My something or other... A Work Rant

Druid Georgi -

Warning: This is a work rant!!

I’m powering through. And I’m loving it! When I was working on the kid’s book (back in November and December) every word was a slog to write. But with Quaybrooke, it’s not like that. I write it every day because I want to and it’s a joy to spend time with my characters. This is how it’s supposed to be!

I’m about a third of the way through at 36000 words. I know that when I start to edit the word count will drop to a more ‘normal’ number for a YA novel. So I’m not worried about that too much. One thing I’ve learnt over the years is to keep writing. No matter what!

As I’ve mentioned briefly before. This year, I’m living off my savings to pursue my dreams. That sounds so dramatic now that I see it written down but that’s what I’m doing. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years but I’ve not had the confidence or gumption to actually go through with it.

For years, I worked in retail and wrote in my free time. A perfectly livable option and I could totally do that again if I had to. For the years before that, I said I was a writer but wrote sparingly and rarely finished projects. For the year after that, I did a masters degree in film, that had little to do with writing and where writers were treated as poorly as they would be in the industry… Maybe one day I’ll tell you a story about that. I can’t recommend this as an option, it sliced my savings in half, drastically hurt my mind and confidence and allowed me to continue doing what I’ve always done: Postpone and ignore my dreams. It wasn’t all bad, the master’s course gave me a lot of dedication and a little bit of discipline.  Both things I desperately needed.

This year, the year after my masters, I’ve been working on a portfolio that I can be proud of. Short stories, novels and scripts. Things that are finished, polished and have a point of view. You see, guys, I love what I do. And I’m loving doing what I love. Does that make sense?

If you’ve followed my blog for a while (thank you for that, by the way!) or if know me at all, I tend to half-arse a lot of stuff. But, I’m stopping that. I mean, I’ll probably never fully stop… It’s part of my charm after all… But I’m stopping the half-arsing by about 75% and I’m getting results. I’m still me so I have days where bed is the only option but bouncing back is easier than it ever has been. 

Here’s a list because a blog would be incomplete without a list:

  • I don’t compare myself to others.
  • I take breaks.
  • I wake at the same time every day.
  • I let myself have procrastination days. See last week’s post
  • I am never afraid of the blank page.
  • I stay hydrated.
  • I don’t take myself to seriously.
  • I read stuff… every day.

Simple enough, right?

I don’t really know what this post is about. I just want to share how I’m trying my best… Because that’s all we can do really. Just try our best and see what happens.

Have a good day!

And thanks for reading!