Preparing for Freedom

As I finish out my last week at work, I’m eager to be free but also filled with a lot of anxiety about the coming changes.

I seem to be paralyzed and without a plan of what I intend to do for at least the next 2.5 months that I have free from work commitments.

Based off this article, I am going to address some of the preliminary plans for the next year as I intend to tackle my writer with an increased professional certainty.

50 Ways Writers Can Prepare For the New Year

Buy a new notebook.

I have tons of notebooks at home. Mostly journals that are super pretty and I have been terrified to write in because I feel like it’s sullying them in their pristine glory. That’s an angst for another day but I do believe I have notebooks and paper covered.


Review what you have written this year.

I have 1 short story written and published (In the Fight Like A Girl anthology). I wrote drafts of a few others. I completed an entire draft of my book, interWIRED and had it professionally critiqued/edited.


Finish any unfinished blog pieces, articles, etc., which speak to you.

Well, I’ve fallen a bit behind on this. I no longer have a buffer of blog posts ready for Anxiety Ink and I have not been able to concentrate on my personal site (which had to be wiped and transferred over to a different hosting account. Woe is me). I have a Holiday Present Post planned for next Wednesday, though! The only thing that was really left unfinished was a post about depression and the writer.


Reflect on why pieces were left unfinished.

The reason why the depression and the writer posts were left behind is because I made the hard, proactive choices to change my life’s situation. It was so dynamic over the past few days that it was difficult to keep up with my changing mental state every time I returned to the draft.


Purge those you don’t want to finish. (Get them out of your daily eyesight.)

I will archive my 2013 projects and start fresh for 2014.


Buy new journals for various projects to keep your ideas/writings organized.

Still have a ton of journals. The only thing I think I need is an organizing system. I have some filing cabinet-esque drawers but I need to get some folders. I usually like to write loose-leaf notes and they get lost all over.

Set up a writing environment to meditate and journal.

I have an amazing office that my wife built me and I will concentrate on setting it up, clearing it out, hiding all the tangential projects that are really just procrastination projects, and buckle down to work.


Go fallow in December, enjoying food and family, then emerge on “writing side” in January.

I do plan on resting for a week with the holidays an working on plans for more writing the last week of December/first week of January. I want to concentrate on getting my health back on track (I won’t be binging on cookies as much this year–been unhealthy for too long and I’m a little sick of it all) and starting to walk/run again.


Update your website.

Oh lordy. This is a big one. A project will need to be setting up my personal webpage and blog. I’ve let it fall to the side for months and now I really need to take it seriously and concentrate on my professional writing image.


Get a fresh haircut.

Gotta say, I can understand why this is in here. But I’m still pretty professionally clean-cut and I don’t think I need to spend this money right now. Maybe as a reward before the next job hunt?


Add a few new pieces to spruce up your wardrobe and make it current.

Did that. Got some new sweaters for work a month ago and now… There will be no work. I might need more comfy writing pants, though!


Get ready for interviews.

Dude. Not famous. Seems like a vain step. Maybe when I get a contract I can start thinking about things like blog tours and interviews like that.


Prepare for author events.

See above.


Update or create your media kit so that you will have promotional materials ready for book promotions.

I have business cards! Go me! I have plans to work on my personal webpage! Go me! However, the main thing I am missing is promotional materials for Anxiety Ink. We are talking about how to brand it and I want to be ready for my next year’s circuit of conferences with something to direct people to this group blog.


Take care of any nagging health issues — emotional, spiritual or physical.

DOING THAT. Big time. I am taking two months to get me and my life on track.


Organize your files.

As in above, I am going to make the files in the first place.


Update your contact list.

This is one thing I regularly update. I’m a frequent mailer so I keep a lot of addresses up to date.

Update your software.

Got a new computer this year. I think I’m on top of it but my desktop is a bit behind.


Get your receipts and write-off lists together and have them ready for tax season.

*Looks at empty palms* Yeah…no income from this yet. I don’t think I can claim expenses.


Start planning which events and trade-shows you want to go to next year.

On it! Here is the list so far:

When Words Collide – Calgary
Sirens – Portland, OR
World Fantasy – Washington, DC




Get a travel budget together.

Yeah, I might need that. *Starts fiddling with numbers and savings*


Research and note materials needed for applications. Get everything lined up now so you can find out all of the pertinent information.

No applications to make.


Buy a sketchbook to map ideas or expand a writing in graphical format.

Have sketchbooks and printer paper.


Buy new pens, pencils and erasers.

Oh lord, do I have pens. But I always love new ones. But if I go out and spend money now, the wife will kill me, you know?

Check your keyboard — do you love it? If not, invest in a really great keyboard.

This may need to be addressed. Mac keyboards are awful. They are flat and pretty, yes, but not ergonomical at all. If I begin to experience problems, I will need to look into getting a different keyboard.


Note your most productive and creative writing times. Block them off and scheduled into your calendar.

Mornings. I will wake up early, still, just like I would with a job. Write. Workout. Do a chore or two. And write some more.


Get plenty of rest.

I’m one of those 9-hour-a-night sleepers. I need 9 hours. For example, today, I had 8. And I feel like sleeping at my keyboard.


Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate!

This might be something I really have to work on. I’m really bad in that I think coffee is hydration. I am going to be really cognizant about drinking more tea and water.


Have a passion-based purpose for writing. (It will keep you motivated during dry spells and focused on your mission, rather than just your feelings.)

Sanity. Writing = Sanity.


Make a mini vision board that represents your commitment to writing for 2014. (Look at it when you need a reminder.)

CRAFT TIME?! Ooooh! Elisa! Come visit! We need to craft vision boards!


Create a lovely environment to write in, complete with a rad new desk and decorations which inspire creativity.

Wife built office. Must use office.


Prepare a music ‘playlist’. If you can write to different types of music based on the tone of the writing piece, try these music playlist categories: Pump Me Up, Romantic Tunes, I am the Bomb-Diggety, etc.

I’m on the fence about music and writing. Sometimes I feel I need music to write and, other times, I feel that if I have music playing I’m distracted and can’t keep my concentration on the piece. I may follow this in that I will make different playlists based on different stories for when I go running.


Test out new productivity approaches to see if they might be a good fit for you.

That’s pretty much what January will consist of. Does this schedule work? Yes? No? Repeat.


Complete all your strategic planning for next year in terms of health, money, and marketing.

For the whole next year? It’s a little too variable right now. If we end up expecting a child, the whole plan will be thrown out the window. The good news is that the wife is taking a personal finance course for her MBA this semester, which pretty much means we will be communicating about personal finances to a ridiculous degree for the next few months.

Go hard all the way through 2013! (And then 2014 will rock out by osmosis.)

Went hard through November. Rest time, plan time.


Put away the fear you have around writing.

Put it away. Just put it away. That seems so simple with how it is worded in the list but it’s really not. Why do you think we named the blog Anxiety Ink, hmm? Because it’s an ongoing struggle. But I will resolve to finish pieces before I judge them. It is so much easier to edit a piece than it is to continually work on it and draft it from scratch, expecting it to turn out perfectly.


Consider partnering with a writing coach to help you meet your goals.

Who needs a writing coach when I have friends like I do? I might need a life coach to find balance in my life but I will work on defining my crit circle and being really faithful to those relationships in order to better myself as a writer, reader, and friend.


Check the copywriting on your website and make sure that it is current.

HAH. Gotta make the website first, hmm?


Add tags to entries in your digital journal.

This sounds like procrastination to me. But I will check over Anxiety Ink to make sure all my posts are tagged up correctly.


Make a backup of your digital writing entries.

Oh DropBox, how I love thee. Oh email, how I keep emailing storied to myself as backup like the olden days.


Add photos to any digital journal entries.

Yo, photos? And seriously, who adds those AFTER posting them?


Print digital entries and make a notebook of your writings for 2013.

Hmmm, an interesting idea. I might like to have a hard copy of Anxiety essays to refer back to in the future. But this sounds like a lot of paper.


Gather your favorite candle scents and oils for the new year. (Your writing brain loves scent stimulation.)

My cat is a doofus. He has burned off his whiskers several times in the very few times we have had candles lit. It takes a lot of supervision to have a cat as dumb as mine, but at least he is sloth-like. As for scented oils… I’m a little adverse to them. We will see if I end up writing and living in quasi-squalor and need as-scent-ance (AHAHAHAHA PUN! Horrible horrible pun).


Remove any blog posts that are outdated (events, interview, etc.)

You think the internet doesn’t keep things even if you remove them?


Check the links in your blog posts to ensure they are still working.

Okay, this one sounds like procrastination. But also a good review for our blog team to make sure the world isn’t broken.


Create guest blogger guidelines.

We would have to decide on guest bloggers first.


Organize your computer’s desktop.

Will do when I purge 2013 writing to clean things up.


Update your Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn files.

Uggh, social media work! I really hate balancing all of these things but I guess that I should look into managing them or finding a way to connect some of them so I can post easily. I need to look into different twitter-facebook-deck software.


Stock up on your favorite coffees and teas.

Now this sounds like a good one. We are flush on tea but we go through coffee fast!


Set writing goals for 2014.

This sounds like a post for New Years. Stay tuned.