Time to fess up…

Over the weekend I quietly moved the cheese. If you work in a business or management environment, you’ve probably heard the phrase before. I don’t particularly like it, but it fits here.

The tl;dr is that I changed the $4,000/month goal from 2 chapters/month to 1 chapter every 3 weeks.

The longer explanation is that the 2/month pace has always been a far-off goal. I set it when I first planned the Patreon, before anyone ever pledged a dollar. I never expected it this soon. And I’m not sure I can meet the goal.

Each chapter is about 15,000 words, which takes 2-3 weeks to write, plus time to review, edit, and prep for publication. (People who’re good at math will see the problem immediately.) So if I try to post 2 chapters/month, I’m basically working at capacity, with no wiggle room if life happens.

I don’t want to get burned out or stressed about writing. I’m a creative type (duh) so I’m very susceptible to factors that change my mood and desire to write… like worries about something I’m not sure I can accomplish.

Anyway, while the goal was sitting at 2 chapters/month, I felt a growing sense of angst and unease. But since I changed it to 1 every 3 weeks, I’ve felt a lot more confident and secure. The difference isn’t much as far as you’re concerned, but it’s huge for my peace of mind.

So that’s the story of why I moved the cheese (“changed the goal,” for those of you who don’t do management-speak). I hope you understand. I know myself fairly well, and I try to be honest about my output and writing pace. I’ve been burned out before, and I don’t want to go there again.

After all, a happy writer is a productive writer… at least in my case.

– Nick