First Quarter Review
Question & Answer
Question: This is a 52-week project. How are you feeling about that commitment?
Answer: It is a huge commitment, and I don’t think I necessarily considered how BIG that was going to end up being. There are definitely weeks where I think “Gosh, what did I get myself into,” but mostly I feel okay about it. In order to be successful one must work hard and make sacrifices.
Question: Do you feel like you are losing steam or running out of ideas? Not only have you been writing one story per week, but you’ve been writing the Grief Group transcripts as well, which actually makes this 52-week project kind of hairy. It’ll be 104 pieces by the end of the project.
Answer: Actually, during the times that would be college breaks and finals weeks, Grief Group won’t meet. That was an idea I’ve had since the beginning so that I could have built-in breaks throughout the project. I was struggling during the last four weeks, so I did end up cutting myself an extra week of break time with Dr. Kuvaar’s email.
That reality does weigh heavy on my shoulders, though, because I internalize the pressure to deliver sometimes, and it’s draining. I’ve got other jobs, one of which is with a magazine, and so it forces me to re-evaluate how I approach this project and in what ways. One of the biggest things I’ve started doing is making my schedule less strict in the sense that I HAVE to have my story up on such-and-such day. My Grief Group transcripts are hard deadlines because therapy always happens on the same day, but now I let myself post the weekly story anytime between Friday and Sunday because it’s easier and less stressful with the real-life schedule I keep. I’ve found I enjoy those stories a bit better too because they are written in a way that the readers deserve.
Question: Do you have any big plans for Santiago and Caroline in the second quarter of your project?
Answer: Yes, but those plans shouldn’t be surprising. While I haven’t revealed the major plot points of the story, I have been transparent about the purpose of this project. Santiago and Caroline obviously have a relationship, which is mostly ambiguous throughout the first quarter of stories. However, in the second quarter, it will be clearer where they stand with one another. That’s not to say it will be an easy relationship, though. My main objective in everything I write is to portray what real life feels like and bring that raw and harsh feeling to what I create. If it’s not so relatable that it hurts, then I probably haven’t done my job correctly.
Question: You’ve participated in Nanowrimo in the past, and I’m sure you’ve already been asked, but are there plans to do it again this year?
Answer: When I started this project, I actually had every intention of doing Nanowrimo again, however, there’s a chance that I won’t be physically able to participate. I’m not 100% sure I’ll be working all three jobs again at that time, but there’s a decent chance that will be the case, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to juggle all of those objectives – even if I take a break from my blog. This is something I’ll have to answer after the third quarter for sure just because my life may be completely different at that time.
Dinners with Caroline (Self-Review)
POSITIVES:
I’ve posted something every single week, and I haven’t missed a weekly story, so I’ve been wildly proud of that work. In the past when I’ve set out on long blogging adventures, I’ve left it to fall to the backburner and then completely off the radar. Due to the fact that it doesn’t bring in any sort of income, I can’t prioritize it – or at least I haven’t been able to prioritize it in the past. My child is older now, my husband is at a job that doesn’t require unheard of overtime, and so I can spare the time to stay on top of blogging projects now. Even if I don’t want to be a professional blogger, I like the idea of putting my work out there to be enjoyed by readers who are looking for something new and exciting.
I think I’ve done a great job honing in on the length of the stories too. At first, some of the weekly stories were quite long because I had these BIG ideas for what I want to write about and when I found it wasn’t realistic, I adjusted. Most of my stories now fall within the 1,500-2,500 word count range, and I’ve found that those stories are my best ones too. I’ve narrowed my focus on one or two plot points and making everything center around them so that the weekly piece.
NEGATIVES:
I’ve not been utilizing Patreon well, and it reflects in the patronage that I have. I started a Patreon because I wanted to start earning money in some fashion writing what I want to write, but I think I need to do more to highlight the benefits of making a pledge – after all, I start with a $1/month tier. For $12/year, you get the weekly story, the Grief Group transcripts, as well as additional content that I share on my Patreon. It’s the equivalent of a novella *plus* a behind-the-scenes journal – which is probably worth about $15-20 when compared to what you can get on the market.
However, I’ve not posted any bonus content on Patreon since January. I shared all of my planning stuff, but I can’t share most of the other things that I’ve been saving to post because it’s about later story stuff. Something I want to try doing is exploring other characters and sharing those pieces on Patreon, but I just don’t know where to fit in the time. I definitely need to improve how I’m using this resource or it’s never going to take off and be the income I’m wanting it to be. By no means am I expecting it to be my sole income, but if it can become a reliable source of income, then I can start getting better equipment, better resources, and make the experience for the readers better – as well as the experience of writing too.
GOALS:
Outside of improving Patreon, I want to try doing art things for the project too. I’ve done a cartoony piece showing what Caroline looks like at the beginning of the series (something you can see if you make a pledge to me on Patreon), and so I want to do something showing what Santiago looks like as well. With Caroline being such an exaggerated personality, I feel like the style that I do Santiago should be just as reflective. He’s intelligent, awkward, but intriguing. Ideally, I would be able to sketch it, but I know that there’s a chance my skills won’t be where I need them to be to reflect him.
So something else I’ve talked about doing is style sketches that reflect the personalities of the characters. I was inspired by Bailee Jae’s video where she used the prompt “vintage” to create a sticker sheet for her online store. I’m sure other YouTubers and Artists have done this (I know they have) but this is the video specifically that prompted me to want to do that with this project. I’ve considered even making them available as stickers, too, in case they were to get that popular.
I Don’t Bite – Interact with me on Social Media
I know I post about my social media places all the time, and I’m not necessarily on the most relevant of platforms, but you can find me in a lot of places!
Facebook Page
I do my best to post updates about my posting schedule here first because I want this to be a central point for my readers to get news updates. Facebook is the most universal way to reach people in terms of text updates. I highly recommend giving my page a ‘like’ so that if you don’t see a story come up when it’s supposed to, you have somewhere you can look for answers straight away. This is also one of the easiest ways to share my word with your fellow reader friends. It is the easiest and free-est way to support my project!
All of my blog updates post here directly, but I have other things going on there that you don’t see on my blog. For example, I have a blog on my Tumblr where I post writing prompts, writing exercises, and writing challenges. All of these get posted automatically to my Twitter feed, so if you’re a reader and a writer, you might find something inspiring on my Twitter as well. Periodically, I also use the trending hashtags to seem socially relevant (even though I border on recluse at times), so that’s always funny to see (I think).
Patreon
Even though this isn’t technically a social media outlet, you can message me if you are a Patron, and there’s a dashboard of content that you can explore. I know the idea of making a pledge/donation to someone you don’t can be intimidating, but I’m as boring as they come – I swear. Your funds won’t go to anything except my writing projects, and I’m very transparent about the values I have in life anyway, so everything stays right where you’d expect.
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