As you may or may not know, though I'm sure by now that everyone who reads this does know, I am pregnant. You do know, if you are reading this, that I have a website where each Monday I am dedicated to posting new fiction written by me.
Whether you see the problem already or not, I'm going to spell it out for you. My baby is due at the end of the year, which will put me in a situation less than ideal for creating new fiction...due to oh, the pain of healing after labor, adjusting to having another baby around the house, not to mention trying to get that baby on a human schedule. (Opposed to a fetal one where she eats in her sleep and sleeps whenever she wants to. Coincidentally, she likes to be awake about now, which is normally when I'm sleeping. Good times ahead, good times!) So my problem is that I needed to find a way to write some pieces before the baby is born so that come all those days when I don't feel like doing anything but sleeping and crying because the baby is crying and I haven't a clue why, I will still have something to post and not let my readers down.
I fiddled with some spreadsheets and oh my gosh! MATH! (Who ever would have thought I'd actually use that stuff again!) I figured that by the time the baby is three months old, I should be about on a schedule and better able to see when I can squeeze in some of that writing thing that I do. I also plan to take a vacation starting the week of Christmas.
I'm crazy, not insane, you know.
Let's say I take off, 17 weeks for vacation and "maternity leave." I'm self-employed now, I can do that. (In your face corporate Germany and your three days of paid maternity leave!) With the way that I write, I take one week for each step in the process of writing and editing. If I continued to write this way, I would need to write three new stories a week for twelve weeks before vacation starts.
Yes, there really is only 12 weeks left until Christmas. I counted. Twice.
By week six, I would be utterly swamped in work and setting myself up for failure with this system. Don't forget, I'd also be writing my one story per week on top of the other three, and the first day of NaNoWriMo starts within that six weeks. (The last day of the sixth week to be exact.)
Here's how my schedule would look:
- Week 1:
Brainstorm stories 1-3
- Week 2:
Plot stories 1-3
Brainstorm stories 4-6
- Week 3:
Write stories 1-3
Plot stories 4-6
Brainstorm stories 7-9
- Week 4:
Edit stories 1-3
Write stories 4-6
Plot stories 7-9
Brainstorm stories 10-12
- Week 5:
Revise/Rewrite stories 1-3
Edit stories 4-6
Write stories 7-9
Plot stories 10-12
Brainstorm stories 13-15
- Week 6:
Final edit stories 1-3
Revise/rewrite stories 4-6
Edit stories 7-9
Write stories 10-12
Plot stories 13-15
Brainstorm stories 16 & 17
Begin NaNo
- ....and a partridge in a pear tree!!
You can pretty much get the idea from there. The main point though is that in week 6, all 17 stories would be in some sort of rotation. Not to mention whatever rotation the other pieces I'm working on are in...let me check on that! Yes, I have one other that will be in final edit, one that will be in revise mode, and the six others I plan to write for my story a week and their various levels of done.
That, my friends, sounds like a failure trap. This is why I do these crazy things, these spreadsheets and all this planning of where my stories will be in what phases. This is why I schedule myself! Organization will be your key to freedom my brothers and sisters!
Yes, its late. Yes, my head is spinning a little...and yes, I think I might possibly be delirious.
Anyway....if you're still with me this far YAY! You get a cookie. Drop me an email with your address and I will get it to you. I can't promise that it will be whole, bite free and not an envelope of crumbles though. (This offer is only good in the continental United States. This excludes Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Canada. Why those last two are included, I don't know. Let's just merge and be one big happy family, eh? Mexico, you're out of luck. Sorry.)
Where was I going? Oh yes. 17 stories need to be written in the next 12 weeks in order to keep giving you all the Jaeden Knight fiction you crave so badly. (Don't deny it. You love it like heroine.)
ENTER!! (dun, dun, dun.....)
THE 17 STORIES IN 17 DAYS CHALLENGE!
Will she succeeed? Will she fall flat on her face in a bowl of oatmeal? What flavor will that oatmeal be? (I hope its blueberry.)
Here you have it folks. I will attempt to write 17 stories in 17 days and then worry about the edits later. =) This is of course, in addition to my one story per week and everything else I have going on. If I'm lucky, I will have them all written by the time NaNo starts and can edit them afterwards.
If you're a writer, or heck, even if you're not wanna join me in this?
Jaeden
