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It’s hard to believe I’m on post number three. I’ve been backtracking through my To Do Lists a bit. I guess I could have skipped 1 and 2; but those tasks laid some groundwork for what I’ve been doing today.
Trivia Question: What did I do on Day 3?
Not So Secret Answer:(Wrote posts for Days 1, 2, and now 3)
If you saw my Instagram Post, you know I’ve been focusing on the theme of potatoes. That puts me in mind of how farmers form rows before they plant. That way, they can just drop those spuds into the ground, then come back along and cover up a whole lot of them at once to keep the task efficient.
That’s been my focus today. Setting systems in place for blogposts and getting images in line through Canva. If I can multiply my efforts, and form a routine, I know I will feel less scattered.
Along those same lines, here’s round three of my list of questions to keep me on course with becoming a writer:
What Did I Accomplish Today to Be a Writer?
A friend whose mom has memory loss reached out to me this morning. I wanted to be a comfort by lending an ear; but also wondered if I could offer encouragement through my past writing, since I was in somewhat similar circumstances last year. I was hesitant; but finally hit send on a post I wrote called, “Is It Disrespectful to Share About My Mom’s Dementia?“.
I’d also recently shared a video on social media with Alzheimers Fight (@alzheimersfight) on Instagram . I’d had some good conversation with them via messages, and wondered if they would be encouraged by the article, too, so I sent it; but I don’t know how to deal with the fear that by sharing I may be seen as “self-promoting”. I’m not sure of the etiquette of social media; but I decided to hit send anyway instead of sitting around over-analyzing what other people might think.
I love to write; but sending my work out into the world always makes me feel rather cringy.
Here’s the video of my mom. She loved to watch this recording, and laugh about it. I did get her permission to post this while she was in one of her more lucid moments.
The isolation that can come with caregiving is one of the reasons I keep wanting to write – to help people feel less alone.
What Am I Afraid of Doing Next in My Journey as a Writer?
I could make a whole list here; but I’ll spare you. One project I have been putting off is making my eBooks into Audible books. I still don’t even have them formatted for print on Amazon – that’s for another day – and maybe won’t be that big of a deal once I sit down and focus; but I’m afraid of trying to figure out the details.
As for Audible, my voice goes out pretty easily, and like a lot of people, I can’t stand hearing recordings of myself. But I do think people are more likely to purchase an audio version – and I did invest in a microphone, along with Twisted Wave, so I’m determined to schedule this task and get it done. At least the one about Riding the Train.
These manuscripts were trial runs – I’m hoping to have some works nearer to my heart in the near future…
For now, this is what I’ve got…
How Am I Balancing the Different Aspects of Being a Writer?
Like a farmer making rows before planting potatoes, corn, carrots, and peas, I’m making a concerted effort to get systems in place for each particular crop: my manuscripts, website, social media, monetization, networking, response to AI, etc…
Stuff I find myself saying: I think I need a stronger pair of readers.
– Jody Susan
What I’m Doing About Building a Body of Work as a Writer
I completed Day 3 of the 100 Words a Day Writing Challenge 2024 through LA Writer’s Lab.
What I’m Doing to Complete My Manuscripts as a Writer
Enjoying my break while I await the editor’s response to my first 5 pages and hold onto the rest, hoping she thinks they are worth her time to look at.
What I’m Doing to Grow My Website as a Writer
I was having some trouble with my image sizes, so I went back and watched this video from Josh Koop of JoshKoop.com to help me with the sizing and resolution:
What I’m Doing to Build My Blog as a Writer
I set up a format for this category of blogposts and hope to follow it consistently for the rest of the year.
If you missed Day One and Day Two, here you go. Nothing too monumental – just more small steps in the same direction.
I also made a new design in Canva, so that I could consistently link these posts to the same image background and easily update the date and post number.
Fun Fact About Me: Seeing pictures of enlarged food (like sweaty hamburgers on the side of a semi-truck) makes me gag.
– Jody Susan
What I’m Doing About Networking as a Writer
I checked into my Slack account to see what the other writers from The 90-day Memoir had posted and added my thoughts.
What I’m Doing About Monetization as a Writer
Nothing, really. I added in some links; but because my website went neglected for so long, I lost a lot of traffic and eventually my Amazon Affiliate referral link was cancelled, due to inactivity. I know I ought to build that back up eventually; but for now, I’m focusing on getting other systems in place.
What I’m Doing About Social Media as a Writer
Today I posted the second video from yesterday’s batch. I added some text; but think I could do better branding with some help from Canva. Here it is (more evidence that I’m a total amateur):
Lesson learned: the video was 1 minute and 1 second, so my last word was cut off. I think I said heart; but don’t know for sure – I was so nervous, I just started rambling; but wouldn’t let myself have more than one do-over.
What I’m Doing About Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a Writer
When my friend reached out to me this morning about her mom’s memory loss, it was a reminder to me of how AI might be able to rattle off facts; but it can’t identify with the human condition of suffering and sorrow. It just doesn’t have that depth. That perspective made me more determined to continue to write, despite the growing attitude that all writing will eventually be overtaken.
What I’m Doing to Stay Organized as a Writer
I’m preplanning posts on my WordPress dashboard and designing images in batches, according to category, to have them on hand for easy access. I made a pre-publishing checklist to make editing easier, since I tend to forget details.
Looking Back at My Writing Journey
Just today has seemed like a long journey. Setting out to do this, I didn’t think I’d get all three posts up. I’m pretty glad I set the bar high.
Any Other Thoughts on Becoming a Writer, Random Rants, Tales, or Trials…
I’d guess for farmers, the best way to get their rows straight is to keep their eyes on one spot in the distance – the destination – then not get distracted.
I imagine that’s the best way to plant potatoes in straight lines, and so I’m going to do my best to follow that formula for planting my words on pages and screens.
Thanks for reading – or at least skimming all the way down here – or maybe just quickly scrolling. Whatever you did to get here, you’re welcome to read more (next post coming soon, Lord-willing).
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