Writerly updates

I haven’t done a personal check-in post in a while, so I thought I would drop in to provide some updates.

My wordcount has been pretty depressed this year, which isn’t really surprising. Some of the reasons for this are personal, some professional, but the big elephant in the room has been trying to get my current query project, TFK, ready to go out into the world. Luckily, I just finished my most current full revision. I’m doing one more pass on the first fifty pages to incorporate some final editing I received, and then we will be pretty much ready to go for queries. Intimidating as that is.

I’ve been having a lot of thoughts this past month about the nature of burnout. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I work fulltime on top of the writing I do, as do many writers. Even as much as I love writing, it takes a lot to add a second shift onto the dayjob, especially when much of that work is done in isolation, with a feeling akin to shouting into the void. I suspect I am not alone in that feeling! The way algorithms work and writing works in general you spend a lot of time with yourself and the characters in your head. With the discourse around advance rates and traditional publishing sales in light of the PRH trial, the idea of ever moving beyond that place can feel overwhelming.

I’ve spent the last several months trying to reconceptualize my idea of my relationship to writing, in part because my trip last year allowed me to see just what a toll my writing efforts were taking on my body and mind. I don’t think my goals have really changed. In an ideal world I would write full time and make enough money to be comfortable doing it. But I do think I have a clearer vision of just how many steps it takes to get there, and how little of it is under my control. That understanding of what I can control is very much a recurring theme in my thinking around writing. It’s given me the opportunity to value my own joy, and not worry as much about everything else. It allows me to set reasonable deadlines for myself where before my ambition would break me down.

Anyway, stuff is happening but it’s happening slowly, as per the usual. And I’m very happy with the stuff that is happening, even if it’s not much to talk about. We do all we can! I hope everyone is having a great fall, and I wish you lots of rest and abundance and good food.