Timing is Everything

I found a writing group that meets in my neighborhood and looks like a great group: writers at a variety of experience levels, writing in many different genres, giving and receiving criticism. Sounds perfect, right?

Not quite. It meets at 7pm, and the meetings last until 9pm or so. If I get off work at a reasonable hour, if the bus is running on time, and if traffic isn't bad, I get home at 7pm. That's a lot of ifs. Furthermore, I'm an old man at heart, so I go to bed at 10pm and get up early to work out. The group would swallow my entire evening one night a week, but maybe it's a fair trade--give up one night a week and in return, feel like part of a community, give and receive criticism, etc. But that assumes I would make up this lost time by writing more on other nights. But that's just it--I'm not writing at the moment. I need to use my time more efficiently and effectively.

So here's the deal I made myself: finish the "how to write" books that I've already started, and no more. As I finish them, use that newly freed up time to write more. Hell, write period.

But here's the good news: I've got an idea for a short story.