Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

How to keep my footing on the tightrope.

Last Monday I started a six-month fixed term consulting contract with a great charity. I’ll be doing a mix of project and change management supporting their key transformation work. It has been weird conforming back to a typical workday, having to wake up for a proper start time, and trying to make sure that I have some kind of reasonable bedtime to get enough sleep.

I gave myself a lot of grace in that first week of work as a result. Time in the evenings just to decompress whether that was reading fanfic, my go-to comfort books, or getting out in the amazing sunshine the UK has been enjoying in recent weeks.

I did do some work minimal associated with my own business and some writing to try to finish the April fanfic challenge to get a feel for how tired or not I am in the evenings. It has given me a bit of insight which is basically that I will be pretty tired and not really up to much.

However, this was the first week, and while I’ve had a lot of full days in January through April, the ability to completely flex my time has meant that I’m not used to the structure of a normal workday anymore. In fact, I had walked away from ‘normal’ after January when I realised ‘normal’ wasn’t working for me.

I have three contractual obligations under my own business to fulfil – mostly coaching, but some training development in the mix too. These have to take priority after the work I do for the six-month contract. Additionally, I have mentoring obligations which are also important to me. Add in the requirement to at least write an article a week and I have put getting the YouTube channel on the back burner again until June.

So, I know May is going to be a learning exercise for my finding a different normal and creating a balance across all my different projects and activity. I also know my stamina will get better over the coming weeks – it always does.

What does this for my writing?

I have reassessed when I am going to be able to launch my novel. I was originally hoping to publish in April but I have yet to find a book cover that I think works. I need to source that in May and start to look at requesting pre-readers who’d be willing to provide feedback and consider leaving a review. I think the middle of July is probably a realistic timeframe. It also works for the story as it takes place at the end of the school year and the beginning of the summer holidays so there is a nice serendipity with that, plus I can advertise it for summer reading.

That means I’d like to do the next Iolaire Bay story for publication in June as this will conclude the trilogy and be a nice lead-up for the novel itself. I also want to write a few more short stories in the fantasy or murder-mystery genre between now and then to help build up my original creds. Originally, I was going to aim for an original short per week, but I think given everything else that’s going on, it is more sensible to aim for three more before July.

With my original writing goals planned, that brings me onto my fanfic priorities. The primary priority is the third story in my Harry Potter series A Step to the Right. Another Dimension is due out in August and I need to get the rest of the story drafted. I’m intending to finish up A Potioned Affair which was my April challenge fanfic shortly and move on.

I also want to publish the remaining two Promise Interludes I have planned. I am aiming to do that in May. I also have the next Stargate Aftershocks fanfic in mind to publish this month. I also have the Big Moxie Q2 Challenge ahead which needs to be done ready for publication at the end of June.

With all that ahead, finding a balance between consulting work, writing, and my health is going to be my main focus this month. There is a lot that I want to do, and at times I can feel almost overwhelmed at how much there is – how much I’ve signed myself up to doing in the plan. But ultimately I need to focus on my priorities and continue to put my health first.

That’s the only way I am going to balance everything – by being healthy and fit enough. Is there some trepidation I’m biting off more than I can chew? Yes. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’m not afraid of hard work and I’m excited about the month ahead.

Yes, I need to find a balance, and yes, I’m concerned that this is usually where my steps falter on the tightrope, where I’ve fallen off it entirely in the past. But I keeping my balance is my priority this time in a more solid way than before; I can see everything I’m trying to achieve as I take step after step towards my vision. So, there will be lessons in this coming month, productivity hacks and time management techniques I’m going to be putting to the test, but I will find a way.

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