Hi all! I realize it’s been a long while since I’ve posted here (six months?!) and I figured I would give an update on what I’ve been doing during the silence (also, it’s hilarious to me that the last post I wrote was about motivating yourself to write). I adore this blog, but it unfortunately gets bumped down onto a lower tier of my priority list whenever life gets busy. I appreciate those of you who’ve stuck around, or who don’t mind how scattered and unpredictable my posts here can be.
Anyhow, my life has undergone quite a few changes in the past six months–personally, professionally, and creatively. Here’s what’s been happening:
- I wrote the first draft of a YA contemporary fantasy novel that I’m very excited about. I won’t say much about it, except that I’ve been referring to it as the “Goddess Fantasy” (not the real title) and that I’m currently letting it sit before I start revisions. It will be the next project I query.
- I started a Patreon! For those who don’t know, Patreon allows people access to certain content by their favorite creators for a monthly fee of however much money they want to pay. In my case, for $1 a month, you get access to poems I’ve written from the perspectives of my characters; for $3 monthly, you can read the serial short fiction series I’ve been working on; and for $7 each month, you can submit questions that I will answer in a Q&A video. Obviously, since people pay for this content, it takes priority over blog posts. My favorite Patreon project so far has been the short fiction series, called Purple Heart, a science fiction story with Stranger Things vibes.
- I started a full-time job in publishing. While this job’s 9-5 schedule has been so much better for me than my schedule as a bookseller ever was, it has still been an adjustment in terms of scheduling my own creative projects around it. Since I prioritized my novel and Patreon first, this blog (sadly) ended up neglected.
- I’ve been spending less time on social media in favor of consuming more art/media that is meaningful to me. This has been a great move for my mental health, and also enriches me as an artist. I’ve found it’s impossible for me not to come up with little wisps (or big explosions) of story ideas when I engage with art that I love. Of the new stories I’ve discovered (or at least new to me), standouts have been the anime Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood), the video games The Last of Us (watched my brother play through it but never played it myself!) and Horizon Zero Dawn, and the tabletop-game/narrative podcast The Adventure Zone. I have fallen off the reading wagon a bit, which I’m frustrated by, but am now about finish up the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab, who has become one of my favorite modern authors.
- I have actually been writing blog posts! Just not for this blog, ha. I wrote a post about why first drafts actually SHOULD suck for Small Queer, Big Opinions, which I really enjoyed writing. I was also featured on STRANDS, the new lifestyle blog for hair company GoodDyeYoung (co-created by Hayley Williams, the lead singer of my favorite band, Paramore). There, I talk about how expressing myself through my novels has helped me survive.
So there you have it! I will still keep up this blog from time to time, but if you want more consistent content (and are willing/able to pay for it), hop on over to my Patreon. I also highly recommend checking out the art and media I mentioned above, they tell such excellent stories. Hope you’re all doing well!
-Morgan
Morgan York Writes 
My life has gone through somewhat similar changes lately in terms of blogging and social media. I’ve been at my current job almost exactly a year (which feels strange as it still feels quite new), and blogging took a huge plunge for me as I adjusted to the change. I still haven’t really gotten back to it.
I’m also nowhere near as active on social media. With work taking up so much time, I have to prioritize what I do outside of work, and as much as I love Twitter, I don’t love it as much as writing, reading, etc. I do wish I had more time for it though…
So, I completely get why you haven’t been blogging, and I think it’s great that you’re prioritizing what is most important to you.
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I think if you’re spending your time outside work reading and writing, that is a much better use of your time than social media. It tends to be more fulfilling and rewarding in the long run. Social media is fun, and I like it, but too much of it tends to make me feel like crap. Congrats on being at your job for a year, and thank you for reading!
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I’ve been spending time on social media, too. I started to do this about a year and a half ago when I realised how unhappy scrolling was making me. I go through phases where I feel like spending more time on social media, but my overall goal has been to become more mindful about it. I always try to ask myself, do I really want to check Instagram right now? Does posting this fulfill a purpose for me? Its been such an incredible, fruitful journey. I spend more time reading and writing and learning about things I’m interested in interested. I downloaded DuoLingo a month ago, and I am learning Chinese.
I’m glad to hear staying off social media has been so fruitful for you, too!
Oh and tour first draft post–I had an amazing comp studies teacher in college, and she encouraged crappy first drafts. The crappier, the better. It was some of the best writing advice I’d ever gotten (that, and writing is a process…also from that comp studies course).
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This is all so wonderful to hear. I think everyone should treat social media this way, especially if they’re noticing it makes them unhappy. Sometimes it takes an extra push to do something more meaningful rather than mindlessly scroll (for me at least), but it’s always worth it.
And that teacher sounds awesome! I definitely agree with her 🙂 Thanks so much for reading!
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