General Notes
Oof. No writing to report this week courtesy of being sick, having to do some heavy lifting on getting the PhD extension processed, and throwing some attention behind Brain Jar Press projects that needed a boost.
The end of June was also a point where my quarterly plan and my current bullet journal both ended, so there’s been some more-intense-than-usual thinking about goals and processes. I’m actually migrating my old journal for the first time in forever, and it’s proving to be a really useful exercise.
I’m processing the September 22 to June 23 journal at the moment, going through it page by page and logging all the projects and notes that need to either go into the new journal, a working document for a new story, or head over to my Evernote file so I can access the research on the fly.
One thing I’ve noticed here: I spent June of this year finishing a bunch of tasks I’d originally expected to get done back in November/December last year, just after I lost my writer’s centre gig. And while I probably would have claimed to be relatively happy in that gig, reviewing my last few months there day by day is a pretty illuminating exercise in just how frustrated I was with my day to day life. I got stuff done, but I was burning out fast and not enjoying myself at all.
I also panicked a bit after finding myself newly unemployed and relying on writing and publishing out of nowhere, and took on more work than I should have. There’s a project I accepted in October of 2022 with an intended end date of December/January, but is only just being handed over now. A lot of delays meant it went from being a moderately profitable two-month-job to a break-even freelance gig.
Around April, I started winnowing down the things that get my attention and streamlining processes. The hours of every week that were spent lining up and scheduling mentoring gigs, for example, is now streamlined into a simple Calendly link that is almost entire hands-off for me. Bookings appear in my calendar, with Zoom links created, and all I need to do is show up.
I also quietly took down the bulk of my freelancing offers for cover design and such, since it was frequently ending up more work than I allotted for it. I’m still technically open for writing/publishing consultation and mentorship, but that’s not a part of my business I’m really looking to develop until 2024 at this point.
My writing patterns remain consistent when viewed over a ten-month block. Given a thirty-day month, I will write on approximately 20 of them and lose the other 10 to other projects, editing, or general anxiety issues. This probably means it would make sense to budget for 244 “writing” days a year when contemplating plans, so that’s something to ponder as I test the feasibility of doing a million word year in 2024.
On the flip side, some of my notes also indicate why I’m toying with writing so much. The more I read about old pulp magazine formats, the more I’d really like to expand the idea of Eclectic Projects into something similar. Still pondering what that would look like while we’re on a break from regular broadcasts.
