Managing New Ideas And Changing Writing Plans
Hello, readers!
It’s already mid-July, and I…have many ideas that I want to write. More on that below.
What Am I Writing Lately?
I finished drafting Book 6 of the cozy urban fantasy series right before this past weekend!
I did not expect to get it done that soon (even if it’s a bare-bones first draft), but I'm glad with what I have written in this first draft. I thought about immediately writing Books 4 and/or 5 of the cozy urban fantasy series (I already have Books 1-3 drafted), but I decided to take a short break instead.
I also recently came up with two new novel ideas in the past two weeks.
It’s hard for me to scale back the actual writing part of the writing process when I’m 1. An author who self-publishes books and 2. I keep coming up with new ideas every month, if not every week.
However, being a productive writer does not mean you have to get a set number of things done each day/week/month/year. That’s a lesson I’m learning this summer for sure, and I want to take my time writing these books.
I also realized that I don’t want to self-publish two poetry chapbooks in a row, despite initially planning this back in early July.
I adore poetry. I’ve written poetry book reviews (like this review for “Untouched” by Ana Dee! ). I’ve had poems published in lit mags and other projects, and I still draft poems at times between writing longer works. But I also would like to self-publish more fiction sooner than later.
With that in mind, I took some time to change around writing plans a bit. One of my poetry chapbooks probably won’t be published until later, because I’d like to self-publish a different fiction book after the first poetry chapbook is released.
What Have I Done Other Than Writing Lately?
In the past few weeks, I have:
Made a loose plan of which books to focus on writing and eventually self-publishing next
Made an updated introduction post that I pinned on socials, including Instagram!
Speaking of social media, you probably noticed that I reduced the amount of posts on social media. I don’t regret doing this for my own sake, and this actually gives me more time to, well, write.
What Have I Watched Lately?
Instead of my usual audiobook and/or podcast rec this time around, I’d like to recommend a show instead. I do occasionally watch/stream TV shows to get writing inspiration or for fun (mainly the latter). I tend to watch a lot of reality TV competition shows, and lately I’ve been watching Season 2 of Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.
I previously watched other Gordon Ramsay shows like Masterchef, Next Level Chef, and even Kitchen Nightmares. However, Food Stars differs from his other shows because it focuses more on the “business” aspect of the food industry. Business owners compete to get funding from Gordon Ramsay in Food Stars. It’s fun to see how well (or poorly) they do.
Season 2 has Lisa Vanderpump form her own team of business owners to compete against Ramsay. I find it fun to see her and Gordon roast each other in some episodes.
Sidenote: I kept writing “Food Stars” as “Food Wars” when initially drafting this newsletter. However, the show “Food Stars” is nothing like the “Food Wars” anime.
What Have I Been Reading Lately?
I like to write notes while reading books. I write notes in notebooks separate from the actual books themselves. I copy down quotes I find interesting and inspiring. This usually happens with reading nonfiction.
However, I recently rediscovered an old journal of mine where I wrote specific quotes and descriptions from fiction books, like Cornelia Funke’s “The Thief Lord” and Brandon Sanderson’s “Mistborn.” I started writing in it again when reading fiction now, whenever I find an interesting piece of description or dialogue. I think it’s good to take note of what exactly interests me as a reader, because then I can be inspired by that for my own works.
Recent reads include:
“Windhall” by Ava Barry
“The Year I Met My Brain” by Matilda Boseley
“The Day The World Stops Shopping” by J.B. MacKinnon
“The Weekend Effect” by Katrina Onstad
“An Impossible Impostor” by Deanna Raybourn
Thank you for following my writing journey!
I hope you look forward to seeing more of my writing process and work. I also look forward to giving all of you more frequent updates as well, so stay tuned for more!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at clarislamauthor@gmail.com! I’ll respond within 48 hours (except on weekends and holidays).
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Thank you for following my writing journey!
I hope you look forward to seeing more of my writing process and work. I also look forward to giving all of you more frequent updates as well, so stay tuned for more!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at clarislamauthor@gmail.com! I’ll respond within 48 hours (except on weekends and holidays).