Lanelle Hall's Blog

#amediting while depressed

Life has been tough which is why I haven't updated much this year. My depression and anxiety has been kicking my book for real. I'm no longer working (I was let go) and my health hasn't been so great. Yet I'm still editing, somehow.
I've been reading a lot too. That's pretty much all I can do to stay sane. Getting this draft edited by the end of summer is my ultimate goal. Especially now with the time I have so I'm working on it as often as I can. Afterwards I plan to do one more round of editing then will hopefully have at least five beta readers.

In the past I've allowed my depression to stop me from doing anything, and a lot of the time it does, but I've found ways to fight that. Self care is huge as well as keeping my place tidy. Also talking to my family and friends even though that's super hard for me sometimes.  Also I did the authortube newbie tag!

still #ameditng

Sorry for the lack of updates on here

EDITING VLOG!

Thanks for watching! 

Deleted video & some updates!

If you follow my YouTube you probably saw that I uploaded a video for all of a few hours then it disappeared.  I did that on purpose, after uploading the video I realized I didn't like the quality so I deleted it.  It was only a writing update but now I'm in the middle of making a vlog and hopefully will have that uploaded by Wednesday or Thursday.  (I won't delete this one!)  Editing is going well and I feel like I'm finally getting out of this funk.  I also got a job!  It's only part time but it's better than nothing so I'm grateful about it.  I listened to Kristen Martin's entire podcast "That Smart Hustle" and it's inspired me so much I can't stop thinking about it.  
I've realized how much I've allowed fear to control my life and I'm tired of it.  Recently I've been approached to make a HUGE life changing decision, I haven't decided on it yet but I'm not going to let fear stop me from taking this opportunity.  Life is short and I'm realizing every minute is precious.  

My computer broke :(

A few weeks ago my computer completely shut down on me.  I managed to fix it with the help of YouTube but sadly a few days later it broke again (kept restarting and flashing a blue screen).  I even bought some cheap software in hopes that would fix it and nope nothing.

In the process I lost a good portion of pictures and files but luckily I saved my book.  It's always saved on a USB no matter what.  For a few days after that I panicked and ordered a refurbished computer from EBay, and guess what, that didn't work either.  So I had to return it and now the only computer I have is a 9 inch pink laptop I bought used from EBay years ago.  The internet is super slow, I can't use Microsoft word (just openoffice), and it only works with a charger.  At first I was going to stop editing until I get another computer but even though it's harder it's not impossible and I don't want to give up.  As of today I've gotten through chapter 9 and getting through chapter 10.  Once I'm done I plan to make videos on my progress and might even do an editing vlog.  It's been stressful, at the moment I'm searching for a job and have little money.  Working on this book is the only thing keeping me going.

I've been drinking 3 cups of coffee a day so I guess that shows how stressed I am. :(

Some progress!

I've finally been making progress with chapters 9 and 10 and I think it's mainly thanks to the amount of reading and movie watching I've been doing.  I finally watched The Basketball Diaries with Leonardo DiCaprio and it was so good.  In that movie he reminds me of my main character Zeus.  And right now I'm about to finish A Clockwork Orange and I have to say it's becoming one of my favorite books (I watched the movie too).  I love how it's not afraid to "go there" if that makes sense and it makes me less worried about the tough scenes and issues I tackle in my book.

STUCK!

I'm stuck right now, specifically on chapter 9.

Editing Updates!

I just started chapter 9, chapter 8 was tough to get through since it was a total rewrite.  Honestly the first 10 chapters had to be rewritten since I wrote them years ago and they don't fit with the rest of the story.  That's why it's taking me so long to get past them.  Once I'm done with chapter 10 hopefully it'll be smooth sailing.

Why I'm traditionally publishing! (trying)

It's seems a bit abrupt that I'm deciding to try traditional publishing.  It was.  No lie.  I want to state my reasons for this big change and why I feel it's the best thing for me right now. 
1. Money.  Self publishing takes money, lots of money if you want your book to look good, be well edited, and marketed.  Money I don't have right now and I don't like the idea of crowdfunding personally even though I was thinking of taking that route.  With traditional publishing of course that won't be a problem.
2. More exposure.  I want this book to be in bookstores, Walmart, Target, etc.  I want it to be as accessible as possible so my target audience can find it.  With self publishing this isn't impossible but it's a lot harder.
3.  Mean Boys is extremely marketable.  It deals with so many relevant current topics. (which actually was unintentional)  Bullying.  Blackmail.  Revenge porn.  It's provocative, edgy, diverse, sexy.  All of the above and I'm sure it'll entice literary agents unless I write a horrible query letter. 
So here's a few of my reasons, it's still surreal that I'm even trying.  I don't know if anything will happen.  Maybe my book isn't as marketable as I think, or not well written, or too long, etc.  Nonetheless this is my decision, for now.

It begins!

Cut my social media ban for a moment only to tweet this out.