New Year, New Direction by Patty Blount

 Happy 2023! 

January has always been when people set out to enact CHANGE in their lives. We start diet and exercise routines to get in shape for the new year, we set resolutions to break or create a habit. We may choose to organize some part of our lives or our environments. 

It occurs to me that as a species, human beings despise change...except for January, when we embrace it. 

For me, I've decided to go back in time. 

Stop laughing. I don't mean literally :) 

I've hit a professional roadblock as an author. I haven't been able to publish anything new for the last five years or so. I've written several projects, but nobody wants them. I love these projects, so I've decided to embark on a self-publishing odyssey. I have about 3 or 4 manuscripts I can try to sell on my own. 

But here's where the go-back-in-time thing factors into this plan: I am a devoted PLOTTER. I plan things out to the smallest detail. When I host Thanksgiving, I have a spreadsheet that details when each dish needs to go into the oven in order to reach the table, hot and ready. Yeah. I'm that person. 

A blank spreadsheet inspires me! 

So...self-publishing is a terrifying prospect for someone like me. I have to find cover designers, editors, proofers, formatters. I have to figure out how I'll pay these folks because along with my publishing career, those royalty checks have also evaporated. This means...another spreadsheet! 

Planning and plotting help me reach my goals. They help me fear these huge changes a bit less. They provide a sense of control. It's been years since I've created a good spreadsheet. I fear I'm more excited about this than I am about getting a new book out :) 

How do you handle change? Do you embrace it? Fear it? Plan it with a spreadsheet? Tell me!