Writing schedule and Revision process

Since my scare of maybe-cancer a few months back, I haven't written anything new. And now I feel rusty and am at the point of not knowing how to start/where to start/what to start, OH MY! Yesterday I picked up a half-read book on writing and found my way to go. I need to get back on a schedule, either a set amount of words each day, or a set amount of time. (don't say "DUH, PAM!") I'll be starting slow, either 100 words a day or 15 minutes a day. Probably starting out just with some creative writing and not worry yet about starting a new story. I have one I'm thinking on. I have the characters, and a basic problem, but not a main conflict that needs to be resolved yet. But it will come.

So this is my big announcement that I am going to start writing again. The book suggests telling friends as a way to have a promise that needs to be kept. So I promise my flist that I will start my daily writing today. Oh I'm so bad at this type of thing and I don't understand why--in every other aspect of my life I'm way organized and I *have* to have a schedule. I'm strong in will power. But why doesn't all this apply to my writing--well I was going to say writing "muscle", but maybe that's the problem. Said muscle has wasted away to flab. And *that* is the problem. (Knowing is half the problem, eh?)

I've been locked in a wrestling match with a story revision. I think I am slowly winning. Slowly being the operative word here. "Willful Steel" has a lot of promise, I think. It was a WotF quarter finalist, and has been on hold at two markets, both of which subsequently let it go. It has five other rejections. It's been through two crit groups. It's a "close, but no banana" story.

( Rest of the story hidden behind cut, due to length and sympathy for flist )