Let's talk about...Mood Writing

Let's talk about something that has been plaguing me for a while. Something that looms like a shadow with claws over my form, causing anxiety to trail a path down my back.

Let's talk about it.

Say its name.

Mood Writing.

Look, mood writing is a BEAST.

Back when I first started and I was told to rapid release because it gets more sales, more traction with amazon, more preorders, a quicker following…etc, it was easier for me. I don't know why. Maybe because the books I wrote when I first started ranged from a 50,000-80,000 word count. (Smaller than the books I write now.) Maybe because I was still fresh-faced and excited about my projects and new following as a baby author and was riding the high of that sensation. I lacked the burn-out back then that's riding me now.

Obviously, situations change. Back then, I only had one kid to take care of and I wasn't worried about income as we lived with my in-laws and didn't pay rent. Now, I have two kids, my youngest is an absolute monster child, I have rent, bills, and am saving up to build our own place and so fresh-faced me has taken a backseat and made way for the ratted hair, crazy-eyed mess that I am today.

Where am I going with all this? Did I deviate from the point? I don't know. But what I mean to say is when I was just starting, I could pump out an entire series within months because it was new, fresh, and fun, much like my mood back then.

I was writing for the joy of it, after all. Money didn't matter. At first.

But with life changes, my business also changes. While yes I do write for the joy, I also have to write for the money. Because my family's needs have changed and so I need to make a shift myself.

I have to write what will sell.

And cue me, 24 thousand words into Sugar & the Shipwreckers, with a 120,000 word goal in sight. I am ready to write this standalone as a part of the Queenie & Lourdes world. And yet… my brain isnt braining.

How is that possible when just a few weeks ago I was doing 3 thousand word writing days?

How is my brain suddenly not squeezing out the word juice like it should be?

What is HAPPENING to me?

Why am I suddenly looking at the covers I have and the documents of unfinished works in progress with so much longing?

For something fun.

For something new.

For something… fresh…

Yeah, yeah, I know people will tell me "Write what makes you happy"

The truth is, everything I write makes me happy. I don't hate a single series I've done. Sometimes I cringe at the cheese 18 year old me wrote in the Blood Novels, but it's nice to see my growth as a writer and a person throughout the years and I am damn proud of that.

So, yes, I always write things that make me happy. The problem is when I have about 85 works in progress, I love them all, and have no idea what to start with.

Sure, I could work on Riptide book 2, or Fae Elementals book 4, since those series are unfinished. I could work on building my backlist for my contemporary penname. I could work on bonus content, newsletter freebies, or any number of things I have ideas for.

But at the end of the day I have to TRY to treat this like an actual business. Ya know… with deadlines and shit… I can't leave my readers hanging. They need to know when Weylyn will find his mate or what happened to Coral after being fished out of the ocean by humans!!

Trust me.

My problem isn't writers block.

It isn't no inspiration.

If anything, its too many projects, and my moods are CONSTANTLY fluctuating.

Fluuuuuctuaaatiiiinnggggg...

If you're a mood reader, you might understand. You could be in the middle of a bomb ass book, a cute lil rom com and 50% in BAM suddenly you want dark erotica with DP and some merdick. So you have to scramble to find that. Only for your mood to change again and now you want a single dad romance where he falls between the thighs of his nanny.

Yeaaaah.

That's me but with writing.

Like ooohhh lets add some raunch to Sugar's book and then ...

OH NAUR CLEOUR

now I want to write Fae getting dicked down in the Unseelie court BUT OH NAAAAUUUR now I want to write book 2 in El Rancho Los Corazones because the enemies to lovers and femdom is gonna be delicious but

OH NAAAUUUR

why did I open an old document of the spin off of Royal Lies now I want mermaids again…

See what I mean?

So, how do I deal with mood writing while trying to maintain a business mindset?

The first thing I did was gather all of my books, published, unpublished, works in progress, unwritten, spinoffs, stray ideas, etc ALL OF IT into an excel sheet.

Yeah, it came up to like 90 total LOL.

I color coded it all to show their current status. I looked up what covers I currently have on hand (I had the foresight to commission covers for my book series IN ADVANCE) and cross reference to what sells the most for me and what word count goals I have and how many words I currently have in that WIP.

Yeah, its….complicated…

But I ended up coming up with a tentative publishing schedule based on all those factors.

And then my mood changed again…

And now I'm just twiddling my thumbs like…the fuck do I do now?

So I think the best solution for me to be honest is to just not write at all right now until I can figure out what the fuck I'm doing and latch onto a project that will keep me in its clutches LOL.

This is not a good solution, probably, but I have no idea what else to do. If I put it up for a vote, people are gonna want one thing and my brain will be like "nah fam, thats not it"

and then not listen lol

What can I say?

My brain is a frustrating place.