Author Joanna Penn talks about the different types of energy authors use – “starting energy”, “pushing through energy”, and “finishing energy”.** This final one is the push to get a project completed, to see that story through to the very end. Usually it is fueled by the momentum that has built up during your project and the rush to see your story wrap up.
I’m full tilt in finishing energy right now, and its both satisfying and exhausting. Normally I find it exciting to push to the end of a story, but my current energy is also muddled by everything else going on in my life. Finishing up at my old job... That meant (for me) wrapping up any outstanding tasks, trying to proactively cover anything that might come up while there’s no one there to do my job, leave instructions behind, and clean out my office (on top of the emotional energy of closing out this chapter of my life).
And now learning my new job. Yes, my expectations of myself are a little high…
But I’m trying to focus o the joy of setting all of that chaos aside for a few hours so I can explore this adventure with my characters. Not easy, but oh so fun!
What story are you enjoying to escape your work load today?
Take Care,
Dani
** More on different energies in the book writing process from Joanna here: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/starting-but-not-finishing-writing-projects/
She’d watched him from afar for years…now he’s up close and personal.
Shy librarian Cara spent her life overshadowed by her three older brothers, while secretly crushing on their best friend. After a family tragedy, he cut himself out of their lives, but she still watches his house on the hill from the darkness of her bedroom every night.
Then she gets a second chance to reveal the man behind the mask. A night of revelry leads to passion and high hopes, until her tortured hero’s troubled past rises from the shadows.
Will he retreat into the darkness once more or let obsession lead him to her love
Novellas in Secrets of Covington Corner series in order:
Shadow Manor
Haunted Heritage
Dark Destiny
Holiday Storm
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B&N
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Only Have Time for a Short Read?
Check out my novella series set in Covington Corner...starting with Book One for FREE.
She’d watched him from afar for years…now he’s up close and personal.
Shy librarian Cara spent her life overshadowed by her three older brothers, while secretly crushing on their best friend. After a family tragedy, he cut himself out of their lives, but she still watches his house on the hill from the darkness of her bedroom every night.
Then she gets a second chance to reveal the man behind the mask. A night of revelry leads to passion and high hopes, until her tortured hero’s troubled past rises from the shadows.
Will he retreat into the darkness once more or let obsession lead him to her love
Novellas in Secrets of Covington Corner series in order:
Shadow Manor
Haunted Heritage
Dark Destiny
Holiday Storm
Amazon
B&N
Apple Books
Kobo
Add to your TBR Shelf in Goodreads
It Caught My Eye…
My daughter and I are headed to Salem, MA in a few weeks and I'm knee deep in deciding what we will see while we're there. Yay!!
The best laid plans…often go awry… Robert Burns
I’m definitely a planner. I’ve talked about this often. I do a lot of scheduling, lists, goals, etc., for both my every day life and my creative life too.
But many times I don’t take into account how outside forces/life happenings/family needs/many other things can affect or halt those plans. I’ll admit, I’m not good at “going with the flow”, so these types of things often derail me.
My goal for the early part of this year was to get my new series started, specifically write the first of my contemporary gothic books. I knew my day job was going to ramp up, because my colleague retired and I would take on her job until we hired a replacement, but in true Dani-fashion, I reasoned I could do it all somehow.
But the strain of the pandemic on our family and doing a job I had to learn and do took its toll. Every evening, my brain was so tired it simply could not create (or do much of anything else).
So I spent a few weeks beating myself up for my lack of productivity (outside of the day job) before coming to my senses. Here’s what I started to tell myself INSTEAD:
But the strain of the pandemic on our family and doing a job I had to learn and do took its toll. Every evening, my brain was so tired it simply could not create (or do much of anything else).
So I spent a few weeks beating myself up for my lack of productivity (outside of the day job) before coming to my senses. Here’s what I started to tell myself INSTEAD:
- Sometimes, you can’t do it all.
- Sometimes, forcing yourself to do something doesn’t produce your best work.
- Sometimes, you have to set goals aside for a season and come back to them when you can.
- Sometimes, the “dig deep” button is not worth resurrecting. (Brene Brown)
#PlannerAddict
I didn’t realize until recently that this was a thing… I’ve been a planner, a creator of To Do, lists my entire life. I’ve enjoyed videos by Sara Cannon on Heart Breathings (check out her YouTube channel!) about her planners and use of the Kanban board, which I’ve recently adopted in a modified form. I also look through Passion Planner videos, as that is the type of planner I use.
I think planning people have a compulsion to write things down. I used to think this was because I was a writer. Now I know that it’s three-fold: both the writing aspect and the control aspect and the brain-dump aspect. Shocking! (not for anyone who knows me personally…)
I’m never without a pen and paper; this is always the first thing I reach for when I need to remember something. Typing doesn’t do it for me. Physically writing things down seems to cement them in my brain for some reason. Instead of reaching for that ephemeral thought, it’s like being able to easily find the place I stored it and revisit it (anyone seen the movie Dreamcatcher?). So using a computer or electronic calendar doesn’t really help me as much as creating a physical plan. I only use the calendar in my phone so that it will send me alerts for appointments…shameful in this day and age, I know!
My husband will attest to the fact that I’m a control freak…with a little more enthusiasm than I am comfortable with. 😊 Just like the compulsion to plan out my books to ensure I don’t forget something, I need to plan out my life to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. It still happens, but I feel much more comfortable knowing that I at least tried.
Which leads to the next part: I’m juggling a full-time day job, a husband on a retail schedule for his job, two teenagers with their own activities, and a writing career (and extended family, friends, chores… it never ends). That’s an overwhelming amount of minutiae to keep up with. And while some might say that’s not completely my job, my personality won’t let me delegate it to someone else. I’m a control-freak, as I established above…but I simply can’t keep it all stuffed in my brain. The busier we are and the older I get, the more things that fall by the wayside. I do my best to simplify and oust unnecessary time wasters so we can meet our obligations and still have down time, but frankly, my brain has more important things to do than keeping up with when my next doctor’s appointment is. I’d rather write it down and forget about it until it shows up on my planner.
Most recently, I discovered something new about planning: it can be pretty and fun! Before I was a writer, and no longer had time for many hobbies, I used to scrapbook. I really enjoyed it, but was overwhelmed by the years of pictures that I couldn’t keep up with. But I’ve found that I can use my planner to do something similar. I can decorate it with pretty and inspirational stickers. Instead of writing down a doctor’s appointment, I can put a pretty tag there. I can indulge my pen obsession by trying out different colors and types.
But I can also fill in gratitude lists…memories from special days…photos of special events…and quotes that inspire me. On days when I’m discouraged over my word count, I can look back over my progress the last few months. I mark down each marketing task I complete so I remember that I’ve done something towards connecting with my readers. I go back and notate sick days so I don’t think all those blank hours were because I was just flaky…no, I had a reason I couldn’t do anything today (it’s easy to forget and blame ourselves, right?).
So, even though being a #PlannerAddict might seem like a trendy thing, I’m finding it essential to not just productivity and planning, but for my own positive mental health.
What about you? Do you use a planner? Apps? How do you keep up with life?
Dani
I didn’t realize until recently that this was a thing… I’ve been a planner, a creator of To Do, lists my entire life. I’ve enjoyed videos by Sara Cannon on Heart Breathings (check out her YouTube channel!) about her planners and use of the Kanban board, which I’ve recently adopted in a modified form. I also look through Passion Planner videos, as that is the type of planner I use.
I think planning people have a compulsion to write things down. I used to think this was because I was a writer. Now I know that it’s three-fold: both the writing aspect and the control aspect and the brain-dump aspect. Shocking! (not for anyone who knows me personally…)
I’m never without a pen and paper; this is always the first thing I reach for when I need to remember something. Typing doesn’t do it for me. Physically writing things down seems to cement them in my brain for some reason. Instead of reaching for that ephemeral thought, it’s like being able to easily find the place I stored it and revisit it (anyone seen the movie Dreamcatcher?). So using a computer or electronic calendar doesn’t really help me as much as creating a physical plan. I only use the calendar in my phone so that it will send me alerts for appointments…shameful in this day and age, I know!
My husband will attest to the fact that I’m a control freak…with a little more enthusiasm than I am comfortable with. 😊 Just like the compulsion to plan out my books to ensure I don’t forget something, I need to plan out my life to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. It still happens, but I feel much more comfortable knowing that I at least tried.
Which leads to the next part: I’m juggling a full-time day job, a husband on a retail schedule for his job, two teenagers with their own activities, and a writing career (and extended family, friends, chores… it never ends). That’s an overwhelming amount of minutiae to keep up with. And while some might say that’s not completely my job, my personality won’t let me delegate it to someone else. I’m a control-freak, as I established above…but I simply can’t keep it all stuffed in my brain. The busier we are and the older I get, the more things that fall by the wayside. I do my best to simplify and oust unnecessary time wasters so we can meet our obligations and still have down time, but frankly, my brain has more important things to do than keeping up with when my next doctor’s appointment is. I’d rather write it down and forget about it until it shows up on my planner.
Most recently, I discovered something new about planning: it can be pretty and fun! Before I was a writer, and no longer had time for many hobbies, I used to scrapbook. I really enjoyed it, but was overwhelmed by the years of pictures that I couldn’t keep up with. But I’ve found that I can use my planner to do something similar. I can decorate it with pretty and inspirational stickers. Instead of writing down a doctor’s appointment, I can put a pretty tag there. I can indulge my pen obsession by trying out different colors and types.
But I can also fill in gratitude lists…memories from special days…photos of special events…and quotes that inspire me. On days when I’m discouraged over my word count, I can look back over my progress the last few months. I mark down each marketing task I complete so I remember that I’ve done something towards connecting with my readers. I go back and notate sick days so I don’t think all those blank hours were because I was just flaky…no, I had a reason I couldn’t do anything today (it’s easy to forget and blame ourselves, right?).
So, even though being a #PlannerAddict might seem like a trendy thing, I’m finding it essential to not just productivity and planning, but for my own positive mental health.
What about you? Do you use a planner? Apps? How do you keep up with life?
Dani