1500 words today.
I was talking to my sister today and we were discussing virtual learning and how difficult it has been for our kids to learn during the pandemic. She made a really good point: sure, they didn't learn as much math and science as the state wanted them to, but they learned how to deal with craziness, and resilience this past year. That’s an extremely underrated lesson that we aren’t appreciating. Meanwhile, a lot of adults are losing their minds right now.
We all learned something over this last year. Even writers.
If you are still writing after all the insanity that has transpired, congratulations—that's a badge of honor, my friend. If you didn't write during this pandemic, but you believe in your writing dreams so much that you're reading this post, you also get the same badge of honor—it's no less remarkable a feat that you're still here.
Anyway, we all need reminders sometimes of how difficult a time this is. The whole world is in a pressure cooker.
Ways to stay productive and focused during this time:
- Acknowledge that it's okay not to be okay right now. Then take care of your mental health.
- Keep writing, if you can. Even if you can't afford to publish right now. The act of writing will keep you grounded. The act of writing itself costs nothing, and if you’re in hard times due to all the stuff going on right now, you can always publish later. Or publish and get it edited later.
- Find ways to channel your emotions into productive habits. This is why I am doing crazy challenges throughout the pandemic (beast mode, amnesia mode, exercise bike challenge, etc.). It keeps me focused on the writing and off the news.
- Keep finding ways to be grateful and have fun with your writing. You'll do better in all areas of your life if you can find a way to stay centered emotionally, though we will all struggle from time to time.
If anyone needs the kick in the pants to start writing again, maybe this will be it for you. Scary to think all the writers out there who will never pick up the pen again because of this pandemic. Not just because of loss of inspiration, but also because of health and death.
The rest of us will still be here, still writing and going after our dreams long after this is over, and it will be because we all learned something during this difficult time—how to keep going even in the face of impossible odds.
Keep writing and, as Dean Wesley Smith would say, keep having fun.
PROGRESS TOWARD THE NOVEL
Did some more looping today and got everything finished up. The novel officially exists. LOL
Now, I’m just waiting on the fact checkers. The book may go to my first editor before their feedback arrives just so I can keep things moving along. The first editor will be looking at continuity/cohesion (not developmental editing, as I’m not restructuring anything. Merely looking to ensure that what’s on the page makes sense to the reader and won’t make them say “huh”. Big difference. This is an experiment I’m doing.). Second editor will handle copyediting and grammar issues. Depending on how everything looks at the end, I may hire a proofreader. I usually pull out all the stops for Book 1s, but I do less with sequels.
I should have the next iteration of the cover as early as tomorrow.
I also did some more dictation toward the next book, Indie Author Confidential Vol. 4. I did 600 words on a quick 10-minute walk with my dog, which has to be a record. The text was pretty clean, too.
In doing some quick math and glancing at the calendar, I realized that I need to get my butt in gear if I want to make progress on Book 2 because my law school classes start next week. This is the last clean week I’ll have until the middle of May, so I better use it to get videos, podcasts, and words cranked out!
MY GOALS:
- Six weeks’ worth of YouTube videos shipped off to my editor
- Six weeks of Writing Tip of the Day locked and loaded.
- As many words as I can toward Indie Author Confidential vol. 4 and Book 2 of my series. Any amount will do, but I’d be elated if I can knock out the first 10% of Book 2.
We’ll see what happens. Have a good night. We’re due for a blizzard here in Iowa tomorrow morning, so I’m looking forward to that. Blizzards are always good writing weather.
