Weekly Writerly Witterings ~ Be Inspired

witter (ˈwɪtə)
vb – (often foll by: on) to chatter or babble pointlessly or at unnecessary length
n – pointless chat; chatter

COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY – COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED, 12TH EDITION 2014 © HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

News from the Borderlands!

In light of the sequel finally releasing in a few months, I’ve done my best to bring Silver Hollow up to speed. Did you know I recently had Silver Hollow re-edited by Red Adept Editing as well as the interior redesigned? It is gorgeous, y’all. So if you’re a fan of print copies, I highly encourage you to invest. I know I will, and I’m the author. Okay, so that does make me biased, but I do love pretty things. Check out a peek of the team at Najla Qamber Designs’ work here:

 

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For Science

Meanwhile, I was wondering if you could help me out by answering this poll? I’ve been trying to decide what to focus on next and wanted to get your two cents 😉

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Meanwhile, in the piney forest…

I took a mini-break from work and writing on a short vacation to St. Francisville, LA. Check out my Instagram for pics! Upon coming home, after many snuggles with my four-year-old, I sat down to write. To my surprise, it wasn’t Blackbriar Cove I immediately turned to but rewriting Craving Beauty. Yep, that’s right folks, the first in my completed Wylder Tales trilogy. You may be asking yourselves why, and you wouldn’t be wrong.

Any writer or marketer worth their salt will tell you to write something new. The next sequel, or better yet, a new series. It’s far more difficult to relaunch an old series. Most would say it’s not worth your time and effort. But I decided to do exactly that three years ago with Silver Hollow and haven’t regretted it. Because I took a story I love and have reforged it into something I’m proud of. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how much I’ll actually work on updating and fixing Wylder Tales. But it has absolutely helped me get back into the habit of writing.

In the past, I used to work on multiple books at the same time. Often, I’d draft one manuscript, revise another, then dabble with a little fanfic story on the side. I’m not sure why I’m wired like this, but past experience shows this to be the best way to keep my brain productive. It also has the added benefit of avoiding burnout.

Besides enjoying my awesome gals-only vacation, I took a lot of time to think about changing my habits. Because I’ll be honest, before this trip, I was right on the cusp of burnout. Oh, I didn’t necessarily know for sure that’s what was happening. What I did know, is I’d been feeling quite a lot of stress over keeping my family afloat. It was the kind of stress that creeps up on you slowly. Five years ago I would have ignored the signs and kept going. My old motto was “keeping scheduled to keep productivity.” Then a couple years ago I had the worst of burnouts.

This time it was little signs that hinted I needed a mental, emotional and physical break. Feeling overly frustrated about little things, paired with the need to dive right into a book or video game each night. If only so my brain couldn’t think for a few hours. So when my childhood bestie reached out to me about taking a three-day break from kids and responsibilities I knew it would be good for me.

My instincts were right, of course. I came home with a weight off my shoulders and extra smiles for my little guy. All the little things I’d worried over seemed much smaller in comparison. So when I spent my first writing hours revising an old manuscript, I didn’t beat myself up over it. I enjoyed the recrafting game, like I’ve enjoyed being home again with my family. I haven’t solved the secrets of life or how to write better, faster, smarter. But I have learned how to “let it be,” and that’s more than enough for me.

One thing I hope you take away from this is to enjoy your life. Don’t beat yourself up for missing the occasional deadline or falling out of habits. Despite all the madness of the world, I hope you can surround yourself with beauty this week and be inspired 🙂

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#beinspired

 

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Goals for this week

1. Write. Read. Repeat.

2. Find a healthy daily routine for me & my little guy.

3. Have fun 🙂

Helpful Links

Audio Jungle – excellent music and effects for your trailer-making needs!

Write. Publish. Sell – Alexa Bigwarfe’s resources are amazing, y’all.

“Writing a Series: 7 Continuation Issues to Avoid” – by Joanna Penn

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