So, I know I talked about progress writing and stuff in other posts not too long ago, but this post is completely unrelated to it. Well, actually, I’ll probably end up relating them by the end, but just hear me out for a bit first.

I keep a lot of old notebooks around sometimes, but I rarely ever open or actually use them unless I need a piece of paper for something. And so, last night, I did actually need a piece of paper, so I ripped one out of a wide-ruled notebook… and then stopped because I had noticed a dog-eared page toward the back. And then, of course, I opened to it to find an old to-do list of my “future” writing plans!

I felt pretty nostalgic about this, especially since the top three or four points on the list are writing projects that I have since accomplished! One was my book “In Between” , although I had it listed as my “ghost story in progress” , and as a sidenote, I had written “possible title: In Between???” Another was my, quote on quote, “”” first poetry collection””” that I published on Wattpad quite a while ago… and I had actually forgotten about it since. BUT MY FAVORITE bullet point of nostalgia was my plans to finish the first book in my Emma Lenford series, “What Now, Emma Lenford?” , and, this is my favorite part, as a sidenote by that, I had written “………and a sequel????????”.

Yep, I didn’t even know then that Emma Lenford would be still with me, as an entire series, today. But, it makes sense, because I love that dang character and I’m not ready to quit writing about her just yet.

I also had a lot of writing projects on the list, too, that I did not complete, half of them pretty much forgotten about, but about one or two of them are still in-progress word docs on my laptop. And that’s actually kind of nostalgic, too, in a way! Because, it’s like, I’m remembering when I first started them and how they even came into my mind to begin with.

And then, after looking through this nostalgic list, I thought of all the other writing projects I have done and/or started since then! Like… uh, that Emma Lenford sequel, “What the Luck, Emma Lenford!“

But, I think the big takeaway from all of this reflection on past writing projects is that fact that I have actually made progress in my writing, both, like, physically and mentally. I have actually completed things that could now be crossed off that list, and I’ve started other things that could be added to it. Sure, some things are still sitting there, stalemate, but I’ve also grown so much as a writer by focusing on just a few projects at a time. And, I kind of hate to say it because it’s not natural for me to say, but I’m proud of myself for that.

Anymore, it seems like I’m writing to-do lists for days. Lists of things to get done by midnight, things to get done by Friday, things to get done by winter… and then there’s the long-term projects with no set due date, like my writing projects–my book ideas. And I always feel like these projects mean the most to me, but they take the backburner because… well, you guys know how it goes–“real” work gets in the way, other priorities come up, the writing process takes too long and it feels like you’ll never reach the finish line.

But, hey, I actually did reach a finish line, and that’s progress.

How have you all been doing with writing progress lately?

–Kari