As August wound down, so too did my free time while itself away into nothingness again. I work full time as an English literature teacher, write articles part-time, work on my Creative Writing MA, write for my narrative podcast, DM a complex homebrew Dungeons and Dragons campaign, write just for myself and also somewhere in there I need to find time to breathe. I’m not complaining too much; I have the glory of a mostly work-free August to focus on all of my side projects. But, whenever August goes away and September comes to call there is a certain amount of girding my loins that I must do.

Back to it all! First, work started this week. Although school has moved online thanks to record breaking cases in Tokyo. However, apparently we’re only teaching online for a week before getting back to in person learning. The rules on that are confusing at best. The small silver-lining there is that at least I’m fully vaccinated? I worry for my students.

Next week, my MA starts back up again too. Twice the number of assignments this year as there were last year. A terrifying thought to be sure. I’m trying to go into it with a good mindset. My tutor last year was not a particular fan of my chosen genres and I can only hope to get a more suitable match this year.

Sadly, the writing Discord server has closed down too. It was always meant to be temporary; just an August challenge. But, still, I miss the daily updates from all those talented writers and the motivation that feeling like part of a community brought me. I wonder if maybe starting a Discord server for the MA cohort might help me in a similar fashion? Something to think about I guess.