I am bad at writing. Most people are, in different ways. My personal writing deficiencies stem from getting stuck in planning, and planning, and planning, and outlining and researching and re-outlining and never actually writing. It’s infuriating, so I’m fixing the problem by wildly overcompensating. I will be writing a serialized fictional story titled “it’s a living” with updates every Tuesday, and I’m not allowed to plan.

Here are the notes I made before beginning this story:

it’s a living – vignettes of the mundane

(oh my god they were roommates)

Deanna, 29

Insecure, thinks that people don’t need her despite Kip’s constant reliance, feels like she’s too smart to be wasting her life, but is too depressed to do anything about it. Is a bartender.

Kip, 18

Drifting aimlessly, was kicked out of his parents’ house for being gay. In a constant state of existential dread/panic; feels too dumb to go to college, doesn’t know what his interests are. Works at a gas station.

And that’s it. That’s all she wrote. I did more planning to go to Kroger today than I’m doing for this story.

So, if you want to watch a struggling writer beat their old bad habits into the ground while probably creating fun, new bad habits, join me here every Tuesday for “it’s a living.”