Hello everyone and welcome back! I hope this week is being nice to you. I am trudging through it as much as I can. I keep looking at what's ahead of me and just keep on trucking. I can't wait to be able to do my release this month. I will keep you all posted for the official date!
Last night I was talking with my mom and she asked me a question, "Don't you want a break?" Naturally my answer was 'God yes!" Since frankly I feel like I've been working pretty much non-stop for at least the last half-year. The part that stood out to me about the conversation though, was the fact that I'm not taking that aforementioned break. I always advocate for having good work/life balance and if you feel like you need a break to take one, and yet here I am doing the opposite. Today I wanted to give a chance to tell you all why.
This may seem like a bit of a pity-party at times, and I want to assure everyone that I don't intend it to feel that way. My first reason for not taking a break yet is because I do not want the release gap between these books to be nearly as large as the one between 'The Light Rises' and 'Rending the Seal' I feel really bad about that, and I don't want that to happen again. There will likely be some kind of gap between 'Through the Broken Mirror' and 'Daughter of the Shackled King' but that will be because of a break plus stuff needs to get from notebook into digital form and that takes a special kind of forever. It's the ones that are in the same internal series that I don't want the release gaps to be so large anymore, so I am going to work really hard on making sure that doesn't happen.
The other part is regarding that tendonitis issue I bring up somewhat frequently. I know that some day I will need to get surgery on both my wrists. I know it will need to happen, my doctor has told me it will need to happen; it's just a matter of when I decide it. The thing is that I know what it means once that surgery is done, and that is where a majority of my determination comes from. I won't be able to do pretty much anything that I like doing nearly as much anymore. Almost everything I do, I do with my hands; at work I type at my desk and work on my computer. I draw, ink, and color in my sketch book. I write which involves typing, editing, some more typing, and well you know that cycle. I play video games to relax. Once the surgery happens my creative outlets will be almost completely gone and I am not ready to lose them yet. I know people say 'Just get Dragon so you can dictate your stories and save your hands,' however it's not that easy for me. My primary form of articulating what I'm thinking comes from typing, if I'm speaking I tend to stutter, and my thoughts feel like they hit a wall. Sure I could teach myself how to rethink my entire process, but at this point that is something that feels impossible. So for now, I work.
I do have a point to all of this, and it is about that goal-setting stuff I've brought up before. It is so important to have things planned out, but to also remember why you're doing it. Having a motivation that keeps you going is so very important. Sure I write for my readers, but I also write for me, because I know that if I don't finish it then I likely won't be able to. Remember why you started writing in the first place; was it to write a book? Or was it to get that idea out of your head before it destroys you and makes you go crazy? Did you just want to share what makes you happy with as many people as possible no matter what? Writing is so hard and in general there is so little reward that comes with it that we have to be prepared for anything, so remembering what got us here and where we're going is extremely important. Sure people at my work are impressed that I'm working on a book series, but no one knows how to talk to me about it so it's kind of weird, however, there is one person in our IT department who is excited about 'Rending the Seal'. One person who has read my book out of the entire company. That one person is why I still feel somewhat ok telling people at my work what I do. Hold onto whatever little things you have because they are going to be what drive you forward. You know what whole saying 'never look back'? I say to always look back, because you need to know where you came from in order to know where you're going next.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. I got a little carried away so I hope you were all able to make it through the whole thing. Hopefully I will be back on Friday. I am really not liking this rush thing that's been happening in the mornings. For now I hope you all have a great rest of your week though! See you later!
No comments:
Post a Comment