Decisions, Decisions... And Cats

So, I've been thinking a lot about how I spend my time, including how I spend my writing time. This includes writing up blog posts for Born to Write, of course.

When I started this blog back in 2003 (has it really been over 15 years? - holy cripes), my main goal was to just write what was on my mind. I didn't really have any structure. It was a bit of a way to vent and get things off my chest, and simply enjoy typing things that the world may or may not read. I was also pretty darn pessimistic back then, but that's a topic for another blog post (one which I likely won't write - lol).

After a while, I realized this venting wasn't enough, that I needed more structure to my posts. I mean, no one wants to listen to me whine constantly, right?

Unfortunately, as I've been shifting and changing and streamlining posts over the years, part of that blogging simply for fun and a kind of release was lost along the way. Not all of it, of course. But with the need to have more structure, I knew I had to be on a better schedule with blog posts. And there in lies the unfunness (which is not a word, I know, but I'm using it anyway, and it looks silly, too).

I've clearly gone back and forth with how often I've been blogging. I tried the once a week thing, but I definitely realized my time right now can't sustain that. Even every other week, though, can be a struggle. It takes me anywhere from 30-60 minutes per blog post, usually somewhere in the middle. In the grand scheme of things, that doesn't sound like a lot of time. However, is it time well spent?

Fall is approaching, and in less than a month both of my kids will be in school full-time. This means I'll have more time available to write because the little distractions will be distracting their teachers instead. And what should I be doing during that time? Working on things to move my writing career forward. The main things that do that are, of course, drafting, revising, and editing.

There will always be other writing tasks that should be tended to aside from those three things, but I think it's time for me to reassess what is and isn't a valuable use of my time.

Which means I'm taking a closer look at writing blog posts. Is the time I spend doing this worth it? I'm clearly not doing it right now simply because I'm having fun, since the schedule puts a major damper on that. So, if I'm not having fun (this is an important thing in evaluating my time - fun is necessary for me to unwind, and I need to make sure I fit it into my days lest my brain completely break down), what then is the benefit of writing blog posts?

That's what I'm asking myself right now. And you can help me figure it out a little, too. There's a big purple box off to the left. It's a simple poll - one question. And I'd like to know how often you like seeing my blog posts. Because part of this blog is to also offer content to people for their enjoyment. If enough people are reading and want to continue reading, then I'll put blogging in the Worth My Time category. On the other hand, if no one responds to the poll at all, I'll know it should go into the Only Worth My Time If Having Fun category.

If you can't see the purple box for some reason, here's the direct link: How Often Should I Post On My Blog? The poll will be available until the end of the month.

Also, if blogging ends up in the latter category, this doesn't mean I'm going to close up shop altogether. I'll likely post less often, though, on no set schedule. Which will get rid of that unfunness. I do enjoy writing up many of my posts, it's just feeling the pressure to make sure I'm posting on a set schedule that can get a bit cumbersome.

I definitely know I need to be writing more! More writing = more books for everyone to read.

Oh, wait, that's not the end of the post. I did mention cats in the title, didn't I? OK, I'll leave you with some pictures of the Trio of Terror over the last year. Enjoy the kitties!

Goodbye 2015, and Hello 2016!

Wow. What a year 2015 has been. I laid out a plan for myself back in April, and I think things are coming along rather nicely. Of course, I'm not even halfway through the Baker's Dozen Experiment, and completing that will be my main goal for 2016.

So far, I've published 3 items, a total of 5 short stories in those publications. I've also posted 21 chapters of Chains of Nect to Wattpad and my blog. Here's hoping I can keep the momentum going through the next year.

Of course, I had to sit down and reassess some things. The Baker's Dozen Experiment will continue, however, I've decided to pause my progress and posts on Chains of Nect. I have other projects that I feel need to be moved to the forefront, especially since my reception on Wattpad hasn't been strong. This doesn't mean I'm not willing to change my mind, if enough people request for me to continue Chains of Nect. Feel free to post here or use my contact form to request I continue it sooner rather than later. If enough people ask for it, I'll definitely shift things around!

I will have one final chapter of Chains of Nect that will be posted to Wattpad on January 1, and subsequently posted to my blog on January 6.

Aside from that change, here are some highlights of my goals for 2016:

❧ Publish 9 more short stories for the Baker's Dozen Experiment
❧ Publish my novel Mind Behind the Mind to finish off the Baker's Dozen Experiment
❧ Complete a revision of Dead As Dreams
❧ Write a Fractured Fairies Christmas story for next December
❧ Start writing Thorns Entwine the Blade, the sequel to Mind Behind the Mind
❧ Draft 2-3 other short stories
❧ Find some beta readers for the Mind sequels (if you're interested please contact me for more info - you do not need to be a writer to be a beta reader!)
❧ Blog once per week - stay tuned for The Adventures of Karriya the Wizard!
❧ Continue critiquing, participate more in Broad Universe and on Kboards
❧ Read, read, and read - I'd be happy to take any recommendations

So, here's hoping 2016 is as productive as 2015. May the toddler be an angel, the eldest child not whine, and the kittens become fat, lazy non-tree climbing cats. Oh, and the house self-clean itself. Too much to ask for? Nah, I don't think so (as I listen to the toddler freaking out at her older sister).

Also, if you're a writer who would like some camaraderie while working toward monthly goals, please join us in the Writing Quest group on Facebook. I'm now running it as a group instead of separate monthly events, and anyone is welcome to join!

I hope everyone has a happy start to 2016. What are your hopes and dreams for the year to come?

Rolling Into 2015

Oh, here it comes...my annual goals post! It wouldn't be a new year without one. ;)

Looking back at 2014 briefly, I'm at least happy to see that I've made progress. I'm through Ch. 24 on my first revision of Dead As Dreams. Nice progress for someone chasing around a 1-year-old all day, dealing with the needs of a 6-year-old, attempting to give attention to a husband, and making sure the house doesn't fall down around all of us (I'm not sure how successful I've been on that last one - something always suffers - ha). Along with revisions, I wrote a few chapters on a new novel, got back into the swing of critiquing, and re-did my website. Go, me!

I'm hoping I can keep up the momentum for 2015. And yes, I do have my 2015 One-Year Plan drawn up. Here are the highlights:

❧ 5-10 Writing Related Hours Per Week (this is a lot while tending to that aforementioned 1-year-old, honest - more hours per week as she gets older)
❧ Read 3 Hours Per Week
❧ Complete 1st Revision of Dead As Dreams by July 31, 2015
❧ Complete through Ch. 27 2nd Revision of Dead As Dreams by December 31, 2015
❧ Synopsis of Dead As Dreams
❧ 10,000 to 20,000 Words Added to Another Novel
❧ Edit and Revise Current Completed Short Stories
❧ Complete 3-4 Short Story Rough Drafts
❧ Keep Short Stories in Slush Piles
❧ Indie Pub 2-3 Short Stories by Year's End
❧ Add 1 Part to 1 Ongoing Story on Wattpad Per Month
❧ Keep Critiquing
❧ Blog Once Per Week

Not too crazy of a list, I hope. I've mostly been hitting my monthly goals lately, so I'm confident I can manage most of the above. I'll try to do a rejections gathered tally when I do occasional updates here - I want to see how high I can get!

I'll of course still be running Writing Quest. January is already up! Come join us if you have some writing goals of your own.

What are your hopes and dreams for 2015?

NEXT UP: Lavender Legacy - Ch. 4

Happy 2014!

I really did want to update in December, but two more struggles with mastitis made things difficult (I am still finishing antibiotics from the last case). My Little Green Girl will be two months old this Sunday. It hasn't been easy, but I can tell as the days pass, her fussiness fades a bit more. I see enough smiles now from her to lighten my heart and make me more optimistic that I'll be able to write more soon (and that these darn infections will stop). I can't be too hard on myself, as even writers deserve a bit of maternity leave, no?

Perhaps it's the new year that has me more optimistic and less anxious. I always love the feel of a clean slate when one year ends and another begins. Of course a new year brings new goals, including writing goals. And I always have new goals at the beginning of each year!

Right now, I'm going to enjoy the next month with my newborn and focus on getting and staying healthy. Though, I hope to write a scene for Seeker of Dreams that just wants out. Writing even a little helps keep the writing gears oiled. Last month I finished writing my pregnancy journal--all writing counts!

Come February though, when Mama's Little Green Girl is three months old, I'll be picking up the pace again, at least on weekends, while my sweet husband wrangles the two kids. Right now, there is no rush to complete something. A little at a time will show progress. That might change if I'm offered a contract, of course. Then things will need to go a little faster instead of a slower easing in, and well, frankly, the housework can just suffer if something as wonderful as that happens.

Speaking of contracts...the last update on the Harper Voyager website stated that they are down to 295 manuscripts. I have yet to receive a rejection, so I assume The Mind Behind the Mind is still being considered! I feel privileged to have made it to the final round, and it will be the final round. I should know one way or another by the end of the month. My fingers and toes are crossed, and if I am offered a contract, all other writing plans will probably go out the window since I'll be elbow deep in edits on The Mind Behind the Mind. If I could only be so lucky. ;)

However, since that is still up in the air, my main focus starting in February will be revisions on Dead As Dreams. I'm also hoping to write and revise another handful of short stories, maybe even indie publish a couple by the end of the year. "Dancing in the Wind" needs some company. Oh, and I plan to blog twice per month at least.

Ah, that's enough about my current tribulations and my plans for the year.

What goals do you have for 2014?

NEXT UP: Write What You Know

October = Break Time!

A day late and a dollar short? Sorry for the delay. My daughter had a field trip early this morning, and I didn't want to stay up late to post last night!

Anyway, as seen from the last post, I'm still in a bit of a funk. I honestly think that the weather is affecting me more than usual even. The winter blues have pounced on me and they are digging their claws in! Therefore, I think I at least need a bit of a blogging break. Only for a couple weeks. I will probably have two more posts this month, then if I do NaNoWriMo, I'll likely be posting frequently in November.

That doesn't mean I'm not going to write. I'm through Chapter 4 for revisions on Dead As Dreams. I hope to revise at least another 10 Chapters, but we'll see how the month goes. I need to get my head and house in order so I'm not worrying about a million other things when I write. Maybe it's time to start meditating again (although if I try that, I may just fall asleep instead).

The Mind Behind the Mind received another rejection, and I hope to send it off to the Harper Voyager open submissions call in the next few days. I also received another short story rejection, so I have a few short stories to push out into slush piles again. One I may need to edit first though. =)

Speaking of short stories, I will be editing and formatting "Dancing in the Wind" and placing it up on Amazon for sale (may also go up on B&N and Smashwords) later this month. I need to finish the cover art for it, and I'm waiting on a friend to help out with some nice art. My initial goal is the 15th, but definitely by the 25th, as long as I get the artwork! I can always change the cover I guess if the art is delayed.

So, that's really what I have on my writing plate. I just need to keep plugging along. The two posts I hope to write up this month will likely be a contribution to Science Fiction & Fantasy Saturday with an excerpt from "Dancing in the Wind" and then on Halloween I'll have another Magic is Reality, Reality is Magic entry talking about Samhain--the first sabbat (holiday) in the Wheel of the Year!

Don't forget about Writing Quest - October!

NEXT UP: Only two more posts in October--one for SFFS (date to be determined) and the other will be a post about Samhain on Halloween!

Dizzy

Seems I brought back an unwanted souvenir from New Orleans. I have a nasty cold and a fever (my husband didn't escape from the sickness this time either).

So, I will have to delay my intended post on what I actually did in New Orleans until next week. Apologies, but I fear if I attempted to put a post together in my feverish state, I'd just embarrass myself, and I do that quite enough normally. :p

NEXT UP: Really, honestly, seriously my post on my New Orleans trip. With pictures!

There And Back Again

OK, so I have The Hobbit on the brain, but I DID just have to read that book again, so that's a good enough reason for me. =)

I usually write up my yearly post closer to January 1, but this year I have been a bit delayed. I've been thinking a lot about 2011 and how fast it flew by. It zoomed by so fast that I hardly got anything done that I had intended. To me, this means I'm doing something wrong.

Perhaps I'm expecting too much of myself, perhaps I have too much on my to do lists and when I falter even just a little it drags me down and I feel like any of it is impossible. Or maybe I just need to find the right motivation to propel me forward. Even with raising a toddler, dealing with sickness, and managing my M.F.A. classes, I know I should be able to progress with my writing at a better rate than I have been.

And because of all these thoughts, I think I need to take a lesson from FlyLady.net I am a fluttering FlyBaby attempting to get my house in order as well as my writing. One of the big things FlyLady encourages is Baby Steps. Don't pile it all on, do a little at a time, and slowly add things in until they become habits.

I need to make my writing time into a habit, and to do that I need to start small. My main goal for my Writing Term project in my M.F.A. program is getting on a consistent writing schedule. THAT is my SINGLE goal for the year. This means writing every day, even if it is just 100 words.

And since I definitely need to take Baby Steps, I need to work on one habit at a time, and cut back on other things. This includes blogging.

I have made the decision to cut down (for now) on how often I blog. The writing has to come first - I need to start producing more instead of having novels linger for nearly a decade before a rough draft is done. I'm not going to set a blogging schedule for at least the first six months of the year. I'll blog when I find slivers of time, when I have a link or two to share, when I possibly have some essays from my classes to post, and if anyone decides they want to do a guest blog.

I do hope to start taking part in SFFS (Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday) some time soon (not this week yet, though), but I don't know how often I will participate.

I do hope that those of you who have enjoyed visiting my blog will still hang in there with me, even though there won't be as much content as there was in 2011.

So, I am ditching all the disappointments of 2011, and I am taking Baby Steps in 2012:

WRITE EVERY DAY

Eventually I'll get back to blogging every week, but I'm not going to rush myself or set a date.

Good luck to everyone with their goals and resolutions for 2012. Happy writing!

And don't forget to visit my Facebook Page and join in on Writing Quest if you dare - I will still be running it each month. There's an ambitious list of goals from many people for Writing Quest - January already!

Sick and Tired

OK, sick and tired is one of those phrases that can sometimes be seen as hyperbole, one of those phrases people use to say they are just annoyed with a certain situation.

Unfortunately for me, it's a literal meaning. I have been pretty darn sick all week, so much so that I have been unable to sleep much all week. I was quite lucky to just type the previous sentences and have them make sense. Do they make sense? Maybe only to my sleep-deprived brain and illness-addled mind.

So, I am going to be skipping another week of a blog post with some type of content that doesn't include me whining about my life or making excuses.

This has also made me realize that I may need to step back and take a look at what I've been doing on my blog. Life is crazy, and I need to schedule things better and plan ahead. I'm not even sure if any of my posts have been interesting to the few readers that I have (no one comments - ha!). Also, over the next six months, I will have a heavy load of classes, which will strain my time even more.

What do all of these thoughts mean?

I'm going to take a few days to chew over things. My blog will NOT be disappearing, that is a given, but I might be posting less, at least for a while. I know that means I will be in danger of losing the few readers I do have, but I think I may have to take that risk or lose my sanity (I mean, it's hanging by a thread to begin with!).

There will be no blog posts about Once Upon A Time for now, since I am so behind on episodes and people usually like reviews shortly after the episodes air. Perhaps I will review another episode down the line, but no promises (same with Grimm).

My next post will be my yearly goals and a look back at 2011, and I hope to write that up next week, when I also decide on the direction and time commitment I will be taking with this blog. I am open to any comments and suggestions as well.

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and manages to stay healthier than I have been! Happy writing. <3