Day 997 - Flexible schedule

I admit I’ve been a bit lazy about blogging lately. First I had a bad IBS flareup, although I did manage to still get work done because the pain was not so bad that I couldn’t do certain things. I did my “frogs” first in the morning when the pain was the worst, since I could usually do Japanese study and house chores (sometimes) even if my IBS is bothering me. Then I did marketing and editing, which I can also usually do even if I’m feeling discomfort. In the afternoon when the symptoms died down a bit, I tried to do some dictation. Sometimes the cramping was still bothering me a bit and I didn’t get to dictation, but I was always able to get at least some editing or blocking done on a book.

I also only did work on one manuscript, either the Regency or the Hawaii book. If the cramping was bad, I usually only did work on the Hawaii book since right now I’m mostly doing editing and revising on old writing, and I can get at least a scene edited as long as the IBS isn’t too bad.

I found that having this schedule, where I don’t plan to do any writing work in the morning, is actually very freeing. If I woke up feeling sick, I only had to remember that I would only be doing editing and marketing in the morning, and then I felt much less stressed about my IBS and my work. I knew I would eventually get work done, and I didn’t need to worry about trying to write through the IBS pain.

When the symptoms got better, I was just lazy about blogging. However, I kept to the same type of schedule where I did my “frogs” first. Then I’d do either writing or blocking on my Regency (sometimes I’ll write one scene and then block the next). And then after lunch I’d do about 30-60 minutes of work on the Hawaii book. So I ended up working on two projects in the same day.

I found that it wasn’t as hard this time to switch mental gears from Regency to Contemporary. I think it’s because I’m working in scene chunks—I’ll usually either write or block an entire scene of the Regency, then edit an entire scene of the Hawaii book. Before, I was only writing or editing a few minutes a day in the Hawaii book, so I’d have to pick up in the middle of the scene, which I have found takes more mental energy for me to review what I wrote and remember how I had been intending to edit the rest of the scene. I’m not sure, but I think the fact that I’m working scene-by-scene helps me to be able to switch mental gears a bit easier. I think that’s just the way my brain works.

As expected, if I didn’t do the cleanup editing the same day as the dictation, I would tend to procrastinate before starting the cleanup editing the next day. It’s because I hate editing so much. It’s much easier for me to make myself do it the same day, right after I do the transcription of the dictation in Dragon. So I’ve been trying to make sure that I do the cleanup editing the same day. It’s easier when I only dictate a scene and then do the cleanup editing right after that. Sometimes that means I only get a scene in the Regency written that day.

However, I’ve been filling my work day with some time on the Hawaii book, so I feel like I’m being more productive and efficient. Switching to a new project seems to be a lot easier than trying to push myself to write more words on the same project. I don’t know why that is, because I don’t think I’ve always been this way. Usually I like to work only on one project and push through with it. But then again, I usually stall on the editing phrase, so it ends up not being all that efficient with my time.

Now, I find it’s a lot less stressful because I only have to write one scene in the Regency, and block one scene in the Regency, and then edit or revise one scene in the Hawaii book. I’m still moving forward with both books, but I find I’m fighting myself a lot less. It has always been hard to get myself to start writing a new scene, although it’s always easier to start the first scene of the day. Now, I only have to get myself to start writing that one scene, but the rest of the day is still filled with either editing or blocking work. I think I’ll work on this for now, and then later I can work on getting myself to write two scenes a day rather than just one.

If it ended up being too hard to switch mental gears, I wouldn’t have continued trying to do two projects at the same time, but I wanted to try it since I have two pen names. I’ve been feeling guilty that I haven’t released anything recently under Camy Tang, which will make it hard for marketing when I do eventually start releasing my Warubozu series set in Hawaii. I wondered if maybe it would even be possible to release books under both pen names at the same time, so I’m trying this to see.

The amount of time I spend each day on the Regency hasn’t changed, but I’m trying to get myself to do an extra 30-60 minutes of work each day by adding in some work on the Hawaii book at the same time. So it might be possible that I’ll be able to also release my contemporary series at the same time, although probably more slowly. I’m doing a scene each day for 6 days each week, so I should be able to finish a book in about 6-7 weeks.

The only problem is that when I was feeling better, the marketing work started to slide because I’d prioritize writing over marketing. So now I have been trying to adhere to a schedule where I do marketing on Thursdays and Saturdays, even if I have to shove aside work on the Hawaii book in order to get it done. That way I hope I can keep up with my marketing, but it won’t take up too much time each week.

I also ended up deciding to not continue my dictation streak. Even though I know I dictate a lot better if I haven’t skipped a day or two, I realized that especially when I start editing the manuscript, there will be days when I am doing editing or outlining and won’t be able to dictate. I expect the majority of my time will be dictation, so I probably won’t skip very many days, and I won’t skip very often.

The dictation today was very slow, but it may have been because I ended up doing the writing a bit later than I had planned. I think I need to make sure I do my writing as early as I can each day, health permitting. If the IBS is bad, there’s simply no way for me to write earlier in the day, and I just have to accept that, but when I’m feeling better, I think I write a lot better when I get started on it only 2 or 3 hours after I’ve woken up.

I keep thinking that if I can come up with the PERFECT schedule, I can magically be more productive and stop procrastinating and get all my work done. But the reality is that because of my IBS, my schedule has to have some flexibility to account for days when I don’t feel well. I’ve discovered that I write better earlier in the day (which surprised me since I’m a night owl), but that isn’t always possible if my IBS is acting up, and so I need to be prepared to do the other things that I am able to do even with discomfort. I am still hopeful that I can get my IBS more under control, and then also start to increase the number of hours I write during the day.

Writing streak: 476 days

My takeaway for today: The new schedule where I only do marketing, editing, or blocking in the morning and then writing in the afternoon seems to be working both when I do have IBS issues and when I don’t. It has been less stressful to know that if I’m feeling sick when I wake up, I only need to do some lighter work first, and then I can do writing later in the day when I’m feeling better.

My second takeaway for today: It seems easier for me to switch between projects when I do work one scene at a time. Doing them in chunks seems to help my brain be able to move on to something new much easier. Hopefully I can release books under both pen names at the same time.

My third takeaway for today: Try to do your writing as early in the day as you can, health permitting, because you seem to write better when you do it earlier in the day.