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But I’m not getting discouraged from it. I’ve learned that every book has its own life and its own personality. I’ve never written a book the same way twice. I’ve never revised or edited one the same way twice either. Something in my process always changes, usually for the better.
I think that kind of tumultuous relationship with writing can be… tiring. It can wear on a person. When you first finish writing, revising, and editing in some kind of record time, you tend to think that you can do that with every book from then on. I’ve learned that’s really not the case.
At least for me.
It’s hard to finish a book, guys. I watch in this author Facebook group where this one girl finishes a book once every couple weeks, but I have to wonder… how the FUCK. Maybe she writes books that are more simple in nature. Maybe they’re shorter. I don’t know.
I miss writing short, actually. Since I came back to writing, I’ve been writing much longer books than I used to. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, or if it’s specific to the Reapers series, but I don’t think it is specific to the Reapers because I wrote an urban fantasy romance that was even bigger than the Reapers books back in October. LOL.
Anyway, I’m getting off track. I’m probably not the only one sitting there in awe of this woman finishing a book every few weeks. Would I like to do that? Absolutely. But I know that’s not how my process works. The fastest I ever went from idea to final draft was about three months. And I know writers out there that are in awe over that number like I am for that author in the Facebook group.
What I learned about myself when I took that time off from writing and publishing is that rushing myself, rushing my process, and succumbing to the pressure of everyone publishing faster than me, ends up with me in a far worse place. I’m not eager to burn myself out, and maybe that makes me a little more cautious about setting dates for the rest of the Reapers series before they are written.
It’s okay to be slower than that girl in the Facebook group. It’s okay for your speed to be different than mine. It’s okay that your process is more streamlined, or that one guy over there has a bigger email list than I do.
This is one thing that I keep telling myself every time I berate myself, or I feel bad because I am not capable of doing something that someone else is having such great success at.
It’s okay.
For February, this is what I’m going to tell myself as I work on revisions (because, yes, I’m not done) and start re-evaluating my quarterly goals.
It’s okay.
2019 is a low-pressure year. It’s a year of building my businesses and side hustles. It’s a year of claiming what I had before and creating a great community around myself that will motivate and help me thrive.
It’s okay to be me. It’s okay for you to be you.
But it’s not okay for me to squander my writing time playing on the interwebs, so my lovelies, I’m out for now. Have a fantastic and awesome day. I hope your Januarys were amazing, and I wish your Februarys to include so much awesome you just can’t stand it.
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