It’s quite late, but here comes my January summary. It won!t be only focused on writing, for once, though I have yet to decide whether that’s a temporary approach or not.

Blog

I will start with the most obvious – in January, I posted only three posts, of which two were book reviews. Fact is, I’ve found myself in a blogging slump. Not because I’d lack topics to write about (I have some ideas) but lack of motivation and feeling that whatever I would’ve written wouldn’t turn out good enough. So, for the time being, I will post a bit less than usual.

Writing

I have managed a couple of writing sessions during January, and made some progress in fixing the issues with book two, but the process is far from complete yet. That said, I’ve cut a couple of scenes, wrote some new, rewrote more of them, and made slight edits to some. The progress isn’t that large in volume (I think I covered maybe 5-6 chapters) but, given how much some of them were changing and that I need to keep adjusted continuity in mind, it turns out to be harder than I expected at some points. The next block (5-7 chapters) will undergo heavy changes by being shifted from summer to winter and it’s hard for me to guess how much it’ll affect things. I’d love to say more on that matter but I don’t want to talk about a major plot point for an unreleased story…

Reading

As I mentioned, I’ve read two books in January, both on the shorter side. I guess my January slump affected me in reading as well, but I hope to get back to it more soon. Fact is, after reading a series I totally loved at the end of 2021, I may still be in a “book hangover” from it and poorly managing my expectations, which leads to lower enjoyment. Here’s hoping that I will find something that rekindles my love for reading soon.

Hiking

I guess that’s the part where January was the best when it comes to my hobbies. Even though I had to cancel one hike (planned for 22nd) because I had a massive headache from the covid booster shot – which sucked hard as it was the best winter weather – I managed three others. I’ve finally downloaded the photos and will probably give it a separate post soon (next weekend seems likely).

That said, I have some issues with my camera, so I’m getting more modern and trying to take pictures with my smartphone. The quality is good, but I’m not used to the lens placement and keep getting part of my gloves into the picture…

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In retrospect, January wasn’t the best month but I still had good moments and I should probably focus on that as I try to regain my momentum. The next month will keep me busy on many fronts…