Sketches
Here are a couple sketches Lauren did from my short story, Grubby. I will be releasing it whenever I get enough short stories to compile into a book. It is available now for my Patreon supporters. You can check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/authorbenmeeks
CHANGES
There’s been a lot going on for me over the past few weeks. I’ve been doing a lot of stressing and that led to a lot of reflecting and self-evaluation. I am making some major changes and for this newsletter I wanted to go over what that means for my life and my writing.
Since I published my first book I have been trying to write every day, at least 500 words. On top of this I have my day job that pays the bills, family obligations, home repairs and renovation, and some hobbies I am trying to keep up with. While I haven’t been meeting my five hundred word goal, I’ve been close. I’ve also been going a little crazy.
This led to a period of a couple weeks where I stepped outside of everything going on in my life and took a good look at it in an objective manner. This investigation led me to some realizations that in turn led to the aforementioned life adjustments. In no particular order:
1. I need to take care of myself better.
This is not just a “lose weight” or “get more sleep” kind of thing. It’s a complete overhaul for my physical, mental, and spiritual life. To accomplish this I am making small changes over time instead trying to change everything all at once.
I am excited to see how this is going to progress as I continue to move forward.
2. I need to have realistic expectations.
As I already said, I’m busy. I don’t know if anyone is aware but all the work for a writing career starts after you publish your first book. You have to continue on to your second book and at the same time manage a website, social media, work on marketing, etc.
With everything I have going on I haven’t been particularly successful at anything. I realized that I have been trying to do too much. I have to have more realistic expectations for my time and ability. I have to consider the reality of what time I have available and what I am able to do in that time.
So what does all this mean? First, it means that I am making small, attainable changes over time that will add up to large changes down the road. I am happy to report that I have been working on this for almost six weeks so far and have made a couple changes. With only minor tweaks I have already lost eight pounds, feel more relaxed, present, connected, and grateful. I am taking a break from the blacksmithing for the time being since, in the scope of things, the time and expense of developing the skill is more than I am able to give at the moment. I will be playing more Disc Golf since it doesn’t take a lot of time or money and fits into the goals I have set so get ready for some more rad Disc Golf posts on my social media.
From a strictly writing perspective it means that I have removed the goals and deadlines I imposed on myself. I am not worrying about how many words I write in a day or setting deadlines to be completed with a book. I need to focus on telling good stories and as long as I am working on it diligently then if it takes a year and a half instead of a year then that’s ok.
It also means that I am going to focus on my pas Want to add a caption to this image? Click the Settings icon. sions. I have had an internal debate lately on if my work is mainstream enough to really do well. It may not be but that’s ok too. I am going to write what I enjoy and what I find meaningful. If other people enjoy it and find value in it then that’s a bonus. In short, I accept myself as I am and am going to strive to be the best me I can be.
Thanks for checking out my page and or newsletter. None of what I am trying to accomplish would be possible without the support of the people around me, and that includes you.