Newsletter, March 2026
A FEW Words,
I tell ya, I look up and all of a sudden we’re in the ides of March and I find myself relating more to Brutus every day. This year is flying by and I am not ready for it. I've spent time traveling and have had very busy weekends over the last month. The last weekend of February was my only "off" weekend and I had big plans for it. I was going to write, and cook, and clean, and take down my Christmas tree... But I didn't cook, I've been relying on Costco's oven-ready meals and salads, and I didn't write. I did manage to box up the Christmas tree, but ran into a wall as soon as I realized that I needed to reorganize my garage to store it away. Those pesky responsibilities of mine keep getting in the way of pursuing my dreams!! I am Brutus, and I am Caesar.
But that's just how it goes, isn't it? I have all these lofty goals, and while I usually get there in the end it still stings when I miss. I missed my (self-imposed) deadline to finish the book last week. I had 4 chapters left to finalize, two of which I incorrectly assumed would work as written, and two that needed to be written in... turns out I only had 1 chapter out of the last 4 complete, and it's the last chapter. This is such a tricky spot because I know the ending (it's right there), and I'm just too tired to get there. I am Brutus, and I am Caesar.
Never fear, I'll make it before the end of March. Unlike Brutus and Caesar my novel and I are not a tragedy in the making. I've been in this spot before. When I struggle to write it's usually due to 1 of 2 things:
1) I don't know where the story is going, and I need to plan and think on it before I start writing. I've made the mistake of writing X amount per day before, and you know where that got me? 2,800 words cut and the remaining 800 words completely reworked and written in. When I write without knowing where the plot is headed I am incapable of taking the reader there. My writing becomes disjointed and there is no set up or anticipation or resolve in the chapter—hence why most of it gets cut. Sure, the writing might be enjoyable (even if nothing is happening), but when that happens it's a fluke. I've found that "writing to write" doesn't help me write a good story. I am Caesar, and I'll be as ambitious and exacting as I like.
2) I need to get my life running smoothly again so that I feel able to dive into the creative space. I don't know about you, but I'm highly influenceable, and the state of my house influences the state of my mind. I'm at the point where I have to spring clean if I want to make it through the year. This is pretty typical for me after a trip or during busy season (I'm in busy season at work right now). Of course I should stay on top of this all the time, but as evidenced by my Christmas tree in March, I tend to procrastinate on the irregular projects until they become very LARGE irregular projects. I am Brutus, and I am bound by my duty to Rome.
BUT THE END IS NIGH! I can make it to the end of this book and through busy season. In many ways I'm relieved to be in the ides of March because it means that this busy time of life is winding down, or rather winding up to the grand finale (TAX DAY—REMEMBER EVERYONE—FILE YOUR TAXES BY 4/15).
I did do something exciting over the last month. I reached out to my friend Amanda about some art!!! It's going to be so fun to have pictures in the story. It will make formatting a bear, but I think it will be worth it in the end. I also have a new design idea for the cover art, let me know what you think! AND I posted the first chapter of my book on the FEW!! I'm excited for the first chapter, but I also have some anxieties around it. Namely that I've started in the wrong place. This will be the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 6th version of chapter 1 and... the previous versions all became subsequent chapters. So even though it's had many passes, this is the first version of it. And of course, nothing could go wrong with posting the first version of a first draft. Nothing at all.
Speaking of updates, there have been some changes to the FEW. I've gotten some (trusted) feedback that having two blogs isn't a good idea. And I... had to really think about why I wanted that second blog behind a paywall, especially since it's free. Why was I so insistent on keeping a paywalled section of the website? Well, most of it has to do with being nervous about AI and bot-scraping. This is kind of a funny fear because I'm perfectly willing to run sections of my work through editors to gauge reading level and get copy edits... But I still held back from posting them on the public blog. That's when it hit me... My goal is to self publish, but if I publish as the author then I'm not able to submit my book to certain institutions for awards or for reviews. Libraries respond much better to a publishing company reaching out about a book than the author. So I've turned the FEW into my publishing company: First Edition Writers. I'll be posting the first novel there, chapter by chapter, with the occasional blog post about my publishing checklist and what I plan to do next. It's still free to sign up, so give it a go if you haven't already!
Yours truly,
Frances-Elane
