goals & reflections

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.

one blog post per week

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.

post content

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:

Updates These will be published monthly, commencing in the last week of February, and will summarise the month’s writing progress and the new books I’ve read.
On writing Writing tips, tricks and techniques that I have discovered along the way, as well as advice I have sourced from elsewhere online.
On reading I’ve yet to talk much about my reading habits beyond My top 10 reads of 2017 post late last year. I enjoyed this immensely and look forward to having more discussions on all things books!

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!

Fantasy Fridays Okay I like alliteration. Sue me. But I also adore all things fantasy and intend to write and post more about the greatest genre there ever was or will be. Possibly on Fridays.
YA issues I’ve been reading a lot more contemporary YA literature in the last few years, and have made my own first foray into the genre with Holding Up the Sky. It is an incredibly difficult but amazingly powerful genre to write in, and to support my efforts I’d like to discuss some of the issues facing today’s youth and how they can be (and indeed have been!) explored in YA literature.
Quotes You may or may not have realised by now that I love quotes. Quite a few of my posts feature them. I may even attempt to write a few posts dedicated to the most quotable quotes I’ve encountered along the way. Hmm…
Top articles

In the six months since I launched this website, I’ve already learned so much from the online writing community. I intend to start giving back by sharing some of best articles I’ve come across by compiling lists related to writing tips, publishing etc. etc. etc.

social media

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?

the writing itself

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

Holding Up the Sky

  • Complete line edits and the 3rd 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?

RA_logo _backdrop-01_miniRebecca Alasdair

I'm an Australian indie author who hoards books, loves dogs and coffee, and has a tendency of staying up all night!

No Comments

  • Ari

    Good post, sounds like you have a great plan. Good luck

    Having a schedule definitely helps. I post twice a week (Monday and Friday) with a guest post on Wednesdays and they all get scheduled so they go live at the same time each week, which helps my readers (and me).

    Regarding social media, I decided I didn’t want to be on everything because then I would end up spreading myself too thin. My blog gets the most traffic anyway. I only manage to post on Social media as much as I do with the help of Buffer – absolute godsend for helping me maintain a presence when I have busier days.

      • Ari

        It’s a good idea to test out several SM platforms and then you might find you like some more than others. That way you can then know which ones work best for you and your blog 🙂

        I do recommend buffer, the free version lets you add 3 SM’s and allows you to schedule your uploads which can help 🙂

Leave a Reply