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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?

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Writing About Writing and the Curious Case of the Receding Goal

We are 60% of the way to the major "You-can-make-it!" milestone, and this is the part of the story where there is a setback, success becomes unclear, and a major character is found to be working with the enemy all along....or something.

Today marks the third of six "pledge drive" Thursdays. Glad portents everyone! We're halfway there. And I should be able to give the blog a little more love from this point forward since I'm not waking up every morning I teach to write curriculum and lesson plans.



Normally our air/fuel mixture is a lot more towards the content side. I don't even put up a post like this one more than once a month. But since budgets for the coming 12 months or so need to be finalized by early August, and I am overwhelmed by summer school anyway, I thought I'd take a moment to try and hit a goal that isn't "making it" but is "enough progress to think making it might be possible."

This is a screenshot from MY PATREON.  I'm currently 60% to my third goal. My third goal is based on the Kickstarter I ran last year. That money is still ready to fund a few months of full time writing. (This last year was just antithetical to productivity.) The goal I'm trying to reach now will keep me from having to drive for Lyft or something once I run through those Kickstarter funds allotted for the novel and keep me writing instead.




Only 40% to go!!!

But CHRIS. Wasn't this at 67% last week?

It was. (Thanks for playing.)

I lost one of my really big Patrons. (I know. I know. Don't even attempt to contain your tears.) Maybe I'll get them back–it looked like it might be a credit card issue–or maybe I won't. The mercurial winds of fate tear at us all, and I know this is a particularly fraught time for anyone to be committing big chunks of money every month to a "local artist."

HOWEVER.....it helps me to illustrate a wonderful point. While I love my few, big donors to super bitsy bits, I would be a lot less vulnerable if I actually had a lot of little donors too. In fact, if all five hundred thousand and change of my Facebook followers would sign up for a mere dollar a month, that'd be super swell. In fact, heck, it wouldn't have to be every one of them. I mean I could totally live on $50,000 a month–that's only ten percent! I can always clip coupons.

No?

Yeah, I didn't think so either. But maybe where folks can find their generosity a dollar a month to a daily entertainer would be a cool bucket to drop into.

One of my jobs is on a long, slow phase out. Projections for this coming school year are less than half of the hours I was needed last year. If I can't make up the income, I'm eventually going to have to find a clock to punch in order to not starve.

The goal that I'm 60% of the way to hitting is not enough to cover the loss of said job. However, I am counting the performance of this "pledge drive" as something of a bellwether. If I can make just this one, smaller goal, then I'll consider myself reasonably safe for what's coming in the next couple of years. Every dollar I make now will mean that much longer before I have to start hitting my Kickstarter money, and the longer it will last.

I have like nine levels of Patreon goals going all the way up to amounts that actually literally make me laugh. (Then again, if that one asshole can make five grand a month for trashing feminism, maybe there's hope.)

Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh.  

Wait...that's Yoda.

Retirement. Heh. A small studio apartment. Heh. You are feckless. 


Um....anyway, some of the smaller goals back at the bottom absolutely have to do with continuing to write full time and keeping the lights on around here. The funds allotted through Kickstarter are finite and will be used up. Will I have to hang up my full-time quill and return to slinging spaghetti or gun running from Mexico because who couldn't trust this face?


Srs trustface.

Some of my down-the-road goals are because my current living situation won't last forever. Some because eventually this buttercup is going to have to do some up-sucking and start contributing to that retirement plan. But right now....today....at least hitting this ONE goal before my drive is over will be a step in the right direction enough to give me hope that the rest can be done given time.

Since this blog's inception, due to the breathtaking generosity of patrons and donations from readers like you, we have been able to:
  • Quit teaching during the regular year and write instead
  • Bring you more content
  • Remove the annoying ads
  • Up the number of high quality posts each week. 
  • (Not to put too fine a point on it, but we've been able to keep bringing you content through what would otherwise have been some completely devastating life transitions that would have put most bloggers on hiatus.) 
  • Gone from five posts a week to six. 
  • And we've been able to take far fewer random days off. 

Here are some things I'd like to add if we continue to get more support:
  • Even more posts, and more high-quality posts (less jazz hands)
  • But also more and better jazz hands (on top of the less jazz hands) in the way of potpourris, plot arc posts, and guest bloggers.
  • A seventh and even eight post each week (or more?)
  • A greater number of carefully (perhaps even professionally) edited and revised posts
  • More fiction
  • Always and ever free longer fiction (books)
  • An always, forever, ad free experience on Writing About Writing

If I can't reach this goal by the end of the six weeks and especially if I didn't even come frustratingly close, I may have to return to hosting ads on Writing About Writing and possibly other ways to monetize my work.  Ads will actually limit the rage of certain kinds of content I can post, and will probably involve no small amount of cleaning out old posts of the same. And if I really can't hit this goal, I have to think about day jobs.

*ominus thunder rumble*

Technically I could eat nothing but store brand peanut butter on store brand bread for every meal, but that's not as awesome as it sounds. ("But Chris, that doesn't actually sound–" Yeah, I meant to do that.)

The mere cost of twelve dollars a year–just ONE DOLLAR a month–gets you in on backchannel conversations with other patrons, polls, and conversations about future projects including sometimes me trying to get your input. But perhaps, most importantly, you'll be supporting an artist to continue making art and entertainment.

So if you like what I do and want to see me do more of it, don't want to see me have to do less of it, and want to continue to see me do it without ads, please consider a small pledge. We wouldn't have gotten this far without our patrons, and we can't do more without you.

Again here is that link:  https://www.patreon.com/chrisbrecheen

And of course if committing to a monthly amount isn't feasible, you can always make a one-time donation through my Paypal (at the top left of the screen).

[Note: In a revised form, perhaps with more bells and whistles, a version of this post will be going up for three more Thursdays.]

2 comments:

  1. I really would send you some dosh, it's just that I am in exactly the same situation. Don't worry I will @Chrimbo by which Time I will be exceedingly rich from selling my chick-lit romp.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also want to thank you for your blog and Facebook page which gives me so much support and laughter, as well as support through laughter. I was wondering have you checked out oblicard.com

    ReplyDelete