Hello friends and welcome to another progress update on Just Another Struggling Writer. I’m just another struggling writer.
It’s kind of hard to believe, but tomorrow marks the halfway point of the year. I’d like to say that the first six months of 2022 flew by, but honestly they’ve been kind of a drag. I’ve had ideas quit on me, freelance contracts fail to materialize, and a real sense of regression settle over me after what I felt was a really strong year in 2021.
There have been high points too, of course. The realization that I have the mental capability and creative stamina to be a stay-at-home writer was a big one. The launch of Drabble Rock has been a real mood booster as well. And lets not forget I still have World Con to look forward to.
That being said, it is more than fair to say that I am falling short of the goals I made for myself at the start of the year.
Among those lofty dreams were such aims as:
- Write 160,000 words in fantasy projects.
Mid-year check-up: still possible, but unlikely. I haven’t written much at all this year, so I’m basically starting from 0. If I still want to hit that goal I’ll need to write almost 1000 words every day from now until New Years.
- Write 8 novellas for Scribd.
Mid-year check-up: Not happening. This isn’t entirely my fault, as we had a change in editors this year that has not exactly been smooth. I’ve done one so far, waited almost two months on pitches only to be rejected, and submitted two more pitches that I’m still waiting to hear back on. Even if I manage to do one a month for the rest of the year, that will only give me seven. Sad, especially for my bank account, but what can you do?
- Figure out how to sell my own ebooks.
Mid-year check-up: Working on it! I’ve asked about getting the ebooks from my publisher after the exclusivity period is up, next I just need to figure out how to release them successfully. I’m working on dolling up a Patreon for when I start getting the ebooks, but I’m still really unsure of how to go about it. Still, making progress.
- Release a “serialized” novel.
Mid-year check-up: In progress! Granted, I’m releasing one hundred words at a time and only two entries in, but hey, I made the commitment and I’ve got the project going. It still needs some fine tuning (obviously I’ll have to post more than once a week if I want to finish the story before I’m dead), but its launched.
So a mixed bag, though it should be noted that my two “do or die” goals are the ones most certain to fail.
Bearing these various successes and failures in mind, I’ve been thinking about adjusting my expectations for the rest of the year.
Six months ago I intended to write two story paths of The Nexus, which has since been shelved pending deeper world building. Today I would like to commit to writing the first Seekers of Empyrean novella and one of the cozy fantasy ideas that was rejected by my editor. Completing both at their target word counts would bring total words written up to 135,000 (closer to 750 words per day if anyone’s counting). That’s not too bad a compromise, right?
Not to mention, that isn’t even counting the words I’ll be adding to The Ballad of Mercy May. Sure, it’s only 100 words at a time, but I figure I will start ramping up how many times per week I’ll be posting entries. By the end of December I would like to be up to three Ballad posts per week.
Lastly, I would like to have the majority (if not all) of my 2021 novellas with Scribd posted to my Patreon before the year is out. By then the exclusivity period will be up for all six published so far (I’m pretty sure, anyway) and I’ll be free to make some additional pennies off my hard work. Who doesn’t love that?
I think those are some fair and reasonable goals that I have complete control over. No one but me will be to blame if I don’t meet them.
As for things outside of my control I would like to see happen, I’ve got two things in mind:
- write 4 more novellas for Scribd
- reach 150 followers here on Just Another Struggling Writer
Taken as a whole, I think if I can nail most of these goals before the clock strikes 2023 I can count this year as a win.
I meant to write the first edition of WIP Wednesday yesterday but then I laid down on my couch at 8:00 and didn’t wake up again until my alarm went off. Oops. It works out though, since I still don’t have much to talk about seeing as how I really HAVEN’T WRITTEN ANYTHING IN THE LAST SEVEN DAYS.
We’ll kick it off next week, barring any unforeseen naps.
Look at me getting this blog post done early. Until next time my friends, may your writing be plenty and your struggles be few.
Kerry Share
Just Another Struggling Writer 
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