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My drug of choice is writing––writing, art, reading, inspiration, books, creativity, process, craft, blogging, grammar, linguistics, and did I mention writing?

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Spring 2019 Update Schedule

As of October 2018, Writing About Writing has undergone a major restructuring and now updates four times a week––usually on every weekday but Tuesday. 

Writing About Writing consists chiefly of one guy with lots of fake people running around behind his eyeballs (he also takes care of a 5-year-old, a newborn, pet-sits throughout the SF Bay Area, is writing a novel and a few other bits of fiction, and sometimes even does really wacky shit like try to get laid or play D&D or something), but this is the schedule we will generally make an effort to keep.

Friday

Fridays, for the most part, will be The Big Post™ of the week. If you're here for the hard-hitting writing advice (with the occasional examination of how language and narrative play into broader social issues), Friday is the day to tune in.

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesdays and Thursdays will be our smaller posts: calls to vote or make a nomination in whatever poll is going on, the best of the prior month, quickies, fortune cookie wisdom. Things I like to call "jazz hands."

Monday

Harder to qualify than simply "big" or "jazz hands," Mondays are probably between Wednesdays and Fridays in their content and girth. They will be personal updates, smaller mailboxes, prompts, guest blogs, etc.

I'm afraid on Tuesdays I have to spend 10 hours watching a baby. The baby sleeps a lot right now and I can probably squeeze SOME work in there, but there's just no way to make commitments.

The Three-Post Goal

Some weeks aren't going to go down like clockwork and they might be front- or back-loaded with side gigs or other commitments. My writing career is also starting to open up occasional opportunities of interest like conventions, speaking engagements, interviews, or podcasts. I'm trying to be better about the (literally) health-shattering 80-hour+ weeks I was working. That's a needle to thread when you are your own boss and you know your income depends on producing content people are willing to crowdfund. So in the cases of major schedule upheaval, I will try really hard to get three posts up. They might just be posted off schedule––Thur, Fri, Sat for example, but I will try hard to at least hit three.

Facebook Writing and Social Justice Bard

Most of my major writing ends up on this blog, but some of my throw-away thoughts don't. If you particularly enjoyed our Social Justice Bard posts, don't worry. I still do as much yelling at clouds as I ever have.

I invite you to follow my Public Facebook Page (you can friend it if you send me a message, but it might be better if you follow it for a while first––unfiltered me is not everyone's cup of tea).  I post somewhat more "political and partisan thoughts" there (rather than just social ISSUES) and also often post "proto-versions" of what later become full blog posts (if you're interested in seeing how those things develop). [There's also personal updates and nerdery there.]

I also have another blog called NOT Writing About Writing where I update usually once a week or more and where I put shorter media reviews, personal updates, and political thoughts that don't really tie into writing and aren't really short enough for Facebook. Also, fret not; there may be fewer SJB posts here on Writing About Writing since we'll be dealing with fewer available "posting slots" overall, but there will still be some.

Everything I ever write (and reruns of my best stuff) gets cross-posted to that Public Facebook Page, so join me there if you want to stalk me properly.

A Fifth Post?

There MIGHT occasionally be a fifth post in a week. Usually this will happen when I need to cover some ground on "blog business." (Like posting the results of a poll or getting up the prior month's "Best of" posts or something.) In this case you might see an extra post pop up from time to time on the weekend. Fiction will also usually go up independently of our regular schedule.

Reminders:

  • I still nanny for a five-year-old and a newborn––sometimes at the same time, sometimes have more pet sitting than I can handle, and my host body occasionally succumbs to your Earth illnesses, so those three posts might not always happen like clockwork or may involve going off the rails of my usual updates. Until my Patreon pays all the bills, my reality is that I sometimes have to prioritize paid gigs.
  • This flexible update schedule should also cut down on the thing where I'm apologizing to absolutely fucking nobody that it's Thursday and I've yet to put so much as a taco video up. I know that some people are annoyed by the constant deluge of "This is why there's no post today" posts and the rest don't really care. But this also settles down my own inner overachiever. As long as I get in all the entries that week, my readers (who have literally never said anything in six years about my update schedule and only ever about my constant apologizing) and myself can give me a break.
  • I invoke the Anything Can Happen™ real-world excuse. I usually have a couple of "emergency blogs" tucked away, but I chew through them pretty quickly when the fit hits the shan. Health complications might crop up suddenly and have me needing to do a sudden unexpected several-hour shift or even an overnight...or maybe even more. Trust me, I'm going to feel ten times worse about missing a post than all of my readers combined.
  • Admin Long-weekends at least once a month will still be a thing. Usually just the Monday (but occasionally the Friday if I'm really behind) will be cannibalized. I need the extra time to answer emails, clean up menus, catch up on editing, take care of Patron-only posts and such.


Also......folks, if you like what I do, stuff a few dollars into that "tip jar" at the top left, or even better yet, sign up to be a monthly patron through Patreon ,and get in on the back channel discussions about posting schedules, big changes, and upcoming projects. I have bills to pay like any other starving artist, and I'm working four side gigs to make ends meet, so even a dollar a month (just $12 a year) will go a long way towards freeing up more time for writing.

Note: There's a pretty loud contingent of "Who Cares!" from the other side of the internet, and I'll give you all a nod if this isn't your cup of tea. Meta posts such as this one are my least popular kinds of posts because other than about five people, no one but me actually pays attention to the updating schedule. However, I'm not going to stop posting them. One of our mission statements is to keep "The Process" transparent and give you updates in real time as we learn them, so there will always be an occasional post about the meta here. I want people to see that someone who is making a paycheck doesn't have all the answers. I want them to see how their work/life balance matters and how easy it is to fall into working TOO much (or not enough). I want them to see that a successful blog doesn't require nine updates a week (and, in fact, that's too much) but it does require a steady, predictable output. And I want them to see how artists are constantly struggling to fiddle with the knobs and get it just right because they are at once human and also never satisfied, but also so so dang human with their incessant need to eat and have shelter and anxieties if those things don't seem secure or stable. Even if a follower or fan never ever uses this update schedule as a formula for their own success, blog, or writing schedule, let it be a comfort realizing how flawed and human working writers can be.

I want you to see how messy and non-magical it all is.

1 comment:

  1. Chris, as a fellow creative, and someone who uses your blog and approach to coach clients on the gigging life for a creative person, I think these posts are really useful; especially to new creatives who need models for how to think about their work practices and scheduling. In other words, don't apologize for posting these. They're helpful. Cheers!

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