Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

After the celebration comes the…

It’s been a weird two weeks since I finished the first draft of the novel.

On one hand, it feels slightly relieving not to have the pressure of a daily writing target and the pressure of a deadline. On the other, it feels odd not to have those same things dictating my life.

Writing definitely feels different since the novel. I feel fatigued in my writing. I know what I want to write, I’m excited about the story, but I feel like forming every word is like pulling on something stuck in quicksand. It is getting better the more that I write, but still – sticky and stuck are not great feelings to be feeling when writing.

On a positive note, I am leaving the novel alone for right now.

I want to get some distance from it before I start to redraft and edit. I’m planning to start just after Christmas and work through it until I can get it finished through January. However, target wise, I will be kinder to myself as I have other things in motion.

Over the past two weeks, I have started writing the Big Moxie fic for this quarter’s challenge. It’s a follow-up to a Teen Wolf fic, The Case of the Missing Werewolf, that I wrote last year. I’d like to finish a second fanfic for the challenge, a follow-up to A Framed Investigation, but I’m trying to be realistic about whether I can do that with all the friends and family commitments coming up in the next two weeks.  

I’d like to get something posted on my Anniversary day of the website which is 19^th December. I had originally thought I’d write something specifically, but I think it’s going to end up being the Teen Wolf fic.

I really, really want to post another Stargate fanfic in my Aftershocks series before the end of the year.

I’ve deferred the third short story in my Iolaire Bay series to the beginning of next year.

And lastly, I need to return to A Step to the Right series and start planning for the first chapter draft I’m doing in January so it is ready to be posted on Evil Authors’ day in February as an exclusive for my subscribers here at the website.

So, a lot of writing projects in the fiction/fanfiction column.

On the non-fiction side, I’ve started doing Skeleton Crew reviews. They’re about as popular as the reviews that I was doing of The Acolyte, which is to say not very much at all. I’ll likely continue them though as I will be watching the show. The only other reviews I plan to do are the Doctor Who Christmas Special and a whole season three review of Marvel’s What If.

I will be doing a full year statistical review in the coming week, and a full writing review of the year on 29^th December ahead of the New Year.

Work-wise, I really want to get the website up and live before Christmas which means the bulk of my writing over the next few days is going to be professional. Moreover, I need to do a couple of videos. I have no real clue what I’m doing with video editing so that’s going to be scary (and hopefully educational)!

I passed my first TEFL course assignment last week. I want to get the rest of the Units done this week as I need to get the final assignment done by the beginning of January.

And I am still mentoring three people, coaching a couple more, and I’ve just agreed to support the operational set-up of a new charity while being a Trustee for another.

There is a lot going on!

Am I doing too many projects? Yes.

Will that stop me from trying to do everything? Probably not.

But I do need to ruthlessly prioritise my time over the next three weeks if I want to get everything done and have a little bit of a break to enjoy Christmas with my family so I may have to drop or defer some projects to the New Year.

And on that note, I’m going to leave it here for this week and wish everyone good luck with their own end of year projects and holiday preparations!

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