The last time I wrote a true update was in May, where I discussed how health issues were impeding on my writing routine. Since then a lot of things have happened both in my work life and private life, the latter having changed drastically. Even now, months later I am still trying to adjust to these changes on various levels.
To be brief about it, in early July a family member I was very close to and a caretaker for passed away. Because I’d prefer to keep some personal matters personal, I will leave it at that. But, it saying that I hope you can understand that I have, pretty much, a new whole lifestyle to adjust to. Being a caretaker is a full-time job and one I held for just over two years at the time; and while I was still able to write during this period I was not able to make any intense time commitments. Additionally, any work took me much longer because I did not have the freedom of a true full-time writer. Only now, in October, am I getting any semblance of a working schedule, though I still find myself struggling to find a balance between my work life and personal life. I still have a lot of things to figure out as well as things that I’ve practically outright neglected (that I am thoroughly stressed out about).
Now to bring the focus back on writing, I’d like to discuss my book/film blogging; something I’ve managed to keep pretty consistent the past couple of weeks. While I’m proud that I managed to find some sort of consistency in something, after a short while I began to become discontent with the quality of the content I was providing. Originally, I was doing a three paragraph format where the first were the positives, the second were the negatives, and the final being the conclusion. This format felt very high school essay-ish and subsequently lazy. Currently, I’ve decided to put the reviews on hiatus while I develop a new format and method for my reviews. I don’t intend on deleting the reviews that are currently up, because they are not only a way for me, but for you to look back on my mistakes and potentially see my growth.
Around late August I started writing the surprise sequel to Pretty Boy, titled Lover Boy. I call it a surprise sequel because there was a planned sequel that has now been postponed while I write this one. Chronologically this one comes after Pretty Boy, so it only made sense to make this decision. Lover Boy focused on Eli, who for all intents and purposes is the deuteragonist of Pretty Boy. The story follows him as he struggles with unrequited feelings and coming to terms with his aversion to commitment. As I am writing this, I am currently taking a break mid-manuscript for NaNoWriMo, something I’m only comfortable doing because it is current only in its first draft phase. And, if you didn’t already know, I release all my first drafts on Wattpad, usually as a serial. Lover Boy will be released as a serial, coming out every Monday starting October 14th.
If you want to be more technical, I’ve already gone on hiatus from that project, for Preptober and a writer-y version of Inktober. Preptober is not going very well, but it’s only the beginning, so I’m trying not to worry so much. I have a basic concept, as well as the protagonists and a very general plot. But there is still a lot I have to do, especially since I decided to be ambitious as fuck with my NaNo project… But more on that when we get closer to NaNoWriMo itself.
With Inktober, there really isn’t much to say. Instead of drawing, I am writing something pertaining to the official Inktober prompts. There aren’t really any rules, just write something, no matter how long, or what. No rules, just to get in the habit of writing everyday. A habit I lost… around the same time of the year last year.
So, it feels a little bit like an understatement to say that a lot has been going on. I have a lot of things to catch up on, a lot of things to figure out, and a lot of things to do. Hopefully, I can figure it out and get my shit together.
There is still so much I feel like I need to say, so hopefully I can get my shit together enough to write writer’s journals more frequently in lieu of reviews. At the end of the day I feel like all I can say is we’ll have to wait and see because I definitely have the tendency to put all of my focus on one thing. Which in itself is something I need to learn how to focus on more things in a reasonable way.
Crystina Luna 