Substack tells me I’ve published 36 newsletters in 26 weeks. That’s right on half a year. And that’s enough from me for just now. I want to hear from you. Tell me something about yourself. How was 2023? I’ll eventually write one of those requisite, year-end Looking Back & Looking Forward posts, but today I want to learn what your year’s been like. Has this been a tough one? Or have things lightened up a bit? Were there any big milestones?
2023 held a lot of changes and letting go. I made a commitment to focus more on my fiction and that meant I had to stop doing other things. I've always had a low boredom threshold anyway... start something, learn enough to become competent at it, and then the feeling of "same old, same old" kicks in. I just had my Human Design report done and a scan of it revealed that it mentions that very thing. So in 2024, I intend to better understand that pattern.
Perhaps this is one reason I love writing so much. There's always something to learn.
But I've discovered while being here on Substack that I'm quite resistant to being on a schedule to put out writing for others. I hoped it would a sort of accountability for me, but it's not working out that way. So I've got some thinking to do about how I'll approach Substack in 2024.
Creating that plan was supposed to happen between now and the New Year, but after outrunning covid for nearly 4 years, it finally caught me. Anything requiring deep thought must wait. Just putting together a few paragraphs like this takes an inordinate amount of time right now. Hopefully, in 8 or 10 days my outlook will be clearer.
I love your painting and hope you find a way to get back to it. But not at the expense of your writing, please!
Oh, no! Sorry about your run-in with covid! Ugh. Yes, hopefully you'll throw it shortly.
It's so interesting what we continue to learn about ourselves. And how we must learn to manage ourselves. Sometimes we try heavy discipline, sometimes we have to let our muse find the way forward. I'm still enjoying your podcast and like hearing how you ladies navigate and pivot. I'm looking forward to your projects and processes in 2024! (Can you believe we're facing 2024???)
As for painting - my passion from the womb, and yet it still feels right to prioritize the writing until something ELSE makes room for the painting. Lottery? (oops, never play) Bitcoin? Buried treasure?
This year has been tough, and my writing has suffered. I've had a lot of personal commitments, and there just hasn't been time for anything creative. I'm hoping next year will be different. I really want to publish my book and finish revising the second in the trilogy next year. Plus, I have a few other projects in the works... Sounds like it has been a productive year for you, and that's awesome! Love the painting :-)
I hope this year will make way for your writing! I'm looking forward to you next installment :) My year has been productive getting this stack off the ground but my novel progress has taken a hit. At the same time, my day job went from having a little wiggle-room to having to work longer days and weekends. So much for all that paid vacation (read: writing time) that I can't seem to squeeze in. I'm probably going to back off the newsletter to once every two weeks in order to put more of that time on the novel (MUST get it done!) and spend some time learning/leveling up the non-fiction craft. But sometimes our lives have seasons that are going to come at us no matter what we do. Sigh. Speaking of - that painting: painted probably around 2008? And I haven't touched a brush since 2015. Way too long! But that will have to keep waiting for yet another season. Argh.
Substack has been great, but it definitely draws down on the precious reserve of novel-writing time. I had to back off from my ambitious starting schedule to 2x per month to stay sane and productive. (I'm not on a schedule right now, though I hope to get back there next year.) And I can't even remember the last time I picked up a brush! It seems like there's only bandwidth for one creative pursuit at a time... But, hey, one is better than nothing, right? :-)
2023 held a lot of changes and letting go. I made a commitment to focus more on my fiction and that meant I had to stop doing other things. I've always had a low boredom threshold anyway... start something, learn enough to become competent at it, and then the feeling of "same old, same old" kicks in. I just had my Human Design report done and a scan of it revealed that it mentions that very thing. So in 2024, I intend to better understand that pattern.
Perhaps this is one reason I love writing so much. There's always something to learn.
But I've discovered while being here on Substack that I'm quite resistant to being on a schedule to put out writing for others. I hoped it would a sort of accountability for me, but it's not working out that way. So I've got some thinking to do about how I'll approach Substack in 2024.
Creating that plan was supposed to happen between now and the New Year, but after outrunning covid for nearly 4 years, it finally caught me. Anything requiring deep thought must wait. Just putting together a few paragraphs like this takes an inordinate amount of time right now. Hopefully, in 8 or 10 days my outlook will be clearer.
I love your painting and hope you find a way to get back to it. But not at the expense of your writing, please!
Oh, no! Sorry about your run-in with covid! Ugh. Yes, hopefully you'll throw it shortly.
It's so interesting what we continue to learn about ourselves. And how we must learn to manage ourselves. Sometimes we try heavy discipline, sometimes we have to let our muse find the way forward. I'm still enjoying your podcast and like hearing how you ladies navigate and pivot. I'm looking forward to your projects and processes in 2024! (Can you believe we're facing 2024???)
As for painting - my passion from the womb, and yet it still feels right to prioritize the writing until something ELSE makes room for the painting. Lottery? (oops, never play) Bitcoin? Buried treasure?
This year has been tough, and my writing has suffered. I've had a lot of personal commitments, and there just hasn't been time for anything creative. I'm hoping next year will be different. I really want to publish my book and finish revising the second in the trilogy next year. Plus, I have a few other projects in the works... Sounds like it has been a productive year for you, and that's awesome! Love the painting :-)
I hope this year will make way for your writing! I'm looking forward to you next installment :) My year has been productive getting this stack off the ground but my novel progress has taken a hit. At the same time, my day job went from having a little wiggle-room to having to work longer days and weekends. So much for all that paid vacation (read: writing time) that I can't seem to squeeze in. I'm probably going to back off the newsletter to once every two weeks in order to put more of that time on the novel (MUST get it done!) and spend some time learning/leveling up the non-fiction craft. But sometimes our lives have seasons that are going to come at us no matter what we do. Sigh. Speaking of - that painting: painted probably around 2008? And I haven't touched a brush since 2015. Way too long! But that will have to keep waiting for yet another season. Argh.
Substack has been great, but it definitely draws down on the precious reserve of novel-writing time. I had to back off from my ambitious starting schedule to 2x per month to stay sane and productive. (I'm not on a schedule right now, though I hope to get back there next year.) And I can't even remember the last time I picked up a brush! It seems like there's only bandwidth for one creative pursuit at a time... But, hey, one is better than nothing, right? :-)