Drunken Owls and Other Delights

Huh. Who knew that a) putting attainable plans into action and b) finding that sweet-spot level of productivity that c) isn't just me trying too hard and overworking myself and d) keeps me just enough from distraction would actually, y'know, work? Heh. 

It's been a surprisingly productive week here in Spare Oom. I got more submission work completed (including a complete query/synopsis package for In My Blue World and a few submission emails), finished off the synopsis for Waystation Project, made a to-do short story list for College Campus Project, continued rereading and synopsis for MU4 Project, and somehow decided that maybe playing out a synopsis for In My Blue World Sequel Project wouldn't be a bad idea either. Oh, and maybe Best Laid Plans for Oh Hey Remember That One Project I Keep Untrunking Well Maybe It Still Needs A Crapton More Work So I'll Put That One Aside So Forget I Said Anything Project has been put aside.

So in short, I put aside the Ooh Shiny Best Laid Plans Project that should maybe stay trunked (and locked, let's be honest) but opened up a Pandora's Box of SO MANY OTHER PROJECTS in its place. And I don't actually mind this, as this is the level I want and need to be at, where I'm most comfortable creatively. (Side note, I still have that other synopsis I wrote a few weeks back of a completely new story based on a dream I'd had, so we'll add that to the list.)

ANYWAY. Other than that, I've also been busy elsewhere as well. I've been doing a bit of drawing in the afternoons and picking up my guitar to play along to a few songs at least once a day. I've been good with my daily stretches. And I've been keeping up with the blogs. Keeping super busy but a GOOD kind of busy!

My schedule may be a bit wonky starting next Sunday, however, as A is on vacation and we'll be traveling for a few days (for the first time in over a year), but I'm sure I'll continue to keep myself busy and up to date. We'll see where this all leads us...!

I feel kind of annoyed that I'm not getting nearly as much work done as I really should. I know for a fact that I'm still spending a bit too much time dawdling and delaying when I should be writing. Before I started on these two projects, I was still extremely unsure as to where I was going with them (and from past experience, writing without at least some destination in mind tends to produce a lot of pointless drivel in my experience). That's definitely not the situation with both of these projects now. I'm getting maybe about 600 words a day done for each, when I know I could get at least a few hundred more if I put my mind to it. I definitely need to accelerate here. I'm not asking for 2k each per day (though I could probably do that every now and again if I prepped myself?), I'm just looking to bring it up to maybe 1k each for now. Pretty sure I can still hit that in the time I have.

I've been thinking more about self-publishing Diwa & Kaffi lately. As much as I would love to see a much wider audience for it, I think it's probably still a bit too unique to be a good First Novel, unless I pour a hell of a lot more Salesperson Power into it, which I really do not have. More to the point, that particular novel is one that I think needs a specific outlet and a specific brand (ugh hate that word) and I think I can deliver it (ugh hate that phrase). Which means I need to commission a cover. I have a few online artists in mind that I think could nail the mood and the image of what I'd like to use. I'd need to reach out to them and ask for rates. 

I'm also thinking of looking into using Barnes & Nobel this time out for self-publishing...I need to do more research and pro/con for it, but I've never had all that much luck with Createspace for the physical copies. We shall see.

Meanwhile, A is taking a few days off this coming week so we'll be doing some local fun stuff: heading to the deYoung to see a few art exhibits and have a walk around (which we haven't done in ages), and head to the SF Zoo as well. It's our own local vacation considering we don't have too much else to do at the moment. Some stores and restaurants are opening up again, but we're not going to be in line for indoor dining just yet, not from past experience. I do kind of miss our vacations, though!

A reminded me that it's been a year since our last trip, which happened to be our visit to MA. I just remember it was COLD AF a few of those days, and all I had was a lightish coat and a scarf, hat and mitts. I do miss our yearly visits to the UK and the occasional one to Hawaii! We're not planning on heading anywhere soon (again -- obvious reasons), but it'll be nice once we can do so again.


Hope everyone has a good week!