Tag: Accountability Check-in

Accountability check-in: start slow to restart

Hummingbird at my camera feeder, enjoying an evening snack.

So after the big software release at work, I’m getting back to the writing and everything else that goes along with the writing—and some things that don’t, like bringing in my hummingbird feeders for the season.

This weekend I restarted MTBs (Manuscript Time Blocks). These work better for me than word count goals. I’m reacquainting myself with the manuscript, checking in with all my characters, and starting to make some progress.

Also, this week, I began taking a self-paced marketing-for-introverts class, which I’m enjoying so far.

This coming week, I plan to claw back my morning writing time. I was logging on an hour earlier because of the release. No. More. Also, I’m looking forward to an actual lunch break.

Hope everyone made a little progress on something for themselves this week as well.

Accountability: let’s do this thing

Meadow Park, after the rain, July 14, 2024

So, I’m sitting here, eating the Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bake I just made. Let’s be honest. It’s really an apple crisp with fancied-up yogurt. (Crème fraiche! Lemon zest!) But a crisp by any other name would taste as good.

Here’s where I’m at. So far, I’ve completed the first book in the new series (at a whopping 140,000 words—not a typo). I have a companion novella at ~25,000 words. And I’m 55,000 words into the second in the series.

I suspect this will be a three-book series, and I’m going to try to draft the entire thing before publishing the first. I hope this is a good idea. I’m having lots of fun writing it, although I’ve slowed down a bit. There are reasons for that:

One, I’m working on the middle book, and the middle of anything can be slow going.

Two, I would say my day job is still a bear. But in a contest between meeting a bear vs. my day job in the woods, I’m going to pick the bear.

But we’ll be through this software release soon enough, and I hope to get back to writing every morning.

In my quest to clean out the basement and garage, I have filled one of the 10-yard Red-E-Bins. Today, I’m tackling the stacks of paperwork that should have been shredded eons ago. This, too, is slow-going; I suspect I’m in the part where it’s worse before it gets better.

Thanks for stopping by. Let me know how it’s going for you.

September’s siren song

There’s something about September. I love this month, and I always have. Even when I know we’re losing daylight. Soon, the sun will set at 5:00 p.m., and I’ll wonder why it feels like I should be in bed before I’ve even had dinner.

September is a good time to start things. I’ve (re)started the basement and garage cleanout. I’ve (re)started being more diligent with yoga. (And honestly, I don’t know why I stop; it always makes me feel better.)

So, I was thinking maybe it’s time to start blogging again. Yeah, I know. All the cool kids have a Substack. I don’t want a Substack. I have a perfectly good blog, and maybe no one else is blogging like it’s the early aughts, but that doesn’t mean I can’t.

I’m also thinking of (re)starting an accountability check-in. There are lots of reasons I stopped, the major one being grief. I’d like it to be a community thing to, if others would like to join in and use my blog as a weekly check-in. And it doesn’t have to be for writing or a creative project—it can be for anything you want.

I’d love to have you join in. I will be back tomorrow, fingers crossed, to post that entry.