Website and Philosophy Changes

Another bad writing day so I decided to spend a little time seeing what I should update on the website.

So, I’m in the Wix.com editor and it occurred to me that the Patreon button that I put in months ago hasn’t really done anything for me and since I was already feeling a bit skeeved out by the idea of crowdfunding something that doesn’t cost me much more than time, that it should go. So, one click of the Delete Key and poof! Gone forever.

I’m not saying that using Patreon for funding creative efforts is a bad thing. Far from it, actually. What I AM saying is that it just wasn’t a good fit for ME. Too much subscription to (supposedly) well-meaning sites that boast of the magic bullet to writing success has threatened to turn something that was working quite well into the Monster That Ate Cleveland.

My Philosophy with regard to Writing is a very simple one: Write and Submit or in terms of self-publishing, Write and Publish. Put the content out there and then put the word out that it’s available. I’ve tried very hard to adopt the mindset of wanting to make a living with my work, but I simply can’t do it. I don’t write to make money. I write to tell stories that amuse me and entertain others. I don’t care about sales ranks, book reviews, mailing lists or any of that jazz. I simply love to write and nothing will ever change that.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t begrudge anyone for having dollar signs in their eyes and dreams of fame and fortune. Hell, I have them too. But, I prefer to do things my way and if my way has a few flaws in it, then I’ll adapt and change. I don’t have the mindset to sell books. I have the mindset to write books and as long as I’m able to write and publish, I’ve already achieved more success now than ever before.

Oh, still working on Lights and Shadows… 😉

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Prioritizing Writing Projects

It goes without saying that when you have multiple projects in the pipe that it can feel pretty darned hectic at times. It also goes without saying that it can be a major pain in the backside to prioritize those projects so that you get them done in a timely manner and not pull all your hair out in the process. 😉

Just kidding about the hair-pulling part…hehe.

One of my goals for the year was to relax more, which is difficult for someone like me who enjoys being busy. However, I am finding that the busier I get, the grumpier I start to be until I have to put the brakes on everything to catch my breath.

To that end, I’ve started to prioritize my writing projects in order to allow me more time to catch my breath, see what’s going on outside in the world at large, and basically clear my mind of all those niggling thoughts that nibble away at corners of my mind.

Lately, writing has started to feel like work and while I like to think of what I do as a second job, tagging it with the W-Word tends to remove the Fun Aspect and turn it into an assembly line affair. I don’t want that and a budding aversion is beginning to affect not only my fiction endeavors but also the blog itself. So, to combat that, I am limiting the articles to once a week for a while so I can relax more, stress less, and remember that I do this for fun first and potential income second.

After all, writing without having something to say lacks soul.