Blocked

I've started my Downtown Dad book. However, I'm kind of blocked. Here are some reasons I think I'm having a hard time getting going.

First, I'm not sure how the book is going to move. I guess I've decided that it will move thematically, not chronologically. How do I choose the themes? Should I find one of the themes and just start writing about it and let the other themes just come to me?

Actually, that makes a lot of sense. I could start with the basics of being a parent and move from there.

Some of the themes I'm considering include marriage, being a guy in a traditionally female role, keeping the house, friendship dynamics, and child development.

I guess that's a start. Start writing about whatever. Keep separate files for each section, then put it all together later.

That's one of my problems - trying to attack a project all at once instead of a manageable amount at a time. For instance, I have a couple of projects pending: repainting the iron patio furniture and the side iron gates, washing the outside windows, and organizing and building shelving in the garage.

So far, I started the patio furniture. Bought the supplies. Scraped the chairs and table, then wiped them down. Then primed them. Wow, that took a lot longer than I thought! Painting each chair takes a long time! Ugh, the guy at the hardware store was way off how much paint I would need - need two more buckets! Oh, shit, it's going to rain tonight? And tomorrow? Then friends are coming from out-of-town? So now, there are chairs and a table upside-down on the back deck that have been sitting there for a week-and-a-half.

Hindsight tells me that I should have just started with one or two chairs at a time. It is a project that I've never done before, so I didn't really realize what the time frame would be. I suppose the two hours that I set aside for it was not nearly enough. C'est la vie. Actually, such is MY life.

And, going back to my project list, the longer it takes me to finish the patio furniture, the longer it will be until I get to the windows and the garage. Yikes! And it's not like that will be the end.

Back to writing. So I am going to start by opening a new page and just start writing about it. Who cares if it's a piece of shit. It's a start. I can always fix it or start fresh later. Running a marathon begins with the first step.