March Journalling Prompts, Game Cover Preview, and Pens!
Hello, hello! Coming to you live from a weather front so bizarre the cranes outside are confused. Yesterday, it was sunny and in the upper 60s F. Today? In the teens! Bah!
I told you last time I’m having a blast journalling, and phew... The one drawback to fountain pens is refilling them. I've been learning all kinds of things about refilling my green-and-silver Asvine 169 vacuum-filled fountain pen* including important factoids like why I can’t fill the entire pen housing, what’s a “workhorse” pen, and how much I love the skeleton fountain pens.
I’m almost to the finish line on a contracted project, but managed to knock out a beta version of my heist-themed game. Pinching Tarts is inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The title reflects the goal of the game-to steal the Red Queen’s tarts!
Pinching Tarts will be available for sale on April 1st on DriveThruRPG. The tabletop roleplaying game will be priced under ten dollars and will be available as a digital download for the launch.
March Journalling Prompts
New month, new set of prompts to journal about to continue planting seeds in our proverbial gardens! In January, you created space, and in February you identified your metrics. This month, I’m going to help you figure out what projects you can realistically complete by the end of the year.
When you’re a creator, goals can be tricky to set and achieve for the simple fact there is no such thing as “one” path. You might set a goal and then doubt yourself after internalizing information from conferences, articles, social media, other writers. Comparisons can murderface motivation very quickly, because that introduces doubt. And, if you’re already feeling anxious about writing, doubt can murderface your productivity.
While there are some true-isms related to form and function, there isn’t one way to be a writer. You don’t have to write every day. You don’t have to write 2,000 words every other day, either. Instead, what matters most, is finding out what’s true to you. That, dear Reader, is known only to you.
This month’s journalling prompts are to help you uncover what your 2023 project goals are. Goals are typically measurable and within your control to achieve, but in this case it’s worth exploring what you want before narrowing down how realistic it is for you to accomplish that goal. If you don’t know what you want, it can be hard to feel a deep sense of satisfaction that comes from pursuing your dreams. If you’ve already got your list? Great! This might be a good time to revisit your resolutions and tweak them.
Do you have a list of projects you’d like to finish? If not, take a moment and write down what you’re working on.
Take a look at the list you’ve just created. Now, go ahead and estimate the metrics. For example: you want to finish a short story you’ve been picking away at for a month or so. You’ve plotted out the short story, but you’ve only written a couple of paragraphs. Estimate the total number of words or, if you’ve used hours as your metric, how much time you might need.
Once you have that list, prioritize your projects in order of desired completion.
Lastly, grab a calendar. Plot out what projects are realistic to complete by the end of the year and then refine your list. Don’t forget to include time for revisions and submissions!
BONUS: Give yourself deadlines based on what you’ve learned!
If you’re stuck, think about the steps you need to take. If your goal is to finish and submit five short stories, you’ll want to budget time for research, plotting, writing, revising, and submitting. Not sure? Be generous with your estimates or take a beat and journal about what’s standing between you and “The End.”
I find the biggest issue with finishing projects I haven’t completed before is a lack of awareness. I don’t know what the steps would be, so I freeze up and get stuck on a stage. By breaking up projects into smaller, more manageable chunks with metrics I assign and control, it’s much, much easier to see a project all the way through to “The End.”
If you are an established writer who’d like to share advice for unpublished writers, feel free to message me. I'll be happy to share a quote and a link of your choice in my next newsletter.
How about you dear Reader? Any news to share?
* Yup, that’s an Amazon affiliate link. Remember the part about me being a writer? That.