I did a thing!
Actually I did a lot of things! I’m certainly not super productive in the ways I normally am (work? What’s that?), but I’m doing other things and I’m noting them down every day without fail.
For your fun, here’s another selection of stuff I’ve written in my Accomplishment Journal these past weeks:
GOT THE FUCK OUT OF BED!
DRESSED UP LIKE DAVID BOWIE IN LABYRINTH!
CALLED MOM TO REPORT IN ON THE RESULTS OF THE IMAGINARY CURLING!
GOT 6000 STEPS!
ATE AN ORANGE!
A couple of years ago, I bought this David Bowie journal but I could never bring myself to write in it. What would be worthy of it? I’ve found out:
RAN THE DISHWASHER AND UNLOADED IT!
This journal is really helping me get through the days. I’m faithful to it and I write down everything I accomplish, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant. One of the most important entries these past few days has been the completion of the free sample edits I offered a while back. I want to thank everyone who placed their trust in me to look at their work.
That editing did a great deal to help me feel more like “me”. I don’t have any work coming in at the moment (like so many other creative types of my acquaintance), and it felt great to be doing the work, even without the pay.
As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, my internet business guru, Ash Ambirge says that in the toughest times (and even in the good times), give away your best stuff for free. That advice, and the love and support of family and friends and especially the man I’ve shared this tiny house with for thirty years (though we’re RILLY sharing it now) has gotten me through many a tough day.
As my favourite movie star ever said in The Public Enemy moments before he died, “I ain’t so tough.”
It’s true of me too. I’m aware of my mostly cheerful persona online, and mostly it’s not an act. I’m a cheerful person by nature. But I am prone to anxiety and deep sadness and I manage it in several ways. These days, it’s particularly challenging. But editing (and apparently baking: who knew?) is the answer.
And reading. I mentioned over on Twitter that I entered “Read for pleasure” in my Accomplishment Journal because I’ve not been able to do that for weeks. What a heart-lifter that was!
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I just returned my last sample edit yesterday and found myself suddenly on vacation for the next couple of weeks at least. I’d been thinking about re-tooling my editing services slightly for a long time and I took the opportunity of a free day and a fairly clear mind to do just that.
I’ve decided to discontinue the manuscript evaluation package I offered for the past year or so (The What Next? Package). I’ve found that it had the smallest response of all of my offerings, and seemingly wasn’t what most of my clients were looking for.
I’ve learned over the past year that what a lot of clients are looking for is a developmental edit, followed by a period of rewrites, and ending with a copy edit, so that I would be doing both phases of editing on the work.
This makes a lot of sense to me, as by the time I’ve done a developmental edit, the author and I have built up a rapport and we know how to work together (hopefully, we’ve also had some fun).
I’ve built a new package called The Full Monty, because why the hell not. It accurately describes what the package (haw haw see what I did there?) consists of. Its also a seriously good deal if you go for it because I give a discount on that package.
I invite you to have a look at my new stuff on my Editing page if you like. Check out the new details and drop me a note. As always, if you sign up to my website, you’ll always get the new stuff first.
Thank you once again to everyone who supports me in all the ways that you do. I’m going to go put 10,986 oz of Aveeno lotion on my hands now.