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What Did I Accomplish Today to Be a Writer?
I did Day 15 of the 100 Words a Day Writing Challenge 2024 through LA Writer’s Lab. I’m still using this as a simple journal to keep track of current events, struggles, and highlights.
I jumped on an “accountability call” for a couple of hours and worked on finishing a post about the quality of stories from a real person compared with the ones Chat GPT is generating. Hopefully, I can post that tonight. That project has been sitting in my draft pile since last summer, and I’ve been itching to finish it.
What Am I Afraid of Doing Next in My Journey as a Writer?
I’m afraid of dropping the ball in one or more of the many areas I’ve been trying to juggle, and I’m afraid of over-taxing myself and people thinking I’m a slacker.
Between technology, networking, manuscripts, posts, monetization, taxes, budgets, and my brain being tired, I am having a hard time trying to not go in too many different directions.
Stuff I find myself saying: I need to go back in my planner and see what I didn’t get done and move it forward to different days.
– Jody Susan
How Am I Balancing the Different Aspects of Being a Writer?
Still trying to block out my time for different aspects of what I’m trying to get done.
Today I baked a chocolate cake for our writing group which meets tomorrow. Yesterday, I made some dip for an impromptu party I dropped in on. I’m trying to get back to doing some creative things outside of writing. This helps me feel like my life isn’t quite so lopsided, like it tends to become when I totally focus on my manuscripts and posts.
It brings me a lot of joy to bake or cook for other people, and that feeling spills over to help me feel lighter and more ready to face things like technology and social media, which I don’t tend to like as much.
What I’m Doing About Building a Body of Work as a Writer
I have started to meet with a group on Mondays, comprised of people who were all in the 90-Day Memoir class I took part in last Fall. Today was our second time meeting, and we decided we’d each take turns reading our work and offering feedback. Our other goal is to support each other in “the struggle to write”, and hopefully through the publishing process.
What I’m Doing to Complete My Manuscripts as a Writer
Last night I asked some friends if I could use their names in my book, or if they’d rather I use pseudonyms, or even just initials. They said they’d never been asked that before and would need to think about it.
I’d never asked it before, and it took quite a bit of courage to ask. I’d been dreading that aspect. I don’t know why – but I’m glad it’s done.
My Wi-Fi should be installed by Friday. At that point, I plan to print my manuscript and take another look.
What I’m Doing to Grow My Website as a Writer
I’ve still been watching Income School Videos for Project 24. The last tip in this one made me think more seriously about doing a YouTube series on turning my cargo trailer into a tiny house:
What I’m Doing to Build My Blog as a Writer
Not so Fun Fact About Me: I still can’t get the wood glue out of my shirt and skirt from last week.
What I’m Doing About Networking as a Writer
Today I met with my group of fellow-memoirists – and I also baked a chocolate cake for our local Wabash Writers Group, which meets tomorrow.
What I’m Doing About Monetization as a Writer
I watched some YouTube videos from other content creators today, which gave me some ideas about sponsorships and product promotion. I definitely don’t want to be some pushy person that’s looking to sell something. I also don’t want ads that I don’t approve of associated with my name or site.
I’d rather just sell books; but even that makes me somewhat awkward. I’d rather just work hard for free and have some money fall from the sky every now and then; but that’s not exactly how life works.
Trivia Question: Does anybody know how to prime a Berkey filter? (I don’t know the answer even though the instructions came with two different ways to do it – neither of which were practical or helpful).
What I’m Doing About Social Media as a Writer
I played a few videos today while I was doing dishes and baking. Some had good ideas. Others made me think, “This is what I don’t want to do”.
What I’m Doing About Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a Writer
What I’m Doing to Stay Organized as a Writer
I went ahead and filled in my planner for the week and went back and bumped forward what I didn’t get done. I keep shuffling my expense book for “mileage and meals” around; but continue to fail at filling it in. It’s on my nightstand right now, because I’m determined to go back and write stuff down from the last two weeks before the end of the day.
Looking Back at My Writing Journey
As I met with the memoir group today, I was remembering back to how scared I was when we first met as The 90-Day Memoir class back in September of 2023. I am still having a hard time getting the courage to speak up; but I feel a lot more comfortable than I did at first.
People have told me they assume I’m so outgoing, and maybe I need to be more vocal about what a struggle that is, in case there’s somebody else having a hard time, too.
Any Other Thoughts on Becoming a Writer, Random Rants, Tales, or Trials…
It was about seven below zero this morning. I’m thankful for the sunshine and lack of rain; but I am certainly ready for it to be warm again – or at least have Wi-Fi, so I don’t have to go outside to send these posts.
Thanks for reading what I’m writing,
Jody Susan
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