Camy's Writing Diary

Another day of no editing! Ugh! To be honest, I did a lot of work today. I had to catch up on messages from one of the box sets I’m in, as well as check email, all of which took about an hour. Then I had to text back and forth with my cover designer about buying the licenses for the stock photos for the covers in my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series. I wanted to make sure we were getting the right photos, plus I ended up changing one photo last minute. Then I realized I should create my drip sequence because I have a BookFunnel promo starting tomorrow. (If you don’t know what a drip sequence is, check out this podcast by Thomas Umstattd at Author Media.) I know, it’s really last minute and to be honest, I had not been intending to update my welcome email at all since it’s adequate , and it’s a lot of work to create a drip sequence. But I’ve been reading Elana Johnson’s book, Writing and Marketing Systems (Indie Inspiration for Self-Publishers Book 3) , and decided to do my drip sequ...

WOW today has been busy and I didn't get any editing or writing done! I had a phone call with my cover designer first thing and we talked about the covers for my Hawaii Christian Contemporary Romance series, as well as my Hawaii Christian Romantic Suspense series, and then we also segued into my Christian Regency series. I had forgotten about the cover for my Reader Magnet , The Gentleman Thief , so I talked to her about that a bit. She needed the stock photo image for The Gentleman Thief , so after we got off the phone, I decided to spend a little time to look for one. Except that I ran into the problem of what model to choose, since several would have worked. I also realized I hadn't picked the covers (or the models) for the other books in the series, and I didn't want to choose a cover model for The Gentleman Thief that I would later wish I could have used for a book in the series. I had always planned to have a single model on the cover who would be the dominant ...

I’m reading Elana Johnson’s book, Writing and Marketing Systems (Indie Inspiration for Self-Publishers Book 3) , and I’m really enjoying it. For one thing, I read her book Writing and Releasing Rapidly (Indie Inspiration for Self-Publishers Book 1) , and I just really like her writing style. It’s breezy and casual and easy to zip through. I also like how she’s very much into hard data. For this book, she doesn’t give her own hard data so much as teaching you how to create your own. It’s also really neat how her own writing routine and writing process is pretty unconventional, but she’s still a very successful author. It’s refreshing and also gives me hope. In the book, she is constantly encouraging you to find out what works for you , and she gives examples of how to try different things to figure out what will work best for your own personality and lifestyle. I was especially inspired by some ideas she gives of how to think outside the box in terms of writing routine and proces...

Maybe because I finished The Gentleman Thief yesterday, I’m moving a bit more slowly today. I had a bunch of home chores to do, then I took my time making breakfast. I think part of it is that I’m fighting the same old resistance to doing self-editing that I’ve fought before. I really don’t know why I’m like this. But like the procrastination issue, God doesn’t require me to have it all together. Meaning, I don’t have to be perfect and be able to completely fix this self-editing issue in my brain, I simply have to manage it . Unlike when I did the cycling experiment, the self-editing for volume 1 isn’t just a quick scene or two, it’ll be a significant commitment of time , which might be why I’m reluctant to start . The idea is daunting. I thought about doing it in just 30 minute increments , which are easier to handle. However, while I can start and stop editing fairly easily, I don’t want to take too many breaks because I’m still struggling to keep my breaks short. I could en...

Woke up late today, and then got a late start on work since I had a bunch of house chores to do. However I think I can finish The Gentleman Thief today, since I only have 2 scenes to write. I have 8 scenes to edit, not including the two scenes I have to write today, and I don’t think the editing will take too long. I’ll have to see. Once I finish The Gentleman Thief , I’ll be able to start editing volume 1 in my series. I had done some editing on it earlier this year, but now that I’ve plotted the entire series (which changed some things) and almost completed the prequel Reader Magnet (which changed even more things), I’ll have to do another complete self-editing pass to make sure things are consistent. I’m continuing both my cycling experiment and my procrastination management techniques, so I’ll start by editing what I wrote yesterday (which is going to take a really long time since I wrote a lot yesterday), and then when I start writing the last two scenes, I’ll continue t...

In light of my brainstorming yesterday on my procrastination issue , I'm ready today! 1) I'll set a timer and write for 90 minutes rather than just 60 2) I'll listen to an audiobook for 30 minutes during my breaks 3) I'll start a 2-3 hour monster on 4thewords.com to force me to get back to work within 30 minutes. 4) I'll use a reward system of a snack every 500 words 5) I have my Positive Self-Talk written and ready for me to read when I'm procrastinating. I'll repeat it over and over if I have to! Yesterday I also experimented with other means of writing besides the Alphasmart, since the keyboard is not as nice as my gaming mechanical keyboard and it also tends to have errors if I write too fast. I attached my gaming keyboard to a USB/lightning toggle and hooked up my iPad mini with both my keyboard and a charging cable, and I started typing in the Pages app on my iPad mini. it worked great! The iPad mini is too old and slow for me to be ab...

The streaming church service today was really good because our pastor talked about how we don't have to have it all together. And I realized that I don't have to solve my procrastination problem, I just have to manage it . It's okay that I'm not perfect and I have a terrible tendency toward procrastination, but if I can find ways around it or to fool myself, or just find a way to get my work done despite it, then I've done a good job. I've brainstormed a few things I can try: 1) I can try writing for 90 minutes at a time, timing myself, and then give myself a 30 minute break. Right now I tend to write for 60 minutes before a break, but I think I can extend that to 90 minutes without too many problems with my back. 2) I can try to listen to audiobooks or read a book during my breaks. (I am leaning more toward audiobooks rather than regular books because I will sometimes keep reading if it's a really good book and I'm near the end.) The reasoning b...

I wasn't able to do my physical exercise first thing this morning--I woke up starving and ate instead of doing yoga, so now I have to wait an hour before doing it or else I'll be hurling my breakfast. The problem is that the exercise typically helps my brain to wake up. So I'm starting work right now, but there's a chance I'll only be staring blankly at the screen. However, I'm continuing the cycling experiment, so I'll be doing self-editing first, and that's less mentally taxing than writing. So my brain fog might not make much difference in my work output if I'm only editing. After the editing, I'll dive into the writing. I'll be using my Alphasmart today again since it seemed to work really well yesterday. I'm going to try timing myself rather than going by scenes, so that I'll start a new scene rather than stopping like I did yesterday. That might help with my forward momentum. I also forgot to mention yesterday that m...

Not entirely sure how to handle the procrastination issue from yesterday, but today I shook things up a little. I usually need some physical exercise first thing to get my brain moving, so while I woke up extra early again, I did yoga. I haven't done it for a while, so I felt a little sick afterward, but after breakfast, that passed. Now I'm headed into writing, but without checking my email first. This could be dangerous because for me, email is like exercise--if I don't do it first thing, it might not get done at all. Usually I need to do my email before work, because it's like eating my frog, but since I want to get work done today to make up for yesterday, I'm foregoing the frog to try to get into a writing mindset earlier in my day, when I might be more productive (not sure yet, but preliminary data seems to indicate I write faster within the first 6 hours of waking up). I hope I won't regret it. I'm still trying that cycling experiment, so I...

While I got a lot of sleep, I still woke up extra early so it's still dark as I'm writing this. It also took me a while to get started on my writing work. Now that I've committed to two box sets for next year, there's more planning and business work to do with the two groups, which took up some time. Today I'm still working on The Gentleman Thief . I did really well when I used my Alphasmart yesterday, so I think I might do the same today. However, I'm also still doing my cycling experiment, so first I'll do a little editing to get into it. I do think the cycling has been (mostly) working to help me start my writing sessions faster, but I want to try it for longer just to see.
 *** UGH! WHY DO I PROCRASTINATE SO MUCH???!!!! I got some work done earlier but when I took a break, I ended up doing house chores! And then I checked Facebook! I never check Facebook, why am I doing it now??? What is wrong with me??? ... Okay I think the hissy fit is ove...

It's really frustrating because my IBS has been bad lately and it's impacted my writing. The discomfort is very distracting and makes it hard for me to be motivated to work when I want to sit and read a book or watch Netflix to get my mind off my body. Today I'm back to writing the rough draft of The Gentleman Thief , but I'll also continue my cycling experiment and do some editing first before I dive into the writing. It took a while for me to get started today because I woke up extra early, so it's too dark and cold to go walking. I strongly suspect that the exercise usually helps my brain wake up so I can start work sooner. Instead, I did some house chores and cooking. I really want to finish this book soon. It's been taking much longer than I wanted. I want to start work editing volume 1 so I can get it to my proofreader stat. *** I got some editing done on The Gentleman Thief and it was rather easy to dive into, compared to other times when I'...

After my cross-post on Facebook yesterday got so much engagement, I'm kind of anxious about how today's post will do. It'll probably be crickets, Camy, so don't get your hopes up. I'm still working on blocking The Gentleman Thief and I only have a few more scenes to go, one long scene and three or four short scenes. If I apply myself really hard today, I might get them all done! I'm feeling better than I did yesterday, although still a bit stuffy-headed and achey. *** Yay! I finished blocking all the scenes! I also discovered something I hadn't realized before, that one of the great things about blocking before I write the scene is that I can do research and decide on names at this stage, so I don't have to do research or use placeholder names when I write the manuscript. Also, for one short scene that I blocked, I ended up writing it instead, so that's one less scene to write! However, I'd been in the "researching and looking ...

I think I'm fighting off a cold or flu or something, probably from the flu shot I got a few days ago, which might be why I'm feeling so unfocused lately with work. That plus my IBS has been making me feel rather self-pitying and whiney lately. On Saturday, I tried changing things up with a different music playlist and different aromatherapy to shake me out of this unfocused funk. The aromatherapy was almost a disaster since it was too strong and almost gave me a headache, but after changing the scent, I was better after a couple hours. And I think the different music and scent really did help me focus a little better. It's hard to tell for certain, since I was still pretty unfocused, but I think it's worth it to keep trying that to help me refocus. I was going to try to do more research into Amazon ads for my marketing, but since I'm feeling so awful I think I might put it off for a little while. I don't like marketing (I don't know many writers who ac...

So as I mentioned yesterday , I've been having focus issues --I sit in front of my computer and stare at the screen and do nothing because I can't focus my thoughts on what to write. I'm not entirely sure why I've been like that, but I don't want to derail my productivity, so I think I just have to push through it. That said, I'm going to relax a bit as I do my blocking for the other scenes in the novella. I'll put on maybe different mood music than my normal playlist for this series, and maybe put on a different aromatherapy to trigger something different in my head. I don't know if it'll work, but I have to get myself out of this distracted funk. It's incredibly frustrating to sit and feel so foggy in my brain, and then get nothing done. I tend to enjoy the outlining phase, so I'm not sure why it's so hard for me to focus on something I tend to do well. Also, I haven't forgotten about my dictation experiment. I'll work on...

I'm not sure how much I'll get done today, but I don't want to call in a sick day. I woke up with a headache, although thanks to drugs that's now gone. However, my IBS is still bothering me like yesterday, and it can be distracting from the writing when it gets painful. I'm going to continue with my cycling experiment from yesterday, which is to edit the book before I start writing. I hope it'll help me be more productive with my writing, and also ease me into the self-editing, which I usually hate to do. I'll also do the editing in 4thewords.com , so at least I'll have the fun and satisfaction of defeating a monster! I don't know how much prose writing I'll do today because I have a lot of blocking to do for scenes in the Reader Magnet . Ugh! I have to come up with a name for it! I gave it like, 5 minutes thought (I know, sooooo much brainpower) and decided on The Gentleman Thief . There's 3 books with that title (I actually have one...

I got practically nothing done yesterday so I didn't bother to post. I had something difficult to take care of in my email, and then I got distracted by my game ! Again! Aaaaargh! I think I've come up with a solution, though. My game is on my phone but most of the apps I use are not dependent on cellular service. I have my old iPhone that can still run all the apps I usually run, so I think I will try to use that during the day instead. That way my game won't be there tempting me. I consider it kind of like turning off the internet when you write. I'll see if it works. Today I have a flu shot appointment so I'm not sure how much I'll get done, or I might get a lot done since I'm taking my computer with me. A writer's group on Facebook posted a link to an article about starting the day's writing session by first editing what you wrote the day before . (I've heard it called " cycling " somewhere else but I can't remember where....

I was blocking the next scene in my Reader Magnet when I realized that the scene I wrote yesterday had timeline issues. It would affect the next scene so I decided to go back to edit it. But now I'm mired in logic problems and it's frustrating! I hate it when I've plotted something and then realized it's illogical! My IBS also flared up unexpectedly. It's made it difficult to work today, but I started a long-word-count monster on 4thewords.com that I want to finish. There's nothing like a game to make me get to work! *** I've been lallygagging around a lot today, maybe because the IBS has got me feeling uncomfortable and blah. I feel guilty for being unproductive, but maybe I just need to call it a day and go to sleep. *** I was intending to go to sleep early, but then I finished the monster I had going, and then I only needed 3 small monsters to finish a quest, so I did that, and then I was on a roll with the writing. I ended up finishing anoth...