New Year, Same Goals

Hey, folks. Sure has been a while since I talked, hasn’t it?

So the new year is here, and that means resolutions. Yet it’s just the same usual resolutions year after year—lose weight, relationships, writing, learning—and the same story not meeting those promises to myself. Changing habits alone is a tremendous internal shift to make, and knowing what triggers the habits takes time to uncover.

Starting this year, I’ll figure them out.

What I started in the second half of 2017 was implement the Bullet Journal method. One blank notebook wherever I go, jotting down daily lists, future appointments, random thoughts, and reflections what I really accomplished. Honestly, digital to-do lists have grown out of me past college. Most of the time I forget I had to-do lists. You can look up YouTube videos of journal spreads, designs and bedazzled pedicures to make the journals a personal creation, but really, I’ll go for the basic G2 pen and Moleskin hardcover graph notebook with an REI sticker on the cover.

With my country’s decline in common sense and reality itself, doing anything creative was tough. I’ve known over creative types that were hampered by the constant barrage of an uneasy future. Hard enough to tell myself to unplug and ignore all that and just write.

It’s mindfulness I’m after. With the daily tasks, I build a small habit tracker to focus on the important things: yoga, meditation, and writing. Outside forces still happen and I have to work around that to break the writer’s block.

So what it for this year? Same old same old, with some changes.

Ghost Factor draft is almost done. I’ll say that the Bullet Journal for the last six months kept me focused to rework the plot from the ground up. With the time lost to make it an actual ebook form, the plan to serialize it on my website is still there.

The last two Snippet stories—Keystone and Her Discovery—will get the editing treatment and released before Ghost Factor Chapter 1 (the final form) is out.

Moving on will be working on Tyler’s Profession, right after Ghost Factor is at the last chapter. It comes as no surprise I haven’t touched the plot line or the original Nanowrimo draft since 2011. It’ll either be serialized the same way or when I gather the funds for an editor for the paperback and ebook; whichever comes first.

Those are the big projects, as usual, but let’s jump to the What Do We Know posts.

The experiment last summer was great to write. It’s not quite what I wanted as a Mana Pool encyclopedia, but I’ll say it helped fill some gaps in between the stories. If you haven’t read them, you can click here and divulge. I’m just as anxious as you to share terran biology and magic as you, but that and other topics won’t be released until halfway through Ghost Factor. There’s a reason behind that.

So really, everything depends on me finishing that draft to move on. I’m already flipping off distractions and procrastination.

The last bit to say is what I had in mind to accomplish since last fall. I mentioned before on social media I’ve been doing freelance editing as a side hobby for other authors. As of now, I decided to make freelance editing a side hustle. Check out the new editorial services page for what I’m offering for developmental editing.

Balancing that while writing my own work is a crazy idea to do, but this is a possible extra income stream for the bills. Can I balance both being a writer and editor? If I can do yoga, meditation, reading, and more camping trips to reset my focus, I could.

So with all that, it’s my job to keep up with these tasks. As Chuck Wendig mentioned with the one writer resolution to have this year: write with intentionality.

Later.