How I Took Back My Writing Habit

I know a lot of you will know what I mean when I say the past, oh, 14 months have been tough for writing.

I documented a lot of my struggles week by week in my progress reports for 2025, so I won’t go into that now.  But suffice it to say that my near-daily writing habit, which had gotten to be so strong throughout 2024, petered out in 2025.  In fact much of my motivation petered out in 2025.  It’s hard to focus on much of anything when the world is on fire… at least until you get used to the heat.

I knew I needed to find a way to get back on the horse, so to speak, and jump start my regular writing habit.  The question was how to do it.  I had tried on and off throughout 2025 and had not been successful.  I had tried new calendars and productivity planners and none of it had worked.  I was failing, and I was desperate.

During this period I had also become certain that I have ADHD.  It was a suspicion that had been growing for several years — a story I’ll go into another time — which led me to join a few groups on Facebook.  And through these groups, I discovered Finch.

I suppose “discovered” is not quite the right word — I had heard of it before, even had friends who used it, but had not looked into it nor seriously considered it as an option for me.  But people in the neurodivergence Facebook groups mentioned it occasionally, and I took note.  Eventually I decided to look into it.  It’s supposed to be a self-care app, but it quickly became obvious that you can use it for almost anything that helps you, so I decided early on to use it for my to do list.  I figured when you’re struggling as much as I was, getting things done IS self care.

Now, I have kind of a love/hate relationship with productivity tools.  I guess it’s a whole thing for ADHDers to go through various planners and systems, always trying to find something that works — that’s definitely the experience I’ve had.  Currently I’ve been using Tick Tick for about a year, which I switched to after Google decided to be evil and get rid of their DEI.  But like all systems, eventually it stopped working as well for me and I stopped getting things done, instead deferring tasks over and over again.  It’s been especially bad in the past year, with my motivation in the toilet.

But Finch has something the others don’t have: an external, compelling reward system.  Rewarding myself has never really worked for me — I don’t have the impulse control to wait for my “reward,” or I don’t see it as connected.  But Finch rewards me with rainbow stones for tasks I complete, which I can use to buy clothes, furniture, and colors for my birb.  Plus there are cute monthly themes, and data tracking that allows me to earn more for consistent streaks.  It’s fun and effective, as it keeps me invested in the system.  Even after three months, I don’t feel like I’m at any risk of petering out; quite to the contrary, I’ve been getting more done and building daily habits.

One of those habits is, of course, working on my novel.  I started using Finch just before the end of the year, and decided that as soon as 2026 started, I would start trying to work on my writing projects almost every day again.  And immediately, I was able to.  I just needed that little added incentive.  Since then, I’ve been using Finch for more and more of my to do list, added more daily or weekly habits that I wanted to build, and learned to weight harder and more time-consuming tasks to give me the extra push to get things done.

Another feature I’ve found helpful is Finch’s focus timer.  It works better than a regular focus timer for me, since I can’t minimize the app for very long or I lose my timer and the rainbow stones I was earning.  So it keeps me from getting distracted on my phone when I’m supposed to be doing something else. 

Finch might not work for everyone.  And even for me, it could never be my only way of keeping track of things — I still want and need that visual calendar to schedule tasks and rein in my time optimism.  But using Finch along with my calendar has helped me to overcome one of the toughest slumps I’ve ever experienced.  Thanks to Finch, I am writing nearly every day again!

That New Novel Feeling 🥰

We’ve had a mild winter in Colorado!  Spring is here already: The crocuses and daffodils in my garden are blooming, the days are getting longer, and I have a new novel growing in Scrivener.

Generally when I write, I try to stay focused on one novel, even when other ideas pop up (and they do — it seems like the more you write, the more ideas you get).  But sometimes there’s an idea that comes along and grabs you so thoroughly that you can’t help but start writing it.

I had that moment about a month ago.  My previous novel project had languished all throughout 2025, and while I had gotten back to work on it in 2026, I had lost some of the excitement for it — I was just doing the minimum on it every day to satisfy my to-do list task.

But this idea — basically a thoroughly steampunk retelling of Oz — grabbed me on February 14th.  I wrote a little of it and decided I needed to read the original book (since all I knew of it was from the original movie and the Wicked movies).  My retelling will be different, of course, but still very much a story for our times.  I’m tentatively calling it The Last Automaton of Oz.

I’ve updated my TrackBear profile to display my current projects — this new one, the novel that I have on hold, and a short story I wrote a while back and need to revise.  I also have (but didn’t include on my profile) the pair of suspense novels I wrote in 2024 that need a second draft, but that will be a big undertaking.  For now I’m going to keep working on Oz since it feels the most timely.

It feels good to be excited about a project again.  I don’t plan to let my unfinished novel project stay unfinished, but with everything going on in the world right now, I needed something that would be a more compelling competitor for my attention.

Reading as Resistance: Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre

I’m going to start a new series of posts called “Reading as Resistance.”  I read a lot of political and politically-inspired books these days, seeking to keep myself as informed as possible as we resist our country’s free fall into fascism, and I want to encourage others to do the same.

My most recent read was Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s memoir of the abuse she suffered, at the hands of Epstein and others.  It has been said that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were adept at finding hurt and broken girls, girls who had already been groomed for abuse and would be easy to manipulate into accepting more, and Virginia certainly fit the bill.  Her descriptions of the abuse she experienced throughout her life were heartbreaking, and of course Epstein and Maxwell capitalized on that.

It also broke my heart to read about her struggles with suicidal thoughts and attempts toward the end of her life, especially knowing she had finally — apparently — succeeded.

One thing I thought was very interesting was at the end, where she talked about the men she had named versus the men she didn’t, and why.  She specified one that she was afraid to name because he was too wealthy and powerful, and would ruin her with litigation she couldn’t afford.

The damning files that have been released so far — and the power play that has slowed their release — definitely suggests whom she might have meant.

The remaining files need to be released, and the abusers within their pages brought to account.

Katharine Swan Is Now on Bluesky!

I blogged a couple of weeks ago about my 20 years of blogging, and how much the writing industry and social media have changed during that time.  The rise of Facebook and other social media sites and the corresponding decline of blogging have dramatically changed both of those things.

I think we’re now on the cusp of more changes, and the domination of the big names hangs in the balance as independent media and platforms are on the rise.  Twitter’s star has already started to fall since it was taken over by Elon Musk and has turned into a home for right-wing extremists, and it kinda seems like Facebook and Meta are headed in a similar direction as they ramp up the Big Brother approach, burying liberal content with their algorithms while the comment sections are overrun by the administration’s disinformation army.

So I’ve decided to expand my reach to additional platforms.  I have this blog and an author Instagram, and I intend to eventually have an author page on Facebook as well.  I have a limited presence on Substack as well, primarily for my sporadic politics newsletter, What to Know Today.  I plan to do eventually do more with Substack, and I’ve also decided it’s time to carve out a corner for myself on Bluesky.  The latter seems to be more of a Twitter replacement than a Facebook- or Instagram-style platform, just without the crazy overlord and MAGA leanings.

I’ve also found that politics has been creeping into my writing persona more and more.  How could it not, as central a role as it’s starting to play in our lives?  I’m taking my inspiration from other writers and creators who are outspoken about their political views.  I even think politics may have to play a bigger role in my 1920s vampire series, given the implications of the era’s corruption on current events.

If you are on Bluesky, be sure to follow me there too!

Twenty Years of Blogging

I was sick and didn’t post on the official anniversary, and then the rest of the month pretty much got away from me, but December 5, 2025 — exactly a month ago — marked 20 years since I started my blog.  Two decades is a long time, and sometimes I can’t believe it’s been so long.  To give you an idea of how much has changed in that time, I’ve composed a list of then versus now.

In twenty years:

• I’ve gone from fledgling freelancer, to part-time, back to full-time, and finally to not freelancing at all while I focus on my own projects
• I’ve worked on the side as a part-time nanny, a house cleaner and assistant, a babysitter, and a stall mucker (and I still do the last two)
• I’ve gone through three iterations of my website
• I’ve started 11 novels, finished first drafts of 5 of those, started second drafts of exactly one, and published none
• I’ve participated in 20 years of NaNoWriMo (now DenNoWriMo in the Denver area) as a writer, 9 years as a volunteer Municipal Liaison, one year (2024) as a rogue community organizer, and one year (2025) as a co-founder of a shiny new local organization
• I’ve also started volunteering at the local doll and miniatures museum, primarily as a board member but also occasionally writing newsletter articles and other short content 

Also during this time, the market has gone through many changes.  For instance:

• Freelancers have been undercut first by lowballing writers from India, and now AI
• Freelancing opportunities that once abounded have dwindled
• Blogging has diminished in popularity, replaced by social media and video format posts

Twenty years ago, I had graduated college and started my career only a year previous.  I had worked full-time as a technical writer for nearly that entire year while freelancing on the side, before making the jump to freelancing full-time about two months earlier.  I think it was a lot easier in those days; the internet was advanced enough to offer lots of opportunities to aspiring writers, but not so advanced that it actually took away opportunity (like AI does today).

At the same time, the logistics of freelancing was harder in those days.  Before the Affordable Care Act, it was harder for freelancers to get health insurance.  The ACA was a game changer for freelancers (as well as for anyone with preexisting conditions).

And then there was the community.  Back then, MySpace was still a thing, Facebook was just starting out but hadn’t taken off yet, and blogs and forums were how writers established community.  I miss those days sometimes.  I used to “warm up” every day by reading other writers’ blogs before I got to work myself.

Finally… money, because that has to be addressed.  I don’t feel like writers’ wages have gone up as much as they should have in 20 years, certainly not enough to keep up with how much the cost of living has risen.  It’s kind of scary how much incomes haven’t kept up with the cost of things, honestly.

I’m not where I thought I would be in 20 years, that much is for certain.  I didn’t foresee getting burned out by freelancing, or struggling so much to follow my lifelong dream of writing and publishing books.  But I’m also not sorry about where I am.  I have a good life and I’m (hopefully) back on track to finish and publish some books in the near future.

I wonder where the internet, the industry, and this blog will be in another 20 years?

For funsies, here is my very first blog post!

New Year: Threat or Promise?

I know I haven’t blogged in some time.  Last year developed quite the snowball effect, and by the last few months of the year, there was so much to deal with that I didn’t have the bandwidth for blogging.  As a result, I fell off the wagon as far as blogging weekly about my 2025 goals.

I’m not going to set my New Year’s resolutions as high this year, or really at all.  Last year I found how fatally distracting to my goals the current events could be, and it made it even more demoralizing how much I fell behind as the year went on.  I’m also going to discontinue my weekly check-ins.  Instead, I’m going to go back to basics and blog about writing and writing-related topics.

Honestly, I was eager to say goodbye to 2025, because it’s been so awful both personally and politically, and I had cautiously optimistic hopes for 2026.  If I’d written this post on the first or second day of the year, it might have been very different.  Unfortunately, it only took 2026 until day three to deliver a whopping gut punch to our democracy, as we all woke this morning to the news that the administration had carried out an illegal (i.e., not approved by Congress) strike on Venezuela.

With the understanding that 2026 is likely going to continue in quite the same fashion as 2025, possibly getting even worse if today is any indication, I’m going to adjust my expectations for the year accordingly.  If I had a hard time staying focused last year, and this year is potentially going to get worse, I need to be realistic with my goals.

With that being said, I have two goals… or maybe it’s better to call them “focuses,” as I am not going to militantly track progress the way I did last year.  I spread myself too thin, and then found myself in crisis mode thanks to current events and my suspected ADHD burnout.  This year will be about learning to cope with what 2025 and 2026 have dealt us, rather than expecting to go back to the easy successes of 2024.

For 2026, I would like to:

1. Get back to work on my personal writing projects.  I have completely lost the habit of writing every day.  I decided I was going to start working on my novel again on January 1st, and set a goal to work on it at least a little every day.  If that is adding a single word, so be it.  I just want to move my writing goals to the front burner again.
2. Find a better system for managing goals and motivating myself.  As I noted, I have come to suspect that I have ADHD.  It would explain my struggles with chronic burnout throughout my freelancing career, and my problems with motivation.  Obviously I need to find a way to work within this framework so that I stop burning myself out all the time.  Currently I’m trying out Finch to see if it can help me, particularly with motivation.

My blog posts from here on out will focus more on my writing life and the journey to find some kind of structure that works better for me.  Expect too that politics may make it into my ramblings from time to time.

Happy New Year, to everyone except the administration currently ruining my focus and wellbeing!  Thank you for your attention to this matter.  KSL

2025 Weekly Challenge, Week ?: Back on the Wagon

It’s been over two months since the last time I did a goals check-in.  My life just got to be too, too much, and something had to give… and that something turned out to be, among other things, trying to meet the goals I set at the beginning of the year, before the world went crazy.

Things are marginally less chaotic right now, not because my life is no longer busy but because the busyness is somewhat more focused, so I’m going to try to hop back on the wagon and finish out the year a little stronger.

Where I’m at Now

The last couple of months have been one major thing after another, and sometimes at the same time.  There was the Fall Show for the Museum of Miniatures, Dolls & Toys, which I had to prepare a doll exhibit, part of a doll program, and a workshop; there was all the house sitting for my husband’s parents, which made it difficult to get much done at our house; there was trying to get the house ready for my mom to stay with us; and there was my mom’s surgery and recovery.

Once we got all that done, we still had NaNoWriMo FauxNoWriMo DenNoWriMo to get ready for.  Our local region did a fun spin-off of NaNoWriMo last year, after everything blew up, and called it FauxNoWriMo.  This year, after NaNoWriMo announced they were officially shutting down, we decided to rename our local community DenNoWriMo, and start building it out to be a local replacement for NaNoWriMo.  Getting it ready for November meant building a new website, planning events, planning fun extras like stickers, writing email blasts, and beefing up the social media community.

Now DenNoWriMo is just a few days away, and November is sure to be another whirlwind month.  With only two months left in the year, I’m hoping to get back on the wagon and finish out the year a little stronger than the last, oh, nine months have gone.

Where I’m at right now:

Writing

I haven’t worked on my novel in months at this point, although of course I’m hoping that’ll change in November.  And obviously I haven’t been maintaining my blog and Instagram either, except for the Banned Books Week post I made in October.

Decluttering and Organization

We worked on decluttering and organizing the house before my mom came to stay with us, and a bit during and after that too.  Unfortunately our progress was stalled more recently, as we had DenNoWriMo to prepare for and unexpected additional house sitting for my husband’s parents.  I’m hoping to get back to that in November, though, in addition to working on my novel and running DenNoWriMo.

Dolls

I haven’t worked on a doll in ages, and honestly, the decluttering and organization project will take precedence over doll projects.  But I do hope to get back to them soon, possibly by December.

Lessons Learned

Honestly, if there was a lesson in any of this, it was that plans and goals don’t always turn out the way you want them to.  I can’t blame myself for not sticking to my weekly goals because it’s not like I knew when I set them that my mom would need surgery, or my husband would lose his job, or that we’d have a fascist regime taking over our country and stressing us all out.

Sometimes the best you can do is just to get through it with your life and yourself in one piece.

Like I said, if I can pick things back up and finish out the year a little stronger, I’ll be happy with that.