CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

  It’s May 16, for those of us on the east coast of the O.Z. and this is my mid-day break and I’m looking back and celebrating the May milestones I’ve already hit for this challenge. To be fair, my private goal was 4k/day, so, knowing Life has been kicking my backside lately, I halved it to 2k/day. This is how the first seven days of the challenge went.   May 1 Started the challenge with a bang, and did 50% more than needed. Happy with that. Hit the 1k word milestone, and surpassed it. Day Total: 3,188; Month Total: 3,188   May 2 Not so good for words. Edited a novel, celebrated an acceptance, and updated my Royal Road and YouTube. Day Total: 122; Month Total: 3,310   May 3 Short on word quota, but made a submission, and focused on getting my YouTube up to date…again. Day Total: 1,224, Month Total: 4,534 May 4 Do not ask me what happened. I am working through a bit of depression and chose today to focus on researching a game…or hiding in...

  It’s May…and I’ve been working on trying to prioritise making words over all the other things I need to be doing, both as a publisher and a content creator. I had to find a balance after a bad co-op experience with another writer, a doubly bad experience in the last day job, and several biggish Life hits that came a little close together for easy recovery. So, May…a writing challenge, and a confession: I have been making words, but not as many as I should be, and I’ve been having trouble producing them with the consistency needed. Sure, I could make excuses to go with circumstances: I had a lot to do in the production side of things (which I still do), and RL admin took a lot of time and precedence (and it still does), and blah, blah, blah…and maybe those things are valid and I should be cutting myself some slack, but the end result is the same—not enough words. So, with the work schedule finally sorted eight-and-a-half months post-day-job, it’s time to focus on words—at ...

In this dark science-fiction short story: the colonists of Canon V live underground—those that can, anyway. Those that are born unable, I help guide to the surface, and then I try to warn them of the creatures that come from beyond the rifts. Some listen. Most run screaming. With the creatures coming more often, the last thing any of us expected was corporate intervention. Is it a deal worth taking, or would we be better off in the caves? You can find it here: https://books2read.com/u/bxxLWv

Accountability for last week is as follows: Work Routine: Still very unsettled, with several outside commitments disrupting work flow, but starting to take shape. Note to Self: Words first - ALWAYS! Exercise Routine: still inconsistent, but consistent enough to be making a difference. Some clothes are fitting better. Total at-desk hours: 100 hours 27 minutes (note: some tasks carried out concurrently). Time spent in administrative tasks: 29 hours 4 minutes Words (novels): 16,045 Words (book notes, front and back matter): 901 Words (gameplay video blurbs): 3,615 Words (reading video blurbs): 1,215 Blog Words: 255 Social Media Words: 119 Time spent in video production: 36 hours 28 minutes Gameplay & Readings videos created: 2 Gameplay & Readings videos edited: 34 Gameplay & Readings videos published: 13 Time spent formatting books: 3 hours 40 minutes Time spent publishing books: 1 hour 40 minutes Books and short stories published: 1 Submissions preppe...