Mini-Holiday = Gaining Focus

So, one good thing about having a mini holiday is that I can have some time to reflect and get back on track. See where things went wrong and know where to fix it. Also, having one thing off of my plate is always helpful. I have a positive outlook about the “future” and I know that things will fall in place where the should be. Having determination and positive energy can help in all things.

Also, I submitted a story to a contest. I hope that this one will place or gain an interest to get published. I hated editing it and taking around 1,200 words from it, but for contests, you need to play by the rules. I’ll update on that progress as I get information. I did get an email saying they had received it, now it’s time for the hard part, seeing if they like what I wrote.

Being Flexible -Adaptability

So this week hasn’t been the “greatest” with the new resolutions. The thing with the New Year Resolutions are that after the new year, depending on where it falls and how much vacation time you have taken, you can get into some good habits for about 2-5 days. Then it’s time to get back to your normal schedule with all of the bumps in the road, being tired after a long unexpected stressful day, or you want that last piece of chocolate cake even though you shouldn’t.

I’ve witnessed this week with a lot of those struggles and know that next week will be challenging as well since I have workshops and conferences. The thing is, I will have chances to write, I will have chances to do the “promises” to myself from the first of the year, it’s making it all work in the normal day to day life that comes up.

It’s one thing that I will try to get better out, starting today. I need to stop over-booking or overworking myself in life and in being so hard on myself in general. So, I haven’t really gotten to write this week, or work on things because of work, the internet was down or things in that nature. I can turn that around, be forgiving, but keep on my new promise to myself to find ways of doing what is needed.

Splash of Water

The “Real World”, no not the television show, but the world in which we go to work and have our schedules and interruptions to what we really want to do, is creeping up in the background. Holiday season is now over and with that comes the fast paced life. I am hoping that I keep to my promise to myself and keep on writing every day or at least mostly every day. We’ll see how this first week goes. I’m working on a lot of different projects for work and personally. I need to find that good balance of life.

Perhaps the answer is keeping myself on a strict schedule for work AND personal wants/needs. Of course making lists and schedules is what I do best, so I think I should be able to stick to everything. Bring on Monday. I can handle it.

Road to Writing: Outline vs. Non-outline

So far in my New Year resolution to writing and reading more, a.k.a. getting back to how I was, I am doing pretty good. I wrote a chapter in my novella series and marked down where I need to work on some areas (the prologue). I love that I am inspired to write and in the books I am reading it is helping me learn more about my creative skill. I hope to keep this trend going today when I sit down to write more.

With this story, I haven’t outlined it at all. I have made my character list like I need to, but I haven’t outlined it. I do have a word count for each novella in the series (at least 30,000 words total), but I am uncertain if I should outline. Sometimes the outline restricts me and other times it helps me remember some points that I want to add in. Perhaps for this story, I’ll just jot down the main features I want and make sure they are in.

More Non-Fiction/New Year

I’ve been published again in the Mississippi Libraries Journal. I am blessed to have made it into the publication again and I am striving to get another non-fiction article published once it is done. The article that was published last month was about programming in Academic Libraries. The article can be found here.

With the New Year upon us, I am hoping to get more items published, including more short stories, novellas, and a novel. I will be updating this blog more through my journey and hope to record my trails and errors to help other aspiring authors thrive. Here is to a new year!