But, slow and steady wins the race.
It has been a tiring week, but very productive.
The painting is done! The bathroom work is complete. Every part of me aches and I am almost falling asleep as I write this. I never want to paint anything ever again, but it is done. I have a few finishing jobs to do, but these are small and not really labour intensive. Part of the issue with the painting was the clean-up. I’ve spent another week having to clean-up the mess that DIY brings to the party. I am looking forward to just normal cleaning.
That won’t be this coming weekend as I have a meet-up with friends. We’re going to the cinema to see Ebenezer with Johnny Depp and out for a lovely Italian meal. It will be great to catch-up in person and see people! The downside is the clean-up afterwards. Visitors means bed changes, more cleaning…but it will be worth it. I’ll also be getting things ready for my Dad’s return for the holidays.
On the productivity front, it’s not just the house which has benefited from my improved energy levels. I’ve spent the day trying a couple of recipes for meal prepping. Ultimately the egg bites are not something I’m going to take forward. I thought that the recipe, which had blending eggs with cottage cheese, would be an easy protein win but I apparently still hate cottage cheese and can’t stand it even blended into an egg bite. Moreover, the amount of fillings just doesn’t fill my heart with joy. I’d rather meal prep a frittata. Tomorrow, I will try the baked chocolate and raspberry oats I prepped today. It smelled divine so fingers crossed. I ended the day with a mince stew which will cover dinner tomorrow for certain.
Why all this meal prepping? I’m headed back to my contracted work and want to make sure I have food already prepped and waiting for me rather than me having to cook over the next couple of days as I get used to the energy ask of meetings, planning, chasing down deadlines, etc. My work has been incredibly supportive while I’ve been away recovering so I want to make sure I do a good job on my return.
My writing has also had a productivity boost.
I finally got my Harry Potter fanfic Another Dimension posted to the website! Woohoo! It’s only 14 months behind schedule! I would have posted it to AO3 at the same time but as the site is down, it’ll have to wait until it returns. I’m mulling over whether to write the next Aftershocks next or move onto my Big Moxie Q4 fic which is likely going to be a NCIS/Stargate Atlantis crossover. Maybe. I also might get a start on the next in the A Step to the Right series, The Calling Void.
My original writing is also getting my attention. I’m a third of the way through the final edit. My current plan is to soft launch early in the new year, with a hard launch hopefully alongside the second book in the series in July next year. I’ll be working on the marketing plan this week so any suggestions will be gratefully received. I will definitely be asking for some volunteer advanced readers before the end of November. Progress here is slower than I would like but I like my new plan and I’m pleased things are progressing. I just need to keep focused, feel the fear and do it anyway.
I’ve reflected recently that sometimes I avoid focusing on my original writing because it is scary to publish. I know it is a good story. I hope people like it…but once it is in the world, I know some people will love it and others will hate it – that’s just the way art of any kind is and that is OK. I just need to keep reminding myself that it doesn’t matter if nobody buys it or if it isn’t a best seller. If some people read it and love it, it will be worth it. I had a lot of fear before I started publishing my fanfiction and I went ahead and published it anyway. I just need to do the same for the original stuff.
Don’t let fear ruin my productivity. Don’t let my enthusiasm for being back at the job derail all my plans and recovery efforts. Slow and steady as they say. Slow and steady will get me there.
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.
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