The end of September snuck up on me faster than I expected. Maybe because the month only has 30 days and part of me was counting on having one more day. Maybe because I waited all month for a rejection response to a submission that still has not arrived. Maybe because school and kids’ activities and writing workshops and the new project (I’ll get to that in a minute) subsumed the passage of time.
All I know for sure is that I got called in to sub a handful of days, my youngest got an ear infection, and I last-minute worked out logistics for my oldest’s requested birthday trip in only a couple hours. And I’ve kept everyone fed and where they need to be when they need to be there, and I haven’t been half-assing my workshops. Go me!
News
I’ve started a new project:
I’ve started a podcast with amazing writer and long-time friend Kathleen Kayembe where we get to talk about writing, the creative process, and balance. Play, too, because that is an often-overlooked part of both process and balance.
Have I ever been at all involved in a podcast before? No (though she has). Have I ever edited audio before? Also no, not that I remember. It’s a learning curve, and I hope to find ways to get more efficient, since it took me about six hours to edit our first episode to 23 minutes and our second episode seems like it will run longer.
Where do you listen to your podcasts? Let me know so I can be sure it posts there! It’s not showing up for me yet on Overcast, but you can listen to our first episode here while we work out the kinks.
The first episode posted earlier today, so that’s technically October news, but I spent a significant chunk of my September making it happen, so I’m putting it in this newsletter.
My workshops are going so incredibly well! I love that this is my life right now where my passions have finally become my career. Rather than sucking the joy out of it, it feels like I’m finally treating it like the priority it always has been for me. I’m finally taking my dreams and goals seriously and loving every second.
Blog
Maybe it’s the workshops, but my blog post this month delved into craft–specifically the rule-of-thumb in genre fiction that you can generally only get away with one big buy-in, in terms of suspension of disbelief (and all the other impossible things simply cascade from that one thing).
Stats
Last month, I set myself a goal of 12 hours a week of writing work. This month, I averaged 12.5! I have noticed that I am spending much more time on the podcast and workshop planning, and significantly less on writing the novel. (At this rate, I definitely won’t finish this first draft by Christmas.) I’m not surprised; over and over I have heard or read of the struggles of other writers to carve out writing time among the writing business and writing-adjacent things.
This means that starting in October, I will track exactly how I am using that time with a color coding system. I am not super organized in my daily life, but I love watching the layers of color slowly take over my planner for the month.
At the end of October, I’ll evaluate how the system is treating me. Worst case scenario: I have to figure out something new. Best case scenario: I get so efficient that I can push myself to aim for 16 hours of writing work each week.
I did not send out any new queries or submissions in September, though I did receive two rejections! One from an agent and one from the residency I applied to earlier in the year. Yay for continued proof that I’m doing the thing!
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Currently reading: *Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros. I enjoyed the first two enough to continue the series. The breakneck pace and intensity has not slowed in this installment, either.
Just read: *What Feasts and Night by T. Kingfisher. This sequel to *What Moves the Dead does not disappoint! T. Kingfisher continues to be utterly brilliant.
*Bookshop.org affiliate links.
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