Thursday, February 20, 2014

Focus

So, if you read my blog on a regular basis, you already know I have some trouble with certain aspects of my life - balance being one of them, time management being another.  Not saying 'no' is another one, since that's why I end up being exhausted and overwhelmed and having such trouble with time management.  But who wants to tell their friends that no, they can't go hang out?  This time of year it's kind of necessary for my mental health, because I need 'me' time or I get mean, but it's still hard.

Focus is another one of those things that I struggle with.  Especially when it comes to writing.  I have so many ideas going round in my head that it's hard for me to work on just one project at once.  I might be able to focus on one story for half an hour, forty five minutes, but at some point I just lose all my concentration on it but I'm still in the mood to write.  So I switch to a different story.  However, even in this area, I need to work on my balance because I've discovered that having four stories going on simultaneously is too much for me.  Three was pretty much the perfect number.

And then, of course, I have to figure out where my main focus is.  Honestly, right now it's on Taken by the Wolf.  Normally it's on whatever actual novel I'm working on, to get it out on Amazon, but not this time.  Partly because Taming the Tease is already ahead of schedule since I got Punishing His Ward out early, and partly because I need to finish Taken by the Wolf so that I only have one Literotica story to concentrate on and then I can focus on Taming the Tease as well as finally give some attention to Claiming His Wife! I haven't even started Claiming His Wife yet because my focus is already torn in three different directions - Taming the Tease, Taken by the Wolf, and From Terra.

Last night I submitted Chapter 15 of Taken by the Wolf, so we're about halfway through the series.  Things are moving pretty quickly.  I'll be honest, I don't think Chapter 15 is quite as exciting as 14 was, but there are some good developments in it.  Bella's about to get more interesting at this point; Alex has always been the one focused on escape.  Personally, I've always thought Bella was the smarter one, because the Wolf is pretty well set up and adapting seems like the better survival tactic.  But I get where Alex is coming from too.  Anyway, I digress; I've always had something in mind for Bella, a different thing for her to focus on, and that's going to come out in this chapter.  What I'm really looking forward to is Chapter 16 though; introducing a new character, learning more about life on Earth, and also stretching my own wings with writing something new.  I did a little bit with Alex and Nurse Roche, but Chapter 16 is going to be much more.

I'm on Chapter 8 of Taming the Tease, about 60 pages in Word.  For me that means we're probably somewhere between 1/4 - 1/3 of the way finished with the book.  Rick and Maria are expanding on the outline that I wrote for them, becoming a lot more in depth and interesting than the characters I'd originally sketched out for myself, so that's exciting =)  Especially since Maria's absolutely not like any character I've written for Stronghold before.  She's a complete newbie to the scene, doesn't even know what BDSM stands for, and her reactions to everything are cracking me up.  Rick's not helping either, I've discovered that he's a fan of surprises.  Jerk lol.  It's a LOT of fun though.  Right now I'm in the middle of her first time at Stronghold, plus meeting Rick's friends.

And, since I've updated you on everything else, I'm about halfway through the next chapter of From Terra.  Chryssa's about to meet her Trainer.  I do seem to love these training sequences don't I?  But it's going to be a lot rougher on her than Mrs. Banks ever was on Vivian.  *sigh* I miss my Marriage Training characters... looking forward to this summer when I'll be working on their book!

7 comments :

  1. If you find something to help with focus let us know. Sounds like you have a lot more of it then me. I too often walk around with a tee shirt that reads............ I put the "PRO" in procrastinate

    Sir_Nick

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    1. Heh, yeah I've never been a procrastinator unless it's something I REALLY don't want to do, and even then I'm likely to do it immediately so I can get it over with! Actually, writing in the blog and keeping up with the comments I get really helps keep me motivated, which helps keep me focused so that I don't just give up on writing something!

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  2. I just finished reading Punishing His Ward and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it! As I had no doubt I would :) Gee I wish I could jump right into the next one but I also want to read more Stronghold and well sigh.. I know I need to wait and it will be soooo worth the wait. You may think you lack focus but I know you will get there when the characters and your time let you xxx

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    1. YAY! I'm glad you liked it =) I won't lie, I kind of wanted to jump into writing the next book, but I really have found that my ideas flow better if I take 'breaks' between each book to let the ideas percolate and grow so that they're fully developed by the time I'm really focused on the book. And hopefully you enjoy Taming the Tease just as much once it's out!

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    2. With so many pots boiling at once, I am surprised you manage to keep your characters separate. You'll have trouble one of these days, and find a character popping up in the wrong story... Now - that could be fun!

      By the way, nag, nag, nag...

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    3. It's not nag, nag, nag.......it's vent, vent, vent! That's what blogs and husbands are for :P

      Sir_Nick

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    4. LOL no, Jackie needs to nag me... I've been bad about keeping up with my promises! Gonna send it to you this evening Jackie!

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