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Posts tagged ‘Balance’

May 31

Memorial Day Update 2021

Summer is almost here.

To be honest, I just haven’t felt like writing. My days have been boring and I just haven’t felt the motivaton to post updates. Really it feels like the last few months have flown by with me repeating the same day.

Really, it’s felt like that for the past year.

But things are changing. For one thing, in a few weeks I will be fully vaccinated. Things are starting to open up again and I do feel a sense of normalcy returning.

As for my writing, I have a large stack of written words that it trying to be a novel. I have some ideas about what I need to do, but it is such a daunting task, I just don’t want to start just yet. I know I will get to it. I’ve learned by now that I can’t walk away from writing. Even if I don’t pick up a pen, I’m working stories out in my head.

One thing I have been doing is reading again. I’m ashamed to say I only read a couple books last year. Diving into a good book is just what I need to do right now. Reconnect to my love of reading and remind myself about great stories. Some days I find myself excited about the end of the work day because it means I get to go read my book. I used to feel this way when I was a kid. Get home from school and dive into a book (usually a Stephen King or Anne Rice novel).

Sometimes we just need to reconnect with our basic needs. I pust so much pressure on myself to write something meaningful and get it published, I forget to just enjoy myself.

And I do think that somewhere in the pile of words, trying to be a novel of mine, there is a fun story.

So, since my job has informed me that we will continue remote work until the fall, I have decided that this summer, I’m going to have fun. (No commute means I have more time during my workday.) Do fun stuff, and write fun stuff. Enjoy myself. So if I feel like wasting a whole day buried in a book, that’s what ya girll is going to do.

I will try and update this blog more. I haven’t forgot my goals made earlier this year, but no pressure…

Have some FUN this summer ya’ll.

Dec 18

Mid-December 2015 Update — The Challenge is Almost Done!

Well, my modem decided that this was the week to act up. After a long conversation with Verizon, I have a new modem and hopefully no more internet problems.

The year is winding down and I think this will be it for rejections. I have a lot of thoughts about this year that I will save for another post closer to the end of the month. But for now I will say that this challenge was one of the best I ever took on. Even though I got no where near 100 rejections, I pushed myself, submitted, and got work done. There were some other goals I had for this year that I also want to talk about, but again, later.

Here are the numbers so far (and these probably won’t change):
Submissions: 5
Acceptances: 1
Rejections: 36

As I move into 2016, I will continue to submit, but I don’t think I will keep recording my rejections. (Although when I hit 100, I will definitely note it.) While it is good to keep track and have work out in the world for publication, my production goals are way down. I need to find balance between submitting and writing. Do I take a month off and work on my longer works and let the stories pile up? Or do I spend more time submitting what I have and take longer to finish my new work? I know there is a happy medium and I have to find it. I’m thinking I just have to devote one day (maybe Sunday) as “business of writing day” and the other 6 days are “writing” days.

Then there are blog posts and keeping up with all the industry news. If you follow me on Twitter, you know I love to retweet interesting essays.

Yes, I that is work.

And yes, I love it.

But still, sometimes I feel like I read more about writing, than actually write. And while I do think it is important to keep up with literary news, I also got to get my word count.

Balance.

That’s going to be a big goal in 2016. When I was at JHU, I was totally concentrated on one thing – finishing the class. Now there is no finish line. There is just the end of the story and on to the next. It’s wonderful and daunting at the same time.

Wonderful because I love stories and can’t wait to see what my brain wants to explore.

Daunting because it is never ending. Just when I think I won’t have another idea, I get three more…

LOL. Writer problems.

I’m on vacation until January 4th (Yay!), so over the next week or so, I’ll be posting my final thoughts on this challenge, my reading list for the year (and reading goals for 2016), goals for 2016, and any other new stuff I think about. Until then…

Happy Holidays!

And if you’re not religious –

Enjoy your time off and Happy Reading & Writing!