The CreativeLife update, the 100 day project, and some shameless promo ;)

Hello there!

I don't know if this happens to you, but once a new year gets going, life seems to fall back into its usual routines. Routine is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong, but I don't like being bored. It is the primary reason I am self-employed - I can say no to work or negotiate a deadline if I am too busy to take on new work. Another reason I decided to go back into self-employment was to spend more time being creative. Enter the 100 day project.

I tried it in 2024 and could barely make it to day 10 without giving up. It took some soul searching to discover why since I was making tiny paintings. Creative, for sure, and I should have been able to continue doing that for the following 90 days. The plan had been to make 100 tiny paintings. I eventually realised that I got bored. Doing 100 of the same thing definitely did not work for me. But I really wanted to try again, so I had to come up with a new idea. Will it work? I have no idea, but it is a better plan than what I had in mind last year.

The plan (and how it fits into my 2025 goals)

I mentioned the group challenges I plan to participate in and the projects I design for my art group in my previous post. I have also mentioned the novel currently with my editor. Knowing how my workload is expanding, I can hardly find the time to add yet another challenge to my day. Unless I think outside the box.

The 100 day project is not just about art, or craft, or even a single project. It is about being creative on a daily basis. So here is the plan for my 100 day project: I am going to draw, paint, write, or make something every day. It won't be the same every day.

I might do a project that will take several days or even weeks, but I will also do small things in between. This way, I won't get bored but still manage to do something creative every day for a hundred days.

Practically, I need to plan time to create every day. I have mentioned that my art group meets once a week for two hours, so that will continue to be the schedule for Thursdays. The rest of the week is not as easy. But I am committing to spend at least 30 minutes every day to create something. If I don't have 30 minutes, then 10 minutes will have to do.

The commitment (and my accountability tracker)

Habit trackers abound on social media in various shapes and forms. I also have one in my Bullet Journal for tracking my daily goals.

I thought I would use that, but I am inclined to think that a separate tracker would be more useful. Instead of just ticking off that I have achieved the objective for the day, I will add the time I spent to it. This way, I can see which days I have more time, which will be helpful for planning future art competition paintings or doing commissions.

Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect plan, with life throwing curve balls just as you think everything is under control. But a daily practice and some useful data will not go to waste even if life interferes.

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Some of my books, will be promoted as part of a special sale on @Smashwords to celebrate Read an Ebook Week 2025 from March 2-8. Be sure to follow me for more updates and links to the promotion for my books and many more! #ebookweek25 #Smashwords

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The challenge details

The 100 day challenge starts today. You can still join and find all the details and the social media sharing here.

I doubt that I will share every day. I don't like social media that much, but look out for my posts on Instagram with the tags #dothe100dayproject and @dothe100dayproject.

This is only a partial CreativeLife update. I will share my progress on the rest of my goals in my next post. Don't forget to check out the Smashwords sale coming next week.

Stay creative - until next time!

💜Linzé

One month in...Goals and 2025 so far

To follow some kind of structure, and I have decided to use my first post of 2025 as a guide, then I can see how I am doing compared to the incredibly productive year I had last year.

Work: January was unexpectedly quiet. The work was there, but some clients weren't ready with the hardware or documentation I needed for the tests. I did manage to start some tests, so this coming week is a continuance of those jobs.

Business: As I write this post, I am slapping myself against the head because I forgot to send out an invoice at the end of January. Stupid newbie mistake! But first thing on Monday, that invoice will be going out, that's for sure.

Books read: Although I have the goal to read more non-fiction this year, I haven't finished the first book yet. I have read a few fiction stories while out and about and waiting somewhere. A Kindle is definitely convenient, but reading time at home is much more limited. I schedule art-making time on my planner, so I am now scheduling time to read the non-fiction books too. Two hours per week for a start.

Goal: read at least 12 books, 8 of which will be non-fiction. I am currently reading Black Holes by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw.

Books published: It is a bit early in the year, even for me, but my first book is already with my editor. Tiger Gold is scheduled for publication in April 2025. I don't have the exact date yet, so keep an eye out if you like my books.

Goal - Novels: Tiger Gold - The Strikemasters (April 2025) and The Guardian of Dreams - Lords of the High Council (Dec 2025). They will be books 9 and 10 in my Nations of Peace series.

Goal - Novella: Rowan, I Dare You (July 2025); it is the first story of a new series, The Silk Club stories.

Words written: Writing continues on a new novel. No title yet. So far, I have written 10,981 words this year, although the manuscript has over 100k words already. There is no goal for the number of words.

Goal - stories: The plan is to finish the current draft (by the end of March) and another novella by the end of the year, if possible.

Sketchbook for 2025 practice

Other projects: I don't plan for these except for the projects for my art group. We will do a project every other month with the in-between months planned for drawing and painting techniques practice in a sketchbook we made in December last year.

Goal - art: I will probably take part if the AGAC competition is on again this year,. Since it is a competition, there is a deadline, and planning to work on the painting works around that deadline.

Goal - art: I am a member of Artkula.com, and usually do at least one of the monthly challenges every month.

Many lofty goals for 2025, but I don't beat myself up if I don't make a goal, except for projects with a deadline. Those take priority when it comes to my time.

I haven't mentioned the apothecary cabinet because I haven't started working on it yet. But I will share my progress once I do start.

Stay creative, until next time!

💜Linzé