Last week was another sub par week. I got most of my work done, but I’ve been stuck in a bleh mode waiting on my book cover. But I have it now and I’ll be sharing it this afternoon and finalizing the book files for publishing on Saturday. Came in right under the wire. *Wipes brow.*
Today I need to write the newsletter and finalize all launch day details. And then after this week we can move the focus to the nonfiction project and the year’s due dates will be over! Next year I’m definitely gonna lay off the pressure. Or so I say, because I’m pretty sure I’ll end up with four releases again. But maybe I’ll try to move up the second fiction book so they’re a little more spread out. All Signs for February, BAR2 for May, Witches2 in September maybe? And then the productivity book in November. That should work out. I might put up the witches2 preorder today as well so I can include that link in the back of the first book. If I think I can get it done by September 30th…. We’ll see.
Blog work this week is going to be another writing exercise to get one more scary story for All Signs. I’ll be skimming my prompt books to get a juicy idea. I’m excited to get the gears turning. And I spent a little time on nrdly last week to explore template options. Today I also skimmed over some author website tips and I think I’m going to find another book to help me along. I don’t want to spend a bunch of money if I don’t have to, and some tips I was seeing pointed me in a cheaper direction.
Editing this week on BAR2 should go a lot smoother. I finally broke down and printed off the first half of the book so I can write on the paper. Having my hand not hurt while holding a pen makes this easier than it used to be. And I think this is a great way to work through the second pass. I’ve got a great system coming into formation and I’m planning on taking apart two chapters this week.
I wrote a little under my goal last week on witches 2, but just barely. I didn’t want to start a new scene just to get 40 more words down. And I felt really solid about the two scenes I finished so I thought I’d leave the writing day at that.
For next year, I’m hoping to write more than one day a week. I think if I rearrange my daily tasks and keep a normal day for most of the words I can give myself ten or fifteen minutes on a few other days to get a chunk of creativity down. If I just open the document every day and read over the ideas or enter in a bit of dialogue, I might be able to keep a better flow. Something to think about.
Editing on the nonfiction book stalled last week. I really think it’s the Friday night thing. I’m wiped out by Friday night and don’t want to focus that hard. I barely went over a paragraph of one chapter last week. But I only need to power through a few more weeks before I can rearrange my daily tasks.
My reading has also been slacking, but I think it’s the stress. I’ve still gotten through two or three audiobooks every week, but barely been wanting to read physical books. I rented one from the library just to get into it. But I’m still a little behind. Gotta get back into a routine. I think I’ll take the first week of January off from writing tasks to reset and ground myself in my goals. Go on a little personal retreat (not physically, obviously. Well, Maybe Ricky and I can get away for a night?) Anyway, do some reflection and meditation and start the year off in the right mindset.
That’s it, off to work.