Forward thinking

With the Apocalypse Blog running headlong towards its conclusion, I have been turning my brain to the brightening question: what next?

Some of you may know that I’ve had another blogfic knocking around in my brain for most of the year. As often happens when I dive into something new, ideas clamour for attention. When I was getting into the groove of AB and loving it, I asked myself ‘what else can I do with this format?’ And an answer came immediately to mind. I have held off doing anything with that idea, because I wanted to remain focussed on AB and get that done before something else distracted me.

More recently, I’ve had another couple of ideas crop up, one with a story attached and the other more of a character and concept. These are both blogfic-type ideas as well. They’re not very well-formed, but one might take shape soonish if I have the time.

There are some other things that I have been putting aside in order to focus on AB as well. The post-a-day schedule really hampered by ability to get any other writing done, and the novel I wrote last year has fallen by the wayside. I’d like to get back to it, edit and redraft it, and start to do something with it. I also have a short story that I stopped halfway through (I can’t remember why – I think I hit a snag with it), and I want to get that finished too.

And because I’m a glutton for punishment, I am not quite ready to say goodbye to AB forever once the new year rolls around.

So, things I have lined up for the next year:

• Novel – edit/redraft. Aim to submit.
• Apocalypse Blog –
  • Finishes 31st December 2009.
  • e-book it – need to look at how, where, etc. Also need to decide whether/how much I should edit it.
  • Shorts – short stories showcasing different cast members. Masterson, Jersey, Bree – I think I can do these without any problems. At some point, I might look at the Seekers’ future, too.
  • Merchandise – design and make available (?).
• Other blogfic –
  • Starwalker – a ship’s log, told by the ship. Site is halfway done, planning is partly done, needs some work to nail down cast and details. Posting 2-3 times per week (none of this every day craziness!).
  • A smite-happy angel in a Hawaiian shirt. Earth suddenly cut off from Heaven and Hell. Ahhh, handflappy. Yeah, that’s all I have right now. Tentative name: Earthwalker.
• Short stories – various. Finish that outstanding one! This one is definitely a maybe.
• Do more writing tips posts.

Hmm. It’s a lot, looking at it like that. I get tired just thinking about it all. The first thing I have to do is finish up AB. It’s a struggle at the moment – I still have over a week left to write, and it’s hard to find the time and energy with everything else going on right now.

In my original planning, I had hoped to be having a break right now. AB was supposed to have been finished off in November, leaving me a couple of weeks of December to myself as a break, and then a couple of weeks of planning for the next one. AB would post itself up until the end of the year, and by the time 1st January rolled around, I’d be ready to start posting the new blogfic. Perfect.

Yeah, that hasn’t happened. I’m still writing, editing and posting AB. I’m still rushed off my feet with everything. My head is reeling with everything I have to get done, and I am never going to get everything (anything?) prepared for the next blogfic before the beginning of 2010. Considering how painful it is to write and post with no kind of buffer, I don’t want to start the next one without at least a week or two’s posts in-hand. Preferably two weeks’ worth.

I’m the only one setting these schedules for myself. And you know what? I don’t need to punish myself with them. So I’m going to take January off. I’m going to take that month to do my planning, set up the site/s, build up a buffer of posts, and get myself ready to dive into the rest of the year. I need a chance to get my feet under me before I set off running again.

So that’s the plan. Get through the next week and a half, collapse, then catch my breath and start the craziness all over again. With slightly more planning and maybe a trace less crazy. Who knows?

You gotta try, right?

Happy New Year!

It’s that time again!  How did that happen?

2008 was a strange year.  It started off in a state of limbo and wondering if my family and I would ever make it to Australia.  For a while, it was very uncertain.  And then all the packing came to a head, and we upped and left the country that I had lived in for 20 years.  Around the other side of the world, I had a new life to put together, a new career – everything.

It’s been exciting, it’s been good, and despite my cautions and reservations, it was the right move for me.  Despite the good friends I left behind.  Friends can be visited, and have been missed terribly.  I think of you often.

That said, I’m not sorry to see the back of 2008.  It’s been stressful too, and we’ve had our setbacks.  Moving into 2009, there are a few things about my situation that are not good.  I’m hoping that they will change soon.

Right now, I am looking forward.  I have plans for my writing that have got me enthused and energised.  Sometimes I stop and think about the amount of projects and plans I have on my plate, and I have to sit down.  When did I get so busy?  How did this happen?  

Let’s see.  I have:

• the novel – edit and submit
• the Apocalypse Blog – ongoing (the current target is six months, though I’d like to get a year out of it)
• short stories – write more, edit and submit
• the writing group – lots of stuff to do there, though most of it ticks over on its own
• Script Frenzy – I’d like to do this this year, if only because I’ve never written a script before and at one point it sounded like fun.  I also have plans to be an ML for it (as I was for NaNo in 2008 and 2007).  It’s entirely possible that I’m insane.

I think that’s it.  Sometimes I stop and wonder how I’m going to get it all done.  Most of the time I just try to get my head down and plough on through.  I guess I have no excuses for being bored, huh?

It feels good to be doing something with it all, though.  It’s about time.  I feel like I’ve wasted enough of my life not pushing this stuff, even though it has always been my first love.  Now, it’s time.  

To everyone reading this, and to everyone that lives in my heart, I wish you all the best for this new year.  I am thinking of you.

Good luck and good health, my friends.  Happy New Year!