Tag: plans

July Write Day: Space to Plan

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On LifeLeave a comment

I unintentionally took a week off from this site, so we have some catching up to do.

June gave me some much-needed headspace in a lot of different ways. First, we had a destination wedding vacation with some family, but without our kids, which was a really nice change of pace. The boys had fun with my mom for a week, so they also had a change of pace. Then, we had an extended 4th of July holiday in our usual spot with a bunch of my wife’s family, which is a different sort of relaxation.

This all gave me a mental break from work that I’ve been putting off for ages, and also some quality time with my wife, and then also our kids. It also allowed me to do a lot of thinking without the pressure of everyday routines.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Finish three books. Likely:
    • Current read: Star Wars: Tarkin by James Lucena
    • Likely next reads: The Storyteller by Dave Grohl, perhaps The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
  2. Finish New Earth? I just need to power through to a fitting ending. I think I just need to be okay with a decent ending, and then come back to it in revisions.
  3. Enjoy vacation. Work has been crazy, and a big deployment is happening while I’ll be away, so I’m stressing a bit about that. But this will be a real vacation from everything, so I want to embrace it. I just need to get ready for it, mentally and logistically.

Finish three books?

I finished four books in June, all audiobooks:

  • Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, by Merlin Sheldrake
  • Tarkin by James Luceno, which I reviewed last month
  • Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston, which is worthy of a review
  • The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which closes out my long trek through The Complete Sherlock Holmes collection on Audible

Honestly, I’ve read so much since late June that I had forgotten which books I had finished just a few weeks ago. Vacation time is also reading time.

Finish New Earth?

No, but I got closer, and then had some distance from the pressures of writing. I thought about writing a lot, and I thought about what I wanted my next steps to be. Not what I thought I should do, or what would be expected of me.

That’s the trap I perpetually fall into — conflating what I think others expect of me with what I actually want for myself.

I won’t go into detail until I take some meaningful action, but a publishing plan is beginning to coalesce in my mind, one that hinges on me getting my self-publishing shit together, and also finishing these books in a reasonable timeframe.

Enjoy vacation?

Yes! We spent a week in Tenerife, Canary Islands for a destination wedding, a trip we had not planned on taking a year ago, but one where we could not pass up the opportunity to celebrate with family and visit somewhere new.

Then we spent six days at a family lakehouse with my wife’s siblings and cousins. The family has grown in the last year+, so our boys have some baby cousins to play with. And our oldest, turning six soon, has come out of his shell in a big way this year, and it was on full display on this vacation, when he tried all sorts of new things without the timidity he often showed as a toddler.

A further thought

Overall, I’ve had a real chance to evaluate my priorities and refocus my attention where it’s needed most. I haven’t had exercise as an explicit goal in a couple months, yet I feel like I’ve been more active more consistently in recent weeks. Even just feeling like I’ve improved in this area is a good step forward.

For the moment, I’m focused on retaining my shifted priorities and not just reverting back to bad habits now that vacation time is over.

Goals for July

  1. Read three books. I’ve just finished Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, so I’m off to a good start.
    • Current reads: The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl, and The End of the Story by Clark Ashton Smith (a collection of his short stories that I will likely pick away at for some time).
    • Likely next reads: A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne has long intrigued me, and I feel ready to sink into a proper fantasy series again.
  2. Finish New Earth. Yeah, yeah, I know. Just finish it and worry about the ending later.
  3. Stay on top of my shifted priorities. This is not the space to detail these, but there are a number of things guiding my attention and focus that I need to stay on top of. Exercise/health is one, but there are others. So the goal is to just stay on top of these things and not allow myself to be weighed down by them this month.

Steve D

New Mode Unlocked

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On LifeLeave a comment

I’ve been operating in a slightly different mode of late. Between job-shift, parenting-shift, second-shift, and time-to-myself-shift, I’ve been a lot more focused on doing the things I need and/or want to get done.

I’m not exactly sure where this mode is coming from, but I honestly find it motivating, which helps me get more done. Recent weeks have been up-and-down for me, where I might do the bare minimum on a given night to keep the house in order, and then lazily scroll my phone or watch TV to fill what little time I had before begrudgingly going to bed.

Honestly, I think I got bored of doing that, so I’ve started filling that time with things that actually make me feel good, either because I’m taking more time for self-care, getting things done around the house, or focusing on two hobbies I have paid precious little attention to: reading and writing.

Perhaps my latest paperback read is a part of this — where I’m actually motivated to carve out the time in my evenings to read a chapter. I’ve just started reading Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaichovsky, and after only 50 pages or so, I genuinely look forward to picking up this book each night.

This more motivated mode has also helped me refocus on writing, and I’m aiming to have a meaningful update on that front for my next monthly goals post.

We’re also starting to look into some gardening/landscaping ideas for our first spring and early-summer in our new yard, and I’m looking forward to getting into some of that work.

I’m hoping this mode is more than just a weekly trend. I just need to be able to put the phone down for a bit and let other things occupy my time.

Steve D

March Write Day: Where Did February Go?

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On LifeLeave a comment

Somehow, we’re in another month, and we’re already starting to see hints of spring. I strangely don’t feel ready for spring and then summer. Cold days and occasional snow provide a convenient excuse to hold up inside the house and not be bothered with being social. Now comes spring, and all of our plans for this year. Don’t get me wrong, we have some very exciting plans for this year. I just thought I’d have more time to prepare for them, like, mentally.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read 3 books.
  2. Exercise every other day and get to the gym. 
  3. Finish ending for New Earth.
  4. Outline New Earth for chapter structure.

Read three books?

No, and I actually didn’t finish any books in February. However, just a few days into March I finished two books, I’m nearly done with another, and I’ve made a good start on a fourth.

I finished reading Black Leopard, Red Wolf a few days ago, after powering through it the last couple weeks. I really liked it, but I have some more thoughts I’ll share in a review next week. My goal is to make up for lost reads this month.

Exercise every other day and get to the gym?

Not quite. I exercised more like twice per week and made it to the gym once. Not terrible, but also not as much as I’d like. It’s a work-in-progress, as always. I definitely need to get to the gym more this month. That’s been the toughest part to motivate for so far.

Finish ending for New Earth and Outline Chapter Structure?

Noooooooope. My online class finished just last week, and I had one assignment and a group project that took up way more time than I had anticipated. So, while I really tried to work on my story on nights when I could muster the mental energy, I had to focus on the class.

Goals for March

  1. Read four books! Like I said, I’ve already finished two this month, and I’m well on my way to finishing two more, so I might as well go for it.
  2. Exercise every other day and get to the gym twice. Same.
  3. Finish New Earth ending and outline chapter structure. Alright, my online class is done, which opens up some time during my week. I fell out of the groove, so I just need to get back in it.

Steve D

2018 Numberbrag and 2019 Plans

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment

In case there’s anyone who has yet to notice, 2018 is over, and that means 2019 is full of hope and promise… or maybe cynicism, depending on your outlook.

Before I get into my own plans for 2019, I’d like to stick to my now-annual tradition of looking back at our stats here on RSPC for 2018.

Time for some humble number bragging, a.k.a. the Numberbrag! Continue reading “2018 Numberbrag and 2019 Plans” →