Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Finding my writing groove again.

I am celebrating being on track with my writing.

For once.

It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve been militant about making sure I have time for writing. There are three reasons why I feel I’ve been successful in that over the past couple of weeks.

Firstly, I’ve been pretty insistent on a regime which sees me awake around 6am, working by 8am or 8.30am, finishing work at 5pm (with a couple of exceptions for a meeting that ran long and a priority piece of work I really needed to get done).

It means that after a rest period, I usually feel I have some energy to write. Even if I’ve had a really busy day and I’m tired, I’ll usually try and write a few hundred words at least to make some progress.

Secondly, I’m prioritising right across the board in almost every aspect of my life. My health has been my top priority because recovering from the flu has been slow and complicated. I’ve had a flare-up of my chronic condition and that has been debilitating this last week. But other than my health, I’ve been considering what needs to take the priority that day at work, in my writing, in my personal life.

For instance, on Friday I prioritised my hair appointment over staying at work a little bit longer to complete something. It will wait until Monday. My hair really needed a trim since the last time I’d gone to the hairdressers was early December and I’d cancelled my January appointment due to flu. When I got home, I managed to finish up the Teen Wolf fic that I posted on Saturday.

Finally, I’m allowing myself a lot of grace in what I write. Currently I have three stories open for me to write. I’m allowing myself to follow my muse and write the one I want to write in the moment rather than simply forcing myself to stick with one. The method seems to be working.

I’ve made good progress on the stories I want to post up for International Fandom day, and I already have my Evil Author selections sorted. I’ve decided against doing a trailer/trailer posters this year just in case I don’t quite finish one of the planned projects. So for those interested, here’s a sneak peek!

I am progressing well with my Harry Potter fanfic Another Dimension now. I’ve made some revisions to the first and second chapters and the latter will be posted as a subscriber exclusive for EA day. I’m not certain I’ll make the end of March deadline for publishing the whole story which I’d set myself back in December, as I’m rewriting parts which I feel just don’t work the way I had planned which has impacted the later chapters, but early April is very doable.

I’ve also completed the next Aftershocks story, Living With The Consequences, which is the TAG to Season 8’s Endgame, and made a start on the TAG to Gemini. I’m a little more hopeful that my oft stated wish to finish Season 8 is actually going to happen this year.

My other EA offering is going to be a Rough Trade that I started but did not complete which is a AU Star Trek story with the crew in modern times working as FBI agents.

Finally, for International Fandom day, I’m going to offer up the rest of the 9-1-1 fanfic Earthly Fires, having posted the first part last year. This is the one I’m not sure will make it. Parts 3 and 4 are done, and I’m slowly progressing on Part 5, but there is also an epilogue…we’ll have to wait and see.

It is fair to say that I’ve prioritised getting the fanfic done for IA/EA day on February 15^th and Another Dimension. But I am writing other non-fiction projects too.

My review for Wonder Man is up, and I’ve also posted an article on The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the first ever Agatha Christie novel over on my Substack. I’ll be posting it here shortly. I’ve decided to cross-post my non-fiction, poetry and original fictional work over there. Maybe it won’t bring me any additional readers but it does diversify me a little this year especially when I’m building to the publication of my new novel.

This month is when I plan to do the final edit and sort the book cover. I’ve already started to replot the second in the series with the intent of writing it during March.

All in all, I’m pleased with the progress I’ve made. I feel like I am a writer again. Bringing in money which pays the bills is important, and I appreciate the work I’m doing right now is worthwhile and makes a difference in an important way, but it is not what I really love doing. Writing is where I’m happiest and I’m pleased with how I’m prioritising in my life to make sure it happens.

End Note: Please like, comment or share if you enjoyed this writer’s log! If you would like to buy me a coffee in support of my original writing, check out my Ko-fi or my subscription/donation page.