How would YOU clear this schedule?
I’m swamped enough that the migraines are back, and I’m putting this in front of my readers hoping someone will see a way for me to clear a lot of stuff out of my schedule quickly. I’ll be honest. I’ve got nothing. I can come up with ideas for books and courses all day long, but when things get this backlogged, I get stressed. I’ve been focusing on doing just three things a day, and doing them well, but even that is not clearing things.
Here’s the schedule:
FICTION
Publish books and stories for which I own rights that are simply sitting on my hard drive
Talyn
Minerva Wakes
Midnight Rain
Last Girl Dancing
I See You
Night Echoes
Last Thorsday Night
>>—4EVR—>
Copyedits, Corrections, New Covers, Republish
Fire in the Mist (Have commissioned cover art, need to put it together)
Bones of the Past (Have commissioned cover art, need to put it together)
Mind of the Magic (Have commissioned cover art, need to put it together)
Hunting The Corrigan’s Blood (Cover needs new text only)
Warpaint (Cover needs new text only)
Light Through Fog
Rewind
Strange Arrivals
Sympathy for the Devil
The Devil and Dan Cooley
Hell On High
New Fiction
Cadence Drake Three: The Wishbone Conspiracy
Korre Three: Redbird
Rest of the Cadence Drake series
More Longview stuff
More short stories
Just more fiction…lots and lots more fiction.
FICTION / NONFICTION COMBOS
How To Revise Your Novel Expansion
Revise Talysmana
Add step-by-step demo to the course
NONFICTION
How To Think Sideways Walkthrough
Moon and Sun Three: The Emerald Sun (Book for the How to Think Sideways Walkthrough)
Plan: Write the book in one hard push, then
Put together the walkthrough in the same fashion
ADDED LATER: How To Think Sideways Quick Fixes
10 remaining
How to Think Sideways
Weekly email with new HTTS Live Discussion link
Set up weekly Discussion Classroom Page
Set up weekly Discussion in forum
Comment in weekly discussion.
Monthly chat: Four remaining
Personal bonuses for students who received them: As scheduled
How to Write A Series
Finish The Philosopher Gambit (copyedit, formatting, cover copy, and uploading, and product setup on three systems remain)
Post the story in class
Put up all revised versions of Longview 1 & 2 on Amazon, B&N, and my shop
Start writing Longview 4: The Vipers’ Nest
Start teaching MODULE 4 in the classroom
Finish and publish Longview 4
Finish MODULE 4
Start writing Longview 5
Start teaching MODULE 5 in the classroom
Finish Longview 5
Finish MODULE 5
Start writing Longview 6
Start teaching MODULE 6
Finish Longview 6 and the series
Finish MODULE 6
Survey the class for the bonus course
Write the bonus course
Set it up in the software
Ugly Baby / Ugly Workshop / Ugly Mastermind
Survey class for next module
Create Ugly Baby module
Create Ugly Workshop module
Do fiction launch post-mortem email for Launch Observers List
Do fiction launch forum post-mortem with Tom Vetter in UW and UMM
Do fiction launch, emails, post-mortem with Cat Gerlach
Do fiction launch, emails, post-mortem with Volunteer 3
Do fiction launch, emails, post-mortem with Volunteer 4
Do fiction launch, emails, post-mortem with Volunteer 5
Do fiction launch, emails, post-mortem with Volunteer 6
Decide if the process in reliable enough to set up a fiction launch class
Yarnlings MM
Check in before they think I’m dead
Do regular monthly updates on what I’m doing and how it’s working
COURSE AND SITE IMPROVEMENT
Copyedit and correct every single page of every single writing course, and every single page of my sites. More than a million words.
WEBSITE/ SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Website Development for Holly Lisle Online Writing School/ Readers Meet Writers/ HollyLisle.com/ OneStep Writing Website Dev
Build “what-it-needs-to-do/ how-it-needs-to-work/ how-I-want-to-use-it” wireframes for Dan (a lot of these are already done)
Daily updates and brainstorming on what we’re doing
Community Posts
Minimum one daily until I get through this backlog
This Blog
At least once a week
Writing Tips Newsletter
2 new tips a month
Fiction Newsletter
Build SOMETHING…my readers are just hanging there with nothing cool happening whatsoever
Other Mailing List emails as needed
I mail something to at least one list about twice a week, and try not to overlap
Help Desk
Monday-Friday Daily
PERSONAL
Personal emails
Monday-Friday Daily (after clearing a lot of subscriptions, these are down to about 250-300 a day, so that’s MUCH better)
So there it is.
I am wide open for suggestions.
Everything on this list is important. It all has to be done. It’s all stuff I love doing, it’s all stuff I’m excited about, but my two long-term goals are:
Spend more time writing fiction
Spend more time actually talking to my readers and working with my students
ADDED LATER (12:02 PM ET):
I’ve read every word posted to this point. And the first thing that jumps out at me is this:
1.) How the hell did I never think of INTERNS?
I didn’t want to ask for volunteers, but I will happily trade writing courses in exchange for things like bug hunting, copy editing, and help with reformatting courses.
2.) Nobody writes my words but me. So ghostwriting is out.
Having readers and writers contribute guest posts, tips, and discussion ideas is in, though. I like that idea.
3.) The organizational tips are enormously helpful.
As stuff piled up, Calendar (the Mac software) stopped being quite as useful as it initially was. The reminders are good, but getting everything ON the calendar is a mess.
4.) Because of the migraines, I’ve been doing the relaxation, meditation, and exercise all along.
At this point, my issues are in actually clearing the load. I see a light, though, in how I can do that.
ADDED EVEN LATER (2:04 PM)
I now have the better part of a plan of action for the next few weeks. Thank you, ALL of you, for every single comment here. I’ll continue reading comments tomorrow, but right now, I’m sitting down to set priorities and clear out everything that can be delegated.
I’ll be back to the blog when I have some internships to offer, and when I have a clear picture of what the next few months are going to look like for me.
