Kassie N (dear-llama) - Writer's Page

Looks like my resolution to update every week only ever lasts so long. 😅

Well, I’m back for my month-end wrap up, at least! I’ve been quiet both here and on Discord this month, but it’s because I’ve switched to putting up my daily to-do lists on Instagram Story. And it’s been going well — I manage to finish everything on my to-do list (granted, it’s usually only made up of 4 items) most days. And posting a blog update is on today’s list. 😜

Anyway: I’ve been quietly writing and, as of today, have hit 20,000 words! 🥳 Which was also my monthly goal. So that’s done… Now on to the next 10,000 for June. 😂 No rest for the writer.

(Okay, not entirely true, considering I don’t write on the weekends. Those are my ‘rest days’, I guess.)

A quick summary of what I’ve done this month:

• Wrote another 10,000 words for my new version of Something Better. I’m up to Chapter 5 now!
  
  

I should probably post little snippets sometimes, but I’ve been feeling a sense of freedom in just writing without worrying that someone will have to read it at this point… so I don’t know. We’ll see.

• Finished beta reading for someone from my Instagram writing group. It was a crime/mystery novel and pretty cool! 🥰
  
  
• Made a little reel for Mental Health Awareness Month:
  
  

• Got into fiddling around and learning some new tips and tricks for Adobe Illustrator! I’ve been doing some graphic design since childhood (it was a hobby), and some of my work tasks include creating visuals as well, but I haven’t really sat down and played around and explored any of my software in a very long time. So this has been fun — and I have some little projects I want to make as well. Created a silly little pattern this time that ended up being one of my chat messenger backgrounds, but I want to improve and create more as well.
  
  

I know I said I would 1) revamp this website and 2) make new GIFs/stickers this month, but I haven’t gotten around to that. 😅 I suppose beta reading and Illustrator took up a lot of my time aside. I’m thinking of working on Illustrator a little more, so that’s going to be my side-project from now on aside from writing, though that will also eventually help with my website redesign. I want to re-do the logo here on Illustrator and maybe even make some patterns or icons to spiff things up a little. So the redesign itself won’t happen immediately, but I’ll probably play around with the graphics for a bit before getting started on that. Things might change a little from time to time, though, if I decide to try out certain things. We’ll see. It’s on my list, but not my priority right now.

I’ve also been taking a day a week to, well, do my own thing. Wandering around the stores, having a nice meal on my own (while reading), going to the library and doing some ‘studying’ on topics I want to learn more about… ☺️ It’s been fun and I will keep doing it. I’ve also been trying to insert myself into some marketing-related stuff, so that I can pick up tips here and there. I did learn some marketing-related things from some meetings this month, so I’m glad about that.

Of course, it also hasn’t been all smooth-sailing. I haven’t been the happiest about work, even though there was a day at work this week where I got to do something out of my usual routine and I found myself really enjoying work again. Only for the usual irritants to return the very next day as the issues crop up again. 😅 But I’m trying to change my mindset and I figure there’s still plenty I can learn here and from other people, so… I’m hanging in there.

I’ve also tried to be a little more sociable this month, because I discovered that focusing on writing makes me retreat into myself. I don’t want to end up withdrawing from reality and real-life people, so I’m trying to actively find a balance between the two. Since I’ve been feeling a little distant from people lately, I want to make it a point to take time out to talk to them or meet up with them. So that’s what I’ve been trying to do.

And now I’m going to disappear for another month. 👀😂

(Well, I’m just kidding. Sort of. Hopefully.)