MCAH Online

I do! After much dithering about what to do with the rest of this year, I’ve finally decided.

My editing tasks for the year:
1. The two Jokka novels. Pearl’s done (and in fact in the hands of the graphic designer now), and Bloom just needs some copy-edits, so this one’s just about off my list.
2. Godkin 2. Working through this now.
3. On and off again on Her Instruments 2 and 3. Since I’ve got Earthrise going now it’s a good time; it’s fresh in my head.

My serial for the year:
1. Earthrise… and that’s it.
This was my big decision. I keep wanting to run serials because they make me weekly money, but I decided that the web comic can serve that role. It’s almost to the point of earning as much as Earthrise does, so hopefully I can get it up to that level. I want to keep my head free for the end of the year because…

My writing projects for the year:
Here’s where I kept tripping up. I have time for 1-3 new writing projects this year depending on their length (not counting Bloom, which I finished earlier this year). So my tentative plan:
1. Some Eldritch stuff. I suspect that vetting the Wingless audiobook is going to make me want to work on the sequel, and writing it will only take 1-2 months since I know what happens. Additionally, since Jahir and Vasiht’h appear in that novella I want to do a few more of their stories; I’ve gotten two new case studies done this month and I’m working on a third.
2. Some Kherishdar stuff. I am wrestling with Ereseya’s story, and I suspect that will come out sooner rather than later. Plus that’ll be an excellent project to write while working on the Guidebook. I’d be surprised if these aren’t my summer projects.
3. The Spots sequel. This is my fall/winter target. I’m going to try writing it without serializing it, see how that works. If it doesn’t, I’ll shift it to my 2014 serial schedule.

A lot of you have wondered why I have to decide now when the rest of the year’s still wide open, and the answer to that is… having a plan is less stressful for me, even if I don’t keep to it. I have so many ideas that if I don’t make active decisions on which to pursue none of them will get done and I’ll just sit around feeling blocked and agitated. Now when I’m at a loss I can say ‘do this!’ and the flow will start flowing again and I’ll feel calmer. And if something shows up and disorders the entire schedule, I’ll be equipped to handle it, since it’s much easier for me to pounce on new things if I’m already writing… sort of like it’s easier for a trained runner to take on an unexpected marathon than it is for someone who hasn’t really been working at it for a while.

So there you go. A plan! Let’s see if it survives contact with 2013!