Last week was rough with several family ‘events’ and a snowstorm. I can’t say I got very far with my goals because I simply didn’t have the time. When I did have the time, I found myself slipping into a depression from the stress and chaos. This is fairly easy to do because I’m always tense. A few days of delays, stress, and pressure can really knock me down the emotional ladder. I’m still trying to drag myself up, but this week might be easier.
I’ve decided to take the first week of February off from book writing for two reasons. One is that this week heads to the Super Bowl and I’m already seeing signs of late week cleaning chaos. My family throws a party every year, which means certain people will be acting like the sky is falling on Saturday. The other reason is my good friend Greg is supposed to hang out here for a few days the following week. We’ll see what happens, but I won’t be as active on those days. Then again, I got the WordPress app working on my iPhone, so I won’t be totally out of things.
I could easily finish the outlining goals this week since I’m in the minor character designs and then I have to make a sequence of events. This puts me into the next future idea, which is a headache. The Elysium Saga! I’ve talked about this one once before and how the game was a scavenger hunt. Wouldn’t translate too well to books, so I have to figure out what to do. I don’t know if I should make another post to voice my thoughts and get opinions or stick with this one. If anything, I’ll need to really sit down and think about the pieces of the story. It’s one of the core series of Windemere with the same impact as Legends, Clyde, Darwin, and Sin. Maybe I can bounce a few ideas off Greg once I get a few drinks in him . . . and me.
Anyway, here’s the plan for the week
- Finish outlining/planning War of the Tainted.
- Continue reading The Crimson League. Might take a day or two to see if I can finish it off. Halfway done right now.
- Promote other books and look into a few curious marketing ideas.
- Clean and prepare for Super Bowl.
- Start thinking of The Elysium Saga. Make a plotline list and anything to help focus. It might require junking the game notes.
- Improve my mood. More challenging than one thinks.
- Find something else to do while the TV is taken over by the person who wants to watch the Grammys.
- Eat, drink, and be Merry . . . or Pippin.
I hope your friend vising won’t let you fall too far into a slump. You keep yourself too busy sometimes.
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My friend visiting is one of the few positive things going on. I still get to talk about writing and my ideas, so I get ‘work’ done. I’m really already in a slump with not much positive coming out of it. This might be a week of catching up, but I’ve already seen signs that it’s simply going to be another mess. Even worse, I seem to have lost the small corner of the table that I did my writing on. Writing books is going to be a lot tougher this year.
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Goal 0. Get a good rest, then feel like you’re awake? 🙂 Good luck with your goals; especially, #6.
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That rest goal is permanently elusive. Too much noise in this house on the days that I can sleep in. It’s like nobody knows how to gently close a door or talk below a yell.
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I bet you won’t be buying microphones and drum sets for birthdays this year. 🙂 (The real trick is preventing other people from giving these wonderful gifts…)
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I would buy it because the toddler isn’t the loud one.
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Suddenly sounds much louder. 🙂
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Truly deafening. 😉
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Sounds quite challenging, I wish you the best.
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Thanks. I expect partial success.
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Okay, sending good vibes. Enjoy your friend time!! Maybe the two of you could do a bit of earplug shopping? #7 is tough… especially if the desk is no longer yours. I can relate.
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I still have a week before the friend shows up. As for #7, I lost my actual desk years ago. The current area was a corner of the dining room table. Seems that’s out. A little frustrating.
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It seems like you and I have gotten bit by the same cruddy bug.
I sincerely hope you start feeling better soon, and I really hope taking some time off does wonders for you.
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I hope so too. The only problem is that several people are taking advantage of me being ‘free’. Apparently vacation to some equals me being lazy, which is against the laws of nature.
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Haha, I definitely know what you mean. So you also work when taking time off?
Don’t let people take too much advantage. It’s your time off, and you should be able to spend it however you want it spent. 🙂
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I really only took off from writing the next book in my series. I expected to get back to it this week, but too much has been going on. I’d get maybe a day of exhausted writing, which isn’t how I like to start a project.
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No, that’s definitely not a good way to start. Sometimes I feel like exhausted writing is better than no writing (I’m having withdrawals), but you want to be ! about starting a new one.
I hope the exhaustion leaves you soon and you can go into it all feeling refreshed and ready to go.
🙂
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Thanks. I can outline and plan with exhaustion, but writing the actual book requires energy. That way I don’t make a mess. 🙂
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The good thing about messes is that they can be cleaned up.
The bad thing is that you might miss some stuff.
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That second part is what I worry about. Continuity is something I try really hard to keep up.
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It’s hard to manage sometimes. >.<
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