Whenever I finish a job, I don’t just feel good once. I feel good several times.
First off, there’s that initial feeling of accomplishment that I’ve finished something, in a lot of cases that I’ve *finally* finished something that’s either been hanging around for far too long or it’s been a particularly difficult job. Next is that feeling of relief when I return to my desk the following morning and I know that one job at least has gone and I don’t have to push my own work to one side any more while I finish it.
Of course, there are also the mini-celebrations when I raise the invoice or when payment arrives or when the next job from the same client comes in or if a previous author has asked for me again. Those are all little feelings of accomplishment and celebration. All of this does make me wonder why I don’t finish things more often…
Yesterday, I finished the latest client edit proofreading. Yes, there will be more proofreading when the next pdfs come through, but a massive chunk of the job was done yesterday. First pdf proof went back to the client and I punched the air.
Sometimes, this celebration consists of running around waving my arms in the air with my t-shirt or sweatshirt pulled over my head. But this job was such a nice job that it was merely a little punch and a ‘YES!’ And this morning I had the double whammy of coming into my office and knowing another job had been finished and had already gone off on its merry way.
It did take me all day to finish it, pretty much. Although I have to admit the day did start quite late. So perhaps it only took half a day. Even so, it’s another job jobbed and another job off my desk and out of my way.
The only other thing I did yesterday was quite a big thing as it happened. A call for submissions landed on my desk with a May deadline. We have between now and the deadline to submit up to 3 stories to this particular market. So down came my calendar from the wall and I jotted the deadline down in red ink.
As I had the calendar on my desk, I thought I may as well check for other April and May deadlines. There weren’t any that took my fancy, but there was one that had a 30 June due date, so I jotted that one down while I was at it. I have 12 STORIES IN 12 MONTHS due on 24 April, on 22 May and on 19 June, so when I come back to this job, I’ll slot the 3 stories in for the latest call as well.
And that’s it. That’s all I did yesterday. Proofreading and planning.
My learning this week
My learning this week started on Thursday. Here’s how it went:
Immersion in Story
On Thursday I had a quick look at this course, deciding to watch it all the way through first and then come back to it to do the exercises. I watched the video for Module 2, but on Friday decided not to bother with this one until I’ve finished the SAVE THE CAT one below.
There are another 3 modules, I think, some bonus material, and the exercises. But I couldn’t justify the time with this when I was still so busy.
Writing Mastery Academy
I’m currently revising the first part of the SAVE THE CAT WRITES A NOVEL course with Jessica Brody. It’s also billed as WRITE A BESTSELLING NOVEL IN 15 STEPS. I revised Step 2 on Thursday and Step 3 on Monday. But again, I couldn’t justify the time when I had that proofreading job to shift.
WMG Publishing Teachable
I’m not currently studying any WMG Publishing Teachable courses, and the next study along has been cancelled due to the in-person workshop not going ahead.
This is due to (a) something to do with the hotel rooms, and (b) a lack of sufficient numbers, and it means (a) I won’t have any stories to write for that in May, and (b) my next study along is currently scheduled for January next year, and I think they’ve already filled the in-person workshop for that. However…
I backed a Kickstarter this week that’s already almost at its maximum stretch rewards. I’ll already get 3 new pop-up writing workshops, with a 4th if they meet the final stretch goal. I have so many courses now that I haven’t completed, so many lectures and videos I haven’t watched, that I need to start building those into my regular working weeks.
Plan for today
It’s another late start today, but I still have things to do. The plan for today, then, is as follows:
- Writing Mastery Academy
- 12 STORIES IN 12 MONTHS
- THE LAST PIRATE OF PENZANCE
- THE SECRET OF WHITEHORSE FARM
- print off new client edit
- weekly tech scan
- tomorrow’s blog
What’s on your schedule for today?
Well done, you! Good work!
And have fun with the stories for your new deadline.
I need to wander around trailing my brainstorming notebook with me everywhere. So many stories to play with!