Look Back on 2021

It was been a year, has it not?

We all thought things would be better this year, now that 2020 was behind us. And I will throw my hat in the ring to say that this was just as bad as last year.

We had to put my oldest dog down early in the year and that hurt so bad.

My sister got a fracture in her vertebrae pretty early in the year, and I went up to her place(in a different Province) to help her out.

While I was gone, my dad fell off a ladder while working in the shop he was building and broke his ankle.

My dog got hit by a car. She’s fine. She ended up just being bruised but that shook the whole family pretty bad. She later got pregnant, something we had been planning for a while for her, and had 8 puppies. Exhaustion ensued.

My province was on fire. I had an existential crisis, as well as several mental breakdowns, and had to be put on new medication.

I got diagnosed with ADHD.

Financial issues galor have cropped up for my family and me.

Flash flooding ravished my Province more recently, thankfully my family and I have been spared any damage from the disasters this year. Some people that we know, however, were not so lucky.

It has been a year, hasn’t it?

In addition to that, I know how do you add more to that? I changed my goals several times this year.

At the same time, I also feel like the fact I was able to get any significant amount of work done this year is pretty damn impressive.

So, with everything that had gone on, and the ever-changing goals I have for myself, what was I able to get done? I’m going to go by my latest round of goals for this.

I wanted to outline a new piece I’ve been working on called ‘Crows’. I was able to do that. I know I’m going to need to go back and edit some things on it, but that’s for next year!

I wanted to outline and come up with a better title for ‘Aithnes Journey’. I was able to outline it pretty easily, but I couldn’t come up with a better working title for it. At least right away. Maybe it’ll be the permanent working title, who knows?

Whilst talking about ‘Aithne’s Journey’, I wanted to write it for NaNoWriMo. I was able to start it, but because I wasn’t able to win NaNoWriMo I didn’t finish it. I do plan to finish it, I just needed to prioritize my mental health back in November.

I wanted to write, at least to the halfway point, a series I want to work on called ‘Side Quest’. I initially wanted to try and write them from the seat of my pants rather than outlining them all first. But that didn’t end up working well for me, so I need to outline them all first. I haven’t gotten even halfway through with the outlines. But I’m working on that.

I wanted to edit a piece called ‘SDM’ in its entirety. Or at least get it through one round of beta readers. That didn’t happen either. I started editing it, but I think I’m only halfway through the first round.

I wanted to outline a new project called ‘Anti-hero’. I did manage to outline it. Again I know that there are details I want to work out and fix, but that’s also a next-year issue.

And finally, I wanted to read 75 books this year. I had been reading a copious amount since I started listening to audiobooks, so I didn’t think it was an unreasonable number. I ended up reading 81 books. I’m very surprised, and also pleased. Something that kinda holds me back about being confident in being a writer is how little I read because of discouragement and my dyslexia as a kid. So to be able to read this many books, and ones that I like at that, it makes me really happy.

I reiterate, it has been a year. Although sometimes it felt like this year lasted like 4.

There was so much that went on. I hope your 2021 was better than 2020. If you feel like sharing what happened to you this year, I would love to read about it.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. And if it’s not wonderful, I hope it gets better. Here’s to hoping 2022 will be kinder to us all. Stay safe, and I will see you next year.

-T.R. Flynn.

October 2021 Goals

Hello. How are you today? I hope you are doing well.

It is officially the spooky season! And Thanksgiving for those of us in Canada.

It is also Preptober for those who are going to participate in NaNoWriMo, including myself. I do have a bit of prep I need to get done before November, but there is also overall work I would like to get done as well.

So, without further ado let’s get into it.

1. I would like to read at least four books this month, which should be easy for me.
2. I need to read through my ‘AJ’ outline and double check to make sure everything makes sense and is laid out how I would like.
3. I also need to print off the ‘AJ’ outline. I’m one of those weirdoes who needs a physical copy of certain things, and it’s just a lot easier for me to have a physical outline that I can cross things off of when I get to that point. So that needs to get done.
4. I want to outline another five Quests for ‘Side Quest’, try and get as much of that done now as I can.
5. I want to try and get half way through the edits in ‘SDM’ this month. We’ll see if I actually manage that or not.
6. I also want to try and get a blog post out every week this month. I’m not trying for anything too ambitious, I’m just trying for consistency.

I’m not going put this as a hard ‘I want to do this’ this month, but if I can I would like to get at least a couple character profiles done for ‘Anti-hero’. If I can’t though I won’t be mad about it.

That’s what I’m hoping to do anyway. I’m optimistic, but I’m not going to hold my breath for complete success.

That’s all I have for you today. What are some of your goals for October? Are you prepping for NaNoWriMo? Are you turning your front yard into the scariest haunted house you can? Are you seeing family you haven’t seen in years for Thanksgiving? I’d love to know if you don’t mind sharing.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. And if it’s not wonderful, I hope it gets better. Stay safe, and I will see you next time.

-T.R. Flynn.

June 2021 Wrap Up

Hello, I hope you are doing well today. I also hope you are keeping cool. Summer is in full swing where I am, and we keep reaching new record highs. I’m talking 40 plus Celcius. So, not great here. Hope you’re doing better.

So, despite the unrelenting heat, I think I’ve actually gotten a fair amount done this month. I will not feel bad for not getting much done the past few days because it is just so hot right now. But I digress.

So, I did end up dropping ‘Amilia’ earlier this month. I did an entire post about it and my thoughts on dropping projects in general, I will link that here(https://trflynnofficial.wordpress.com/2021/06/04/lets-talk-about-dropping-a-project/) if you are interested. Needless to say, there was nothing, or next too, done with Amilia, and I’m fine with that.

I haven’t put any more ideas for ‘Steampunk 4’ down on paper right now. I think I got the majority of them down, I also haven’t been thinking about that piece too much recently.

I didn’t do anything with the outline for ‘Anti-Hero’, but I did get a few character profiles finished. So there’s something at least.

I did a little bit with the ‘Crows’ outline. Not much, but a few scenes figured out at least.

I did not write any Quest this month. What I have been doing with Side Quest is actually outlining all the Quests I have thus far. I think it’s probably better to have it all outlined first, and I’ve done quite a bit of that so far.

This month I have read 7 books. 6 of which have been audio books, but no shame in that.

The thing that has taken up a lot of my attention this month has been editing SDM. I’ve been trying out a new editing method with this piece, and so far so good to be honest. Once I’ve finished editing this I am planning on making a post about it. So that’s to come.

And that is what I have been up to this month. I know I haven’t gotten really anything done that I wanted to this month. But I am happy that I got a lot done, all things considered.

I am home now. My sister is still waiting for surgery, I believe she is on the waiting list though. My family is just kind of a mess because my dad fell off a ladder and broke his ankle, so I’m trying to help him. The joke is that my family is cursed.

Anyway, that’s all I have for you today. What did you check off your to-do list this month? What’s something you didn’t plan on doing but were happy with the result of? I would love to know if you would like to share.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. And if not, I hope it gets better for you. Stay safe, and cool, and I will see you next time.

-T.R. Flynn.

Goals for June 2021

Hello. I hope you are doing well today.

It’s the first day of June, meaning summer is right around the corner. At least it is for me because May can be kinda wishy-washy with the weather.

I am still helping my sister out at her place, so I’m not at home right now. If all goes well and doctors get back to her in time, I will be back home by the middle of the month sometime.

That being said, I still have quite a lot of work I would like to see if I can’t get done this month. So, without further ado, let’s get on with it.

1. I want to read at least five books. This month I kinda want to see if I can read more physical books, mostly so I can start moving things around on my book shelves when I get home. I’m not going to be upset if I only read audio books though.
2. I want to get back in it and write another Quest this month. I know I slacked off last month, so I’m hoping I can pick it up this time around.
3. I started the outline for Crows last month, this month I want to finish it. I don’t think that should be too hard.
4. Anti-hero is a newer project that just demanded my attention, so I’m throwing myself head first into it. I think I know how many characters I have, and I’ve given them all names. Now I need to figure out their appearances and more of the nuances of their personalities. Basically I need to finish the character profiles that I started for them.
5. While on the topic of Anti-hero. I want to edit the outline that I made last month. I do think this will be a more middle or later part of the month project. I know I wasn’t happy with it the first time, so I’m hoping that enough time has passed for me to look at it objectively.
6. I need to light a fire under my ass and work more on Amilia. If nothing else, I want to get to the end of Part 2 this month. If possible, I want to start on Part 3. We’ll see what happens.
7. And last, but not least, I know I have a few more ideas for Steampunk 4 in my head that I would very much like to get on paper. So I’m hoping I can do that this month.

So, those are my goals for the month. I’m hoping I can get most of it done. At least 6 out of 7. That’s the goal anyway.

I know it’s a little lofty, especially with being here and trying to help my sister, but if you’re gonna aim for something, aim high. Right?

What are some things you would like to get done this month, be it writing related, or projects around the house, or just summer-y themed in general? I’d love to know if you’d like to share.

That’s all I have for you today. I hope your day is wonderful. And if it’s not wonderful, I do hope it gets better. Stay safe and I will see you next time.

-T.R. Flynn.

May 2021 Wrap Up

Hello. I hope you are doing well.

It’s actually been pretty surprising to me the amount of work I was able to get done. I didn’t think I would be in a good enough of a mind set or have enough time to get done what I wanted. I didn’t end up getting everything done that I would have liked, but I did get a lot done.

I read 8 books. I honestly can’t believe that number myself because it didn’t feel like it. Very happy about it.

I did not get around to writing anything for Side Quest. I’ve been able to do a lot of work, just not a lot on the writing end.

I’ve done a little bit of editing for Amilia, but not a lot at all. I really need to light a fire under my ass on this.

I went back and read the outline for Aithne’s Journey, and I was very surprised. There wasn’t a lot that needed to be changed at all. I guess I did a really good job with it the first time around.

I finished the timeline for Crows, and began on the outline for it. I’m not finished, and there’s still a ways to go but I’m happy to have it started. I think I will have to go back and fix a couple of things once it’s done, but we’ll get there when w get there.

I thought dumped a lot of ideals for ‘Steampunk 4’. It’s nice to have just about all of my current ideas down on paper so I don’t forget them. Unfortunately, I’m not any closer to getting a better working title for it though. In time if nothing else.

But that’s not all.

I know I’ve spoken about this little project a couple of times. I’ve been calling it Anti-hero, and I’ve been weirded out by it because I’m a fantasy writer and this piece is a contemporary. Either way, I was able to get an outline done for it and names figured out for all the characters. I just need descriptions and to edit that outline when the time comes.

All of the work that I’ve been able to get done while I’ve been gone has been busy work more than anything, but work that has to get done regardless.

I’m very, very happy with everything I’ve been able to get done this month. I didn’t think I would be able to get this much work done. I’m quite pleased with myself.

And for those of you who might be curious about my sister, she’s doing as okay as she can be right now. We’re waiting to hear back from a surgeon. Fingers crossed that if we can get a consultation, we can get her in for surgery.

I think that’s my biggest hope for next month. More than anything I hope that my sister can get into surgery.

Anyway, that’s about all I have for you today. What was something that you surprised yourself by doing this month? I’d love to know if you wouldn’t mind sharing.

I hope you are having a wonderful day. And if it’s not wonderful, I do hope that it gets better for you. Stay safe, and I will see you next time.

-T.R. Flynn.