Okay, Let’s Get on the 2022 Train

Okay, okay. We’re three days away from 2022, so I guess we should act like it.

(On a side note, I’ve checked out a laptop at the library, which, on one hand feels very neat, but on the other hand, kind of makes me anxious about logging into stuff on a shared computer. My understanding is that they reset between people, but eeeeeeee all the same.)

(Will just have to log out of everything ever.)

My pondering about goals over the past few days has mostly followed the train of thought that I have spent a LOT of time procrastinating over the past two years–no spoons to be had–and how to fix that instead of getting sucked into time sinks for hours on end.

I’ve two main time sinks: Discord and YouTube.

I’ve been on Discord for years but never used it terribly regularly until about a year ago. That’s when I joined my Among Us server. I still was spotty for a bit, until the tournaments started up. Even now, when everyone’s back at work/school, I still spend a fair amount of time there even though it is less active. The biggest issue is first thing in the morning. A lot of the people are in Europe/the UK, which means it’s their afternoon in my morning, which is when they’re active. So I tend to stop by in the morning to say hi/catch up on stuff that happened while I was asleep, and then, since that’s when it’s most active, I get sucked into whatever’s happening or I hang out and ditz around seeing if something is going to happen.

On one hand, socialization is good for me and I do truly like the people in that server. On the other hand, stopping by in the mornings derails me first thing, which makes it hard to switch into a productive frame of mind later on in the day.

The YouTube issue goes a bit like this: I have a couple of channels that I subscribe to that put out regular content on a weekly basis. So I’ll go on to watch that week’s episode, and since I listen best when doing something with my hands, I’ll play my coloring game on my phone while the episode is going. (Plus it makes it feel like I’m not just wasting time watching YT.) My episode will end, but I won’t be done with my picture, so I’ll go on to a different video. I’ll finish my picture, but the video’s not over, so I start a new one. And eventually I run out of subscription videos and will move into random stuff, ad nauseum. And even if the picture/video end at the same time, it’s still hard to break out of that and move on to something else.

I think the solution here has got to be to limit my time.

I don’t necessarily want to miss out talking to my friends on Discord, but I’ve noticed that if I check it on my phone rather than my computer, it’s harder to engage (i.e., type) so it’s easier for me to move on to something else. I think I can do a morning check-in on the phone and then move on to more productive things while still making times for special events that may happen occasionally. And for YouTube, I think I’ve got to do one video at a time and then cut it off. It’s too easy to get into that “One more, oh, one more, okay, one more” mentality otherwise.

And, I think, if I’m not at work, I’ve got to set a time (say, 10 am) where I get off my desktop and do something else, no matter what, whether that’s a chore around the house, or walking the dog, or going to a coffee shop. Forcing myself to move should help me get out of a Discord/YouTube rut even if I’ve fallen into one.

(The other thing I’ve noticed is that I’ll sit down at the desktop to work, get distracted, and then stay there even when I realize I’ve been sucked into a time sink, because maybe in five minutes I’ll stop messing around and work, but that point never comes.)

Identifying the problem is the first step to fixing it, as they say. So we’ll see how this goes.

As for finite goals, my hope is that if I can convert even a third of my current procrastination time into productive time, I can get close to my pre-pandemic levels of productivity. Getting Book 1 ready for submission is my top goal, followed by finishing my novella for TDP, editing/revising my scifi horror novella and my cozy mystery, and getting out a couple more SkillShare classes (with less fixing needed next time. May need to invest in a better microphone). I should also finish my serial (part 3 will be out on Saturday) early-ish in the year and I can put that out as a novella as well. Hopefully more than that will get done, but it feels like a good starting place.

Non-writing wise, 50 books like normal, with the added stipulation each month that one book is from a TBR list, and one book is off my shelf at home. I’ve been reading a LOT of library books, but meanwhile everything else just grows.

And I am going to try out that video game goal I was thinking about. A new game each month or, if I haven’t beaten the previous month’s game yet, at least 5 hours of gameplay. I shall have to ponder what I want to play first. I have 60 or so Steam games and I’ve only beaten like 10 of them. (And I bought a new one a few days ago. Whoops.)

I have a bad habit of playing the games I’m least interested in first (saving the best for last, I guess?) which works when eating your dinner but is a silly way to game, so I’ve got to overcome that too.

Anyway, squiders, do you have goals for the new years?

Santa…Squid?

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I drew you guys a Landsquid.

Santa Landsquid

I drew him in 10 minutes yesterday. Tried that other set of ink again, and it’s still smudging, sigh. I’m out of ink on my Sakura microns so I need to get some more if someone didn’t get me any for Christmas.

It’s about time to start thinking about stuff for next year, but I’m finding it hard to find the time. Next week, I guess. I think I want to add in a video game goal this year. Keep buying them and not playing them, which is silly. So maybe play a certain number of hours a month? Start a new one? Kinks need to be worked out.

Anyway, I hope everyone’s weekend goes well and no one gets COVID. See you next week!

WriYe and the Year’s End

It’s that time of month again. And that time of year. Madness.

Also, I talked about this over at Turtleduck Press earlier this week, but does anyone else feel like 2021 is a liminal year? Like, that it doesn’t really exist. It’s just a continuation of 2020, and it’s near impossible to remember what happened this year vs. last year.

Anyway.

I haven’t been terribly active over at WriYe this year, and I don’t think I’ll hit my word count goal, which I think was 120K. I’m hovering around 90K for the year, but I also stopped tracking some months ago, so. I actually have no idea. Oh well.

That being said, let’s get on to the prompts for this year.

2021 is almost over. Sum up your year of writing. Did you meet your goals?

What even were my goals? One second.

Oh, right. I picked the word Polish for my word for the year, and then, aside from poking at Book 1 for a few months, did nothing with it. Bad show, Kit.

Story-wise, I dragged my Changeling story out to about 70K words and then decided it was awful and stuck it in a drawer. I DID manage to finish my draft of World’s Edge. And I’ve got 31K on my Nano story which–having read over it earlier this week–has definite issues but is salvageable.

I revised nothing, alas.

I sent out a handful of picture book queries and then did nothing to follow up on that, such as sending more queries out to other agents.

I did create two SkillShare classes, though the second one continues to be in audio-editing limbo. Fingers crossed that gets done tomorrow.

So, did I meet my goals? I give me a C.

Give us your biggest triumph and what you are most proud of!

In the great scheme of Accomplishing, I didn’t accomplish much. I mean, there was the writing, which has been, well. I think I’ve talked about how I feel like what I’m coming up with recently is just…not interesting. Or maybe I just talked to the TDP folks about that. (I’ve got to remember that so much of the good stuff comes out in revision, and all a first draft has to do is exist.)

I did put out a short story collection in…May? That’s kind of a big deal, I guess.

And this last SkillShare class, the one that I’m having issues with the audio one–I was so proud of it! It’s a workshop and I think it has a lot of good information in it, but everything’s gotten kind of bogged down with trying to get it fixed, and my enthusiasm has dulled.

I think…I think for 2022 I’ve really got to sit down, look at what I want to accomplish, make realistic goals, and figure out ways to actually focus instead of the weird procrastination stuff I’ve been doing for the last two years.

That’s for a few weeks from now, though. Or next week.

Hope your December is going well, squiders!

Into December

Man, this once a week schedule is just not doing it for me. I may have to go back to twice a week for my own sanity, or just take a break til 2022. I shall ponder.

Nano went, well. We’ve talked about that. I ended with about 31000 words (I spent the 29th writing 2.5K on my serial story over at TDP instead of doing Nano, which went so much better. Man, no one is kidding when they talk about sloggy middles.) which is fine. I mean, not great, it never feels good to not reach a goal you set for yourself, but I think it’s 31K of solid words.

My plan here is to read back through the story (I normally have to do that sometime in Act 2 Part 2 anyway, because it helps me keep the entire structure of the story in my head as I map out the end of the story) and then get back to it. I’d like to say that I’m going to finish it this month, but I know how December goes.

Ah, December. Some years I get so anxious about setting up and getting into work for the next year that the month gets lost. I don’t feel that this year. Maybe because it’s still early in the month, but mostly I’m just concerned with trying to finish things up.

Got a lot to do otherwise, of course. Presents to buy/wrap, plans to make, movies to watch. There’s non-writing projects that need doing. All that jazz.

And re-evaluation to be done. These last two years have not gone well, from a creative standpoint. Things that were working before health issues and the pandemic messed everything up are obviously no longer working. I need to sit and think about my goals and how to best achieve them. Focus things down a bit, probably.

Also, I lost my grandmother last week, and that’s throwing everything off. I need to spend some time on that as well.

Anyway, as the year winds down, I hope you are doing well and that you’re in a good frame of mind. I’ll (hopefully) see you next week.