I failed to visit anyone’s blog last month. I know, I know. I am a crummy blog friend, and I will be sure to visit this week. The past couple of months have been overwhelming in my personal life, and I ended up slacking in my online presence. But the holidays are over so it is now just general busyness that I blame for slacking off.
With the holiday providing me a full week off of work, I thought I’d be able to power through several chapters of my book 1. But with the holidays came bad news for close friends, so three of my seven days were spent with them. I also slipped in eye appointments and dental appointments and a trip to the local sporting goods store that has an indoor Ferris wheel. All-in-all, I didn’t get much time to work on my writing. It didn’t help that I got stuck on one of my chapters. The chapter was fine, but it dragged. So I rewrote it, starting later. That worked better, but it still bugged me. Then I rewrote it again, starting later again. I’m now eyeballing it, but I think it’s to a place I’m okay with. Spending three weeks on one chapter isn’t great for getting this book done, though.
Rewriting book 1 is my only goal for this year. And because I always get obsessed with my characters, I drew portraits for my book 1 POVs:
Kaio (green-haired guy) got the biggest revamp. I never had a good grasp on how I wanted him to look, so I finally sat down, figured out his colors, and decided on face shape and eyes.
Anyway, I’m skipping the question of the month this month since I can’t think of anyone except family and fictional characters that I admired as a kid.
How were your holidays? Do they make you feel overwhelmed too? Do you have any goals for this year?
Forgot to add…
About Insecure Writer’s Support Group
You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.
LOVE the look of your characters. You’re much more creative than I am (I use photographs/magazine pictures). Having an idea of what your characters look like really helps shape their character.
I always love to see your character art! I’m like Nancy where I use magazine pictures or images found on Pinterest. 🙂
Wishing you and your family a very happy new year. Best of luck with your rewriting goal!
You are NOT a crummy blog friend, just a human with a lot going on. Loved the characters you created and shared today! Here’s to some more of those in 2025!
https://cleemckenziebooks.substack.com/p/short-story-wednesdayagain
How cool that you do portraits of your characters! I don’t even do magazine photos–I really am a little clueless about how some of my characters look–probably connected to my face-blindness. I don’t know what anyone looks like 😀
The holidays are definitely not a great time for getting work done. I always seem to be in drafting mode as we approach them, and this year I didn’t finish the draft until after Xmas, so you can imagine the train-wreck!
A store with an indoor ferris wheel? My family would spend time there too! Getting those medical appointments out of the way was a good accomplishment. It will free up future time for writing. Wishing you a wonderful 2025!
Working part time now, I had more time to get ready for the holidays. It was work, but not at the frantic pace it had been in the past. It was actually enjoyable. I need to be careful not to get into the mentality that I have more time, so I can put X off, though. I need to get busy drafting like I used to.
Hang in there. Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s hard to find time to write when you work and have young kids. Your season will come.
Good luck with that writing goal! I would think having one goal like that will help focus and streamline your creative energy.
Hope you all enjoyed that indoor Ferris wheel! 🙂
Indoor Ferris wheel? Now that is cool. Since you were busy some days with friends, consider that your free day for fun.
Very sorry about bad news for your friends.
Gee, our local sports shop just has an indoor shooting range!
Love the green-haired guy and the one in glasses. I’m so envious of everyone who can draw. I never could, even though the computer age offered me the possibility to create art digitally, it is not the same as drawing and painting by hand.
It’s okay to miss commenting once in a while when you’re busy. I agree with what Lee said about that. And it’s great you accomplished some writing goals while helping your friends and spending time with them, which is equally important.
Sometimes we need to do something besides writing to get the writing done 🙂
Ronel visiting for IWSG day An Author’s Goals for 2025
Taking care of friends, family and yourself are a priority. That’s a big goal and a good one. Well, for me it would be a big goal–like writing the sequel. As a notoriously slow writer, it has me biting my lip!
I missed you but the holidays can be demanding without the personal demands. As usual, I love the artwork. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
The holidays are hard. So much to do. And never make major plans for time off. The universe will laugh at you. Been there. Sorry about your friend. It’s good you were able to be there for them.
I’ve given up planning to write when I have time off. Time “off” is never actually time off. There’s chores to do around the house, appointments, parties or trips, someone always gets sick. If I plan to write on top of that, then it just becomes something else to stress about.
Your art is awesome! Your skills continue to improve. 🙂
Sorry I’m late. No excuses. Love your art. Appreciate your posts. Happy New Year!
I have been horrible at blogging. Life has a way of getting away from us. I’m hoping to be better. New year, same goals. LOL
Thank you for being supportive for your friends. Know that your energy will return. I, too, love the creativity of those portraits for your main characters. I ‘see’ my characters with clippings from online and magazines. Somehow, they come to life in the story. Even when we rework a chapter over and over again, and we’re still not happy, sometimes it’s just okay to jump to another section and freewrite. That helps me when I get a little stuck, and I hope this will help you to have a wonderful writing year ahead.