I’m not sure many people (apart from Stephen King) actually do much writing over the holiday period. Actually, I have no idea if that’s true, but I’m betting people who have kids on school holidays and extended families who live nearby probably don’t.
My husband and I try to take our boys away for a few days between Christmas and New Year to spend a bit of time on our own, and also because Brisbane usually has some great deals during this week, because no one is there for business and the hotels want to attract as many people as they can.
So! My writing schedule was a bit erratic this week:
Monday
Nothing – we were in Brisbane and I deliberately didn’t take my laptop.
Tuesday
Same as above
Wednesday
Wrote 1500 new words for a scene in the second half of my book.
Thursday
Spent a couple of hours of proofing in the morning.
Friday
Nothing – I was back in Brisbane and didn’t take my laptop again.
Saturday
Did a bit of proofing, wrote a blog and worked out a schedule for when I can write in 2016, which is where the resolution part of my blog title comes from. It turns out I have 15 hours available each week. I hope to use this time to finish off my third novel and then write a fourth.
Sunday
Lots of editing. I finally added in all the changes that my two critique partners suggested for Part 1 of my story, which they gave me three months ago. I was so motivated that I then started thinking about publication and whether I should research blog tours. I went back and looked at the review sign-up I did for my last book through Xpresso. Thirty people signed up to review Dismissed, but only fifteen followed through. I ended up clicking on the last few reviews to check if I had seen them before, only to find that they weren’t particularly positive – which then sent me into a spiral of self-pity.
Funnily enough, when I went back to check the spreadsheet again tonight (because I’m a sucker for punishment), I started at the top of the list and found that at least half of them were quite positive, and another quarter were happy with at least some aspect of the book. But on Sunday, I’d only read the two or three that said they didn’t finish it and were disappointed.
So, I think the lesson I can learn from this is to not read reviews when I’m in the middle of the writing process (it’s hard enough to stay motivated at the best of times!) and if I still insist on reading them, I should only click on the ones that I know have a high star rating. I also like to check my Amazon royalty spreadsheet every now and again to see that if nothing else, I made a few dollars the previous week from doing something I love.
Other highlights / lowlights from the week…
- Spent three days in Brisbane with my husband and two boys, and then another two days with just my husband. Those last two were some of the most fun and relaxing days of my whole year. On New Year’s Eve, we drank Red Bull mixed with red wine (don’t judge us) and then walked for close to 20km around the entire CBD, stopping at Harajuku Gyoza for dinner and managing to catch both the 8.30 and midnight fireworks. This was followed by a lovely hike up Mt Coot-tha on New Year’s Day. (Note to self: pack sneakers next time.)
- Ended up paying $87 for parking on New Year’s Eve because our hotel ran out of parking spaces, and the nearby carpark seemed to find some sort of loophole to get out of only charging us the $15 flat rate.
- Went to Wet n Wild on a day where the weather could actually be best described as wet and wild. My three year old, who a year ago happily fell asleep on my lap as I floated around Calypso Beach, decided it was too scary this time (I think he had it confused with Wild West Falls at Movieworld because the fake buildings surrounding it looked similar). Paid $18 for two servings of hot chips that took almost half an hour to arrive, and then went home just after 12pm when my six year old decided the water was too cold.
- Was going to brave Costco on the way home, despite the boys whinging that they didn’t want to go. Arrived, only to find it wasn’t open for another hour, and then had to deal with the boys whinging about not being able to go inside (I know, right?).
- Made this awesome recipe. Added some real grated cheese at the end because I’m not vegan, but wanted my boys to eat vegetables and thought this was a good way to hide them in their dinner.
Everything should be partially back to normal for a few weeks now, and then fully when school starts on the 28th! Here’s to a productive 2016 for us all!