Author: Tanya

Lessons from being on leave

From July to September, I ended up on about a total of 2 months of leave. It was the longest I had ever not been working or in school, and the most time I had ever spent just with myself. Granted, I was on leave because my brain was completely busted and I was recovering from what amounted to a very bad concussion, but it was still a lot of time that I spent on self reflection and developing a whole lot of skills I didn’t have. And I learned a few things about myself in the process.

It was like a mini retirement and it was pretty eye opening.

My sleep issues might be work related

I slept fine. That was the most surprising thing. I have been suffering with insomnia for years and had to adjust a whole bunch of things in my life to compensate for it in order to make sure I am able to get those hours of rest in. Medication, night routines, all kinds of things to deal with it.

But on leave? With the brain problems that have a potential to cause sleep issues? Absolutely no problems. I have never had such an easy time with sleep in my life. The issues started to come back as soon as I was approved to go back to work, though.

I will never be bored

One of the things I hear about a lot about retirement is that you will get bored or that you will lose your purpose when you no longer have a day job to go to. That your work is a lot of people’s whole life and that they found themselves lost without it.

I had so much that I could do during the days, though! I couldn’t write, which is my main thing but I could do a lot of other things that brought be joy. I made jewelry, I checked out some local events, and I started whole new projects that I’m still very interested in. I’m actually sad that I have to go back, if I’m being honest. Don’t tell work.

I may not want to actively monetize my hobbies, but I don’t want to keep this stuff

So many of my hobbies produce physical things. I have so much jewelry. I’m probably never going to do commissions for people or create anything explicitly for money, but I’m more than happy to sell it if it’s a way to not only get rid of it, but also to ensure that I continue to have funds I can use to make more.

I just really like the freedom

I had thought before of trying to be an entrepreneur, but I’m not about the hustle culture life. Especially not now, since I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to go back to the way I was again. But I would really like to eventually be able to work for myself, set my own hours, and prioritize my happiness again like that. It’s given me a lot to work towards, and a whole ton of perspective.

And I’m already missing it. A lot.

October 31, 2022
Getting Things Done review
I have known a lot of people who swear by the Getting Things Done methodology. I have heard that there is even a course on how this works taught at my company! I work in tech, and the reason why so many people in this industry specifically have gravitated towards this method with such zealous dedication1 is a lot more clear after having read the book.

The method essentially requires that you gather all of your tasks in a single place and assess everything on your list with a flow chart. The first thing you wrote down is the first thing you do, then the next, then the next, without prioritization until it is all done. If it is a big task, it is a project that is broken into smaller tasks, and there’s an emphasis on figuring out what the next action is and just, well, getting things done.2

It’s a process that’s fairly standardized and explained with just enough vagueness that it could, in theory, be applied to anything. But also enough complication that I think it draws a certain type of person who is also very drawn to software development. And I think the fanbase of this methodology might be part of the reason I have a weird feeling about it.

I think it’s fine as a starting point, but it is a method that should be adapted and adjusted once you have the initial panic of needing some place to start settled. Getting all of your tasks in one place is a good thing, as is taking time to look them over and assess whether you have to do this now or if you can delegate or get rid of it all together. As a whole, it’s fine for if you have a fairly straightforward life, or if you don’t have a need to get into a flow or have interest-based attention, or even have a lot of interest in doing anything you’re working on. But life my life is a bit more complicated and nuanced, so I don’t think I’ll be taking this method on.

Get it now
1. The number of times I have heard that the only reason the method doesn’t work is because you’re doing it wrong… [↩]
2. Also a bunch of stuff about keeping tasks to zones, which is one of those relics of the time when you didn’t have devices that allowed you to do things in different places. [↩]
October 28, 2022
I made too much jewelry

With my brain unable to handle writing fiction due to all of the being sick, I picked up making jewelry again.

After I already said I was going to stop making so much because how the heck am I going to sell it?

Shipping from Canada is much too expensive.

Surely no one is actually going to purchase anything, and I am not a jewelry maker. I’m an author!

What am I supposed to do with these?

I’m running out of space and I keep getting more materials.

Someone please stop me.

Or at least take them off my hands.

October 24, 2022
Skellig review

Another YA fiction book for me! Because that’s what I could handle at the time, and it was still taking a bit longer than I’d like to read. It had an interesting concept, and it was for a younger audience so I figured it was about at the range where I could check it out.

The book follows Michael, a kid who has just moved into a new house that needs a lot of work, and where the whole family is very stressed about his baby sister who is suffering from several health problems. Michael discovers a strange being in the shed that likes Chinese food and doesn’t seem quite human, but does appear to also be dying.

There’s a very passive and dream-like quality to the book, where things just happen more than Michael taking any actions to drive it onward. There’s a girl named Mina who takes a more active role in the story and actually takes more action in the book while Michael seems to just sit back and stress and wonder and observe the events around him as they happen. He does some mild things, like figuring out and ordering the right food or adding a few vitamins to Skellig’s recovery, but it doesn’t ever really feel like anything would have changed if he didn’t do anything.

Although some of this might be more about the fact that I didn’t really know how old I was supposed to interpret the characters as. I have since found out that he was intended to be 10, which does make a lot more sense, but I just wasn’t sure while I was reading. Which made the book feel more okay than really good. Also, it might be because it was really intended for much younger readers than me who probably wouldn’t have been as bothered by that.

But overall, it was an interesting read. Not something I’d pick up a second time, but definitely something that was enjoyable at the time and worth at least checking out.

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October 21, 2022
Business plans for authors

As I’m sure you’re already very aware if you have plans to be an author, you need to treat it like a business. But what exactly does that mean? Is that just filing the paperwork? Creating the books and figuring out how to sell them?

It’s a lot of different things, but the whole idea of being a business can be incredibly overwhelming. What you need at the start is not to just jump in and do it all. You need a business plan. Which… is also very daunting. But not to worry, I have an outline that you can use to help guide you through the process!

Author business plan

Publishing name

The name you will publish under.

The pitch

In the days of office jobs and elevators, there was a concept known as the “elevator pitch” or the sales pitch you could give to someone important as you took the elevator to your floor. What you are looking for here is about a tweet-length (240 characters) description of what you as an author bring to your audience that is different from anyone else and why they should read your books.

Description

This is a longer explanation of that pitch. Pretend you have 5 minutes to explain who you are and why someone should check out your books. You might also be able to look at this as your biography.

This is ultimately a description of what you as an author and your books are, what they stand for, and what that pitch you wrote really means.

Product description

Here is where you talk specifically about the books you’re writing. What makes them different and unique. Why would someone want to read them? What do they have in common and why will someone who picks up one want to read all of them?

This is also a good place to talk about the audience that you are looking to attract. Be specific, and do feel free to talk about the books in the context of the people who will read them and how your words will satisfy their needs.

You may also want to consider some specifics, such as format (ePub, paperback, audiobook) and what the price point might be for each of those formats.

Release schedule

Have at least a general idea of when you want to release books and how often. Knowing this can help you not only with planning your marketing efforts, but give you a more realistic timeline of when you need edits in, how quickly you need to write, and a general understanding of what it is you’re going to need to do monthly, weekly, and even daily!

Competitive analysis

Though you are unique, it is good to have a few people who are like you. Find other authors who your ideal audience also like and take a good look at what they’re doing. How they are marketing their books, how often, and even what their fans love about their books. You can use this to figure out how to market your own books and use it in your marketing as well! After all, if you can say someone will like your book if they already like another popular author’s book, then it’s a lot easier to find your audience.

Finances

Money! It is an important part to include as part of a plan. You want to split this into two sections:

What you make

What you expect to be getting from the sales of the books. You can start with a general estimate at first, but be sure to be realistic about what you think you can actually sell. Do feel free to do projections and what you think you will make in your first few months, your first year, next three years, and next five!

What you spend

This number should not be more than what you make for too long! You can expect to spend more than you make at first, but you should be able to make that up sooner than later. **You are a business, after all, and businesses should be profitable! But do include any expenses you think you’ll have, from marketing to editing to the little things like office supplies. That notebook and fancy pen habit? That’s a business expense now!

General author marketing strategy

With all the information that you already have, this should now be a lot more straightforward. You know what your books value proposition is (Pitch and description), how other authors like you do their marketing (Competitive analysis) and what you can afford to do (Finances) so put that all together into a high level plan to figure out how you want to present yourself to the world.

This is also a good time to look at potentially creating some kind of branding guide. Some kind of general guideline around fonts, colours, and the voice that you use (Not your physical voice, just the way you talk and phrase things) that you can lean back on when you are doing all of your marketing.

And those are the basics for you as an author! The books are another plan that we can tackle another day. Did I miss anything here? Or have you done this already, and did it help you?

October 17, 2022
The Now Habit review

For whatever reason, as my brain was recovering I had a much easier time with nonfiction, so back to the old standby that I already know I don’t like that much: self improvement books! This is entirely my own fault, but who knows, maybe this is one of the good ones?

Nope. I fully acknowledge that this book is definitely written for the exact opposite kind of person from me. I do not have trouble starting things and, though it might take a bit of time, I’m also pretty good at finishing them as well. This book is very much about getting people to start doing things and getting through the mental blocks that might be preventing them from doing so.

And no mention that I caught of rolodexes!

I did like a few elements of it. The idea of unscheduling was interesting and follows some things I find really useful, such as setting maximums on the amount of time you spend on work and scheduling in your breaks and things you do for fun. Having done something similar, I can confirm that it is definitely a thing that works pretty well.

Ultimately, though, not my thing. I do not have the issues outlined and found some of the pep talks to be a bit abrasive and not accounting for things outside of someone’s control that could be getting in the way. Overall, though, still a few interesting ideas. Check it out if you have trouble starting things!

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October 14, 2022

My life as a research project: The first project

Picture it: I had done all the work to get myself ready. I had identified the areas of my life that were important to me, hypothesis around what would make those areas better, and clear metrics that would make it obvious when I was improving or not.

And then I ended up breaking my brain.

The easy-to-explain version is that I ended up with a disease-induced concussion. I was having trouble holding thoughts together, stringing words together, and having constant migraines, dizziness, all sorts of things that essentially took me right out. I was bedridden for a couple days, even! It was a rough time.

But once I started to pull myself together a little, I tried to take this as an opportunity. Getting myself better could be the first thing. And so a new hypothesis and new metrics were born!1

If I can think clearly, I can accomplish my goals

I had been told from friends who had been through the same thing what to expect and that was that I would essentially need to treat this like a concussion recovery program. I had no idea what that actually entailed, but I could figure out where I was now and where I wanted to be. So my key metrics were being able to maintain the following over three days without crashing:

Metric	Starting	Return to work goal	Recovery goal
Minutes per day I could maintain concentration on something over the entire day	40	240	600
Minutes I could sustain attention on a single task	5	30	120
Average complexity of tasks (Scored out of 5)	1.5	2.5	4

With this in mind, I started tracking everything and trying everything I could to try and make those numbers good. I ran a lot of experiments on myself, from trying to make sure I was timing myself to make sure I was taking adequate breaks to actually writing down what I did on breaks so I knew which activities were restful and which ones were making me worse.

As I figured out what worked and what didn’t, there were a lot of small, incremental changes. I started the day with planning what I was going to do. I used Pomodoro to make sure I stopped and didn’t work for longer than I knew I was able to, then increased as I went slowly. I started taking notes when I did anything so that I could reduce the amount my brain was actively working. And slowly, I was getting better.

Some things didn’t ultimately matter that much. I wasn’t getting light headed, for instance, now that I was off work. Some tasks I’d initially thought were fairly light on the cognitive functions were actually a lot heavier than suspected. There were a bunch of things I just couldn’t do, such as writing. And I miss that, but I have to refrain until I’m better.

And, of course, I had to adjust my systems a lot as I went along as I found things that worked or didn’t. For example, I needed to track conversations differently because I couldn’t take a break from them and often couldn’t take notes while I was talking to someone to try and refer to them later. Conversations were, really, the hardest things I did.

Where were the medical professionals that could have helped guide me through this? That is a rant for another time.

As I write this, I’m still very much in the process, but I have at least hit the return to work milestones. And hopefully that return to work won’t impede my progress on my way to a full recovery!

Which took weeks to put together, but ignoring that… [↩]

October 10, 2022

More than this review

This is the first book fiction I was able to get through with all the brain issues I’ve been having! It took me a lot longer than it usually does (A couple weeks instead of a couple nights) but I was happy to be able to read like I used to in some capacity again. That being said, let’s talk a little about it.

When he wakes up in the small town of his childhood, Seth doesn’t know why he’s there. He was drowning, surely dead, but somehow he’s alone in the town that his family left ages ago after an incident that left his brother scarred and never quite the same. Throughout the book you learn about what happened as the memories of Seth’s life come back to him and he starts to unravel the mystery of where he is and why he’s there—as well as the others who remain.

I really liked the first half of this book. The slow reveal of what’s going on and context about Seth is engaging, and the introduction of Regine and Tomaz are a welcome addition so that Seth has another personality to bounce off of. They are very welcome additions to the cast and come with a more positive outlook when Seth’s depression threatens to overwhelm the whole story.

On the other hand, there’s a twist about half way through where we uncover what’s going on and I found I didn’t like it nearly as much as the prediction that I had in my head. It takes a turn for the sci-fi and tries to have something come in to act as an antagonist when an antagonist feels like a distraction. It also creates a lot more questions that are not answered by the end, and it makes the ending feel more like a stopping point, with very little feeling wrapped up. I don’t mind a stopping point as an ending, but I wish that the story had been a bit less complex in terms of plot and kept more inline with the character study.

At least, that’s what I wanted at the moment. It might just be a wrong book at the wrong time thing. It’s still pretty entertaining and if you’re up for a book with a sci-fi speculative twist, then you might really enjoy it!

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October 7, 2022
8 tips for creating a writing habit
I have known a lot of people who really want to get started with writing and want to make it a thing that they do regularly, but they just don’t know how to get into it regularly. It can be really hard to add a new habit to your day, though, and writing is especially tricky because it can also be very dependent on making sure there’s something to write when you do remember to do it.

So here are a few ideas for finding a way to make writing a habit in your life.

Set aside some time in your day dedicated to writing

If you can, schedule a block of time for it. Figure out how long it takes you to get into a good rhythm and stay in it, and be sure to block about that much time a few days a week so that you can get a lot of words in every once in a while. But just to start, block off a little time every day to get started and get in the routine of it.

Set a place

In the same way, sometimes creating a dedicated space for writing can really help. Whether that is setting aside a different part of your room that is dedicated just for writing, or something that you can do to an existing area to change it to a writing space, it can really help to trigger the mindset and the habit if you have a dedicated area for it.

Tell people about it

A little social pressure can be just what we need, so long as it isn’t too judgemental! For some people, just knowing that other people know they were going to try and do this is enough to kick them into making it happen. The knowledge that they might be asked about it eventually means they will make sure they have an answer.

Get a writing buddy

Alternately, get a friend to join in! If there’s two of you working on the same goal, you can coordinate your schedules and meet up to get some writing done, get on a call to write at the same time, or just check in with one another to talk about what you’re working on to keep one another motivated.

Find the time in odd places

If you really look at what you do in a day, there might be a couple strange pockets of time that you can utilize to get some words in on a project. When I wor5ked downtown, I would be on transit twice a day for an hour each, so those two hours were dedicated to writing. I was able to make sure I always got a seat because of my schedule, and that might be something you can manage as well. If there’s a time where you’re waiting for something, or traveling as a passenger, you might be able to turn that into a writing session.

Outline your work

Sometimes the biggest hurdle to the habit is just not being able to figure out the words and what you need to happen. If you can create an outline for your work, or even spend a few of your writing sessions on creating that outline, that might help alleviate that issue because you’ll always know what needs to happen next.

Habit tracking

If you find that you’re just forgetting to do it, or you need to see yourself build that habit visually, try a using something like a habit tracker to help you to remember to do sit down and write. Whether that’s just a mark on a calendar, a page in a bullet journal, a sticker chart where you can add a sticker for every day you remember to do it, or an app like Habitica that can gamify the process, sometimes it’s good to be able to see progress in other ways than word count to stay motivated.

Build in rewards for milestones

Sometimes the fun of writing is not enough motivation, especially if you’re dealing with a lot of other things in your life or your story is just not cooperating with you. In these cases, you might want to try giving yourself another reward for not just finishing, but also for hitting milestones. I’ve used plot points in the past: When I get through a plot point, I’d earn a little treat for myself.

And if you’re the kind of person who will just give themselves the reward without doing anything, you can do this with someone who can hold you accountable and let them be in charge of doling out the treats when you hit milestones.

Do you have any other strategies for building a writing habit?
Write Your Story: Unlock Your Creative Potential

Are you ready to embark on a journey into the world of storytelling? Look no further! Introducing Write Your Story, a comprehensive resource designed to fuel your imagination, enhance your storytelling skills, and bring your characters to life. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, a seasoned author, or simply someone who loves crafting stories, this workbook is your ultimate companion.

This Workbook Contains:

Story planning spreads

Setting and location spreads

Character spreads

Writing session tracker
October 3, 2022
Problem Solving 101 review

I’ve been trying to read and be normal, but I read this while dealing with cognitive issues and after having failed to read a lot of other, more complex books. Like YA novels. But this was frames as a book about problem solving for adults framed around how children do problem solving, so I figured I could handle this one!

And I finished it.

The book really is just a walkthrough of problem solving techniques for business with pretty straightforward language and all of the examples are based around kids problems. It’s kind of amazing realizing how difficult some of these techniques are for people in business that I’ve worked with to grasp. Things like “Just ask your audience” and “Test a couple options” are amazingly foreign to a lot of the people I’ve worked with.

It was exactly at the level that I could handle and it does provide a lot of great insight into how to do some preliminary research to uncover the reasons for a problem before jumping into finding and working out a solution. Just because you think you know does not mean you do, and it’s nice a pretty quick, easy read.

If you’re having trouble with finding a solution to a problem you’ve been having for a while, or just want to do a book club book with some people at work who think they know exactly what is wrong and what will fix it, this might be a good one to pick up.

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September 30, 2022