I like to set myself challenges. It's important to me to continually find a way to make life and writing that little bit more interesting by putting deadlines on things. Typically, these challenges coincide with something else in the year. The New Year marked the beginning of my current daily-publication process. February marked my Love Poem month. Lent is going to mark a 40 day challenge. (Note: Lent is actually 46 days from Ash Wednesday until the Saturday before Easter Sunday, inclusive. The Sundays aren't included in the 40 days of Lent.)
During Lent, I have 40 days that don't require me to spend an unplanned amount of time doing something else. Between family commitments (2 days), a small break abroad (3 days), and the play (1 day), I have 6 days' worth of plans that can't be avoided.
I'm dividing the 40 days I actually do have between 4 books. Two are non-fiction books on writing. Last weekend, I planned 8 such books, and I think it's worth taking the time to getting them written. The idea is to publish them a few months apart between now and September 2015. That is, assuming I get in, when I should be finished with my Masters.
The first book will, in theory, be written between March 5th and March 14th. It's one of the non-fiction books, and one I've been meaning to write for some time.
The second book will be written between March 15th and 28th; there'll be a few days in the middle of that period when I won't be at my laptop, and so I won't be able to write anything. I could, however, finish the book early. It's a novella, and one that I'm very excited to actually write. However, it needs to be planned first, hence the delay in beginning it. I have an idea about what I'd like to do with it once it's written, too, which is always nice. You'll find out more on this book later in the month.
The third book is the second non-fiction book. I'll be writing it between March 29th and April 9th, though there'll be a break in there, too. This one I'm writing because (1) I noticed a market for it, (2) I'm something of an expert at it and (3) I really want to give it a shot. I'll actually be using the second book in the challenge as the basis for a chunk of this book.
The fourth book, then, is one you've already heard of: The Blood of Leap. I'm determined to put what will hopefully be three successfully-written books to good use on the motivation front. Between April 10th and 19th, I want to finish the book. This will require me re-reading it, re-planning it from where I've left off, and writing it. If all goes according to plan, it'll see publication in late April or early May.
It's important for me that I actually spell this out publicly. I have found in the past that when I announce exactly what I'm writing, I tend to write it more easily. Of course, I won't be shirking off my regular writing responsibilities. I still have to write my flash stories for every week. I need to prepare content for the days I'll be missing. All of this needs to happen while I'm working, while I'll minding my niece, and while I'm directing a play.
This is what I live for. I live to write, and to write a lot. A rough estimate for the four books, in terms of a word count, is around 80-90,000 words. Add to that thirteen flash stories, six articles, fifteen blog posts (one extra-special Monday post, explaining the second book I'm writing - though I'm cheating by writing this one a day early!) and thirteen poems, and it's going to be a busy Lenten period. I can guarantee two things on Easter Sunday: I'll have my regular article, and I'll be gorging myself on chocolate, because damn it I'll deserve it!
4 books, 40 days, let's do this!
Showing posts with label schedule. Show all posts
Showing posts with label schedule. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
The First Month
This is the first January I've had to myself since I was a baby. Every other year, I've been in school, in college, or out teaching...in a school. For the first year in my life, I actually have some free time in the month to really make a difference in what I do and how I do it. This is the first month of the year, and I think it's worth highlighting what's happened so far.
By and large, a lot of what I've been doing has ended up on ParagraVerse. By the end of the month, the site will have seen:
- 4 new poems
- 4 diary entries from Andrew McCourt
- 5 older poems, that are already on YouTube in video form
- 5 flash stories, covering Romance/Slice-of-Life, Science Fiction, and Magical Realism
At the time of writing this post, it's seen an increase of over 50% in the number of subscribers on the site. It's also seen a few return-readers. Quite often, subscribers will ignore new posts coming in, because they don't have the time to read them. (That's speaking generally, not just about ParagraVerse.) However, there are people who regularly come back to the site, read what's gone up, and sometimes comment on posts - especially the ones they really like.
The way things have turned out, I've written two flash stories that I'd like to use as a source of inspiration for books. As it happens, Andrew McCourt is actually one of the protagonists in a series of books I'm working on at the moment, too, which are set after the series of diary entries. You can probably tell right away from reading them, they're not like my Modern Irish Myth stories or books. He's just a regular guy with a few problems and a lot of sarcasm, and he's finishing school with some difficulty.
Of course, I've also released a book. This actually followed a pattern I'd set for myself last January. Last year, I wrote Planning Before Writing after my work had been done for Teaching Placement. This year, I didn't have to worry about going out to a school or doing work in the evenings, so I was able to work on 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block during the day, a lot. I actually wrote a majority of what was left to do during my niece's naps, with the baby monitor beside my laptop.
Aside from these blog posts, I was also publishing an article-a-week on my personal website. I decided, what with it being the start of a new year, I'd focus on Maintaining Motivation. That was as much for me as it was for other people. There'll still be one more article to go up on that topic after this month, but I think the process has been good for me. I enjoy writing the articles, and they get me thinking properly about how much I know about writing.
For me, though, the biggest thing has been in setting up a schedule for myself and sticking to it. I've tried this before. I've tried to create a blogging schedule, and I always fall behind on it within the first couple of weeks. This month, I've managed to put out a lot of content. I've been scheduling posts and poems and stories in advance, which has freed up a lot of time. I can write a poem and a story in one night, and that's two days sorted for the week ahead.
Actually getting to do all of this in the first month of the year has made a massive difference to me. I've still managed to work a lot in the bookshop. I've gotten to see friends, go to most of the new movies released in the month, and sit back and enjoy new games, new music and new books. If, for the time being, life stays like this, I think I could be very happy.
By and large, a lot of what I've been doing has ended up on ParagraVerse. By the end of the month, the site will have seen:
- 4 new poems
- 4 diary entries from Andrew McCourt
- 5 older poems, that are already on YouTube in video form
- 5 flash stories, covering Romance/Slice-of-Life, Science Fiction, and Magical Realism
At the time of writing this post, it's seen an increase of over 50% in the number of subscribers on the site. It's also seen a few return-readers. Quite often, subscribers will ignore new posts coming in, because they don't have the time to read them. (That's speaking generally, not just about ParagraVerse.) However, there are people who regularly come back to the site, read what's gone up, and sometimes comment on posts - especially the ones they really like.
The way things have turned out, I've written two flash stories that I'd like to use as a source of inspiration for books. As it happens, Andrew McCourt is actually one of the protagonists in a series of books I'm working on at the moment, too, which are set after the series of diary entries. You can probably tell right away from reading them, they're not like my Modern Irish Myth stories or books. He's just a regular guy with a few problems and a lot of sarcasm, and he's finishing school with some difficulty.
Of course, I've also released a book. This actually followed a pattern I'd set for myself last January. Last year, I wrote Planning Before Writing after my work had been done for Teaching Placement. This year, I didn't have to worry about going out to a school or doing work in the evenings, so I was able to work on 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block during the day, a lot. I actually wrote a majority of what was left to do during my niece's naps, with the baby monitor beside my laptop.
Aside from these blog posts, I was also publishing an article-a-week on my personal website. I decided, what with it being the start of a new year, I'd focus on Maintaining Motivation. That was as much for me as it was for other people. There'll still be one more article to go up on that topic after this month, but I think the process has been good for me. I enjoy writing the articles, and they get me thinking properly about how much I know about writing.
For me, though, the biggest thing has been in setting up a schedule for myself and sticking to it. I've tried this before. I've tried to create a blogging schedule, and I always fall behind on it within the first couple of weeks. This month, I've managed to put out a lot of content. I've been scheduling posts and poems and stories in advance, which has freed up a lot of time. I can write a poem and a story in one night, and that's two days sorted for the week ahead.
Actually getting to do all of this in the first month of the year has made a massive difference to me. I've still managed to work a lot in the bookshop. I've gotten to see friends, go to most of the new movies released in the month, and sit back and enjoy new games, new music and new books. If, for the time being, life stays like this, I think I could be very happy.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
R&R
This week, I didn't do very much, and I didn't care. There are two reasons for this. One: I've started a six-day week in work. And two: I bought myself a Nintendo 2DS.
Let's go back a few weeks to explain the 2DS. And by that, I mean the run-up to Christmas. My brother told me, quite proudly, that he knew what he was going to get me for Christmas. He was going to get me a 2DS, because they were new, affordable and lovely. (He didn't use those words, exactly.) A few weeks later, he told me he'd found something else to get me. And so I knew I was to be without a 2DS.
Christmas Day arrived, and my parents gave me money as my present. I didn't buy anything with it.
So, I fixed that. I bought my new console, because I don't really get to use the PS3 in the house anymore, and I bought a couple of games to go along with it. Long story short, I've spent my free time playing Pokemon X, because I didn't get to use my parents' Christmas present until now - because I hadn't bought anything!
That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.
It's been nice, though. I was tired, and I needed a way to unwind after publishing 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block. I needed something for me, and so I reverted back into Childhood Mode. It's been wonderful.
The way things are looking, now, between minding my niece and working, I won't have a day off to myself until February. That's not really how I'd hoped things would be for me, but I do appreciate the fact that I'll be earning a bit more than usual thanks to these extra hours. I suppose I just don't want to be tired as a result of it all!
All of this emphasis on my relaxation and work aside, nothing else will really change. I'll still be posting up my weekly article. I'll still be writing Andrew McCourt's diary entries, and posting new poems on ParagraVerse, and writing new Friday Flash stories to post up, and I'll still be blogging. I'll just be tired while doing it all. Until February.
It feels like a long way away, but it's not. I suppose it's just that I don't really have a day off until then that's making it seem worse than it is. (Plus, you know, the fact that it's another 8 days of working or child minding ahead of me.)
My big goal for this week coming, aside from just surviving the shop, is to write a chunk of The Blood of Leap. I have a figure in my head, which I'll be putting up in my room, but it'll be staying there, nice and private. I want to enjoy this book, but I also want to complete it. I'm hoping I can balance both of those aims with my much needed rest and relaxation.
On a positive note to finish, I can officially tick Publish 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block off my to-do list in my FiloFax! I've been so busy not doing anything that I didn't do that until recently. That's one big project down, which is always a nice feeling!
(PS If you're interested in reading my new book, you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HYMVZJ2
Let's go back a few weeks to explain the 2DS. And by that, I mean the run-up to Christmas. My brother told me, quite proudly, that he knew what he was going to get me for Christmas. He was going to get me a 2DS, because they were new, affordable and lovely. (He didn't use those words, exactly.) A few weeks later, he told me he'd found something else to get me. And so I knew I was to be without a 2DS.
Christmas Day arrived, and my parents gave me money as my present. I didn't buy anything with it.
So, I fixed that. I bought my new console, because I don't really get to use the PS3 in the house anymore, and I bought a couple of games to go along with it. Long story short, I've spent my free time playing Pokemon X, because I didn't get to use my parents' Christmas present until now - because I hadn't bought anything!
That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.
It's been nice, though. I was tired, and I needed a way to unwind after publishing 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block. I needed something for me, and so I reverted back into Childhood Mode. It's been wonderful.
The way things are looking, now, between minding my niece and working, I won't have a day off to myself until February. That's not really how I'd hoped things would be for me, but I do appreciate the fact that I'll be earning a bit more than usual thanks to these extra hours. I suppose I just don't want to be tired as a result of it all!
All of this emphasis on my relaxation and work aside, nothing else will really change. I'll still be posting up my weekly article. I'll still be writing Andrew McCourt's diary entries, and posting new poems on ParagraVerse, and writing new Friday Flash stories to post up, and I'll still be blogging. I'll just be tired while doing it all. Until February.
It feels like a long way away, but it's not. I suppose it's just that I don't really have a day off until then that's making it seem worse than it is. (Plus, you know, the fact that it's another 8 days of working or child minding ahead of me.)
My big goal for this week coming, aside from just surviving the shop, is to write a chunk of The Blood of Leap. I have a figure in my head, which I'll be putting up in my room, but it'll be staying there, nice and private. I want to enjoy this book, but I also want to complete it. I'm hoping I can balance both of those aims with my much needed rest and relaxation.
On a positive note to finish, I can officially tick Publish 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block off my to-do list in my FiloFax! I've been so busy not doing anything that I didn't do that until recently. That's one big project down, which is always a nice feeling!
(PS If you're interested in reading my new book, you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HYMVZJ2
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Another Project?
Lately I've been toying with the idea of starting a new book review site. It's another big project, I know, and I have to consider how it would fit into my schedule. For anyone else considering the idea, themselves, here's how I see it breaking down in the preparation stages:
- I'll write several reviews in advance, to have them ready to go,
- I'll organise several pages of book recommends without reviews, and
- I'll arrange a time in my weekly schedule to post the reviews.
I've already done two things: I've drawn up a list of books I've read recently that I could review, and I've drawn up a list of categories I could put together lists of books for. The scheduling part is the bigger problem. Right now, my weekly posting looks like this:
Monday: a diary-entry story on ParagraVerse, from Andrew McCourt
Tuesday: a new poem, written especially for ParagraVerse
Wednesday: a new blog post here
Thursday: an older poem, perhaps one that's been on YouTube in the past (as is currently the case), on ParagraVerse
Friday: a new flash fiction story on ParagraVerse (currently working on writing prompt stories)
Saturday: a new blog post here
Sunday: a new article on my website
The only way I can see this working without posting too much every week is to remove one of those seven items. I know that the Sunday article will remain, as well as the diary entry and the Friday flash story. Most likely, I'll only post one blog post here per week, unless I have something to say.
However, this still leaves a problem. I have to actually read a lot of books for this, and reading series books just isn't going to cut it. Why? Because if I liked one, I'll probably like the others, too. Then, every review will end up looking similar. The reason my last attempt at a review site failed was because I became overly aware that everything was getting five stars.
That's just praising everything. That's not doing a good job.
So, I need to read more widely. That's the only way to avoid only reading the really good books. Obviously, I'd love to only read good books, but I think that might get boring for the reader.
Basically, I'm really considering, but I have my doubts. I don't want to come across as boring for liking so many books and really disliking anything. The fact that I very rarely don't finish a book doesn't so much say a lot about the books I read; I just don't like leaving them unread.
However, it's an idea. What do you think? Did you enjoy reading my book reviews when I used to post them here?
PS I managed to release 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block on time! You can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HYMVZJ2
- I'll write several reviews in advance, to have them ready to go,
- I'll organise several pages of book recommends without reviews, and
- I'll arrange a time in my weekly schedule to post the reviews.
I've already done two things: I've drawn up a list of books I've read recently that I could review, and I've drawn up a list of categories I could put together lists of books for. The scheduling part is the bigger problem. Right now, my weekly posting looks like this:
Monday: a diary-entry story on ParagraVerse, from Andrew McCourt
Tuesday: a new poem, written especially for ParagraVerse
Wednesday: a new blog post here
Thursday: an older poem, perhaps one that's been on YouTube in the past (as is currently the case), on ParagraVerse
Friday: a new flash fiction story on ParagraVerse (currently working on writing prompt stories)
Saturday: a new blog post here
Sunday: a new article on my website
The only way I can see this working without posting too much every week is to remove one of those seven items. I know that the Sunday article will remain, as well as the diary entry and the Friday flash story. Most likely, I'll only post one blog post here per week, unless I have something to say.
However, this still leaves a problem. I have to actually read a lot of books for this, and reading series books just isn't going to cut it. Why? Because if I liked one, I'll probably like the others, too. Then, every review will end up looking similar. The reason my last attempt at a review site failed was because I became overly aware that everything was getting five stars.
That's just praising everything. That's not doing a good job.
So, I need to read more widely. That's the only way to avoid only reading the really good books. Obviously, I'd love to only read good books, but I think that might get boring for the reader.
Basically, I'm really considering, but I have my doubts. I don't want to come across as boring for liking so many books and really disliking anything. The fact that I very rarely don't finish a book doesn't so much say a lot about the books I read; I just don't like leaving them unread.
However, it's an idea. What do you think? Did you enjoy reading my book reviews when I used to post them here?
PS I managed to release 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block on time! You can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HYMVZJ2
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Writing and Scheduling
It occurs to me that I've been working on ways to make publishing
content on a daily basis a lot more easy for myself without even
realising it. Thursday's poem on ParagraVerse was scheduled in advance.
The same goes for yesterday's flash story, next Tuesday's poem, and next
Thursday's poem. This blog post is being written on a Friday night, to
be published today - Saturday. I had a need to write something to keep
to my goal to write every day.
What
this has done, essentially, is make life easier for me to manage. I
know that on Tuesday and Thursday next week I don't really need to go
online. I can avoid social media if I'm running behind time to write
something. That's not my intention, of course, because I enjoy talking
to people online, but I know that in order to stick to my professional
obligation I no longer have a need to ensure I am sitting at my laptop
at whatever crazy hour it happens to be.
This
will be further put into practice when I write Sunday's article for my
website a day in advance, using notes I drew up earlier in the week.
With the article written, I merely need to ensure I share the link to
it. That's the greatest obligation I have, and it doesn't necessarily
require me to access my website to do so.
Pre-scheduling
posts allows me to do other things during the day when I migh find
myself overwhelmed with work. This week, for instance has been
especially busy. My three days off work were spent packing boxes and
moving books and shelves and a bed downstairs. It's been a lot of work,
and it's meant I couldn't just sit at my laptop writing for a while, not
until everything was done. As it is, I spent extra time at my desk on
Thursday night to ensure that I could write my Friday Flash story in
advance, and schedule next Thursday's poem on ParagraVerse while I was
doing so.
While
I won't always have the time to write several pieces in advance -
especially not when I have books to write - it does help to know that
there are plenty of things I can do to help make life that little bit
easier for myself. When I'm minding my niece, I can ensure that
something is going online without my needing to sit at the laptop to do
it. When I have work, I can publish something at the same time that I'm
serving a customer, without having to go near my blog. If I eventually
get to travel, I can schedule poems and stories and blog posts to go
live every morning so I can see the sights and enjoy the time away from
the computer.
I
know I go on and on about scheduling posts - it's not exactly a
breakthrough - but these past couple of weeks have been made easier by
having something on automation. It's meant that I can move bedroom
without hassle. It's meant I could maintain an online presence during
the busiest Christmas period I've experienced since I started working in
the bookshop over six years ago. I've been able to relax a bit more,
get out of bed when it suits me, talk to my family, have breakfast when I
wake up (and not after I've written a short story), and make plans with
friends without running risk of falling behind on my writing.
Life
hasn't slowed down for me in a long while. The Christmas period was
busy in work, and while I did manage to secure three days off this week,
they weren't days off doing anything. They've been exhausting,
especially when actually transferring the bookshelves from the attic to
the box room. That was the worst part, but also the part that said that
the box room was now my bedroom. This was before the bed was even moved
down, and my laptop was still plugged in in the attic when it was all
happening. But it was the books that made it all clear. I wasn't just
sleeping in this room by nightfall. It was my room, with my books, and
they're what make all the difference for me.
I'll
continue to write a few posts at a time. It's not just good sense, it's
also the most helpful thing I can do for myself. I need to establish a
rhythm of writing and scheduling a week's posts in advance over a couple
of days, and using the rest of the time to write books and live the
rest of my life. I need time to research for agents and publishers and a
Masters degree and magazines, and I can't find that time if I'm
constantly looking at the clock considering how much longer I can do
something before I have to write the day's piece to be published.
I
know I'm not a big name writer, but that doesn't mean I haven't learned
a thing or two about how to manage my time when things get really busy.
Take it from me: it's much easier to plan things in advance and leave
your blog to do the work than it is to try chase up your own work every
day. It's made all the difference for me.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Daily Content and a Publishing Schedule
While reading The Millionaire Messenger (and yes, eventually I will stop mentioning that book), it occurred to me that if I really want to sell books, I need to do more than just write books, or writing articles or stories when I wanted to sell a book. Having brought up the book so much, and thought about it a lot, I got the idea to publish The Winter Folk over the period of December.
It was a no-end-in-sight plan. Not that it had no end, but that I wasn't doing it for a particular reason other than: (1) I wanted to do something nice in the run up to Christmas and (2) ParagraVerse has been awfully lonely, lately. So, I wrote it as twelve-part poem, to help make it last longer while my work schedule picked up.
As it happens, the poem created its own end.
In the writing of it, I began to think about how interesting I might find the story to write. In particular, I wanted to write the story of the Ice Queen. The world has seen Jack Frost. The world knows all about Santa Claus. But the Ice Queen... well, any time there's a queen or a witch who dresses in white and surrounds herself in ice or snow, she seems to be a villain.
Not for me, not this time.
So, that's what I'm writing now. The Ice Queen. It's a short story. I'm hoping to publish it for Kindle later this month. I'll need to design a cover, soon. And write the two flash stories I want to publish this month on ParagraVerse, too. All of this, out of a little wish to write a poem and make it last.
I hadn't even been set on writing this, until yesterday. And even then, I only thought about it. It wasn't until I actually sat down to plan a schedule that I also decided to plan the book. The schedule was for daily content online this month. I know I missed December 1st, but from then on out I've got things in mind. The Winter Folk helps by taking up half the days between now and Christmas. Thankfully, the poem also sparked a book which sparked a couple of other pieces that need to go online.
Somehow, the poem created a published schedule around itself.
It wasn't the practice I had in mind, but that's fine. At least I know in January, when I get to work on a campaign towards launching another book, I'll have an idea of how best to follow through on my ideas. Scheduling is definitely of benefit to me. It's basically the only way I'm managing this right now.
Anyway, my original plan for daily content, now fully completed, is seeing the following going online:
- 8 blog posts,
- 9 videos,
- 2 flash stories,
- 2 poems - one in 12 parts, and
- 1 ebook.
How much of this is written or prepared? Less than half. How much will be prepared in advance and pre-scheduled? More than half. And how much of it is going to be fun to put together?
I'm going to go with just about all of it.
What this all boils down to is releasing a lot of content that I find interesting, setting new challenges for myself on a regular basis, writing about what I know and, with the exception of the ebook, making it all free for anyone to look at. I think it's a fair deal, getting all of that for nothing and having no obligation to buy the story in the end. And if you enjoy yourself along the way, all the better. That is the point of this sort of stuff, after all, to provide some entertainment.
If all goes well, I'll keep up this sort of thing in 2014, and not just because I'll be releasing new books in the future. This is the essence of The Millionaire Messenger, I think, or part of it at least. The best way to reach an audience is to give people something for nothing, and tell them that there's also something they can buy if they want. The point, though, is that the "messenger" is passionate about what they're talking about.
I think in this case, that goes without saying.
(P.S. If you want to keep up with everything I post this month, Twitter is probably your best bet. You can find me @writeranonymous.)
It was a no-end-in-sight plan. Not that it had no end, but that I wasn't doing it for a particular reason other than: (1) I wanted to do something nice in the run up to Christmas and (2) ParagraVerse has been awfully lonely, lately. So, I wrote it as twelve-part poem, to help make it last longer while my work schedule picked up.
As it happens, the poem created its own end.
In the writing of it, I began to think about how interesting I might find the story to write. In particular, I wanted to write the story of the Ice Queen. The world has seen Jack Frost. The world knows all about Santa Claus. But the Ice Queen... well, any time there's a queen or a witch who dresses in white and surrounds herself in ice or snow, she seems to be a villain.
Not for me, not this time.
So, that's what I'm writing now. The Ice Queen. It's a short story. I'm hoping to publish it for Kindle later this month. I'll need to design a cover, soon. And write the two flash stories I want to publish this month on ParagraVerse, too. All of this, out of a little wish to write a poem and make it last.
I hadn't even been set on writing this, until yesterday. And even then, I only thought about it. It wasn't until I actually sat down to plan a schedule that I also decided to plan the book. The schedule was for daily content online this month. I know I missed December 1st, but from then on out I've got things in mind. The Winter Folk helps by taking up half the days between now and Christmas. Thankfully, the poem also sparked a book which sparked a couple of other pieces that need to go online.
Somehow, the poem created a published schedule around itself.
It wasn't the practice I had in mind, but that's fine. At least I know in January, when I get to work on a campaign towards launching another book, I'll have an idea of how best to follow through on my ideas. Scheduling is definitely of benefit to me. It's basically the only way I'm managing this right now.
Anyway, my original plan for daily content, now fully completed, is seeing the following going online:
- 8 blog posts,
- 9 videos,
- 2 flash stories,
- 2 poems - one in 12 parts, and
- 1 ebook.
How much of this is written or prepared? Less than half. How much will be prepared in advance and pre-scheduled? More than half. And how much of it is going to be fun to put together?
I'm going to go with just about all of it.
What this all boils down to is releasing a lot of content that I find interesting, setting new challenges for myself on a regular basis, writing about what I know and, with the exception of the ebook, making it all free for anyone to look at. I think it's a fair deal, getting all of that for nothing and having no obligation to buy the story in the end. And if you enjoy yourself along the way, all the better. That is the point of this sort of stuff, after all, to provide some entertainment.
If all goes well, I'll keep up this sort of thing in 2014, and not just because I'll be releasing new books in the future. This is the essence of The Millionaire Messenger, I think, or part of it at least. The best way to reach an audience is to give people something for nothing, and tell them that there's also something they can buy if they want. The point, though, is that the "messenger" is passionate about what they're talking about.
I think in this case, that goes without saying.
(P.S. If you want to keep up with everything I post this month, Twitter is probably your best bet. You can find me @writeranonymous.)
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Small-Scale Practice
One of my aims for next year is to post something online regularly. I don't just mean a tweet or a Facebook status. I mean a video, or a poem (or a piece of poem), a short story, a blog post, an article, an interview - something that adds some sort of value. If I could, I'd do it every day. And so, that's what I'm trying to do from this week on.
Monday saw the first part of a poem go online. Entitled The Winter Folk, it's my run up to Christmas poem. You can read the first part here: http://paragraverse.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/the-winter-folk-part-1/
Tuesday featured a video, uploaded to my YouTube channel. I'm normally adverse to posting my videos on my Facebook page, so if you're reading this you're seeing something I wouldn't have otherwise shared with you.
Wednesday saw part two of The Winter Folk go online, and automatically so. I made the decision from day one that I wouldn't have to worry about when I posted the poem. ParagraVerse would sort it all out for me. I just needed to share the link later in the day. Thankfully, the site has a few subscribers already, so they'll receive it without my having to do anything.
And today, I have a blog post. Friday will see part three of The Winter Folk. Saturday, who knows. It depends on how my time gets divided between now and then. The important thing is, I'm keeping up with my schedule of posting online.
Obviously, it won't be this easy when I'm doing it all the time. I won't always have a twelve-mini-part poem to post online, because it won't always be the run up to Christmas. I can, however, begin sticking to a posting schedule that isn't too difficult to main, by writing regularly. If I wanted to, I could make a proper schedule for when things roll out properly. I already know that I'd like articles up on Saturdays, poems on Tuesdays, and short stories on Fridays. But that doesn't say much about the rest of the week.
Essentially, though, keeping up posting online is relatively easy when you take a page out of Alex Day's book: create a lot of content in one day, and schedule it for release over a number of days and weeks without your having to be there. That's the kind of intention I have, simply because I find that the reason I don't do something is because I couldn't get to my laptop to type it up.
However, I can share from my tablet or my phone. I don't need to worry about typing something like a blog post or an article on them when they're already written and just going live at a particular time. I can still be there to respond to people's comments, or tweet about something else entirely, without having to concern myself with the practicalities of how and when I'll be able to write something on a given day. When I have Drama or work, that challenge becomes ever more difficult to address, and the end result is that I avoid posting anything online at all.
So, I'm starting small. I have The Winter Folk on schedule to publish, and this very blog post will be set up to post, even though I'll probably be at my laptop when it goes live anyway. Why? Because it means I don't have to stop doing what I was doing to write (or even just publish) a blog post that I could have easily written before and just didn't because it wasn't the right day. I plan on writing for an hour or so every day, no matter what, but I already know when that'll become impractical. On days like that, at least I won't have to concern myself with whether or not I'm producing enough regularly. Scheduling might be the key to keeping up regular posting. We'll see how it works out this month - my busiest in the bookshop - before rolling it out officially in January.
Monday saw the first part of a poem go online. Entitled The Winter Folk, it's my run up to Christmas poem. You can read the first part here: http://paragraverse.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/the-winter-folk-part-1/
Tuesday featured a video, uploaded to my YouTube channel. I'm normally adverse to posting my videos on my Facebook page, so if you're reading this you're seeing something I wouldn't have otherwise shared with you.
Wednesday saw part two of The Winter Folk go online, and automatically so. I made the decision from day one that I wouldn't have to worry about when I posted the poem. ParagraVerse would sort it all out for me. I just needed to share the link later in the day. Thankfully, the site has a few subscribers already, so they'll receive it without my having to do anything.
And today, I have a blog post. Friday will see part three of The Winter Folk. Saturday, who knows. It depends on how my time gets divided between now and then. The important thing is, I'm keeping up with my schedule of posting online.
Obviously, it won't be this easy when I'm doing it all the time. I won't always have a twelve-mini-part poem to post online, because it won't always be the run up to Christmas. I can, however, begin sticking to a posting schedule that isn't too difficult to main, by writing regularly. If I wanted to, I could make a proper schedule for when things roll out properly. I already know that I'd like articles up on Saturdays, poems on Tuesdays, and short stories on Fridays. But that doesn't say much about the rest of the week.
Essentially, though, keeping up posting online is relatively easy when you take a page out of Alex Day's book: create a lot of content in one day, and schedule it for release over a number of days and weeks without your having to be there. That's the kind of intention I have, simply because I find that the reason I don't do something is because I couldn't get to my laptop to type it up.
However, I can share from my tablet or my phone. I don't need to worry about typing something like a blog post or an article on them when they're already written and just going live at a particular time. I can still be there to respond to people's comments, or tweet about something else entirely, without having to concern myself with the practicalities of how and when I'll be able to write something on a given day. When I have Drama or work, that challenge becomes ever more difficult to address, and the end result is that I avoid posting anything online at all.
So, I'm starting small. I have The Winter Folk on schedule to publish, and this very blog post will be set up to post, even though I'll probably be at my laptop when it goes live anyway. Why? Because it means I don't have to stop doing what I was doing to write (or even just publish) a blog post that I could have easily written before and just didn't because it wasn't the right day. I plan on writing for an hour or so every day, no matter what, but I already know when that'll become impractical. On days like that, at least I won't have to concern myself with whether or not I'm producing enough regularly. Scheduling might be the key to keeping up regular posting. We'll see how it works out this month - my busiest in the bookshop - before rolling it out officially in January.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
The Way Things'll Be
As of tonight, I have no more drama rehearsals until February. The cast will be off to teaching placement in the new year, with another play to put on stage in two weeks, leaving me to tend to my time in my own ways. Thankfully, I'm quite good at doing things that take quite a bit of time!
My overall intention is to kick-start 2014 with a few different things on my website, including a series of articles, and a video series. Both will require some work, and will have their own little hiding place online for me to work with. Overall, there are ten articles to write and ten videos to make, but I can see that growing over time. The latter is a documentary of a project I'm hoping to undertake with some friends - they just don't know the gory details yet!
Essentially, though, it'll keep me busy at work creating these different things, and setting up all the different pieces needed to get it all started. I'm working from a guideline in The Millionaire Messenger by Brendon Burchard, and while I don't have such high aspirations of making such an inordinate amount of money, I'm definitely feeling the creative push in the right direction, that coincides nicely with things I've wanted to do for a while and just...didn't.
So, convenient that!
Of course, the articles and the videos are just one piece of the little puzzle. I've a lot of writing to do over the coming weeks, to fit around my hours in work. That's a good thing, though. I find that when I have something to do and somewhere to go, I start to value the time I have not in work that little bit more. I'm hoping to write a chapter or two of my current work in progress before work tomorrow, and hopefully one tonight. However, my main hope was to write something for tonight. I couldn't leave my blog to try fend for itself for another week.
This is all part of my commitment to something bigger, to keeping my creative works more consistent. It's helped, actually, having Burchard's book to work from. The "expert signposts" he includes in each chapter are helping me put to words the different things I need to learn or do or focus upon, and while it does mean I end up writing dozens of pages about different things, it's resulting in the helpful creation of resources to use in the future.
So, I'm basically positioning myself as an "expert", as he would put it, as a Messenger. We'll see how I actually work it all out in the different ways he suggests, but for the time being I'm writing books to work with all of this. I'm also working out a better publishing schedule for myself. It's the one thing I can say about books like this (though I haven't seen many books like this one): even if you don't achieve the same results you see printed in the book, there are results to be gained from doing the work.
And, if you can believe it, it's fun.
I'm genuinely enjoying doing this. I feel focused, I have ideas to work with, I'm getting things done, and I essentially had written permission to do something I enjoy for a living. (Well, we'll see if I "do it for a living", when things start playing out.) But for now, this is the way things'll be, while the drama rehearsals are on hold and I suddenly find myself with two more evenings a week than before, and for a long period of time. This is the sort of change I needed a long time ago, and I don't think it's too late to get started. I don't think it's ever too late to start doing something you love.
My overall intention is to kick-start 2014 with a few different things on my website, including a series of articles, and a video series. Both will require some work, and will have their own little hiding place online for me to work with. Overall, there are ten articles to write and ten videos to make, but I can see that growing over time. The latter is a documentary of a project I'm hoping to undertake with some friends - they just don't know the gory details yet!
Essentially, though, it'll keep me busy at work creating these different things, and setting up all the different pieces needed to get it all started. I'm working from a guideline in The Millionaire Messenger by Brendon Burchard, and while I don't have such high aspirations of making such an inordinate amount of money, I'm definitely feeling the creative push in the right direction, that coincides nicely with things I've wanted to do for a while and just...didn't.
So, convenient that!
Of course, the articles and the videos are just one piece of the little puzzle. I've a lot of writing to do over the coming weeks, to fit around my hours in work. That's a good thing, though. I find that when I have something to do and somewhere to go, I start to value the time I have not in work that little bit more. I'm hoping to write a chapter or two of my current work in progress before work tomorrow, and hopefully one tonight. However, my main hope was to write something for tonight. I couldn't leave my blog to try fend for itself for another week.
This is all part of my commitment to something bigger, to keeping my creative works more consistent. It's helped, actually, having Burchard's book to work from. The "expert signposts" he includes in each chapter are helping me put to words the different things I need to learn or do or focus upon, and while it does mean I end up writing dozens of pages about different things, it's resulting in the helpful creation of resources to use in the future.
So, I'm basically positioning myself as an "expert", as he would put it, as a Messenger. We'll see how I actually work it all out in the different ways he suggests, but for the time being I'm writing books to work with all of this. I'm also working out a better publishing schedule for myself. It's the one thing I can say about books like this (though I haven't seen many books like this one): even if you don't achieve the same results you see printed in the book, there are results to be gained from doing the work.
And, if you can believe it, it's fun.
I'm genuinely enjoying doing this. I feel focused, I have ideas to work with, I'm getting things done, and I essentially had written permission to do something I enjoy for a living. (Well, we'll see if I "do it for a living", when things start playing out.) But for now, this is the way things'll be, while the drama rehearsals are on hold and I suddenly find myself with two more evenings a week than before, and for a long period of time. This is the sort of change I needed a long time ago, and I don't think it's too late to get started. I don't think it's ever too late to start doing something you love.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Options
You might recall my trouble sleeping the other night. I had some things on my mind. Part of it was to do with work (and my still only working weekends on minimum wage after six years in the place), and part of it was to do with September and its great big Nothingness. There's also a change in the house around then, and that's just one more thing to consider.
So, I re-wrote out my 'solutions' list, neatly, and put it away safely. I've addressed something new and exciting that came up today. And to further address the worries that September brings, I brainstormed my options.
Setting an online timer, I had three minutes to write down as many different things I could do that would affect both my work and September problems at the same time. While there's no direct need to leave the bookshop for most of the options, because most of them aren't instant-return, and don't require complete availability on my part, I did include that.
Don't get me wrong: I don't want to leave the bookshop. I just want to be able to do something more than weekends at such a low wage, and not feel like I need them more than they need me. In six years, the management haven't exactly made me feel as if I'm an essential and valued part of the team, which really sucks. It could just be me, now, at this point in my life, blowing it all out of proportion, but I don't think so. I don't even have keys to the shop, despite it being mentioned two or three times over the past couple of years that I should probably be given a set (which would make arranging hours easier, since I could open and close the shop if need be.)
So, with those niggling doubts over my value to the shop, I have my list. I need to type it up and make it official, but my options are now there in front of me.
I'll break it down for you. A lot of it involves writing in one way or another. One option is crafty. A couple are business-y. One's even a learning thing, just so I'm doing something in September (I was thinking one of those free online courses...in something.)
The value in this exercise is that, while life seems to be at an impasse, I can still make choices to change things. One thing's for certain though: I'll have to start setting an alarm and working every day at regular hours. My motivation has gone way down without structure to the day. Now I have lots of different options I can choose from. I know I'll probably get started on a couple of them sooner rather than later, too, because I can. They don't require me to do much aside from getting myself out of this chair. (Though, inevitably I'll have to return to the chair for the computer parts of these things.)
What I'm saying is, while the post-college blues might be setting in, I have a way out. I have many ways out, in fact, and I think it's about time I followed through on them.
So, I re-wrote out my 'solutions' list, neatly, and put it away safely. I've addressed something new and exciting that came up today. And to further address the worries that September brings, I brainstormed my options.
Setting an online timer, I had three minutes to write down as many different things I could do that would affect both my work and September problems at the same time. While there's no direct need to leave the bookshop for most of the options, because most of them aren't instant-return, and don't require complete availability on my part, I did include that.
Don't get me wrong: I don't want to leave the bookshop. I just want to be able to do something more than weekends at such a low wage, and not feel like I need them more than they need me. In six years, the management haven't exactly made me feel as if I'm an essential and valued part of the team, which really sucks. It could just be me, now, at this point in my life, blowing it all out of proportion, but I don't think so. I don't even have keys to the shop, despite it being mentioned two or three times over the past couple of years that I should probably be given a set (which would make arranging hours easier, since I could open and close the shop if need be.)
So, with those niggling doubts over my value to the shop, I have my list. I need to type it up and make it official, but my options are now there in front of me.
I'll break it down for you. A lot of it involves writing in one way or another. One option is crafty. A couple are business-y. One's even a learning thing, just so I'm doing something in September (I was thinking one of those free online courses...in something.)
The value in this exercise is that, while life seems to be at an impasse, I can still make choices to change things. One thing's for certain though: I'll have to start setting an alarm and working every day at regular hours. My motivation has gone way down without structure to the day. Now I have lots of different options I can choose from. I know I'll probably get started on a couple of them sooner rather than later, too, because I can. They don't require me to do much aside from getting myself out of this chair. (Though, inevitably I'll have to return to the chair for the computer parts of these things.)
What I'm saying is, while the post-college blues might be setting in, I have a way out. I have many ways out, in fact, and I think it's about time I followed through on them.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Day 27: Considerations
Today, something occurred to me: in focusing all my attention on writing the Modern Irish Myth books, they became something I didn't want to focus on. Which, you know, means that I wasn't getting anything done at all. It got to the point that thinking about writing The Blood of Leap was off-putting, rather than just requiring me to turn on my laptop and write. After all, that's what I do when I need to write a blog post (usually), so it's not that much effort. But actively disliking the idea of going to write the book?
No, I couldn't have it.
Writing is supposed to be fun. And I was enjoying writing the book, until a lot of different things came up that required my attention in one form or another. I don't believe in writing a book when it's not enjoyable. I purposely picked a topic for a my research paper that was both interesting in and of itself, and allowed me to look at interesting texts (translation: books, poems, songs, films and television shows - I rock at academia). It meant I wouldn't be put off writing it when I had to. (Even though I went into Major Procrastination Mode and didn't write it for a while.)
But I don't want to force myself to write a book in a bad mood knowing that focusing on it means I can't do anything else. This means two things are happening:
1. I'm going to take more time to write other things, not just the Modern Irish Myth books.
Let's look at this logically: I want to earn from writing. Fiction isn't exactly a goldmine for most writers. Focusing all of my writing time for the next few months on writing fiction means I probably won't make much money from it - one of my self-appointed parameters for success being to make a certain amount from writing generally speaking - unless I become a bestselling author - another parameter for writing success.
Add to this an interest in poetry, teaching, writing non-fiction, writing about writing, and writing other stories, and I've got a problem. If I focus entirely on the Modern Irish Myth books, not only am I less likely to find even minor success (the sort that makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere, but not necessarily the sort that makes me famous), I'm less likely to be happy writing.
Considering the amount of changes my life is going through at the moment, I don't think restricting my options is necessarily a good thing. I want to start freelancing seriously. I want to write more poetry. I want to rediscover a certain sense of self from writing. I want to write more about writing.
To manage this step more plausibly, I need to focus on Thing #2 to happen.
2. I'm revising the publication schedule for the books.
I had intended to release a book a month until the series is complete. This is a fast-track system to releasing eleven books in less than a year, which requires them to be written at a pace of at least one per month. Given my difficulty in focusing on the series with Big Ol' Life getting in the way, you might see the problem that might arise from this commitment. Unless I drive myself absolutely insane and risk hating the books as I write them in an effort to meet my previous writing schedule (to finish writing by October's end), a book a month means trying to focus all the way through various holidays and events, and assumes my employment situation will remain as disappointingly the same as it is now. (I know, lots of people want and need jobs, but a grand total of 10.6 hours' pay per week isn't exactly enviable.)
Reality check: I want to work more hours. I need to. Not because I want to be Stinking Rich, but because I want to do more with my life than work at the weekends in a shop, arrange lunches with friends every couple of weeks (if I'm lucky), read comic books and go to the cinema. I want to travel. I don't even intend on travelling extensively until I can get myself earning enough to justify the expense. I just want to be able to go on a trip out west, or to London, or go to the Edinburgh Arts Festival. Even these simple things are out of my price range.
From my point of view, that sucks. I'm out of college, but I have next-to-nothing to my name and I'm in no position to improve my life. It just feels like I'm getting dragged along by circumstance.
So, with all of that in mind, the new publication schedule - unless I find it as equally restrictive as the current one - is to release the books every two months. This means that The Blood of Leap is due for release in September, not August. It means that the twelve books will take me to March 2015, not May 2014. A longer wait for the finish, yes, but this has a couple of benefits.
Firstly, I'm under less pressure to write the books in a short period of time, which means I'm less inclined to dislike them. (Much less inclined, in fact.) As a result of that, I'll be able to write better books.
Secondly, I'll be able to write other books in the meantime, and work on other projects, without the pressure to release something new all the time. With the series to keep me going until 2015, I'll be able to get other projects ready for launch. I've even got a couple of stand-alone titles in mind, which may find their way into publication either during the publication cycle, or afterwords (with the latter projections bringing the final run of fourteen titles to September 2015.)
Thirdly, I won't be crowding the market with my own books. I'd be a bit overwhelmed with the selling thing if I was trying to promote the books so heavily all the time until March. Yes, I'll have to promote the books, but at least I won't feel like it's all I'm ever doing if the publication dates are set further apart, and it won't seem like I'm rushing the books into publication for the sake of it. (The truth of the matter is, they're short books, which I can write quickly when I get to writing them; it just wouldn't look that way from the outside.)
All that considered...
I'm calling a halt on my Camp NaNoWriMo intentions. Next week, I'm going to make plans to see a friend. On Monday or Tuesday, whichever is free earliest, I'm going to spend the day writing poetry (which will probably require major Facebook stalkerage for scenic photographs for inspiration). I plan on writing a lot of poems in the day. I'm hoping my brain can manage between 15 and 25 poems - even if they require a lot of editing afterwards - to try get the rush from creativity back. I think it'll be good for me.
Basically, I'm sick of being caught up in life and not doing anything with it. It's time to make a change.
No, I couldn't have it.
Writing is supposed to be fun. And I was enjoying writing the book, until a lot of different things came up that required my attention in one form or another. I don't believe in writing a book when it's not enjoyable. I purposely picked a topic for a my research paper that was both interesting in and of itself, and allowed me to look at interesting texts (translation: books, poems, songs, films and television shows - I rock at academia). It meant I wouldn't be put off writing it when I had to. (Even though I went into Major Procrastination Mode and didn't write it for a while.)
But I don't want to force myself to write a book in a bad mood knowing that focusing on it means I can't do anything else. This means two things are happening:
1. I'm going to take more time to write other things, not just the Modern Irish Myth books.
Let's look at this logically: I want to earn from writing. Fiction isn't exactly a goldmine for most writers. Focusing all of my writing time for the next few months on writing fiction means I probably won't make much money from it - one of my self-appointed parameters for success being to make a certain amount from writing generally speaking - unless I become a bestselling author - another parameter for writing success.
Add to this an interest in poetry, teaching, writing non-fiction, writing about writing, and writing other stories, and I've got a problem. If I focus entirely on the Modern Irish Myth books, not only am I less likely to find even minor success (the sort that makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere, but not necessarily the sort that makes me famous), I'm less likely to be happy writing.
Considering the amount of changes my life is going through at the moment, I don't think restricting my options is necessarily a good thing. I want to start freelancing seriously. I want to write more poetry. I want to rediscover a certain sense of self from writing. I want to write more about writing.
To manage this step more plausibly, I need to focus on Thing #2 to happen.
2. I'm revising the publication schedule for the books.
I had intended to release a book a month until the series is complete. This is a fast-track system to releasing eleven books in less than a year, which requires them to be written at a pace of at least one per month. Given my difficulty in focusing on the series with Big Ol' Life getting in the way, you might see the problem that might arise from this commitment. Unless I drive myself absolutely insane and risk hating the books as I write them in an effort to meet my previous writing schedule (to finish writing by October's end), a book a month means trying to focus all the way through various holidays and events, and assumes my employment situation will remain as disappointingly the same as it is now. (I know, lots of people want and need jobs, but a grand total of 10.6 hours' pay per week isn't exactly enviable.)
Reality check: I want to work more hours. I need to. Not because I want to be Stinking Rich, but because I want to do more with my life than work at the weekends in a shop, arrange lunches with friends every couple of weeks (if I'm lucky), read comic books and go to the cinema. I want to travel. I don't even intend on travelling extensively until I can get myself earning enough to justify the expense. I just want to be able to go on a trip out west, or to London, or go to the Edinburgh Arts Festival. Even these simple things are out of my price range.
From my point of view, that sucks. I'm out of college, but I have next-to-nothing to my name and I'm in no position to improve my life. It just feels like I'm getting dragged along by circumstance.
So, with all of that in mind, the new publication schedule - unless I find it as equally restrictive as the current one - is to release the books every two months. This means that The Blood of Leap is due for release in September, not August. It means that the twelve books will take me to March 2015, not May 2014. A longer wait for the finish, yes, but this has a couple of benefits.
Firstly, I'm under less pressure to write the books in a short period of time, which means I'm less inclined to dislike them. (Much less inclined, in fact.) As a result of that, I'll be able to write better books.
Secondly, I'll be able to write other books in the meantime, and work on other projects, without the pressure to release something new all the time. With the series to keep me going until 2015, I'll be able to get other projects ready for launch. I've even got a couple of stand-alone titles in mind, which may find their way into publication either during the publication cycle, or afterwords (with the latter projections bringing the final run of fourteen titles to September 2015.)
Thirdly, I won't be crowding the market with my own books. I'd be a bit overwhelmed with the selling thing if I was trying to promote the books so heavily all the time until March. Yes, I'll have to promote the books, but at least I won't feel like it's all I'm ever doing if the publication dates are set further apart, and it won't seem like I'm rushing the books into publication for the sake of it. (The truth of the matter is, they're short books, which I can write quickly when I get to writing them; it just wouldn't look that way from the outside.)
All that considered...
I'm calling a halt on my Camp NaNoWriMo intentions. Next week, I'm going to make plans to see a friend. On Monday or Tuesday, whichever is free earliest, I'm going to spend the day writing poetry (which will probably require major Facebook stalkerage for scenic photographs for inspiration). I plan on writing a lot of poems in the day. I'm hoping my brain can manage between 15 and 25 poems - even if they require a lot of editing afterwards - to try get the rush from creativity back. I think it'll be good for me.
Basically, I'm sick of being caught up in life and not doing anything with it. It's time to make a change.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Day 12: The Day That Disappeared
A few things happened today, and in the interest of writing once this is done, I'll keep this post short. Most significantly, though: I can't really figure out where the time went today, but it wasn't spent writing.
I woke up late. That always sucks.
I ate breakfast, I had tea, I played Skyrim briefly before a lunch-time dinner. And then I draw a blank.
Actually, that's not entirely true. I planned a couple of things, neither of which were stories. One is a budget that needs regular updating. I'm going to stick to it rigidly. Weird as it sounds, I'd like to be prepared for Christmas this year. And I want to go to London at some point, too, so I'll need money for that.
The other thing was a list, a schedule. I have a lot of books on business and personal development, and I've decided that from Monday onwards I'm going to start reading them, a chapter a day. I'll make notes, I'll do the tasks the books set, and I'll ensure I educate myself in a few different areas.
I also let some ideas wander around in my head, one of which is for a book, the other of which is for a kind of business-y project. I still need to work out the details on each, though they're looking to be fun. I have a feeling, based on my projections for writing, that I'll be able to write the book in January. That may also be when I get to start with the other project, unless I work a lot quicker at it than I originally intend. (That's probably what's going to happen, once I get myself back on track again.)
In short, though I can't really recall doing much today, I seem to have made long-term plans for finance, reading, writing and working. And the heat has kicked my ass again, today, making me sleepy already. Tonight's target: 1,000 words.
I woke up late. That always sucks.
I ate breakfast, I had tea, I played Skyrim briefly before a lunch-time dinner. And then I draw a blank.
Actually, that's not entirely true. I planned a couple of things, neither of which were stories. One is a budget that needs regular updating. I'm going to stick to it rigidly. Weird as it sounds, I'd like to be prepared for Christmas this year. And I want to go to London at some point, too, so I'll need money for that.
The other thing was a list, a schedule. I have a lot of books on business and personal development, and I've decided that from Monday onwards I'm going to start reading them, a chapter a day. I'll make notes, I'll do the tasks the books set, and I'll ensure I educate myself in a few different areas.
I also let some ideas wander around in my head, one of which is for a book, the other of which is for a kind of business-y project. I still need to work out the details on each, though they're looking to be fun. I have a feeling, based on my projections for writing, that I'll be able to write the book in January. That may also be when I get to start with the other project, unless I work a lot quicker at it than I originally intend. (That's probably what's going to happen, once I get myself back on track again.)
In short, though I can't really recall doing much today, I seem to have made long-term plans for finance, reading, writing and working. And the heat has kicked my ass again, today, making me sleepy already. Tonight's target: 1,000 words.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Day 7: Family Things
While I didn't reach my word count target for today, I'm not actually that fussed. In the morning, my family spent time together over breakfast, and when I got home from work, we spent time together again. I've still completed a chapter, and I've gotten over 1,100 words written for the day. It's not 2,000, and I'm not caught up, but I have a plan.
This might involve not really talking to people much tomorrow. Such is life. But here goes:
Wake at eight. Immediately shower, have breakfast, and do all those sorts of things that can hinder a day.
At twenty to nine, I write for fifty minutes, roughly. My target: 800 words.
Every hour for the next three hours, I have a target of 950 words. By lunch time, I'll have over 3600 words written for the day.
At half twelve, I record the audio track for the trailer. I'm giving myself half an hour to do this. I'll probably edit out the hiss of the microphone and the sounds of breathing while I'm at it.
I'll then take a forty minute break, for lunch.
The next fifty minutes, I'll have another target of 800 words. Every hour following, until half four, I'll have a target of 950 words. By the end of that, I should have 6350 words added to my total, which should be more than enough to complete the book. I'll be trying to avoid the Internet in all of this time, but I'll probably pop in to tweet whether I've reached word count targets.
At half four, I'll blog about the day. When I'm done, I'll be leaving for dinner with friends from secondary school to celebrate us all having completed exams. I don't know when I'll be home.
I think it's a fairly good plan, and it'll see me not only catching up on Camp NaNoWriMo, it should ensure The Hounds of Hell sees its completion. This means I can start The Blood of Leap a day early, which takes the pressure off when Tuesday comes around. I'll need to do a fair bit of artwork, then, so I don't really want any delays.
Basically, with my plan tomorrow, I can win at life a bit.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A Writing Schedule
College is coming to an end. Once exams are over, unless I find myself a full-time job, there'll be no more timetable controlling my life. Weird, right? No more lectures, no more designated lunch times, no more designated breaks in the year that I grew so accustomed to, that became part of my annual cycle.
Today, I was looking through different publications and writing competitions, and a thought occurred to me: a whole year could be planned out to respond to every single call for submissions, every opportunity to enter a competition, every poetry night and book signing and reading, weekly meet-ups with other writers...
The list could go on.
Realistically speaking, if I'm not employed the moment I leave college (and that's not speaking realistically), I could set up my own writing schedule, to follow the written word through the week.
An evening a week could go to talking to other writers online (Google has made that very easy to do; we don't even have to leave the comfort of our own homes). This evening, maybe two or three hours, could be used to talk about stories and books and poems in the works. It would, in essence, be a Feedback Forum, like in college, and the easiest thing in the world to do.
Saturday night seems to be poetry night. At least, so far it has been. Let's say I find something every week. That's another evening gone to writing, to performance poetry. That's an evening well spent, in my mind.
Book signings and readings are less frequent, but it's possible to keep track of them. Twitter helps with that, and Google, and simply looking up bookshops online. Many list the upcoming events for the month ahead. Or visit author websites and see if/when they're on tour, and if it's possible to make an event. The Dublin Writers Festival is coming again soon. That's just one season of events that hits during the summer months.
Realistically, we're looking at three evenings/afternoons taken up with these events, per week. What about the mornings?
Once a week, I could search websites and Twitter for calls for submissions, for competitions. Make up a list, cross out anything that's not suitable or that doesn't interest me. See what's left. A couple of hours per day, respond to these items. Simple, right? In theory.
Say I have four more hours to write, without really pushing myself. Two hours for Fiction, two for Non-Fiction. I always have something to write.
Still a couple of hours left. More if I don't have an event that evening. Write a blog post. Record a video. Track sales figures. Contact authors. There's always some small job that needs doing, right? Graphs to make, tweets to send.
But that's a good point: what do I do about social media while doing all of these things? Silence? Auto-tweeting is an option. It's not ideal. It can be very annoying, especially if it's the same things being posted all the time, with no interjections from the tweeter. Worse still if it's just links. That always annoys me. But I could tweet interesting quotations. And short poems. Imagine spending an hour a day writing short poems and haiku for tweeting throughout the rest of the day. Maybe even writing enough for the week. It doesn't have to be automated, either, if I'm home and on the laptop.
I have become convinced, in writing this, that it's entirely possible. Is it a good idea?
I would say yes. Not only would it mean writing a lot every day, it would mean having some structure in my day. I wouldn't just be sitting at home doing nothing, especially not if I gave myself tasks to do every day. It means that when I enter full-time employment, it won't be a culture shock to have to do work between the hours of 9 and 5, and likely beyond.
I've even gotten the ball rolling on the publications. I have a list in a group on Facebook that I'm updating at the moment, making it longer and helpful to more people than just the poets.
So... I think I'm setting myself up for a life of writing. Once the Dreaded Exams are out of the way, I won't have much left to fear. I'll actually be in a position to decide what I want to do with my time, whether or not I find employment (aside from the bookshop). Suddenly, life doesn't look so terrifying.
Today, I was looking through different publications and writing competitions, and a thought occurred to me: a whole year could be planned out to respond to every single call for submissions, every opportunity to enter a competition, every poetry night and book signing and reading, weekly meet-ups with other writers...
The list could go on.
Realistically speaking, if I'm not employed the moment I leave college (and that's not speaking realistically), I could set up my own writing schedule, to follow the written word through the week.
An evening a week could go to talking to other writers online (Google has made that very easy to do; we don't even have to leave the comfort of our own homes). This evening, maybe two or three hours, could be used to talk about stories and books and poems in the works. It would, in essence, be a Feedback Forum, like in college, and the easiest thing in the world to do.
Saturday night seems to be poetry night. At least, so far it has been. Let's say I find something every week. That's another evening gone to writing, to performance poetry. That's an evening well spent, in my mind.
Book signings and readings are less frequent, but it's possible to keep track of them. Twitter helps with that, and Google, and simply looking up bookshops online. Many list the upcoming events for the month ahead. Or visit author websites and see if/when they're on tour, and if it's possible to make an event. The Dublin Writers Festival is coming again soon. That's just one season of events that hits during the summer months.
Realistically, we're looking at three evenings/afternoons taken up with these events, per week. What about the mornings?
Once a week, I could search websites and Twitter for calls for submissions, for competitions. Make up a list, cross out anything that's not suitable or that doesn't interest me. See what's left. A couple of hours per day, respond to these items. Simple, right? In theory.
Say I have four more hours to write, without really pushing myself. Two hours for Fiction, two for Non-Fiction. I always have something to write.
Still a couple of hours left. More if I don't have an event that evening. Write a blog post. Record a video. Track sales figures. Contact authors. There's always some small job that needs doing, right? Graphs to make, tweets to send.
But that's a good point: what do I do about social media while doing all of these things? Silence? Auto-tweeting is an option. It's not ideal. It can be very annoying, especially if it's the same things being posted all the time, with no interjections from the tweeter. Worse still if it's just links. That always annoys me. But I could tweet interesting quotations. And short poems. Imagine spending an hour a day writing short poems and haiku for tweeting throughout the rest of the day. Maybe even writing enough for the week. It doesn't have to be automated, either, if I'm home and on the laptop.
I have become convinced, in writing this, that it's entirely possible. Is it a good idea?
I would say yes. Not only would it mean writing a lot every day, it would mean having some structure in my day. I wouldn't just be sitting at home doing nothing, especially not if I gave myself tasks to do every day. It means that when I enter full-time employment, it won't be a culture shock to have to do work between the hours of 9 and 5, and likely beyond.
I've even gotten the ball rolling on the publications. I have a list in a group on Facebook that I'm updating at the moment, making it longer and helpful to more people than just the poets.
So... I think I'm setting myself up for a life of writing. Once the Dreaded Exams are out of the way, I won't have much left to fear. I'll actually be in a position to decide what I want to do with my time, whether or not I find employment (aside from the bookshop). Suddenly, life doesn't look so terrifying.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Without Time
I had great intentions to set myself up with a running schedule. I mentioned that, last time, I would like to post a Friday Flash story, and a poem on Wednesdays, and a blog on Mondays. While I did manage to get the poem posted onto YouTube - which was a new and fun experience for me - I didn't get to write the flash story.
This was, by and large, because I didn't actually have the time when everything else was taken into consideration. I imagination I'll have a similiar problem again this Friday, though I don't have an entire Comedy Journal to do for college. I just find that when I don't have the idea already in my head, coming up with the whole flash story on the day is a bit...tiring. Attempting to write the whole story from scratch within an hour, then, is nearly impossible. I had started writing one, and one I would have enjoyed if I had gotten it down in my head properly, but I started off wrong and it only got worse.
Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll get to write a story this week. That would be nice, if it can be done. We'll see, sure.
In the meantime, I can at least do the work I need to that would keep everything else in check. By that, I mean get another poem up on YouTube. I might write a new one, just for that, or work from a backlist of poems I have that I'm happy with. I'll have to see how much time I actually have to do that.
As it is, I had wanted to do a video for Project For Awesome (P4A) this year, but didn't get a chance. With the full time hours I currently have in work and all the business of Christmas to deal with, getting to do much else is difficult (especially when I'm also doing the last bit of college work that needs doing before Christmas!).
I'm hoping this isn't the way things will always be. Actually, I know it's not. When I'm only doing the one thing - working or college - I can manage fine. Right now, I'm attempting the full time hours and the college work that needs to be done. So, I'm without the extra time I need to do everything else I want to do, and still talk to my family.
Anyway, this has just been my long winded explanation as to why (a) I didn't have a flash story up on Friday and (b) why I didn't get to make a P4A video. With a couple of days off ahead of me, maybe I'll get to sort out a few of the things that have been on my mind lately. I'll be a busy boy, that's for sure!
Monday, December 10, 2012
Working Through Christmas
As of last Friday, I've been on my Christmas holidays from college. In previous years, this has meant a month off, usually getting to relax, watch too many movies and a whole season of a TV show, or something to that effect. This year, I'm the most available part-timer in the bookshop, so I've been given a lot of hours. There are some pros and cons to this. Obvious pros include keeping myself in a rhythm and not having to re-adjust my sleep pattern come January, and actually having money after buying Christmas presents.
The cons include losing any chance to have a "lie in", and not being able to do other work that might appeal to me at this time of the year.
I don't think I can really complain. I can grumble, and I will, because it won't feel like Christmas is coming for a very long time, but all in all I'm happy to have a lot of hours. Truth be told, it'll be better for me than if I were just staying at home 4-5 days of the week for a month. I remember what that was like in the summer months. By and large, the productivity levels dropped to a standstill after a week or so. Now, I'll value all the time I have off.
I had wanted to use that time in specific ways, but there have been some delays with my teaching placement material. I'm hoping that can all be resolved shortly, so I don't have to worry and I can just get on with the extra curricular work I want to do.
Part of that includes writing the sequel to Balor Reborn, because it's been a long time coming. However, I can make no guarantees on that front. It's likely it'll take a longer period of time to produce the finished book than it took me to write Balor Reborn, because I had a lot more time to work with in July. Not to worry. It's on the list, and that's what matters.
It's also alongside a number of other projects, including an attempt to share more poetry. Taking a page from my own (e)book - Writing Gifts on a Shoestring - I'll be taking some initiative and sharing some poems that were written for fun. I'll probably use the same method on pre-existing poems on my website, just to get them all shared in a similar manner, but then the rest will be rarely seen pieces. It'll be a bit of craic, anyway.
In the meantime, though, I have to write a comedy journal. It's college work like that that have prevented me from updating this blog in a while. That, and Drama. In the space of a month, I wrote and directed a nativity play, falling into what I hope to be a series of plays surrounding The Jerry Davidson Show, in which all manner of overtly religious individuals from the Bible appear on his show to solve their relationship problems. It was a hoot, but time consuming, and not something I'd advise anyone else to do in their final year of college!
Anyway, this blog post is part of what I hope to make a schedule from. Monday: blog post. Wednesday: poem. Friday: flash story. If I can't produce three items per week, there's something wrong. I'm also hoping that, time allowing, I'll be able to add an article to my website every weekend, too. That'll be decided by how much time and energy I have at the end of the college week. With teaching placement in January, and full time hours in the bookshop before that, too, it's not likely I'll get a start on that until February. We'll see, anyway.
What about you? How are you getting yourself to write more?
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