For many years, I struggled to be consistent with my habits. I could do something for a couple of days, or even a couple of weeks, but then I would lose steam, and I would just kind of stop, sometimes without noticing. Part of the problem was that I was under so much stress and living a life under duress that didn’t satisfy me. My needs weren’t being met, which […]
The Importance of Rituals Read More »
There are all sorts of productivity routines out there. Most of them say something like, ‘Do your most important work first when you’ve just gotten up and are fresh for the day,’ or ‘Get up at 5am and knock out a couple of hours of work before everyone else has started their day.’ Now, there’s nothing wrong with these strategies. They work for a lot of people, but they’re sold
Maximizing My Schedule Read More »
Late last year, after the worst year of my life, I decided to throw another project on the pile (and on top of the wreckage): getting into shape. I had just been dumped. I was finishing up my graphic design degree. I’d been living with my parents for several months. Everything had fallen apart, but I thought, this is something I need to do to feel better about myself. So,
Do It Until It Doesn’t Suck! Read More »
Whenever you try to live a life where you are producing creative work, there is a trap you can fall into. At least I do, all the time. I look at my rate of productivity, do some math by determining the available hours I have, and make goals for myself. This is not, in itself, a bad thing. I am a planner, and nothing would get done otherwise. However, just
Personal Work/Life Balance Read More »
Everybody has the same advice if you want to accomplish any sort of major creative endeavor, whether it’s becoming a published author or creating award-winning macrame projects. The advice is Make it a part of your routine. I’m going to focus on establishing a writing routine here, but some of this advice is good for any kind of creative project. The first thing you need to do is take a
How to Establish a Regular Writing Routine Read More »
There’s a lot of advice out there about how to ‘Get Things Done.’ Some of it is very useful, some of it is very specific to people in certain situations, but everybody agrees if you want to accomplish a goal, you need to develop habits that help you reach that goal. Seems obvious, but I see a lot of people try to brute force their way into doing something,
How to do the Thing! Read More »
When the new year started, I had big plans. I would keep up with a 40,000 word a month writing schedule, go to the gym twice a week, and make a point of attending more local in-person events. I also decided that this was the year I got my finances under control. Well, here at the end of January, I’m finding that it has gone … ok? I’ve
In Which I Decide to Kick My Own Ass! Read More »
This has been a very challenging year. I’m not going into details again, but basically my entire life fell apart and had to be put back together. But in the middle of all of this, I managed to publish 2 books, write 200,000 new words, and obtain a certificate in Digital Art and Graphic Design. I am very proud of those accomplishments. But as the year ends, I want to
What I’m Looking Forward to in 2025 Read More »
I’ve been doing a deep dive into worldbuilding lately because that’s where I identified I most needed to level up. And I have so many ideas for worlds, characters, and stories that the hard part is realizing that I can’t do everything at once, and I know from experience that I can’t draft more than one book at a time. So, I used my favorite coping strategy, making a
The State of Things Read More »
Calm down, that’s not what I’m talking about. I don’t even watch the news (usually) Over the course of the past couple of years, I seemed to have cracked the code of productivity for myself. I was, at one point, writing 3000 words a day, four days a week. In 2022, I wrote 377,000 words of new fiction (and blog posts). Last year, I wrote 277,000, which is still respectable.
Everything is Broken Read More »