Although it’s been quiet here on Twisted Fairytale, I have certainly been working hard to up my productivity. So hard in fact that I reached a frightening level of burnout and had to slow myself down. I think I fooled myself into thinking that I could write, keep house, and run after my 8 month old without something suffering… not to mention weekend plans with CBear and other responsibilites. It just couldn’t be done. Not with the schedule I was keeping. And I was simply not willing to sacrifice the important things in my life- so I have come to this conclusion:

Daytime is reserved for Peanut and housework/errands. I will also be returning to work in a few weeks and handling the opening shift at the bookstore, which I think will force me into a more regular routine. This is a good thing! I’ll wake up the same time everyday, I’ll break/eat at the same time, I’ll get home at the same time. Then it’s play with Peanut and clean up until Hub gets home. Then it’s dinner. And finally, writing time!

I’ve decided that I cannot force myself to be productive during my ‘off’ hours. I’ve always written better at night and trying to change that was making the quality of my writing suffer. I’ve also allowed myself to get far too distracted by the internet (evil Facebook games) so I think from now on, I will be printing the chapter I’m working on and working by hand. It forces me to focus, helps me weed out the junk in my head and get to the meat of things. I like this plan. I think it will work. I don’t expect to triple my production or anything, but I’m hoping at least to get back to writing every day.

Also, things at Tales from the Hollow Tree are going really well! We’ve met some great people, readers and bloggers alike, and we’ve touched on some great movies, books and trends in YA fantasy! Come visit us and tell us your thoughts! Lisa has a fantastic post up today about book series vs. stand-alones. What do you prefer? Why? I happen to be a big fan of the series. If I fall in love with a character, it’s nice to spend more time with them in their world.

And to all those doing NaNo this month- right on! Get those manuscripts written!