My weekly posting goal went off the rails in October. October was a rough month. I didn’t let myself properly recover from a rather terrible summer, attempted to jump right in to a truckload of work, and floundered hard midway through the month.

So I gave myself time to breathe. And when November rolled around, I jumped in with both feet. I spent the last few days of October doing some extensive plotting and kicked off Nanowrimo with a bang. I spent a month writing. While I was knee deep in noveling, I found myself saying ‘yes’ to more short story projects. This was after I swore off them for a few months. I told myself I wasn’t going to volunteer to do anymore. Now I found myself with a handful of story commitments, on top of edits, on top of Nano.
I wondered why I did this to myself. Do I just like drive myself to mania and then burn out?

The answer is maybe. A fellow Wattchick suggested I like to work under pressure.

Yes. She’s right.

But sometimes this punishing pace works for me. I gave myself some extenuating pressure to drive myself through Nano. I had specific goals I was working toward. And it paid off. I finished Nano. With time to spare. And I got faster at writing. I snapped out several of my stories. I was lined up to do me though I derailed myself last night was a pure chaotic injury. Seriously, who punctures there foot on their lap top power cord?

The point is, despite the grueling pace I set for myself, I also proved to myself I could do it, I could maintain this sort of pace and moving forward I want to maintain close to this pace. I’m upping my daily goal. For most of this year and last year, I set myself a relatively light goal of 500 words a day. And there were weeks I didn’t meet that goal. I was unmotivated, unfocused, and generally depressed. Even when things began happening, it was difficult to get going. I felt like I wasted a lot of time. Then the summer hit and it was a slap in the face. I needed to make the most of the time I had without the kids at home.

2018 has been the longest year. It’s felt like two years stuffed into one. I felt my ‘new year’ began when the kiddos went back to school and after two months of flailing around, I have a plan and I am back in the game. Here’s to a productive 2019 and to more Tune in Tuesdays to come!

Current Song Obsession:

This song is ridiculously catchy. It’s a total ear worm and every time I see this music video I burst into tears.

What am I reading?

After breaking through the Nano goal, I have treated myself to a Kate Daniels Book Binge. I am currently on Book 6 or 7. (There’s a lot of between books and novellas, it’s hard to keep track.) The deep dive continues.