I guess my lot in life is planted firmly on the grounds that I seem to be rediscovering things the internet already figured out years ago.

So, SPOILER< I’m not breaking any new ground here. Sorry, but that’s not never been what this blog is about. This blog is about me, an everyday dude (Everyday Dude, name of my indy band) discovering and journeying to become a published author. I like to think of it not as starting a construction project, but playing in someone else’s pool. Obviously, people are already swimming in it but that doesn’t mean everyone knows what water is so I’ll do my best to describe it.

No. People know what water is.

Bad analogy, Rob.

I’ve been off-schedule, or something resembling a schedule, for close to 3 months now, with these last 2 weeks on purpose. I know last week I talked about my feelings during this long non-writing stint of mine and how I was ready to get back to it. However, I predicted my physical and mental state weren’t ready to swim in the deep end so I started off in the shallow. Slow. Steady. I gave myself a break, which I’ll discuss in a second.

However, I tried developing a schedule shortly after lockdown began back in March and after I made the career change from private tutor to Stay-at-Home Dad (S.A.H.D. Seriously. What’s with that acronym?) My mental state wasn’t in the right zone for the workload or creative pressure I manifested.

And the tough part is I didn’t know that at the time. And you won’t, not really, not until you’re past whatever you needed to get past. I wasn’t past it until last week and I still needed a few more days to ready myself for creative output. For writing. Generating ideas. Steeling my nerves to start querying agents again. That takes a lot. You can’t just run off at it with a broken pitchfork and a paper shield, hoping to slay the dragon of your mind.

Naturally, I dropkicked the ball, stopped writing, and spent the next few weeks kicking myself over it. You’d think we’d all be a lot more forgiving of ourselves, what with living through an idiotic presidency and a WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC HOW DO PEOPLE STILL NOT GET THIS? However, if you’re anything like me, then this pandemic has you only more worried for the future.

And how much time you have left. And how many of your friends and family will be around to see what you’ve worked for. And how will the world take your creative endeavors after they’ve literally seen loved ones and neighbors die.

It’s a lot.

Too much.

Too much…unless you forgive yourself. I made the mistake in thinking I needed this website to be a creative outlet for marketing myself, instead of thinking of it as needing me. It needs me, and I’ll give this page whatever I can and it’ll be satisfied.

So, here’s the TL;DR of what I’ve been saying: Forgive yourself. Work at your own pace. People are dying and we need you more than ever.

So, to wrap up, the title of the post. “Scheduling.”

I figured out that a Wednesday and Friday posting schedule gives me enough time to work on more substantial and meaty posts than the STATUS ones I do. I’ll still post a STATUS from time to time, depending on what’s going on, but Wednesday is when I’ll always write with a work update. (How my next book is going, what I’m learning from querying, etc.) I used to use the Weeknotes tag to discuss what I’ve been doing, but this will be a lot more casual.

Fridays? Well, Fridays I’ll save for things that need a little more research and assembly.

It goes like this:

Monday: Generate two ideas for blog posts for the week; initial ideas, thoughts, leads, etc.

Tuesday: Continue fleshing out Friday post, finalize rough draft of Wednesday post.

Wednesday: Follow through on ideas for Friday post; start assembling photos or videos or evidence; final draft of Wednesday blog.

Thursday: 1st draft of Friday blog.

Friday: Final draft of Friday blog.

What’s my first Friday post this week?

Well, since everyone and their mother has decided to offer their terrible takes on Batman thanks to the new trailer that was released, I’m going to set the record straight with: Bat. Cat: Why Your Take On Batman Is Totally Wrong.

See you then.

Thanks for reading,

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Twitter: @robacosta

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Contact: robertmichaelacosta@gmail.com