The November Reckoning

This is it.

Today’s the day.

I’ve thought a lot this last week about what exactly I would say today–to you, but also to myself. I know what message I’m going for (“I’m getting SERIOUS about writing”), but how to say it? More importantly, how will I do it?

I had a long talk with my wife about my entire One Year To Make It campaign — my goals of expanding my audience, connecting with more writers, and selling more books. I’m making progress toward all these goals, but is it enough? More pointedly, is one year enough time to make it happen?

I’ve tried A LOT of different paths towards my goals in these last several months, including:

• Writing multiple types of stories (sci-fi, fantasy, non-fiction) for a wide range of audiences (children, YA, adults)
• Tracking my word count for every story I’m writing
• “Paying myself” for writing each day
• Blogging (semi)regularly about writing advice, teaching tips, and random true stories
• Posting serialized content on Wattpad and Kindle Vella
• Querying agents and publishers to pursue traditional publishing options
• Marketing (a.k.a. “embarrassing”) myself through TikTok
• Cross-posting content on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and even this very blog
• Bothering my friends and family members with requests to “just read a few chapters” or “help me with this video” and other such relationship-testers

These efforts give the impression that I’m quite busy building my writing career, right?

In a way, yes, that’s true. But in another sense, I’ve been burning a lot of calories and time running in circles rather than moving forward. I’ve experimented with a lot of methods to achieve my OYTMI goals, but it’s time to get focused.

THAT’S what this November is about. I am zeroing in on what’s worth my time and giving it everything I’ve got. That means finishing Unburnt and getting my Virtual Realms Series as widely published as possible. I’ve invested YEARS in these books, they are the centerpieces of my current writing career, and they deserve my time and attention over other endeavors right now (*cough* TikTok *cough*).

It’s not a coincidence this is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a time when authors buckle down and get serious about finishing their works-in-progress (WIPs). I’ve drifted away from my true writing focus for too long…so it’s time to GET BACK TO IT!

I tend to pride myself on my ability to stick with something; if I say I’m going to do something, I tend to stand by that. I do well with routines, and I’ve made a lot of progress toward my goals in the past with that determination and discipline.

Well, now it’s time to stick with what works: one goal, all in. For November, that goal is all about finishing Unburnt. If I don’t write at least 10,000 more words by the end of the month, I will DELETE MY TIKTOK. 😱 To ensure that I’m really producing that many words and not just putting fake numbers in a spreadsheet, I will post these words (chapters) as I complete them on Kindle Vella.

Hold me accountable, people! 😃