And Your Little Dog Too!
This week, friends... Let me tell you, this week has been rough. There's been a lot of personal hoo-ha banging around in the background of my little world, I haven't felt the greatest, and creative motivation has been aggravatingly low. Even the cooler weather and invasion of migratory butterflies haven't been enough to cheer me up.
But let's take a moment to reflect on some positives, shall we? Sunday I had the opportunity to meet up with some friends for breakfast and an early showing of Wonder Woman. Awesome outing accomplished. Go team!. Later that day I got back home and delivered a fourth book to a new friend who has been incredibly supportive of Ash to Ashes. Not only that but I got to meet another of her friends who had also read the book, and the three of us had a delightful conversation about the book, the characters, and what might be coming as the series progresses. It was even a good old fashion front porch meeting on a pleasant day, which I haven't had the opportunity to do in a while, so that was a definite bonus. Y'all make this fun and exciting, folks! Thanks so much!
Monday I had fun with some friends and fans over a Facebook post about dragon names. It was a hoot! Then Tuesday... Let's just skip Tuesday... and Wednesday for that matter. Nothing good happened. A lot of disruptive, depression-inducing b.s. came up. Creativity got flushed for a few days. Anxiety went into overdrive. All this on a week when I should have had plenty of time to get caught up. But Noooooooo. Thursday was better emotionally, but I felt like crap physically. I did manage to get a little more written so it wasn't a total loss. I also found out a friend of mine got the job she was waiting to hear back from so, "Yay for vicarious celebrating! Major congrats!"
But C. Robert, what does this have to do with the writing process? So here's the deal. I set a loose deadline on Book 2. There's no noose at the end of this rope. I don't have a publisher breathing down my neck. But understanding my time frames better this go around, I developed a pretty solid notion of when I want this book done so it can start the publication process and hit my target release date. (I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with Isthmus.) Most people would call this goal setting. Here's what that looks like from my perspective:
Technically speaking, I can still feasibly hit my goal if everything plays out right in my writing process. Looking at a blank calendar, that seems doable. Fill in the appointments, days off, events, and likelihood of more overdramatic nonsense, and that red sand starts falling mighty damn fast.
When it comes down to it, the question really ends up being, "What happens if I don't hit my deadline?" The answer, at least in the short term, is "Nothing." I should take that assessment, breathe a bit, and run with it. End of story. Get back to work and enjoy the creative process. Stop letting stress be a creativity killer, especially when it's stress I'm creating for myself.
Unfortunately, I'm also fully aware, after watching the sales pattern of Book 1, that missing my target will severely screw the success of Book 2's release. November/Early December would be amazing as people gear up, buckle down, and get the book(s) for Christmas/Hanukah/Yule gifts. Conversely, if I miss my deadline and the book hits the market in late December/January, I'll be stuck playing a whole lot of catch up as people recover from their typical binge-spending for the holidays and have to wait to buy the book. That is not a wave I want to be on the backside of. I don't need a business or marketing degree to understand how that pattern works. But the reality is, I only have so much control over what happens between now and my projected deadline. The red sands fall. Green Gal keeps eyeballing my shoes. That flying monkey is looking a little lonely and randy (gross). We'll just have to see how it all plays out.
