Back in business!

I’M BACK!

After 4 weeks of craziness I am overjoyed / relieved / slightly saddened to at last be home on the couch with my laptop splayed across my knees, fingers itching to launch straight back into my writing. But before I find myself once again consumed by a mad rush of words, I wish to announce, as promised, my intentions for this website/blog in 2018.

Now, I have an unfortunate habit of biting off more than I can chew. I just can’t seem to help myself sometimes. And 2018 is shaping up to be a crazy-busy year, with potentially 2 new jobs on the horizon, commencing my (hopefully) penultimate year at university, plans to make good progress on my WIPs, and running this website (which I actually consider to be a “downtime” activity…).

So I say with some caution that I will publish one blog post per week. That’s the plan, at least. The intent is to get myself into a bit of a routine, where I can develop, write and release posts on a regular basis rather than piecemeal like I’ve been doing to date. So one blog post per week is the goal, but this is subject to change without warning should I find myself buried beneath the growing mountain of everything else I have to do.

At this point in time I’d hoped to share with you a firm posting schedule, complete with what sort of posts would be released during which weeks and on what days. But trying to craft such a schedule caused far more anxiety than was warranted and seemed like an unnecessary hindrance to the creative spirit of blogging. I prefer to have a little more freedom than that when it comes to all things writing.

However, in an attempt to organise my swelling collection of posts, I have recently updated the Categories to which they belong (viewable on the sidebar). I can therefore say with some certainty that many of my upcoming posts will be one of the following three types:

I also have a number of other post-type ideas I’d like to explore over the next several months. These are listed below, and I’d be interested to hear what you think about them!

One of my goals for 2018 (listed here) is to explore other social media platforms. I am already on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Goodreads and enjoy using each of them immensely and for entirely different reasons.

Some of the others I’m considering looking into are Pinterest (I like pictures), Instagram (did I say I like pictures?) and Reddit (a lot of writer types seem to be using it but I have no idea what it’s about!). Anyone currently using these platforms have any advice? Pros and cons? Suggestions?

Despite my mounting excitement about all of the above, the top of my priority list is my actual writing. Obviously. That’s what all this is for. And I have so much planned for where my writing is concerned that it’s actually kind of terrifying.

Graceborn: An epic fantasy series

• Complete the 1^st draft of Old Blood (book 1) by the end of February (eek!)
• Complete copy edits and write the 2^nd draft of Old Blood ready for beta reading
• Commence the 1^st draft of book 2
• Possibly publish a few excerpts / quotes / character interviews on this website

Holding Up the Sky

• Complete line edits and the 3^rd draft
• Seek advice from beta readers / explore professional editing options
• Submit to agents / publishers (can I run and hide now?)

Like I said, I may have bitten off more than I can chew given everything else going on in my life, but I do enjoy a challenge. Bring on 2018!

How do you plan and organise your blogging schedule? How do you keep things fresh and interesting? What supporting social media do you use?

Rebecca Alasdair