Xavier Edwards's Blog, page 7

Being Productive

I’ve had some productive writing sessions over the last week, with a couple of sessions hitting my daily word count goals. Other attempted sessions weren’t so good, with other parts of life getting well in the way. All of those other distractions should be easing off in the next couple of weeks, so I’m not super bothered at the moment. Today’s writing session has been extra productive, and I’ve still been able to do everything else I had to take care of. I’m also not finished for the day, either, so things are looking good for a really productive writing session.

All of this writing is really good, but it is even more impressive to realise that I’m currently not focussed on any new material at the moment. I’m in the midst of editing a story that I thought was pretty close to being ready for external editing. To find that I’m adding so much extra content can only be good for my readers once it is ready, and I’m hoping that will be sooner rather than later.

While it does bother me that I haven’t published in a little while, so long as I can continue to write at or above my daily word count goals, I will be generating lengthier books at an appropriate rate.

Here’s to more good writing sessions.

Fighting the Heat

Summer in Australia generally means hot weather, and at least one heatwave at some time. Here in the South-East, we have been sweltering through periods of hot weather on and off since the New Year, and it looks like another hot period is on its way shortly. I’m in the middle of watching my lawn degrade into a brown patch of dead grass. At least I don’t have to mow it much....

Other than the tired malaise that the heat brings, it also brings a lack of clothing being worn in public, which can make for some interesting ideas being generated for future stories. I’ve actually found that the ideas have been building for something that’s not erotica, but time will tell what it is that I am going to be able to generate.

I have also been busy getting onto Literotica, where you can now find me, and where I will be (re)publishing my free titles, and be putting some extracts and other concepts up for comment. So far, the only title I have put up is “An Introduction to Sappho”, and it’s already attracting some good comments, which is nice to see.

I’m continuing to get some writing done, which is the most important thing at the moment. I just need to get a couple of the stories polished off so that I can publish them.

Building a Platform

I spent a fair bit of time today finding which groups I had been neglecting on GoodReads and doing something about not having posted for a while. I was dismayed to see that some groups I hadn’t been into for almost 12 months, when I had thought it was only a couple of months since I was last in there. GoodReads isn’t the only site that I’ve been remiss about visiting and posting on, and I’ve got plans to go through the other sites and get caught up with them, as well. I hadn’t realised just how much of an effect the last 12 months has taken on my writing and ability to promote myself. I knew it had been quite complicated and that it was having a large effect, just not that large an effect.

Now that I’ve had the chance to fix things back up, and get some writing done, I decided that I would also take a look at Literotica and see whether I should publish some of my free books on there, or perhaps the samples from my paid books. I’ve submitted a manuscript and now to wait and see whether there’ll be anything put up. I am hoping so, but it’s in their hands now.

Yesterday was a good day for writing. Today was a good day for my online presence. Here’s to a good day tomorrow for everything.

A Nice Time to go Away

Summer has been in full force here in the South East of Australia over the last couple of weeks, and in the midst of it, the family and I took a chance to get away from everything and take a proper family holiday for the first time. Our timing was pretty good, as it was over 40 degrees at home, and it never got above 31 degrees up on the beach where we were staying. Unfortunately, the surf didn’t get up that much, so any real chances of going body surfing were quickly gotten rid of and, with the humidity, it made doing things in the middle of the day a little difficult.

It was a wonderful chance to recharge the batteries for everyone and, despite planning on staying away from writing and all other forms of work while away, I did end up scribbling down some ideas, and taking in all the sights and sounds set the seeds for some possible new stories.

I am back now, and looking at what I have ready or nearly ready to be sent for editing, and I think I have a couple of things that are worthwhile candidates for being published. I don’t know yet how quickly they’ll be available, but they will be coming along in due course.

Life is certainly settling back down again, and I have found a new routine which is letting me have more time for writing, or at least for catching up on all the administrative stuff I’ve been neglecting. It’s not procrastination, at least not yet. It’s clearing the workspace so that I can write, and stay on top of all the other bits and pieces that go along with it all.

Motivation for Writing

Finding the motivation to write isn’t always easy. With a recent burst of writing, I was wondering what the difference was between writing like that, and the times where even sitting down to look at the empty screen / page was a struggle. Obvious things, such as external stress and time pressure will affect the ability to sit down and write, and the desire to write things that are motivating and of interest to readers. When they’re taken care of, and the motivation is still lacking, there have to be other factors that impact the ability to write.

Looking at what’s been going on around my recent writing sessions, I realised there were a couple of factors that I hadn’t realised carried any impact. Probably the biggest one was the books I was reading prior to trying to write. If the book was difficult to read, and it didn’t feel that the author was enjoying themselves, then I was going to find it difficult to sit down and generate a feeling of joy in my writing. On the other hand, if the book I was reading was easier to read, and it felt that the author was truly enjoying their writing, then I ,too, found it a joy to write and convey that into the words being put down for my readers.

When I look at the books that I have yet to read, most of them fall into the second group, and that bodes well for me when I sit down to write in the coming weeks, especially as I’m making a greater effort to allow the stories to increase in length, rather than cutting them off where I feel comfortable. It’s part of gaining confidence that I really can write longer stories without making them needless filler.

A New Year & New Goals

With 2014 all set to be rung in tomorrow, it’s time to stop and think about what the plan is for the coming year. I know that I want to be publishing again, with an increased frequency and quality of work. I also want to be writing longer and longer stories, moving toward that eventual goal of novel territory. While I don’t know how far off that is, there are a couple of drafts that I am working on that I think will be the first novel candidates. If the last couple of days of writing are anything to go by, then there is every chance that one or more of them may be ready to go by the end of 2014.

In terms of what it means to have a productive day of writing, I am happy to have any day where I have more words on the page than when I started. I have set myself certain word-count goals, but pushing too hard to stick to a metric like that could lead to filler being produced to make some arbitrary limit, instead of the quality I have set for myself. It’s hard not to compare to the output and writing approach taken by other authors, and when I see what sort of output they consider to be a good day, then I find myself wondering how I can be writing quality material if I am generating so many more words in a writing session. I try not to think about it too hard, as my muse has been kind to me up to this point, and I don’t want to neglect her again (like I did earlier this year).

There are other goals and resolutions for next year, but they’re not as important to my writing. All I know is that I want to keep writing quality erotica, to keep building my fan base, and to successfully capture the stories and images floating around my head.

To everyone, have a Happy New Year, and here’s to a strong 2014.

Season's Greetings

With Christmas now only a couple of days away, and with many distribution sites closing their author / publisher pages for the break, it’s looking even less likely that I’ll have anything out prior to Christmas itself. That’s okay, as a break from everything that has gone on this year will be welcome.

Christmas here in Australia is shaping up to be quite a hot affair, with fine, sunny weather forecast for most areas. We’ve just finished a weekend of hot weather and things have cooled down slightly, but it is actually looking quite nice for Christmas Day. Being Australia, it’s all about sport, so from Boxing Day / St. Stephen’s Day there’s plenty to keep us occupied while we sweat out the mountain of Christmas food we’ve just eaten. It is going to be the first Christmas in a while for me where I have actually had the opportunity to do nothing but rest and enjoy the time, and I’m looking forward to watching the Boxing Day test, the sailing highlights, and catching up on the other sport from around the world.

Christmas is also about family, and the kids are getting more into the swing of things this year, with it being the first time that the older ones have bought gifts for each other. It’s not much, but it’s another one of those little life events that tells you that they are growing up and becoming their own type of person. Now, we’ve got a couple more years wait before they can start giving us good presents that we haven’t already bought for ourselves.

As it is unlikely that I’ll have another update before Christmas, please enjoy yourselves and have a wonderful Christmas / New Year break. I hope to be back and publishing early in the New Year, and have grand plans for the level of output I am going to achieve next year.

It's Nearly Christmas

It’s nearly Christmas and I am looking forward to the time off with family, and the time away from busy writing for a while.

I was originally hoping to have a Christmas special out before then, and another collection of this year’s works, but it could be a little later than expected to have them ready, although the Christmas story is ticking along nicely at the moment. It’s just that it won’t be ready in time for Christmas (at least I don’t think it will).

Looking forward to 2014, I’m already planning how I am going to make time to write, and where and when. I don’t want to be caught out like I was this year by any nasty surprises. Based off my Halloween story, I know that my muse hasn’t deserted me, so there’s always something positive to look forward to.

If you’re travelling over the Christmas / New Year period, please travel safely and I look forward to having you as a reader and fan in the New Year.

Some Deeper Thoughts

I’ve been looking back at the releases that I managed to put out this year, and at the handful of near-complete drafts I have scattered around at the moment. I’ve also been looking at the date and at the other work I have to finish off this year before I can think about books.

Unfortunately, it isn’t looking good for a release before Christmas. No matter how hard I try to make time for writing, other things seem to keep getting in the way. This year’s collection of my works is going to be pretty thin, and it is going to contain some books I’m not as pleased with as I should be.

Perhaps I should just wait for the new year and wipe the slate clean. I have been working extremely hard this year and, even if it isn’t being demonstrated in the number and quality of releases that I might want, the best thing for me may just be to take a rest and try again in a few weeks time.

On the positive side, I have managed a couple of good releases this year. I have also managed to prove to myself that I can still write, even when the world seems to be encroaching on all that I consider dear and special. Those thoughts are going to carry me through into whatever form my next release(s) take.

My experimentation with longer forms of writing has also been going well, even if the longer books still seem to end too suddenly. At least that tells me I have something going for me as I continue to write and devote time to honing my craft again.

After the last year and a bit, I guess I shouldn’t get into the habit of saying anything definitive about publishing, or not, as I somehow tend to prove myself wrong.

Who’s to say what the next couple of weeks might bring? Whatever it is, I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself.

Working With Technology

While the new site is looking really nice, and most of the places that re-publish my blog comments picked up the changes without too much hassle, it seems that not all handled the change without difficulty. I am still waiting for the blog content to be carried across to Twitter and Facebook in the right way. I think I’ve got it all worked out, but my previous post looks like it might be missing in toto once the new feed is picked up again.

If it wasn’t for the large number of followers who seem to favour one site or feed over another, I wouldn’t be so concerned. I do hope that these teething troubles go away again so that I can get back to worrying about my writing.