A Satisfying End to 2023

Happy New Year.

I'm getting this post out a few hours later than usual because I spent New Year's Eve refining and submitting an anthology of my short stories - with a Dec. 31 deadline. I'd been thinking of creating an anthology for a long time, but didn't realize I had more than enough stories to do so. Once I sent it off, I stayed up until morning working on copyrighting stories that hadn't been yet. As I was doing that, I realized I wanted to swap out one of the stories for one that hadn't made it into the manuscript. Since it's already submitted, that's not an immediate option, but I've made a note for pre-publication. Whether or not that publisher takes the book, their deadline got me to pull it together - a satisfying end to 2023.

Looking back, I accomplished quite a bit this year:

1. I helped my son move twice - first from near me to about ten hours away, then a little closer (but not much). At least he's near his brother now, so I can visit both at the same time. It's only one long day's drive.

2. I put my place up for sale, thinking there was nothing to tie me here, looking at real houses and applying for jobs back in NY. After a few months in a sluggish market, I decided to settle in and make the place mine. I painted the roof with insulating paint and remodeled the sunroom.

3. Meanwhile, I got books and screenplays into contests and kept several short stories submitted at all times. The screenplays don't announce winners until sometime in the next couple months, but Tough Times made it to the finals in the YA category of Kindle Book Awards. The anthology decision will be announced later this summer.

4. I also updated my website, and then got this blog going twice a week and linked it to Facebook and Instagram. I even "boosted" a couple Facebook posts. First steps on the way to improved marketing.

5. I found a critique group online that's helping me with a novel I first wrote in 1981 - I'm aging the characters and making it more contemporary.

6. I started going to a local writer's group and unintentionally became the leader - though I've drafted an executive committee to assist.

7. My income improved primarily through writing gigs, a few editing gigs, and teaching an online reading/writing course for the community college as an adjunct - and developing another course for them. Royalties still trickle in as much as can be expected with virtually no marketing.

So, looking back:The first two items above were unexpected and demanded focus for months - and they were not part of my 2023 plan. Neither was taking charge of a writer's group, which is time-intensive. Seeing the request for anthology manuscripts was a December gift that spurred action on something from the back burner.

Lesson learned: whatever I plan, however I prioritize today, expect to adapt.

A New Year – 2019

I’ll be back to short stories next week, but a year ago I was blogging primarily for writers, talking about reasonable expectations, looking back, motivational boards, and planning. I was on a roll, getting things done.

On my About page, I’ve just posted an update describing my second half of 2018. Where writing is concerned, I got off track, stopped using my spreadsheet to plan each week, changed direction ineffectively, didn’t achieve my primary goal, didn’t get my new book out . . . lots of negatives. My accountability partner and I both moved this year and fell out of the habit of weekly planning together, but the last two weeks we’ve gotten back into it, using our spreadsheets to plan and track progress. I’m trying to have reasonable expectations for the 168 hours in each week, leaving time for sleep and other basic human stuff.

accomplishments for the year, making a new plan, and creating a new motivational board. I didn’t really want to do it this year, with all those negatives, but I did. My list of accomplishments did not include my writing goal for the year. However, I did make a respectable amount for writing, editing, and formatting work – considering the time put into those activities. I did keep this blog going, even when I was on the road for months. The switch to free fiction feels right, and there are more followers each week. I attended the RWA conference in Denver, which got me off track when I pitched Peg’s Story, but I attended many informative sessions and expanded my network. Seeing what I’d done right perked me up and got me planning for the new year.

Previous years, I just had one page of large print, listing things I wanted to accomplish during the year ahead – something to keep posted on my wall to stay focused. Last year, I got fancier. I had one main writing goal with three objectives that would help me reach it, then steps to reach each objective and actions to reach each objective. In fine print it fit on one page with narrow margins. It was overwhelming. This year, I’ve gone back to larger print on that one page. My goal is a dollar amount for the year. I have five potential avenues for achieving that goal, so I listed all five. Of course I came up with ideas for each area, and I did pop them into the list (so I wouldn’t lose them), but it’s not nearly as rigidly picayune as last year’s. To make it less intimidating, I color coded the print: first, second, third, and later priorities. Anything like this blog that’s done regularly is highlighted. The red items are the priority for the first weeks of January.

My motivating phrase for 2018 was “Keep Paddling”. Well, the board got packed up at the end of June and kept in a storage unit with most of my things – and my motivation, direction, and drive floundered. Having no set work space didn’t help. I just pulled it out from under the tarp where many of my belongings await a place in my new digs. I’ll keep it leaning against the wall wherever I’m working, until I have a spot to hang it up.

I’ll keep paddling.

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Oatmeal Brain: Writer’s Post-Race Blues

It’s possible I’ll be asked to do a few more tweaks, but the screenplay I contracted to complete has gone through two major revisions and they seem to be happy with it at this point. It was fun developing someone else’s idea. I really liked my first draft. It had this third wheel character that offered some comic relief in a tense TV movie. But they wanted him combined with the romantic lead, so I had to toss him.

Once I put aside my attachment to the character and looked at it as a challenge, I figured out a way to move a bit of the humor to the romantic lead. Of course, the script will change again once it goes into production, but that’s the way screenwriting works. I just read a lengthy interview with Terry Rossio that addresses that reality.

At the end of this major project, my brain’s functioning like oatmeal – nutritional, good content, but thick and sticky. Ideas pour slowly in globs.

Oatmeal brain: the writer’s version of post-race blues. It’s time to reboot.

To start, I took a look at my 2018 Goals and the steps I planned to meet them. If you’ve been following this blog, you realize I write all this stuff out at the beginning of the year and post it where it’s easy to access. My writing goal for 2018 is to make at least $10,000 writing. I came up with three objectives to help me meet this goal. The activities for my first objective revolve around getting Peg’s Story: One Woman’s Journey to Reclaim Herself polished, promoted, and published. The second objective’s about continuing to create new material and the third is about doing workshops on self-publishing.

Well, the screenplay wasn’t on my radar and, as long as they produce it this summer as planned, I’ll have met my goal without completing any of the written objectives.

I also have an author client I’m helping in multiple areas, which is adding to my income. And I’m doing volunteer work on promo for Who Will Remember. None of that was written into the plan either. I’ll keep devoting a few hours a week to these activities.

However, going back to the plan, I want to get that book out, I want to continue creating new material because that’s energizing, and I have three workshops scheduled – the first one at the end of June! My class is listed on page 6 of the catalog.

Fortunately, much of the preparation for the workshops overlaps with research I need to do to launch the book, so that research is the next primary focus. Writing new material will be my fun time.

I was surprised to see my personal (non-writing) goals are doing okay. I’ve completed activities under almost every objective. That’s pretty amazing. It felt like I was getting completely absorbed by my writing activities, until I looked at things in black and white. In reality, I’ve done a lot with family this year already, including some short trips.

Life is good.

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