Spoonie Writer: Dealing With Holidays

SPOONIE WRITER: DEALING WITH HOLIDAYS

It's that time of year again, when everything seems to pile up at once and all the spoonies in the world are struggling to get through a stressful, flare-filled time of year. Whether you celebrate Christmas, or any other holiday towards the end of the year, you're having to deal with pain, writing, and relatives all in one foul swoop. We're not there yet, but I thought that I would start us off right and give you some of my tips for both keeping on schedule and also not working yourself into a flare.

I celebrate Christmas and usually spend this time of year going between parents, and getting all the bits and pieces together for both the holiday and the stuff that happens afterwards. I'm pretty lucky to have parents who get that I need to do things on a schedule and that things can change at any time. The new oxygen concentrator I have now is a smaller one, but it has a limited battery so that means making sure I can charge it up when needed. But that's just me, how are you going to balance both writing and getting through the holiday season? Glad you asked, because I have some tips for you!

#1 PLAN AHEAD
As you all know by now, I am a super planner when it comes to my time. I've talked about how I use Sticky Notes to plan my month and slot things in when needed. (Piece found here) You don't have to go to that level, or even use the same idea, but planning your time, and when you're seeing who and all of that will help you schedule things like rest days and days for writing. It doesn't work for everyone, but it's been a massive help for me.

It means that I can make sure my writing days are blocked off, but that the days when I'm seeing family or doing something strenuous can be surrounded with low impact days, or days off completely so that I can recharge and make sure that I'm not going to be pushing myself into a flare.

#2 HAVE DAYS TO DO NOTHING
Along with point one, there should, always, but especially around the holidays, be days when you do nothing. As a spoonie, you know that your energy levels can change and can have an impact on what you're doing. So filling your time with high-impact stuff is just going to make you miserable, and possibly sick. I try to make sure that I have at least two days a month where I'm doing nothing, but I also have a lot of low-impact days to counter the days when I'm working long hours. It's important to rest!

#3 COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE
There are gonna be some instances where you have to cancel, or you need to alter how things are done. I know it sucks, I know it's hard to advocate for yourself and that for some people, their families aren't supportive. But if you can, let people know what you're able to do, and how long you can stay. Allow them to plan for times when you might not make it. This goes into planning your time, but make sure those important to you know what you're planning to do any one day. Have some flexibility in your schedule so that you're not having to squeeze things in when you really don't have time.

#4 ACCEPT THAT SOME PEOPLE WON'T GET IT
I really wish this wasn't something I had to say, but it is. There are always going to be some people who demand your time, or just don't get that you can't do everything, and they won't listen to you when you try to explain. I've been there, I've done that, and it's hard as hell. My only advice is to try and not take it personally, which is a big ask when this is something that you have no control over. I get it, I do. My parents are divorced, Dad lives an hours drive from me, and sometimes he and my step-mum don't get that I can't stay for hours and hours and still be okay to get home. I've tried explaining it, but it seems to go over their heads. So I just accept that they're not going to get it, and move on.

AND FINALLY, #5 TRY AND HAVE A GOOD TIME
I say try, because some times there's nothing to do but call the day a loss and move past it. You might have all the plans in the world and half of them have to be cancelled or fall through because of health stuff. You might have plans to write all through the holidays and find that actually, you can't, but try not to let this have an impact on your enjoyment. It's supposed to be a good time, and I say that knowing that things get really stressful over the holidays. The money aspect, the time suck, and the fact that for some of us, we just want to write and get through the month in one piece. But try to make sure that you schedule something in there that you know you will enjoy, something that maybe relaxes you and doesn't take as many spoons, but just take care of yourself.

The holidays are a stressful time for most people, but for spoonies, there's the added risk of falling ill, or having a flare in the middle of them. It's a game I play with my body every year since my birthday falls at the end of the holiday season. If I can make it through Christmas, New Year and then my birthday, I'm pretty happy, and then it's all over and done for a year, and I breathe a big sigh of relief.

Happy writing, and I hope you're able to enjoy this holiday season! Lemme know your tips and tricks for fellow spoonie writers in the comments below.

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Festive Wiiting

FESTIVE WRITING
 
It's that time of year again when everything stops for a few days while we have Christmas and the end of year fun. I personally plan to take tomorrow and the 27th off for family commitments and also to just enjoy myself during this period. But today's Monday which means I wanted to have something up on the blog to see you all into Christmas. It would normally be a writing advice piece, and it'll still have some level of that, but I also thought it would be nice to talk about some of the fun things going on around the writing community.

So, for one, myself and Dal Cecil Runo put out a Winter Tag on our authortube channels. You can find the videos here & here. This is a tag that anyone can take part in, you don't have to be on authortube, but can, if you wish, do it on your blog. We wanted to encompass the period not just Christmas itself, but Yule and Winter as a whole. If you do decide to take part, please feel free to tag me on Twitter or my other platforms.

Two, the amazing Erin Kinsella also did a WIP Christmas Tag on her channel which can be found here. I'm sure that she would be happy for people to do it on blogs and spread the cheer around the internet.

Three, there's also the Ho Ho Ho tag by the amazing Kim Chance and Melissa Hope. Here's her video, and here's the one Bethany Atazadeh did as well as some others. I'm sure you'd be able to do this one on a blog as well!

Those are just some of the awesome things happening around the writing community this December. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday period and I will see you next week for a proper post!

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The Trials Of An Indie Author: The End of Year Fun

THE END OF YEAR FUN

Firstly, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday and are looking forward to the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018! So I thought, as a follow on from the other week's piece about writing around the holidays, I would do a piece about how as an indie author, the Christmas period can be filled with stress and strife, but you can also have a lot of fun with it. I'll get you some of my tips for that. When it comes to the end of the year, there is so much to be done. Something that I find a little stressful. You have the end of year royalties to get together, the sales to track. You have all that fun of checking off goals and planning for the new year. So here's some tips of how to get through the end of the year fun.

#1. MAKE A LIST
A bit like Santa, you wanna be making a list. That way you can cross off everything you get done when you get it done. So downloading royalty reports, making sure everything to do with the end of 2017 is done, filed away and ready for when you next need it. Some places won't have an end of year report until January, but others will have one on the 31st so it's a good idea to check and make sure you get the ones you need.

#2. DON'T RUSH
The last thing you want to do is rush, so I'd advise checking what you need long before we hit that last week of 2017. I've been slowing gathering what I can in the weeks of December already past. That's simply because I'm a planner and leaving things to the last minute make me anxious. It also means that if I do forget something, I've got time to correct the issue

#3. WHEN MAKING GOALS, BE REASONABLE
As you all know I do both monthly goals on a private blog as well as yearly goals that I post about in a vlog towards the end of the year. I also post it here on this blog to make sure everyone knows what I'm planning to do in the coming year. If you're someone who does quarterly goals or bi-montly goals, you'll also be starting to make those goals around this time as well. Just remember to be reasonable with yourself, know your limits and while you shouldn't aim too high, don't go too low either. Make sure that they are things you could reasonable do in that time period and be honest with yourself if no one else.

#4. TAKE TIME TO RELAX
I know it seems like it's a lot of work. Hell, it more than seems, it is a lot of work. But you should also plan to have some down time as well, simply because it's supposed to be a fun time of year all around. I know it's hard when you have deadlines looming, kids or family running around, but you should also take some time to breathe. Make sure that you set aside, even if it's just an hour here and there, for you to do something you enjoy. I work most days, and yet I always have a couple of hours in the evening to read a book and enjoy that down time. It helps you stay productive and stops your from burning out.

So those are my tips of the end of year fun. There's a lot that needs doing and that's not even going into sales and other promotional stuff that seems all amped up over the holiday period. Overall, I like to think that no matter how much stress this time of year brings, it's usually a good experience. I had Christmas at home with my best friend and her daughter. My mum came over along with my brother and his girlfriend and today I'm headed off to see my dad and step-mum. These two days are blocked off as complete days of rest, so other than posting this blog post, I'm doing nothing but relaxing.

Tomorrow I'll start back at writing, and will also be getting those final bits and pieces ready for the end of 2017. I won't speak to you all again until the new year so I hope you have a great one. As always, if you wanna leave a comment about your Christmas, or any tips you have for the end of year, let me know!

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The Trials of a Crime Writer - Getting Merry With It

GETTING MERRY WITH IT

Something I know a lot of people struggle with during the holidays is keeping on top of their goals, as well as all the other stresses that come from Christmas, the new year and all of that. If you're like me and someone who still writes during the Christmas period and still has page counts to meet and murders and crimes to plan (fictionally of course!) then you'll know that sometimes it means writing about the gruesome sides of the human condition while everyone is mostly out celebrating the time of year. I thought I would do a piece about how I handle dealing with the gruesome while also staying in the mood for Christmas and all that comes with it.

#1. PACE YOURSELF
This is my number one tip for so many reasons. Not just because it helps you stay focused and on top of everything, but also because it means you're listening to your body about what it can and can't handle. So if for example, you've got presents to wrap and a child running around all excited, then make sure you set yourself a manageable goal. There's nothing fun about stress and there seems to be a lot of it go around this time of year.

#2. UTILISE YOUR STRESS
Say you have a character you have to kill, or a crime to plot out and you know it's gonna be gruesome and difficult. If you're someone who can channel that stress into your writing, then use it to write that scene. Not only will it be doing something positive, like getting a difficult scene out of the way, but it'll also help your stress levels once you're done. If you're someone who can't write when they're stressed or you don't have a scene you can use, then sit back and see if any of the other tips will work for you.

#3. REMEMBER IT'S ONLY TEMPORARY
Yes, it comes once a year and it's huge and difficult, and you've got the kids home from school and all your relatives are wanting this and that from you, but remember to breathe. Before long the day is over, the season is done and life will return to normal. The best thing you can do is have fun and enjoy yourself while you're there. I know it's easier said than done, but yet it is true. If you find you can't write during the holiday period and that crime you were planning to research seems a bit too much, just breathe and either work through it, or set it aside for a few days time.

So those are my three top tips for getting through the holiday period and still having a shred of dignity left at the end of it. I plan to have a quiet Christmas, but I've also planned to get some serious writing done. If you find that you're thinking your storyline is a little too dark and horrific to be writing over this period, then take a breath and realise that it's probably going to feel like that come the new year. One thing I've learned in my years of writing dark fiction is that it's always going to be dark, bar possibly Halloween time, and sometimes you just need to buckle down and get on with it.

The big thing to remember is that it is fiction. Whether you bang away at the keyboard or mull over scenes in your head during some quiet moments, there's nothing wrong with that. I remember once getting a comment on a blog post that because I wrote young adult and also wrote crime, that I was making the young people of today more likely to get into a murderous rage and carry out the crimes committed. I raised an eyebrow and shrugged, laughing a little because that's not how it works. There's nothing wrong with writing dark fiction, whether that's crime, paranormal or anything like that. As I've grown as a writer and author, I have found that I have a taste for the dark side of fiction, and I do love telling it. It's not for everyone and that's completely okay, but it's also okay for those of us who like it, to enjoy writing it.

So that's all I've got for you today. I hope you have a wonderful holiday period and I will see you again after the big day. Since Christmas falls on a Monday this year, the Monday blog post next week will be up on the 26th instead. Hope you all enjoy yourselves, and as always, feel free to leave a comment below.

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Writing Around The Holidays - The Creative Process

WRITING AROUND THE HOLIDAYS

So if you're like me, you'll be planning to continue writing during your down time. That includes during a holiday period. I don't just mean the big ones like Christmas, but all those weeks the kids spend off school as well. Because if, like me, you have a teenager running around in the background, life gets stressful when you're home working and they're around too. But for now I'll focus on the other parts of writing around holidays. And I'll try and give you some tips on how I manage.

Christmas for me has always been the time to see my family. As you all know, I use sticky notes to denote what I'm doing when and all of that. I have a colour coded system that allows me to tell at a glance what days are for what. Right now I have three white sticky notes. One is for a medical reason, the other two are Christmas and Boxing Day, which is when I plan to go and see my dad and step-mum for our Christmas get-together. My issue is that I also plan to try and get vlogs recorded, blogs written and some actual book writing too, since that's my job after all. So here are my five tips for getting work done during one of the most stressful times of year.

#1. BE KIND TO YOURSELF
No one can work every single day without a break ever and not have problems. You need to make sure that you take time to just have some moments to yourself when you're not being asked to do something, or feeling pressured to write. If you plan like I do, then you'll probably have some days off, right? If not, be aware that even if you really really really want to get that thing done by the end of the month, it is supposed to be fun, and you will want to spend some time with your family. So be kind to yourself and even if it's just slotting some time to watch a movie or take a nap, do it!

#2. SLEEP ISN'T OPTIONAL
I know, I know, insomnia sucks, but even if you find yourself at a loss of how to spend any of your awake time writing, you still need to sleep. That goes for writers who work through the night and then try to attack the day without any. The world will not end if you take a nap. And it helps you stay on top of things and be more creative when you have time to do so. It goes with my first post about being kind to yourself. Self care can be any number of ways, and sleeping can be one of them. Writers deserve that too!

#3. MANAGE YOUR TIME
Whether that's my adopting a schedule or just setting aside a certain time every day that you will spend writing, do whatever works for you. Like I said, I use sticky notes and I've found enormous leaps in my productivity. I spend more time writing and less time wondering what I should be doing. It's changed my working life completely. And I was organised before, I just never really went this deep into the rabbit hole. Now I'm there, I can't even think about changing how I'd do it. I feel lost without my plan of attack.

#4. IT'S OKAY TO GET STRESSED
Everyone gets stressed at times, no one is immune to it. At this time of year, even more so because there's presents to buy, things to wrap, gatherings to attend. All of that is stressful, when you add it trying to write, it's no surprise that some people lose it for a second or two. I know I've struggled in the past with the same thing. Everything is going on and none of it is an easy fix. So if you do get stressed, don't be too hard on yourself about it. Take a breath and take a moment and then get on with what you're doing.

#5. MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
This is a big one for me. I know that I set sometimes unreasonable goals for myself. Other times I set them too low, but for the purpose of this piece, I'll stick with the unreasonable ones. If you've told yourself that you're going to finish this book by the end of the year and you're only just starting, think carefully about it. There are some people who can write a whole book in a month or less and my hat goes off to them. For me it takes between four to five months. If it's something you've never done before, don't set yourself up to fail no matter how tempting it may be. Manage your expectations by knowing what you can achieve in that time rather than go nuts and then feel like a failure.

So those are my five tips on writing around the holidays. Do you have any tips to share? Leave them in the comments below!

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Merry Christmas to everyone!

From everyone here at Joey Paul Online, we would like to wish all our readers and followers a very Merry Christmas and safe holiday season.