I’m going to keep things short and sweet for this week’s blog post because, as I’m sure you can tell from the title, I’m exhausted. I knew October was going to be a busy month for me, but I still piled too much onto my plate. Add to that all of the unexpected (and often unwelcome) surprises, and you’ve got yourself one burned out horror author.
Here is everything I wanted to accomplish this month:
- Finish those last chapters of GOATS (yes, that still plagued me after last month’s writing update)
- Write draft 1 of Skull Daddy II
- Write draft 1 of Skull Daddy III
- Attend 7+ markets/author events
- Research middle grade horror for upcoming projects
- Continue research/work on self-publishing audiobooks
- Continue work on book merch
- Can*Con convention prep and Halloween Party planning
- Start edits on Modern Hauntings and The Tunnel based on some beta reader feedback received so far
- Volunteering with the Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue
- Regular contract work
- Personal spooky stuff: hangouts with friends, movie watch list, reading list, etc.
Now that I’ve typed it all out, I can’t believe it took me this long to realize I’d overloaded myself.
Here is everything I did (and will continue to) accomplish between October 1st and 31st:
- Finish those last chapters of GOATS – I did make some progress during the end of September/beginning of October, but I’m not quite done. It’s the book that never ends (can’t wait for the editing stage…)
- (Skull Daddy writing did not happen at all, unfortunately. And edits on Modern Hauntings and The Tunnel didn’t happen either)
- Attend 7+ markets/author events – I sure accomplished this! I even had a speaking engagement with a group of high school students added to my calendar
- Research middle grade horror for upcoming projects – read three middle grade horror books, did some research, brainstormed, and took copious notes
- (Work on both the audiobooks and book merch has stalled because I’m now having to wait for other people to get back to me on some things)
- Can*Con convention prep and Halloween Party planning – I’ve put quite a lot of work into this and I am VERY excited for the convention weekend
- Volunteering with the Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue – didn’t attend any events, but I sure sent a lot of emails!
- Regular contract work – we even had an IT emergency to deal with (yay!)
- Personal spooky stuff: hangouts with friends, movie watch list, reading list, etc. – despite putting work first, I actually did make time for the personal stuff (although there is room for improvement)
- Bonus “accomplishment”: I fell and sprained my foot/ankle. The pain and exhaustion made it hard to write and work on the goals that required more intense focus.
After my fall, it forced me to reevaluate how much I had loaded onto my todo list. And yet, after a relatively quick recovery (at least compared to my previous sprains), I still kept saying yes to things. All this week, I’ve been exhausted throughout the day no matter how much I sleep. This is a clear sign to me that I a) overdid things, b) did not take enough time to rest while recovering from my fall. And as personal stuff continues to happen, I think I can honestly say that I didn’t take enough time to rest back in July/August either.
In order to recover from burnout and re-establish a healthy work/writing schedule, I’ve decided to take December off from all events. I’ve got some stuff booked for November, and lots of work I want to get done (I’ll be more responsible about my to-do list this time), but I think for December I’m just going to focus on my writing and editing, nothing else. No special projects, no crazy goals. Nothing! Well, I guess I’ll be making time for family and friends over the holidays, but I’ll use that as an excuse to take proper time off from work.
So wish me luck as I limp my way to the finish line (only figurately since my foot is much better now).
