A Month in a Writer’s Life – June 2017

Another month went by, marking the half of the year gone. As usual, I had big plans and ambitious goals, but at the same time I took into consideration the approaching summer. Last year, the heat I’m not used to anymore, thwarted most of my productivity, and I feared this might be the case. Thankfully, June turned out better than expected.

Even though the last days were quite a rush, I managed to reach my monthly goal of writing 500 words on average, most of which went towards short stories and some random projects, and I’ve completed yet another month of consecutive writing. It’s definitely a nice feeling to have the writing routine somewhat under control. Also, with the end of the month, I hit my halfway mark of this year’s goal, so I’m right on track for the rest of the year (although it would have been nice to have built up some extra words in case the future brings any disruptions).

But June was supposed to my revision month, and as I mentioned in the previous A Month in a Writer’s Life post, I set myself a deadline for finishing edits of my contemporary fantasy, Humanborn. The end of June seemed a bit too ambitious, but I tried anyway. I might have failed miserably, if not for JR Bee’s encouragement keeping me on track. I think she should take credit for at least some of my progress: she is a great writing partner (she wrote a post about finding a writing friend – check it out!), and I’m lucky to have her. Back to the topic, Humanborn revisions were done before the month ended, and as usual, I was very grateful to several friends to answer my call for beta-readers in less than a day. To me as a writer, it’s both support and encouragement: they’re willing to devote their precious time to help me becoming a better writer.

With the June rush, I also hit 80 hours of editing, which in a half-a-year scale might not be that impressive, but still shows my progress. Nowadays, I don’t do much beta-reading and critiquing anymore (mostly because my friends have nothing ready for me!), so I’m only at the 10 hour mark—last year it would have been so much more!

 

I haven’t done a lot of arts&crafts throughout the month, though I did pull out my polymer clay again and enjoyed making a bunch of pendants, mostly with entwined tentacles, but also experimenting with other ideas. By now, they’ve been all baked, but still need some final touches and a layer of gloss, so I have nothing to show except this one picture of the unfinished pendant.

I also made a simple graphic for the words I pretty much live by, “Write. Edit. Repeat.” and put it up in the Society6, Redbubble, and Zazzle stores. While I was at it, I’ve also rebuilt the JMM Designs page, so now you can view sample products there as well as find links to all three stores.

My exercise is still going well, and I can mark off another consecutive month of working out, though due to the hot weather outside, I decided to take it easy on myself, with the goal for summer being only “keep exercising” rather than pushing my limits. With the heat I’m still not used to, I only did as much as felt comfortable, even if it meant some days I did absolute minimum. On the bright side, I added weights to my routine, so now I’m not only working out on my elliptical, but also strengthening my upper limbs.

Daily Writing Achievement
5 months of daily writing.

Sadly, with so much progress, something had to give, and in my case it was blogging and reading. Due to the circumstances beyond my control, my website was down for a week which threw me slightly off track, and I still couldn’t get myself into a reading mood. I’m still hoping I’ll manage to improve, writing my blog posts more regularly, and finally finding some perfect time for books.

Half a year goal for the Club.

Overall, I’m happy how June went, especially with the initial hiccup at the beginning of the month. How about you? Did you accomplish anything worthwhile? Or maybe slow&steady was the way to go for you?

Joanna Maciejewska

Joanna Maciejewska is a fantasy and science fiction author who enjoys all things SFF: books, movies, and video games. Her short stories appeared in magazines and anthologies in Polish and in English. Her epic fantasy adventure series, starting with By the Pact, is available in ebook and paperback at all major retailers.

This Post Has 10 Comments

  1. J.R.Bee

    That’s pretty frickin’ impressive, and you did make some progress with your blogs on top of everything else, which is makes it more so.
    And, not going to lie, your kind words caused me to aw internally. And I doubt not have written anything this year without your guidance either, so thank you 🙂

    1. Melfka

      I just wanted to point out, that I wouldn’t have written half of what I did, if you weren’t constantly kicking me in the backside. 🙂

      1. J.R.Bee

        Hehe, always happy to provide a lending foot 🙂

  2. sjhigbee

    I’m very impressed with your writing progress – and being able to keep your fitness regime going given the insane temperatures you are dealing with. Though this year, we are also blessed with the best summer we have had in YEARS. The editing is also important – and it looks as if you are nailing that, too:). Congratulations, Joanna. As for the blogging and reading – as you mentioned on my own June roundup, we can only do so much!

    1. Melfka

      Thank you, Sara. I’m trying to keep myself going. I’m hoping to get a driving license and a job soon, so I want to use all the “free” time I have left.
      And I envy you the best summer. I’m pretty sure it would be more bearable over there ;).

      1. sjhigbee

        I should have kept my big trap shut – right now it’s pouring and has been doing so since lunchtime:((. Not good when having 2 fit and energetic children bouncing around the house…

        1. Melfka

          Ouch. Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked!

          1. sjhigbee

            Oh, don’t worry – I regularly whine about the weather as I live in a country which is too cold for my metabolism. Sadly…

  3. saraletourneau

    I second Sarah’s comment above in regard to the blogging. I’ve been having a hard time keeping up with everyone’s sites lately, and this week I decided, “You know what? It’s OK. Just do what you can, but don’t lose sight of your priorities, either.” So you’re not alone there. You just have to go with the flow some days.

    Is Arizona still experiencing extreme heat? I remember talking to you about that a week or two ago, and you said you’ve been spared of the worst temperatures because you live in the mountains… But has the weather been about the same, or is it starting to let up a little?

    Congrats on finishing revisions for Humanborn, btw! Keep up the great work with all of your writing projects. 🙂

    1. Melfka

      Thank you, Sara, for your kind words. I still feel a bit bad, because I used to be able to bulk-read weekly posts and somewhat keep up. I’m still hoping I’ll manage to catch up at some point.
      The temperatures dropped as the monsoon came, so it was quite pleasant over here for the last couple of weeks (daily storms with a lot of lightning and thunder too!), but now it seems to go up again.

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