Month: January 2018

Yesterday was an alright writing day, but nothing spectacular. I had a few things to take care of, so I did not accomplish the quantity of writing that I wanted. I’m still only working on one project, while I need to be at at least editing. I also have very little free time until Sunday, now.

On a very positive note, I’m well on my way to having a first draft done this month. Woot! Also, I’m maintaining enough word count to keep the goal of 1 million words for the year in sight. And yes, it’s only Day 4, but that’s my motivation.

Let’s just jump to my daily update, shall we?

• Jan 4 Word Count: 3,202
• Ytd: 12,326
• Paranormal Thriller Novel: 11,960/50,000
• Short Story (Pen Name): 1,305/10,000
• Editing Hungry Gods Series: 9,971/162,408
• Editing Novel (Pen Name): 11,090/77,310

I sat down and read the Book How to Write Pulp Fiction for inspiration yesterday. Sometimes, you have to remind yourself of the game. That game, of course, is the writing challenge of writing every day and hitting the word count, all for the intended purpose of making a living. For the crazy combo of fiction that I write, I need to write a lot.

If you are a writer, you’ve probably heard by now that you should write to market. I’m bad at this. I mean, Died for You, a Zombie Love Story? What?!

So anyway, I’m pushing to get through a book quickly, and yesterday I managed a solid two hours, hitting over 2500 words per hour, which for me is right about at my max output.  I didn’t push for any editing. Damn, I need to do that.

Today, if life cooperates, I’m hoping to push for 6k.

• Jan 3 Word Count: 5,034
• Ytd: 9,124
• Paranormal Thriller Novel: 8,758/50,000
• Short Story (Pen Name): 1,305/10,000
• Editing Hungry Gods Series: 9,971/162,408
• Editing Novel (Pen Name): 11,090/77,310

So this year I decided to redefine myself. I still consider myself a writer, of course. Because that’s what it’s all about, right?

But I want to go a step further. So, currently, you’ll notice that my blog is also saying poet, singer-songwriter. Because I want to expand. So far? Nothing brilliant to share. Or maybe it is but I don’t react to it yet.

Anyway, I’m trying to write a poem a day and a song a day.

My first major problem is I can’t write poetry the way I write stories. Poems are vulnerable. The poet is judged. I am really really bad at cutting myself open and showing my feelings. Even to myself.

So we’ll see. Song writing? It’s taking some getting used to. I’m not big on rhyme.

Full disclosure: I wrote neither poetry or songs yesterday.

Yesterday I worked for the post office. It was an all-day thing since it was a Tuesday, and the mail had both Sunday and Monday to accumulate. I get home just in time to eat and then get the littlest one to taekwondo. BUT!!!! I did write a little before the day started. Not even a thousand words though. I’m not proud.

• Jan 2 Word Count: 901
• Ytd: 4,090
• Paranormal Thriller Novel: 3,724/50,000
• Short Story (Pen Name): 1,305/10,000
• Editing Hungry Gods Series: 9,971/162,408
• Editing Novel (Pen Name): 11,090/77,310

Sometimes I’m really bad at using the time I’ve been given to write. Yesterday was one of those days. Being the first of the year, I’ve got all sorts of plans, actually too many, and squeezing them in is next to impossible.

And then I have days like today where I won’t have hardly any time to write.

Anyway, we’re talking about yesterday.

I split my writing between two projects – one is a paranormal thriller and the other a short story. Neither was finished, obviously, and both are brand new projects that started on the first.

I’m also doing some editing on the Hungry Gods series. I’m reading back through the old stuff to make sure the upcoming book 3 is consistent.

I spent a lot of the day researching markets and studying some different genres. The rest of the time went to work around the house.

I still haven’t talked about goals, and I’m not necessarily ready to, but one of them is going after the one million word count again. I’m off to a good start, and I’m going to try and keep the moment all year long.

• Jan 1 Word Count: 3,189
• Ytd: 3,189
• Paranormal Thriller Novel: 1,884/50,000
• Short Story (Pen Name): 1,305/10,000
• Editing Hungry Gods Series: 9,971/162,408
• Editing Novel (Pen Name): 11,090/77,310

Welcome to 2018.

Who are you?

Is it just me, or do we let our lives define us? Our beliefs, our faith, the definition of who we are as human beings, are all tightly controlled by our society and others.

Get a job. You are a (insert career you may or may not be happy with). This is what you believe. This is how you should vote. This is how you will treat others. Way to go! One of us!

So… who are you? Are you one of… them?

So… yeah. Whatever. Sometimes it’s too easy to be distracted by life, paying the bills, did I mention life?

But if you take a moment to stop and observe yourself, are you really doing what makes you happy? Do you ever wonder what’s killing you? or giving you that random eye twitch?

There’s nothing special about 2018. No year is special. But the start of a new year is a good place to reboot. It feels fresh. It’ll feel less fresh tomorrow, and the day after that it’s gonna smell a little closer to as rotten as the previous years. That’s why today is the best day to reboot.

Find a way. Who are you? Will you blend in with your surroundings? Will you continue to fit in with the mold, or will you allow yourself to choose the definition of who you are, what you believe, and what you will be?

So this was going to be a post about my goals, but I know what they are. It can be another post later, maybe tomorrow. I’ll be posting my daily updates again, starting tomorrow, after I’ve made sure I’ve done my due diligence today. I’m gonna work on some art now.