February 2023 Novel Update: Making a Plan, Getting It Done…

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It’s been a while since I updated you on my Secret New Novel progress, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been hard at work.

Back in December I reached a crucial point with my novel: I finished the Second Draft that I started back in August.  The Second Draft solved a LOT of the problems that were plaguing the First Draft, which was really rough and full of holes.  The Second Draft, in contrast, eliminated some unnecessary scenes, fleshed out a lot of vague ideas, and ironed out some major issues that made the rough First Draft, well, rough.

After finishing the Second Draft I took a two-week break for Christmas and New Years, which I also spent getting caught up on miscellaneous projects, tasks, and cleaning.  This was also important because it gave me some space away from the novel and helped me come back to it in January with a fresh perspective.

And that fresh perspective was incredibly helpful. Continue reading »

Doing More With Video as a Creative Person

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I think a lot about some advice I got from the Youtuber and speedrunner Karl Jobst during our Day Job interview: Everyone in a creative field should be using Youtube, because whatever you’re doing, it can only help you build your platform.

There’s a lot of truth to this.  On one level, people watch a lot of YouTube—like, billions of people watching billions of videos racking up zillions of views.  The YouTube algorithm also drives viewers to keep watching, to check out new YouTubers, and to watch videos related to what they’ve already seen.  So, not only is YouTube a HUGE outlet for sharing your work, but it can also help you reach people in new ways that can potentially be fun and natural.

Plus, YouTube advertising is like, an enormous industry that helps creators earn real, folding money, if that’s the direction you’re headed in.

On my end, though, I want to be a writer, not a YouTuber, so a big part of me doesn’t want to get wrapped up in the process of prepping, filming, editing, and hyping videos all the time, since I’m already busy enough as it is.

This begs a really important question: Is there a way for creative people to do more with internet video without it becoming their main focus? Continue reading »

Working Out of the House Can Improve Your Mood

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I’m writing this from a coffee shop in my town where I sometimes go to do work in the afternoons. For the price of a small (or sometimes large) drink, I can grab a table, set up my laptop, and work on editing, emails, miscellaneous tasks, or even this blog, like I’m doing right now.  Sometimes it’s crowded, but usually it’s not, so I can work in a relatively quiet atmosphere.

But an ideal workspace for me is about more than just quiet: sometimes I like being around other people, and I need to change up my surroundings to freshen my outlook.

I wrote about this in an earlier post about working in family restaurants in Japan, but for me, spending so much time working from home at the same desk in the same surroundings day after day can start to feel repetitious: I love my workspace, but sometimes I want to get out and work somewhere new. Continue reading »

The Quest for 50

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I’ve embarked on a Quest.  Some might even call it a Second Quest.

It’s a quest fraught with danger, menace, and hazards at every turn, a quest that involves a perilous journey whose conclusion is uncertain, a quest beyond the reaches of anything mere mortals can imagine, and a quest that will undoubtedly expose me to attacks by dastardly villains who’ll stop at nothing to thwart my goals.

Fantasy-speak aside: I’m looking for more online reviews of MFA Thesis Novel.

(Also, my apologies for the somewhat click-baity title, since I was looking for an entertaining way to lead into this topic and thought the whole pseudo-fantasy bit would be fun.  Keep reading, though, and I’ll explain more!) Continue reading »

Here’s What I Got Done in 2022

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So I’ll admit, I’m a little behind on the blogging game: after taking some time off from writing and creative work for Christmas and New Years, I returned to But I Also Have a Day Job last week to write about my New Years Resolutions.

Thinking about the coming year also got me reflecting on the previous year and what I’ve been getting done (I made a similar post for what I got done in 2021 too).  In a lot of ways, 2022 was my biggest year ever as a writer, both in terms of accomplishments, and making positive life changes.  However, it’s easy for me to forget that when I’m busy or having a stressful time, which is why in this post I decided to list out my accomplishments for 2022.

In total, that list came out to 8 different accomplishments—and as much as I love Top Ten Lists in the David Letterman sense, it didn’t seem right to force two more in just for the sake of aesthetics.  It also didn’t feel right to put these accomplishments in order of importance, so instead I’ve listed them out chronologically to form a mini-story of what my creative work year looked like.

So without further ado, here’s what I got done in 2022… Continue reading »

2023 New Year’s Resolutions!!

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Happy (late) New Year, all.  I spent most of December working through a pretty big miasma of, well, stuff.

Biggest of this was finishing the Second Draft of my Secret New Novel, though I also kept busy with some bigger editing jobs, personal projects, and a whole load of Christmas shopping.

All of that combined to burn me out in a pretty big way—I just barely got all of my gifts wrapped in time for Christmas, enjoyed some fun celebrations and holiday gatherings, then spent the last week of 2022 taking it slow, which I very badly needed.

What does taking it slow mean? In my case it meant sleeping in, taking some alone time, and enjoying time with family and friends, in between some light personal and work projects and some much-needed cleaning and organizing.  It wasn’t quite a vacation, since I still did some work, and I even picked up a last minute editing job that a client needed for an early January deadline, even though I’d told myself I wouldn’t be taking on new jobs Continue reading »

December 2022 Novel Update: The Second Draft Home Stretch

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One of the reasons I like posting updates on my Secret New Novel progress is that it keeps me accountable for my own promises. If I make a promise to myself on this blog where people can see it, it makes me take that promise more seriously, so I’m more likely to follow through with it.

That’s what happened last month when I promised to finish my second draft revisions by New Years (or preferably Christmas!) so I can start 2023 off with a fresh mindset on the third draft.

Despite my best efforts, the past few weeks have been really busy, but I’ve been maintaining a steady pace of working on my Secret New Novel draft four mornings a week, with ZERO days missed in December. That’s a new personal monthly best, and I think having the firm end-of-the-year deadline has really helped me get there.

Two other things have also really helped my writing progress this month. One is of course that for Continue reading »

To Work or Not to Work: The Eternal Weekend Question

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I’m writing this post on Saturday (yeah, I tend to schedule these posts in advance, EPIC SHOCK), where I woke up at my usual time, made breakfast, wrote out a to-do list, and sat down to finish a lot of things I didn’t quite have time for this week, including drafting this post.

Now, just to be clear, I don’t normally work a standard day on the weekend.  Usually I use my weekends for seeing friends, reading, doing physical chores, and in general, relaxing and de-stressing from my creative and editing work to put me in a refreshed state of mind for the week.

The problem is, though, that some weeks things get really busy, and taking an entire two days off for a weekend can be incredibly refreshing…but also leave me scrambling with a SUPER busy week where I’m rushing to not only finish the usual things I have to do, but all the things I wanted to do the previous week but didn’t.

And that SUCKS Continue reading »

A Short Reminder About What It Means to Prioritize Your Creative Work

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Sometimes I get stressed, worried, confused, or preoccupied with things that aren’t my creative work.  Or, I waste a lot of time that I could be using for creative work doing….things that aren’t creative work.

That’s because I often forget that doing creative work means prioritizing creative work over other things.

To be clear, I’m not talking about essential functions like food, sleep, or staying healthy.  I’m also not talking about maintaining relationships with friends, family, or significant others, which can bring us fulfillment in very important ways.

No, I’m talking about other things. Things that matter less than your creative work.

One trap I often fall into is thinking about things I’d like to have because because the people around me have them.  Or, I think too much about the life I’m “supposed” to have, rather than Continue reading »

November 2022 Novel Update: Thanksgiving Writing and a New Year’s Deadline

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Heads up for New Hampshire folks: This Saturday, December 3rd I’ll be at Main Street BookEnds in Warner from 12:30 to 2:00pm signing books, talking to customers, and in general just hanging out. The awesome local children’s authors David Elliot and Matt Forrest Esenwine will also be there throughout the day as part of Warner’s Hometown Holidays event.  Click here for more details, and if you’re around, stop by and say hi!

Novel revisions have been going well, which has me in a really good mood.

In late August I finally finished the rough draft of my Secret New Novel, took a week off, then began second draft revisions.  Writing the second draft is eons easier than writing the first draft because I’ve already got a scaffolding of what the novel will look like, and I know the characters and story a lot better than I did at this time last year.  So, sitting down to write every day has been much, much easier.

Still, it’s not all a walk in the park: several chapters, particularly near the beginning, needed to be 90-95% rewritten, and for most of the others I’m still changing 50-70% of what’s on the page from Draft 1.  Fortunately, though, the revision process has gotten easier Continue reading »

Creative Communities Are REALLY Important

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A lot of creative people harbor this myth of the artist who works alone (usually in an attic or secret studio someplace), slaving away at their life’s masterwork in secret.  “This will be my Great American Novel when it’s finished!” they might cry, or “I’ll show my paintings to the public when they’re ready!”

Here’s the thing, though: while a lot of artists definitely work alone (hell, I wrote an entire novel about this idea), rarely do they work in isolation.

That’s because, for a lot of creative people, while the actual creation process takes place alone (the writing, the painting, the composing, etc.), they still have communities of other creative people they can engage with Continue reading »

Should You Shift Your Sleep Schedule with Daylight Savings Time?

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Yesterday was Daylight Savings Time, where everyone in the US turns back their clocks an hour and reverts to Standard Time. While recent bills passed by both the Senate and numerous states suggest it’s likely that our years of changing the clocks are numbered, the tradition is here to stay for at least a while longer. Meanwhile, changing the clocks has gotten me thinking about my sleep schedule, and what sleep habits are best for me as a creative person who makes his own work schedule.

Quick rewind: I spend kind of a lot of time talking about sleep on this blog.  One of my most popular posts chronicles what happened when I went to work on two hours of sleep (Spoilers: It sucked), and more recently I’ve realized that spending the time it takes to get enough sleep is a great investment if it means I can use my remaining time productively.

More importantly, when I consider what kind of daily schedule I want to keep, first and foremost is the idea of when I’d like to be getting up and when I’d like to be going to bed Continue reading »