Don't Stay Busy Procrastinating All Day
On productivity, resurrecting a manuscript, and writer mortality
Hello friend, 👋🏾
Greetings from snowy Maryland on this MLK Day. On the “My Imaginary Friends” podcast this week, I discussed starting over with a new-old project (one that’s being revived from the archive). Non-writers often ask me some variation of “Do you think you’ll ever run out of ideas?”
The answer is definitely no. Even if I didn’t have a long, long list of future story ideas, with new ones being generated all the time, I still have all my old unfinished novels that I really hope I one day have the time to complete and see launched into the world. I haven’t officially abandoned any of them—they all still have pieces of my heart.
To now be in the position to take an idea that I first started working on ten years ago and finally feeling ready to see it through is incredibly satisfying. This story still scares me, but I believe I’m up to the challenge.
Starting a new novel is always an exciting time, when all the possibilities are still in front of you and none of the frustration and pain has set in yet :) I’m planning to enjoy it while it lasts.
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📝 The Commitment Inventory
Productivity is top of mind for me right now, especially since I’ve opened up more space for client website work. In order to have the time I need to focus on both of my businesses (and I do think of my writing as a business), I’m taking a look at my processes and honing them a bit. To that end, I did the exercise described in this article from ToDoist (my current project manager of choice).
Simply listing out all of my commitments was enlightening. Seeing them all in one place really brought things into perspective for me. Then I placed my commitments into categories, one for each business, plus Exercise & Self care, House stuff (eating, cleaning, cat maintenance, etc.) and Leisure & Family. Each category then gets a percentage of time I want to focus on it.
This will likely need to be a fluid thing and I hope to consciously adjust my percentages depending on need. When I’m on deadline for a book or a launch is imminent, I’lll need to up the time percentage. Of if, for example, a family member needs assistance, that number will need to increase.
The article goes on to suggest other helpful tips like creating checklists instead of to-do lists (a semantic difference that may be helpful for some). And to work in bursts aligned with the categories. I’ve started to more consciously separate my day into category blocks—something I’ve been doing to some degree already naturally, but I’m actually color coding them on my calendar now.
I don’t think the perfect productivity system exists, and if it does, it likely won’t stay perfect for long. But I’ve found success in continually re-evaluating mine and making some tweaks to match my current mindset and energy levels.
📝 Books Fatal to their Authors
This post in The Public Domain Review is a bit morbid. Perhaps it can be thought of as a cautionary tale. It opens, however, with a suggestion that I think makes a ton of sense:
At the very end of P.H. Ditchfield’s 1895 compendium Books Fatal to Their Authors, the priest, historian, and prolific author argues that a just society would create a refuge specifically for aging writers — a place where they can live in peace, enjoying the same repose as a retired racehorse deserves. The existence of such a sanctuary would signal gratitude for a lifetime of cerebral labor, and protect those “maimed and wounded warriors” who have suffered “in the service of Literature”.
My inner, teenage Daria is cynically on board with the idea that we authors suffer in the service of Literature. It certainly feels that way sometimes. However, while the modern publishing industry is frustrating and can make you want to tear your hair out, it’s not often deadly. At least not in the U.S. Well, at least not yet. Though it’s worthwhile to recall that:
Writers have been punished with more variety, more frequency, and more severity than you might expect. Ditchfield catalogues hundreds of authors who were banished from their homeland, languished in prisons and castles and monasteries, and spent decades on the run.
💡Upcoming Live Workshop
The Second Draft and Beyond: How to Revise Your Novel
Have a rough first draft but stuck on the revisions? Learn how to analyze your own work, identify issues, and make an organized plan to take your novel from draft to finished in this live workshop on Monday, Jan. 29, 7pm ET.
🚀 Quick Bites
Milanote - This is a cool tool I just learned about that offers visual note taking. It lets you add notes, lists, and images and then link them together, mind-map style. Looking forward to playing around with it.
Leave Me Alone - Inbox cluttered? And really, whose isn’t? This site lets you mass unsubscribe from mailing lists and works with multiple email accounts.
The art that I give the world you’re not getting from anyone else, so… you’re welcome.
— Jeymes Samuel
🎙️ My Imaginary Friends: Episode 230
The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing, where I share insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week’s best thing.
Watch on YouTube | Listen to the podcast
Pre-order Daughter of the Merciful Deep – coming June 4, 2024
Pre-order Brutal Fortress – get it from me March 1 and everywhere March 15!
Mentioned:
Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/
FaRoFeb (Fantasy Romance February) – https://farofeb.com/
Scapple – https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scapple/overview
Story Seed Workbook & Mini-course – https://lpen.co/storyseed
American Fiction film
The Color Purple film
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer – https://amzn.to/48wNCyp
The Book of Clarence film
Saltburn film
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