdjlfhslfasd. Yep, stuff like that.

Creativity is zero, imagination is down. I got nothing. I need a haircut. I need to shave. But here I am. Putting in the work. The same thing I'm going to need to do in November if I'm going to write 1667 words a day. Work ethic is a really important thing. You need a good work ethic to really lead a successful life, in my opinion. It's something you get taught early, at a young age. It's driven into you, ingrained, etc. So parents, make your kids work.

I asked a student the other day if he ever does chores at home. He shook his head. I asked if he ever did anything he didn't want to do, at home. He shook his head again. I sighed. What was I supposed to tell this kid? How was I supposed to convince this kid to work hard at school when he never does at home? How is it possible to teach him that sometimes he has to do things he doesn't want to do, if he always gets what he wants at home? It doesn't work, there's not much you can do.

That's the truly tragic part of special education, or education in general. There's only so much you can do, at school. The home piece is truly far more important and development-affecting than school. We can try though, and we can do a little good, and it feels good when we help students succeed.

This is a truly rambling blog post, but oh well. At least it's up on time.