I never would have thought that I would actually be a career writer. I never had that dream as a young girl, reading all those books and dreaming of spending my days clacking away at fiction. In fact, I thought I was good, but average at best. To be completely honest, I still don’t feel like my writing is anything of awe; nothing more than words effectively communicated to a wide enough audience. I guess the magic is in the fact that my writing is easily consumed.
2020 was supposed to be ‘the’ year. The year of transition when I grow the commercial side to a comfortable pace and just spend half my time just writing my books and wrapping up projects. Of course, this year had other plans, and everything went all haywire. On top of a global pandemic that has impacted all of us to say the least, I’ve had a few personal things come up in the last few months that has consumed the last of my energy stores… leaving nothing for the writing aspect of my life. But something has to change if I really want to write for myself too.
I’ve fallen into the trap of working all day and not having the “energy” to dedicate to my personal craft. It’s a lot of bullshit to be honest, and I do not have writer’s block. I am just stuck because I don’t know where or how to start, and I’m probably terrified of actually doing this, because it might just change my life. Boo. Hoo.
Failure doesn’t scare me because I’m so used to failing a million times before I get something right. Success can be terrifying for me, because I have such impossibly high standards for myself that I don’t know how to reach them. For instance, I have 30+ book ideas fleshed out in Scrivener. About 15 of those are equipped with complete outlines and story support that any ghost writer can pick up and write in my voice with ease. I wrote those when I was in a darker, non-productive place and was able to channel some “mojo”, allowing me to feel productive by doing something. The books were never written, and I’ve only added more over the years. I’m sure many other writers can relate though…
So what exactly is this transition about?
I have three important books I want written. I don’t have the motivation to write them quietly and just publish in one push, because I like blogging. It gives me a sense of accomplishment when I hit that publish button. So I’ve thought of writing some and publishing some of the chapters here on the Désiré Writes blog, because that way, you can read some of the story and then maybe enjoy enough to subscribe to a membership and see the rest, or even buy the book (on Amazon or Apple Books) when it’s released. This membership will also give you access to everything I write, not just the one thing that you’re interested in. Think Patreon, but I don’t have to lose half of it, so it can be lower priced. My tech background allows me to do this easily, so I might as well take advantage. But for the rest of 2020, I have to start writing consistently and getting the ball rolling and then everything will go behind the pay wall from 2021… as long as I have stuff to put there.
The separation of personal and corporate writing
I write professionally for clients as a money making thing. As a form of not confusing everyone, TILT Creative will be where all of my client stuff can pass through, while all the book content will be hosted right here on Désiré Writes, although, everything is written by yours truly anyway. It’s just nice and simple when it comes to publishing all the work. I’d rather not put client work here anyway. So if you’re looking for the work I’ve done for clients, you’ll need to head on over to www.TILTcreative.agency to access that portfolio.
Structures moving forward
You’ll find that some of the content is moved around a little. Old content will be changed if necessary, and the book content will be under Live Books on the sidebar. I’m sure you’ll understand the method to the madness soon enough. I’ve got to clear out some of the categories, such as In Search of Myself and The War of Words, as they will be written in the background with the intention of publishing those volumes later on, and then they will be linked here for purchase, etc etc. The finer details of what happens later on when I have 10 books still have to be ironed out, but I’m looking forward to some things coming to an end… The book I’m working on regarding my childhood will be a good one, as well as the fiction novel about my migration as an adult will be equally enjoyable, to write and read. I really am quite excited about those two!
Photography!
This is something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time, and I’m finally sticking to it and getting it done. I know the last few years, this blog has seen a lot more of my own photography, but you shall see a lot more of that soon!
Enough of my rambling now. I wish you all the best for the rest of the year, and I wish myself some good luck and perseverance, because we all know I need it!
Peace, love and unicorns. ✌🏼
