Is it really a New Year?

I’ve been so busy the last couple of weeks that I’m really glad I decided to take some time from writing to deal with life. I threw myself into Sucky Day Job, because it’s our busy season and now that it’s over, and things are returning to normal as people go back to work and school, I find myself actually having enough energy to sit down at the computer to do writerly things again. Though I still feel a little bit like this…

I started back up on revisions for Her Last Kill this week. Yes, it’s still going to take a mountain of work to get it into good shape. But I found that I still loved the story I wrote just as much as I did when I wrote it back in November. This is good, though. It means I’m not going to throw it out the window when I get frustrated in a few weeks.

I realized this week that I’m impatient. I know that good art, good books… they take time to make and sometimes more than one sitting. I find that I get frustrated because it’s not coming together the right way in the right time frame. And I didn’t really realize why I was getting frustrated until this week. And I’ve been writing for YEARS now. And funnily enough, it was working on my sketchbook and drawing that made me realize it.

I expected to sit down and create a fully finished piece of artwork in one sitting. And when I did that, I was unhappy with the outcome. It sucked, really. When it comes to writing, I’m the same way. Not that I expect to be able to vomit out a book in one sitting, but I need to learn to not be afraid to let it take time to write and get better.

I think a lot of this comes from comparing myself to other writers. Some writers can write a book every month and be able to publish them that fast too. I’m not that fast. I can probably put out a book every three months if I’m working on nothing but writing full-time. But that actually is what led to my burnout and me quitting writing for two years. Almost three, actually.

So, no more comparing myself to other writers. Because that way lies madness. I am who I am, and writing isn’t the only thing in my life. I do have a day job, I have family and friends, and I have other interests besides writing. I like video games and YouTube and Netflix, and I love reading. Doing nothing but writing sucks the fun out of it for me.

But I’m going off topic here. (Surprise, surprise, I know… Or maybe the real surprise is that I have a topic… ????)

One of the things I talked about on Story Nerd this week was forming new habits. This is one of the most difficult things I had to do when I came back from my writing hiatus. I’m focusing on that this year, on forming new habits and changing old bad habits into good ones. I don’t really know how to do that. I’m kind of winging it. I’ve been reading blogs about habits, but so far, I haven’t found anything that is remotely useful to me.

But I am trying to keep up with little things. I have a list of tasks each day that need to be completed. It’s things like “revise 5 pages on HLK” or “daily sketch routine” or “shower” (yes, sometimes I do need to remind myself about showering. This is what happens when a writer gets on a roll.) So far, this week, I’ve managed to complete the list every day. It helps that I’m keeping it small and easy. But I figured I’d ease myself into it.

Okay, folks. I’m going to try to get some revisions in before I have to head to work in a bit. Hope you guys have a fantastic day and I’ll see you soon. ❤️

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