writer problems

atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday! A lot to cover… Maybe not a LOT.

It’s been a while but I’ve been a busy bee. Let’s not waste any time and here are the word counts:

  • Smut: 13,290
  • Kinktober: 37
  • Dewey: 14,909

“Gosh what happened to Kinktober?” (which I will give a different name at some point) Whelp, I finished the first 4 prompts I chose, and it topped 10k words. I separated them into the individual stories to start editing to make my life easier. This means the word count resets to zero for the time being. The editing process is about halfway done, and I should be able to get one out before the end of the month. I cleared out that part of Shelley (the Frewrite Traveler) to start fresh with the 5th prompt. My goal is to keep writing prompts and release the finished ones at least once a month while I work on the longer stuff here and there.

You’ve also probably noticed I’m posting reviews again. I have 60 or so finished reviews ready to go. I just have to type them up and keep up with my ARCs. I keep putting them off to write and end up having to read 10 or more in one day. I also have library books to return and other physical books that have been orbiting my life to either gift, donate, or sell. They’re not all graphic novels, so they’re taking longer to get through. I’d also LOVE to review some of the books I’ve backed on Kickstarter. I’m pushing to release more content in general and be more active. Time to get back to it!

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: This isn’t fair.

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When I tell you being in your 40’s is just a shitshow sometimes… Perimenopause and PMS just doesn’t feel fair. This fucking meat sack I’m in charge of needs to pick a struggle. I can’t sleep without meds, still have trouble staying asleep, then I want to sleep all day but can’t, and have to power through with espresso and Death Wish coffee. How I’ve managed to deal positively with the public at work, I will never know. It’s not fair that I can only be fully functional for 2 weeks out of the damn month.

Not to make any excuses, but October is a big month in this house. Not just because I’m a Pagan Witch and come alive in spooky season, it’s also time for Samhain/Halloween activities and NYCC. I’m gonna do my best and get these stories done. Here’s the word counts so far:

  • Smut: 13,131
  • Kinktober: 1,617 (Prompt 2 50% done)
  • Dewey: 14,145

Now things are really getting to the meat and potatoes of these. I’m kinda having fun with the Kinktober stuff. I can write about things I’ve never written before and push just a bit out of my comfort zone. Dewey I’m being careful with because I don’t want it to be too preachy. It’s going to be interesting to try and get something finished and edited this month but hey, I’ve been spending WAAAAYYY too much money supporting things I’m into (Knights of Guinevere, The Moon Woke Up, Hazbin Hotel, Elvira… Not to mention way too many Kickstarter’s I’ve backed) and it’s about time I put out some content that made me some sorely needed money.

And D2D now has a minimum payout sooooo, I need to hit that to make anything to pay any bills. Yay for me…

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: Myyyy Eyyyyeezzzz

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I haven’t even watched Schitt’s Creek yet. Aside for anything Hazbin Hotel, The Good Place is what I’m fixated on right now. Honestly? I am honestly concerned about how much media input I am currently absorbing since I’ve already blown through my reading goal for the year on Goodreads and my ‘Watch Later’ playlists on multiple platforms are testing the limits of their respective sources. Did you know there are upper limits to those? I am totally the person to find those as I will add something that strikes my fancy in that moment and get back to it… Whenever. What that comes with it is what my eye doctor will fucking hate. I have clogged eye things somewhere (look, I am tired and canNOT even bother to give medical terminology) and I intermittently remember to do a hot eye mask to ease that discomfort. That means a hot compress for 20+ minutes twice daily to avoid surgery… Something I remember to do 30+ minutes a couple times a week because the thought of sharp objects near my eye are terrifying. But this isn’t a trauma dump. You’re here for the word counts.

  • Dewey: 14,079
  • Smut: 10,234

I am also 12 prompts deep into Kinktober. And while I’ve been very loosely outlining them, I will be starting the writing process for those this week. As someone trapped between Gen-X and Millennials I… Don’t like to work on 9/11. I just don’t. I like to powerfully dissociate from my trauma instead! Perfectly healthy. Not an odd coping mechanism at all… And I’m not gonna lie, I started Dewey with the best of subversive intentions but there are times it just feels too fucking real. It’s hard to work on. I’m gonna power through because it’s important.

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atthequillsmercy

First June Writing WIP Update and a note on AI

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June is always a crazy month. It’s the month my kid was born, so all his checkups happen around this time. Either way, I’ve been plugging away at my projects, and here are the word counts:

  • Dewey: 11,524 words
  • Other Pen Name: 1,041 words

I’ve been focusing on these two. That’s why Emma’s book is not on the list. I’m having that problem of feeling super inspired until my fingers hit the keyboard and then my brain just locks up. Not only that, but I’m trying not to go overboard on the naughty stuff. It’s supposed to be short and quick stories for like $0.99, but then it blooms up to a novella that I didn’t mean to happen. I’ve noticed people are less willing to take a chance on more expensive books, and I price my books by word count: The longer the book, the more it costs. It’s only fair. I do this in whatever spare time I have, and that time is still worthy of some sort of compensation.

Aside from that, my inspiration has seemed to strike at the oddest times. I’ve fallen asleep on Shelley (I named my Freewrite, remember) a couple of times this week or taken her out to stare at the screen. And since AI is a legit concern these days, I am taking a moment to say no AI is involved in the creation of my work save for whatever bot powers Grammarly. They didn’t used to use AI and I still use the free version. I even make sure the covers I buy aren’t AI at all. I am very against people using it in place of their human creativity. That is a shortcut I will never take and I stand on that. Authors are leaving whole ass prompts in their books! I get paranoid when I put “eye color here” because I might forget to remove that.  I can’t imagine leaving AI text in my work like that, let alone using it to copy another’s writing style. Allegedly. In Minecraft. I’m not trying to get sued, accusing people of anything, but yeah, the industry is trippy right now, and I’m just a tiny indie author. I just wanna tell fun stories, not have a robot write for me.

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atthequillsmercy

The Plan? One Step at a Time.

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It’s funny because it’s true! Also, it’s not funny because it’s true. I tend to have so many different projects going at once, I seem to never make any progress at anything because my attention is divided too many ways

So, here’s what I’m gonna do.

Winter Boot will be the first thing I finish. I’m sure there was just a chorus of groans from people who wish to hang me up by my thumbs if I don’t get the next First Brood book out yesterday but I would like to continue my Fiction Fridays and I can’t do that till Winter Boot is done. After that, I have two short stories; “Fylgia” and “Old Soldier” that will need to be finished and posted for sale. Then I will move on to the editing for Greenhouse and the writing of my Go Away Girls steampunk lesbian novel. I can’t keep jumping from project to project (a lot of the time within the same DAY) and expect to get ANY work out for you guys to enjoy

Wish me luck because I am crap at focusing. It’s also why I have three knitting and crochet projects in the works as well…

But that’s for another entry. XD

In life news, I will be getting my car back in about 4 weeks and I’m back to working out with only the slightest twinge of soreness in my back. Between the treadmill and the elevator still broken at work, my le muscles re very confused. But I feel so much better now that I’m able to move around. I DESPISE being immobile. >_<

So, there you have it, folks! Lenni is healed up and has a plan to get as much writing into your greedy hands as possible! 😀 Are you excited? I sure am. 😉