Michele Venne's Blog, page 10

Pendulum

Maybe it’s the time of year, or maybe because I’ve been journaling a lot, but my thoughts represent a pendulum. I look forward to 2024 and think about what projects I want to publish, what goals I want to make, and how I might handle the uncertainty that looms ahead. Then I review 2023, consider why certain projects didn’t get published, what goals weren’t met, and how I handled situations.

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Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

It’s been a while since I’ve felt budding momentum ripped out from under me. If I was able to not let outside circumstances affect my inner landscape, my life would be very different. Though I understand this ability, I’ve yet to come anywhere close to practicing it on a regular basis. So my three days this week where I diligently applied effort to my projects was quickly derailed by the actions…

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Condensing for Clarity

I’m an analog girl. Information gets lost on my computer. When a file or a document sits for a while on my desktop, it’s like I no longer “see” it. Because I take handwritten notes from articles and newsletters that I read online (I know, a bit backward…), I end up with lots of pieces of paper. I sometimes file them or rewrite them into notebooks (with no title or table of contents…).

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A Shift Is Coming

Every industry changes. Sometimes that change is caused by a new school of thought or groundbreaking research. Other times, it’s an advance in technology. For the publishing industry, the last big shift was the introduction of the Kindle. Not only did it open the doors for ebook creation and distribution, but it allowed indie authors to take advantage of not having gatekeepers tell them what...

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A Light Mind

I’ve always felt better once I’ve made a decision. Since I did so last week, this week has been smooth. The major decision about goals and dreams and plans and how to make it all work sat like a two-ton weight on my mind and in my heart. With the way forward decided, that weight has slid away. The graphics person who has been working on creating A+ content for all my titles, finished this week! I’...

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Recovery Time

Feeling like I’m functioning at about 75% capacity, I continue to take things slowly. Now is a good time to sit and breathe, to be, to let my thoughts come and go and not get hung up on any particular one. Actually, that’s good advice for every day! As I sit and breathe, I can begin to investigate what my next steps might be. In the weeks remaining in 2023, I have my three projects to finish.

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A flat Tire

A flat tire. A dead battery. We’ve all had them. Regardless of who we call for help or how much we didn’t plan on the inconvenience or expense, it still happens. There is maintenance that can prolong the tire, the battery, or whatever. But when it happens, we’re forced to drop everything and deal with the moment. Some people have dealt with this not only with mechanical things but also with their...

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Focus on Priorities

I’ve heard that authors make a gazillion decisions every time they sit down to write. I think at least one decision is made that gets them in the chair: they choose to write in that moment. We think we have a list of priorities, maybe narrowed down to 3-5. But in any moment, we can choose only one “task”. And once we make that choice, saying “yes” to one thing, we say no to all the rest.

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Celebrating the Wins

I planned to have it published in August, but I’m used to my plans changing. I aimed to announce the new release in my October newsletter, but just couldn’t quite pull it off. In this month’s newsletter, I promised my subscribers I would send them the cover, description, and links to get “Alphabet City” one week later. That promise I kept! “Alphabet City” is live on all the platforms and available...

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The Moments In Between

When I look at my calendar and task list, there doesn’t appear to be any “moments in between.” It’s a list of actions to take. And because not all the actions happen on the day to which I’ve assigned them, arrows are drawn to the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. I’m half convinced that it’s not my management of time or energy that needs work, but the length of time and...

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