TMoRP – Outro

Suddenly it’s December.

When I started my Month of Relentless Positivity, I didn’t quite expect to need it so much, but then this happened, and that happened. (That in particular was unexpectedly traumatic). Being forced to think about stuff I liked every day turned out to be an invaluable self-care tool.

I also didn’t expect to achieve my goal of blogging every day. Sure enough, I missed the mark, though not by as much as I feared. I almost made it to two days out of three, which was not bad on my schedule.

(I would have made it yesterday, but my kids’ school concert went over time by about an hour. After that, the oblivion of sleep held an irresistible allure.)

All in all not a bad experiment. I’ve had fun, I’ve met a couple of new people, and I’ve kept busy at the keyboard. Just getting into the chair and getting some words down has felt like an achievement.

On the down side, the blogging came at the expense of other writing jobs – everything from editing my novel to finishing a short story draft to working through some online training. All of those are now behind schedule, so from here on until the end of the year I will be focused on clearing the decks for 2017.

I always try to end my year with a look back at what I’ve accomplished and a look ahead to what comes next. In that spirit I will do at least one more blog post before the end of the year. (More, probably)

I expect to be travelling a lot next year, both with the family and alone for work. I’ve found I can be very productive when I’m away, as long as I already have a plan in place. It’s usually a good idea to have a story outline standing by for when I have four hours of unanticipated free time due to delayed flights.

Prime writing time. If there’s coffee.

So December will be a time for knocking off a few commitments, brainstorming ideas, sketching out plans and generally trying to set myself up. My first job is finishing my long-delayed newsletter, which I’ll finish and send out this weekend. This issue contains the penultimate episode of my serial adventure story Orphan’s Moon, as well as a long essay on what inspired it and what I plan to do with it.

If you’ve enjoyed reading these Positivity posts or if the stories I posted earlier in the week have give you a taste for my fiction, sign up for the newsletter using the form below. Every four to six weeks I will send out a new edition with fiction, news, and the occasional surprise.

All right then. November’s done. It’s back to being a grizzled curmudgeon who complains about everything for me. Happy December!