How's 2019 Treating Me?

I've actually been doing pretty well with my writing this week. That's gotta be a first, right?

While it kept me a few more days than I would have liked, I did manage to get the latest chapter of "Woven Heartstrings" up on Sunday, just in time for the Epiphany, otherwise known as Little Christmas. You can check out the chapter at my normal three sites:

"Chapter 4: The Proposition"

On FanFiction            On ArchiveOfOurOwn            On DeviantArt

Oh, and a real quick side note about DeviantArt that amused me. It was only last week that I commented about how my poor chapter 8 of “Peeping Tomcat” - Guilt - was the only chapter on DA that didn't have at least ONE fave. I lamented that it was clearly the weakest chapter, since not a single person favorited it in nearly 8 months.

Well, yesterday I saw this notification on my DA account:

Image cropped down so the notifications can be seen with the date/time on my taskbar

It did it! My poor neglected chapter finally won someone over! Yay! Apparently AndreaDragonheart wasn't impressed with chapter 7 though.....

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc.

Meh, I'll take the wins where I can get them.

Back to the main part of this week though. Namely, the fact that, while I wasn't able to post as soon or as frequently as I would have liked, I actually DID do fairly decent with writing progress this week.

Check out all of those faces! It's fun to draw them. ^_^
I decided to do "meh" faces for progress that doesn't include narrative writing.

Look at them all! I've only slacked off on three days, and I managed to keep up with my resolution to WRITE - actually get narrative out of my head - at least four days a week. If I make it more broad to include any sort of writing progress at least four days a week, then I'm way ahead of the game. Whoo!

I also started jotting down exactly WHAT it was that I worked on/wrote on those days to help me better know how I'm spending my writing time.

Yeah, excuse the handwriting. It's bad to begin with, but I jot quickly (read: scribble) in my planner.

I had fallen off the wagon for a few months with regards to auditing my time, a practice I desperately needed to get back into since it does make me feel more accountable. I still have far too much time used by video games and Tumblr, but I now SEE that's the case, instead of those gut instincts about it. So I can start weening myself down to more productive levels on those fronts.

I also need to work harder on auditing my after-work hours, since that's where most of the time-suck comes from. It's easy to stay on top of things at work since I can just have my calendar right there, but at home, when I move around more often, and my planner usually stays forgotten in my work bag? Well....

I always seem to die off with this task when the weekend comes along...

Part of my workday mornings consist of me trying to remember what I did the night before so I can jot it down. I also wish these things started at 8 instead of 7 so I didn't feel like such a slacker, and that they kept going until midnight so I didn't have to try to squeeze it in within the margin....

Maybe I'll make my own planner layout to keep in a 3-ring binder or something once this planner runs out in June. That way I'm not wasting the next few months left in this planner by buying a new 2019 one while they're still out. It also saves me from the crazy running around I did last July trying to find an hourly break-down planner. They just don't really have these anymore, at least, they don't really have them mid-year.... Finally, if I made up a planner myself I could have the hours broken down the way I need them to be. I mean, I'm productive at work and all, but for the most part I don't need to know what I did for the 8hrs I'm at work. I need to know what I do with my time while I'm home.

There's a lot to take into consideration over the next few months.

Another benefit of me making my own planner is that I could have my monthly overview - where I put my faces - broken down like the NaNo calendars that Dave Seah creates each year. That way I can also keep track of my writing productivity by way of words written.

I could then, if I am ever bored/intrigued enough, analyze my writing three different ways: how frequently per week/what days I write, how many hours/when in the day I write, and how many words I write per day/week.

I'm getting more and more excited by this idea as I'm writing it all down for you guys. Anyone know of a planner-design program I can use? Or am I going to have to stumble my way through Excel and/or Photoshop?

Anyway, that's a project for Future Me. Present Me is busy finishing up this post.


Present Me is also trying to finish up the next chapter of "Woven Heartstrings."

I was able to get most of my brainstorming done on Sunday. Unlike the first four chapters, where I had a loose idea as to where the story needs to go, but I largely let the characters lead me around, for the final chapters of this story I actually wrote down what I want to do. I actually have a fairly detailed breakdown of the upcoming chapter, as well as skeleton plots for the next chapters as well.

I'm getting really into the nitty-gritty of the chapters now. For instance, I now know that, as long as the characters behave themselves and I don't have to split up chapters, "Woven Heartstrings" will definitely have seven chapters and an epilogue. I also know whose point of view I'll be using for each chapter, since I've been using 3rd-person limited for this narration. My concern with figuring out how to display what has been going on "off-screen" was also figured out. Finally, thanks to the help of Shadow - who is getting ANOTHER name change to Wolfhearted - I have the perfect gift from Adrien to Marinette. I'm excited to have that glorious exchange!

I was able to get nearly 1400 words written yesterday, and my chapters seem to be ranging between 3100 and 3500 per chapter, so I'm a decent chunk into the chapter. I was hoping to FINALLY fall into the rhythm of a 3-day posting schedule - day 1: brainstorm, day 2: write, day 3: edit and post - but it looks like I'm stretching this out to 4 days still, assuming I make the time today to finish the chapter. With any sort of discipline, and luck that life doesn't throw me a curveball, I should have it posted late Wednesday... maybe early Thursday since Wednesdays are pretty packed lately. So keep an eye out for that.

I MAAAAAAAAY even have both chapters 5 and 6 done and published in time for my blog update next week, so that could be fun; sharing both chapters with you at once.

Now, all of this is rotating around my first New Year's Resolution. Let's take a few minutes to break down all five of them, as I have in the past, to see my goal(s) for 2019.

First, since I didn't have the time to do so in December, let's recap how well 2018 worked for me.

Resolution #1: No More Than Three (3) Zero Days In Any Given Week
I was doing so good with this at first, but it ended up falling to the wayside. Every now and again I'd be able to get back on track, but it wasn't very sustainable for me the way I had my life organized last year. The most ironic part - because Irony is my stalker, apparently - is that I think I failed with this resolution the hardest in November, during NaNoWriMo.

Resolution #2: Complete My Personal Reading Challenge
Last year I decided that, while I enjoyed doing the challenges I found online, I was also either missing out on books I wanted to read, or was forcing myself to read more than the 12 books challenged. While the latter seems ideal, the whole point of the challenges was to get me to read AT LEAST 12 books in the first place, forcing myself to read MORE than that was becoming stressful. My alternative was to create my own 12-story-long reading list I was challenging myself to complete. And complete it I did!

I'm going to have to change the Blue/Yellow color scheme for this year
It was too difficult to read everything, in my opinion....

Never did get around to reading "Atlas Shrugged" though....

Resolution #3: Constructively participate on the Writers’ Huddle Forum At Least Once A Week
Weeeeeeell... I was doing well with this, but then Ali Luke decided it just wasn't something she could keep up with anymore. Her writing priorities changed, so we were shifted to a Facebook group instead. We still chat and have the camaraderie, but not to the same level of frequency. I have started posting a TOOOOOOUCH more frequently in my personal writing group. I should add that to my resolutions this year....

Resolution #4: Complete My Four Main WIPs
Whoo boy.... Well... um.... I got one out of four done....

For those who don't know what my main four were, they were "Peeping Tomcat", "One and the Same", a rework of a battle between Devon and Trish, and a fan novelization of the Cirque Du Soleil show Varekai. Clearly I only managed one out of those four. I couldn't quite write fast enough to pump out one per season like I wanted. Still.... one is better than none, especially when it became a larger project than I gave it credit. I'm also about a fifth of the way through OatS, so.... meh?

Resolution #5: Post Some Completed Work At Least Once A Month
I was doing so well with this! Between one-shots on FFN, AO3, and DA, and my shorts on Tumblr, I actually was posting something new - aside from PT chapters - each month! I fell off the horse in October, and couldn't get back on. Still, 9/12 isn't terrible.


I know it wasn't part of my resolutions, but I'm glad I was also able to keep up with my posting schedule for this blog. Sure, a lot of posts were published after my normal noon update, and there were times where I posted a day or two late, but I made sure to have SOMETHING posted nearly every week. I just tripped at the finish line with the craziness of Christmas falling on my normal update day.

All-in-all, while not quite as productive as I would have liked, 2018 was still a much more productive writing year for me than years past. Sadly, that was pretty much the only good thing about 2018, but I'll take it. Like I said at the top of this post: take any win when I can.

What is my outlook on 2019? Even bigger and better, and a much more professional/disciplined writing year. You saw last week what my resolutions were, but let's get a bit more in-depth this go.

Resolution #1: Try yet again to write at least 4 out of 7 days of the week

As I mentioned last year, this will be my number one resolution every year until it becomes second nature to me. I've been doing fairly decently so far, but the trick is maintaining this schedule, especially when things start to pick up at work, since most of my writing is done there. The other trick is getting back on the horse after it bucks me off.

Resolution #2: Finish and post my fanfic sequel "One and the Same"

This is going to be my priority after I'm done writing "Woven Heartstrings." Yes, the Christmas-themed story is great practice, and a nice break from OatS, but it is also putting me so far behind. I had the whole first draft of "Peeping Tomcat" done last January, and all I needed to do was edit it. It still kept me until the last weekend of March to have it ready to post. I'm even further behind on OatS, and I had originally wanted to start posting chapters in September! As it is, I won't be ready until April, so I need to step up my game with this.   

Resolution #3: Post at least one new completed story per month

Yup, same as last year. A "completed" story will be anything from microfics/drabbles on Tumblr, to one-shots on AO3/FFN/DA, to smaller multi-chapter fics like "Woven Heartstrings" posting the final chapter. For the last option, I'm also aiming for these multi-chapter fics to be started and completed within the same month. So, as long as I get WH done by January 24th, I'll count it.

Resolution #4: Win NaNoWriMo again this November

Thinking ahead a bit with this one. It felt so great to win NaNo two years in a row, and then I just flopped when I tried writing OatS this past November. I don't like that feeling, and I don't want it to hold me back, so I'm aiming to train myself enough throughout the rest of 2019 that I can win NaNoWriMo. Maybe even win easily, depending on the routine and habits I can form by then.

Resolution #5: Continue my weekly blog post routine

It seems weird that this one is back as a resolution since I've done so well the past two years. However, I'm going to be doing a lot of reworking of my schedule this year in order to try to best set myself for success for the other four resolutions. In all of this shuffling, I fear I might become neglectful of this blog and when it gets posted. Heck, I'm late even today! So I want to make sure it stays a priority.

You guys may have noticed that I don't have a reading challenge included this year. Well, fear not, I am still planning on reading just as much as I have in the past, even if I've kind of slacked off these first two weeks. I just don't have an official challenge figured out yet.

Hubby got me "Armada" by Ernest Cline this Christmas, so that's going to be my January book, and Rick Riordan will have another Trials of Apollo book out this spring, so that's going to be in there too. Another must-read is the book "PARABELLUM: When You Live in Peace, Prepare for War" by a fellow local writing group member Jack Nanuq; whom I have previously called Carson, based on the name of his main character.

Let me pause for a moment to properly promote this book:

How does a POW become a spy? And why? And what the hell is a GALCO? These are only a few of the questions Carson Nowak needs answers to. CARSON NOWAK is a CIA contractor like none you’ve ever met before. Carson is tasked with retrieving a trunk full of documents. The order comes not from the Agency or even the President, but a higher authority; his nana. In addition to the documents the trunk also contains a war relic tied to a mysterious death just before D-Day. Tracing the provenance of this relic triggers a chain of events that not only unlocks Carson’s family history but garners the interest of a South American hit squad. Carson must navigate the challenges of protecting his family, maintaining his business, ensuring the safety of a young refugee developing a revolutionary weapons system, and deal with an infuriating curmudgeon. Along the way he falls in love. To navigate these challenges, he enlists the help of a pencil-thin code breaker, a claustrophobic corpsman and a Haitian nurse. PARABELLUM, the novel, is spy/mystery/thriller novel set in Upstate NY, with flashbacks to both World War I and World War II. PARABELLUM, the word, is a Latin term which loosely translates to “When you live in peace, Prepare for war”.The writing style is a mash-up of C.J. Box meets Daniel Silva, meets John le Carre.

While I have heard this story read to me over the past year-plus that Jack has been with the writing group, I haven't had the pleasure of sitting down with this book to read it cover-to-cover without weeks-long interruptions between chapters. I also haven't seen how he's altered things after our feedback. There has also been times where I'd miss chapters because I had to miss a meeting. So I'm excited to get my hands on this book. You can purchase it as either an ebook or a paperback - or both - on Amazon.

If you're into spy thrillers, and historical fiction, this is a fantastic book to check out. Just trust me when I say you'll want to make sure you have a package of Fig Newton snacks nearby while you read.

Now, going back to my reading challenge.

I have three professional stories to read already on this list. I also still have to work my way up to reading "Atlas Shrugged" at some point, which gives me four. There's also multiple novel-length fanfics I want to read, mostly written by Taurus Pixie, but I have others that were suggested to me.

On top of ALL of that, both Omnibladestrike and Rozsavaria have suggested a long list of dragon-themed stories. I even joked that 2019 would be the Year of the Dragon; focusing most of my reading to these dragon stories.

Once I have all of this better organized into an actual list, and once I have the time to redo my challenge list format so it's easier to read, I'll be sure to post it here. For accountability sake if nothing else.

Okay, I'm now pushing an hour late on publishing this week's post, so just one more thing before I have to jet.

After a bit of a slump, Cyhyr has gotten back into writing, and has been working on daily challenges for this week. So, why not give her some encouragement and some love to help her along. Her focus right now - as it is for me - is her main fandom. She's really into Final Fantasy XV, but even though I'm not in that fandom, I'm greatly enjoying her stuff. So, seriously, guys, give her some love. She deserves it.

Alright, now I REALLY need to kick my butt in gear if I'm going to get a chapter up in the near future. Until next week!