October 14, 2021
Day 378, Week 53
- Emotional State: A day late and more than a dollar short
Life First
I wanted to write my journal post yesterday. No, let’s be fair, I did not want to write my post yesterday, but I sat down to do it anyway and there was drama with my site host, so I didn’t. Because honestly, I’m tired. I’m burnt out, overwhelmed and just want to have some time off from writing, working, promoting my book, and trying to get my house put back together since the flood.
Yes, the flood. We have a bunch of stuff in the garage that hasn’t been bleached or rewashed at least once that needs to go into the basement. And the garage stinks because we didn’t wash it out after the flood either. So the odor and the fallout from the flood still lingers, like a bad odor you seriously can’t remove.
But I have a plan. I always have a plan and one day I’ll implement it. The plan is to remove all of the stuff from the garage, bleach it down, restack it back in and call it done. It’ll only take a day and it’ll be done by 10/31.
You know what else will be done by then? The rough draft of book 1, a bunch of blog posts, deep cleaning my house, a bunch of promotions and TikTok videos primed and ready to go. I’ve got two weeks to clear the decks. I’m rolling up my sleeves and making it happen. I have no choice. It needs to be done by Halloween.
Why Halloween? Because I’m using November – or rather, Nanowrimo – to write the rough draft of book three in my series. That’s at least 60,000 words in four weeks, amongst work and freelance projects, of course. And Thanksgiving.
I need to write at least 2k a day to hit my goal of a mostly done draft of book three. And then I might take December off from writing and just be for a bit. I need some downtime. As I already said, I’m tired, but when you’re tired, you feel it a lot and want to say it a lot as well.
That counter at the top of my post? That’s how long I’ve been working on book one. More than a year ago, I started this journey of writing and publishing a book. I’ve done that – box checked. But what I didn’t expect to get out of it was the driving urge to write more and be a full-time writer, which requires more books. Or the non-stop marketing to sell the first one. Or the flood.
You don’t always choose what life throws at you, but you can choose how you handle it. So I’m going to push through until November 30th and then take a much needed break.
Well, not an entire break. I’ll still be working, blogging, book reading and reviewing, some marketing…
Where is the break again?
The Books
I’ve fallen off the Amazon selling cliff for book one. It’s apparently a thing. I’ve also slowed down on pushing it, so that’s also a thing. The momentum I created from the launch has petered out, along with my energy to push the book. A bit of a calamity really, but I know I can get the momentum back once I begin the marketing machine for book two and three. I’ve got a ways to go yet on that front, but that’s okay.
It feels a bit like Scarlett O’Hara saying she’ll think about it tomorrow, but it isn’t. I’m still pushing book one, still engaging on social media, looking for podcasts, book reviews, more media, the works. But I’m not pushing as hard. It feels like my energy is better spent getting the first trilogy done before I really hit the marketing hard.
And then it’ll be covers, editors, and more pre-release drama.
It never ends, really, but I love writing and I love the world of my book and the story I’m telling. And I’m also excited about branching out into cozy mysteries, because it’ll be a challenge and different. More books, by me, out in the world. What’s so bad about that?
Speaking of more books… book two is also completely written. I have one or two more chapters to write – I’m not quite sure where I want to leave her. Seraphina, that is, my protagonist. This book is less mystery and more thriller, or at least the end is. But that’s in its first state. I obviously need to rewrite the entire thing and fix all my errors, plot holes and inconsistencies.
And boy are there a lot of them. This pantsing thing is hard. You don’t know what’s happening, you can’t plan it, so you just have to keep moving forward and figure out how to mold it into something that isn’t crap. It’s crap right now. Totally and complete crap. It lacks depth, a cohesive and coherent story line, a reason for the big ending I just wrote.
It’ll get there in the revising process. After I’ve taken some time away from it, re-read it and really get a sense for the shape the lump of clay it is right now will take. I have some glimmerings of an idea, some inspiration and a lot of hope I can use what I’ve written and make it good.
I hope so. I’ve done it before, with the first book. But that’ll happen after book three is written. After my world builder addresses some of the larger world questions in the book. After November.
Did someone mention a break?
To read more of my weekly whine fests and writing journal journey posts, click here.