I didn’t build these and that’s part of the problem: just like with blogging, sometimes it is all too hard to just get on with things (I should be mowing the lawns at the moment but I’m telling myself it is too hot) and so one just keeps putting them off again and again and again…

I bought these two models from Thaipaperwork when I first discovered paper models in 2008…they are both well-designed models and the scale of 1/48 makes for impressive completed sizes. They print out in grey but can be printed on silver-tinted or aluminium-coated paper for the results you see above…I started off with a big hiss and a roar and never really went anywhere with them. Of course, part of the problem is that the selection of paper models that are legally available is amazing and it is also to easy to be distracted by new releases, more so when many are free downloads or inexpensive in either digital or printed forms…my largest one to date, an unstarted Tu-160 Blackjack that is 1.7 metres long when complete was only US$20….

But the real issue is really one of motivation, of committing to doing at least one smaller thing each day…a senior officer for whom I have a ton of time once advised me to aim to do two things each day – I very likely might do more but achieving two things a day is always mild progress…

So when WordPress kicked off the Postaweek and Postaday challenges for 2011, I felt I really had to rise to the challenge – or maybe give up the blogging game is I couldn’t do it justice…

WordPress has The Daily Post that contains, each day (as the title may suggest!), a challenge that a blogger may or may not take up. It was Erica’s post on 8 February that really invigorated me to give this Challenge a shot – she quotes Jamie Wallace of Live to Write – Write to Live:

I had intended to get back to journaling…I had meant to get back to work outlining my novel, working on character studies, and creating a fabulously retro “map” of my story using markers, sticky notes, and some very large pieces of paper. But, these intentions were all summarily slaughtered by the demands of my Real Life.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I felt disappointment, anger, and guilt.

Yeah, baby…tell me about THAT feeling!!! Been there and got a drawer full of T-Shirts…fortunately, I’m not a criminal mastermind bent on taking over the world (I’ll leave that to Dean and the Squirrels to do all the hard work first!) but am prone to monologuing my ideas but often not really going much past that point…something always comes up, I’m too busy with this or that, or have deadlines for someone else to meet…first lesson, I guess, is that if it’s worth monologuing it might be worth recording is some form…just like the old tip to keep pen and paper by your bed for those world-beating ideas that come to mind at 3am…the second lesson is that it is quite definitely OK to set deadlines for yourself to meet for your projects i.e. deadlines are just not things that other people can set for you – just keep it all practical and achievable – it is unlikely that you will achieve world peace by next Tuesday…

Jamie Wallace covers it pretty well in A confession and 7 steps to better writing habits summarised here from the Daily Post’s coverage of it the following day:

1. Find, make, or steal writing time
2. Have a purpose
3. Avoid the shoulds
4. Start small
5. Be consistent
6. Measure progress
7. Find your joy

For the detail read the full text on Live to Write – Write to Live….it’s worth the effort…

And the ‘so what’ for me…well….

1. I’ve been letting everything else steal writing time from me – time to reset the balance…I need to spend at least as much time as I give myself each day for reading – guarantee myself 5-10 minutes each night for recreational reading: writing will be the same…Make better use of the tools that I have – more on this in a future post – there’s more to it than just a desk and a PC…

2. Have a purpose? Yes, but if not one, then only a few – Vegemite’s mean to be spread thin not writing skills…

3. I should avoid the shoulds – ha! Joke(tte)…Jamie defines shoulding really well in her post…something to identify and avoid…sense and avoid is as important in the study as it is in the cockpit…

4. Start small – as above – work within your limitations…

5. Be consistent – form (good habits) for writing as you should(!) for healthy eating, physical fitness or financial prudence (if you are a guy)…

6. Measure progress – hey! I know this one – right out of COIN 101…keep your measure of success and performance practical, relevant and well-grounded in reality…

7. Finding my joy? Hmmm…once upon a time it was telling stories (in a good sense, of course)…I think we’ll just have to see where the journey takes us on this one…

Some of the blog post ideas on The Daily Post leave me cold but that might be a tinge of comfortzonitis kicking in…we’ll see…there are some that appeal and there’s a new one every day…my travel routine won’t let me do one a day but I can certainly do a post a week and grow from there….