Day: October 12, 2024

I am looking at a 24/25 planner and the inside cover reads: Enjoy Every Moment. That’s a hard task these days, but it is certainly a message that bears reminding. I don’t, you know. I tend to find moments but they are sparse and often spread out between days of dealing with kids who’ll never leave (or help out) or chauffeuring other kids who act like this is in fact my singular purpose in life. What I am trying to do on the heels of yesterday’s decision to ramp up production is to lay out my writing goals and learn a little bit more about myself in terms of wha makes me happy (beyond hanging with the lady and playing video games).

Writing is a pleasure. It is also harder to do when I am unfocused. Part of the exercise of planning goals is to generate focus. It is a major thing to do and to consider. It also might be the key to all of this. I am at my best when in the flow. I am in the flow with deadlines and goals. So, onward to the planning part now.

Some Thoughts:

1. The bright side of blogging first thing in the morning is the sense of accomplishment I get knowing that the one thing I am required to do every single day is done. Of course, then it sinks in on me that there ought to be more things I am required to do on a daily basis. Then I allow myself a cup of coffee and a chance to forget what I just thought.
2. Getting married. There, I said it. It’s out in the world now!

Tough fiction day for me. I realized that what I treat often as a flood of writing is more like a slow drip… a trickle if you will. I had the opportunity to assess how much I’ve written over the last 6 years and the total came to 2 novels, 2 novellas, and 17 sourcebooks. That translates to roughly 3 source books a year, a novel and a novella every three. That is trash. I should be doing twice the volume I am doing now at least. I want to see 6 sourcebooks and 1 novel a year on average and perhaps more–maybe toss a novella in there as well. I need to be doing more as a writer, because volume is how I personally get good and stay in the flow of writing. The more I write, the better I write. I have gone on and on about the fits and starts, and this revelation really explains how these things get going.

So, my next step is to develop a writing plan–a schedule that seriously lays out each and every day moving forward and how that day/week/month/year tracks with my creation goals. I don’t know that a person can achieve goals without actually having some. I have proven aimless for a long time in that respect, and seeing where I am vs. where I expected to be helps me focus on where I want to be in the near future. It is entirely up to me to hammer out a realistic schedule that allows me to get there.