Midyear Check-In | June 2025

One thing I appreciate about my blog is how it's become a time capsule for my writing. My first posts were uploaded a few months after college graduation, so they read like mini essay assignments because that had been the bulk of writing instruction I'd received over the years. Stiff and stodgy, as I like to say, and quite honestly what I understood to be "good writing." AKA, writing without a shred of personality. Not to mention they're cringe.

While they're still live because I want that record of my growth as a writer, I don't necessarily encourage reading them. Simultaneously, though, I have this quiet hope that someday, another budding writer finds this blog and this record of my own progress reassures them that it's okay to not have everything figured out, and that finding your stride as a writer takes time—and yet there's no specific timeline for writing or order that things happen in every single time.

One of the ways I've been able to create this record is through midyear check-ins like this one! It's a tradition going back to my first year of blogging. I find it's helpful to look back on the goals I set for myself back in January as we're gearing up for the second half of the year. In the past, I'd go down my January post bullet point by bullet point, more or less critiquing myself on an almost pass/fail basis. Lately, though, I've treated this space like a journal entry, taking a step back to review what's worked, what didn't, and where I'd like to take things.

The constant in these check-ins is my emphasis on adjusting your goals to make them more manageable and, therefore, more achievable. Being able to adapt is a key skill for any writer.

2025 has so far been a year of quiet work. I haven't felt productive. There's been a lot of "soft writing" and quiet progress that doesn't feel like any major milestone of note. But there are still lessons to glean from those moments of calm.

Without further ado, let's see how things have gone and where I'm hoping things go over these next six months.

What The Heck Going On With A Tided Love, Avril?

—my writing group, several times over.

Jokes aside, let's start with the first goal I noted in January and what was my primary objective for 2025: "This year, I'd love to have the first draft nearly finished, but I'll be happy with 75% because life can be unpredictable."

A Tided Love is my main fiction project at the moment; it's a second-chance Regency Era romance set in a seaside resort town, about a widow and the man she met on a summer holiday nearly a decade before.

I didn't hit the ground running with this one. Towards the end of 2024, I'd sent some pages to my writing group for feedback, and that led to a total rework of the outline going into the new year.

The thing is, it never felt quite right. I never felt entirely ready to dive back in. There's this feeling of defeat when you're scrapping so much of your writing, and coming back to the project after the chaos of the holidays was overwhelming. But it's kind of like how if you lose touch with somebody and you want to get back in contact but you're worried it'll feel weird because it's been so long already but it only gets more awkward the longer you wait to reach out...

The Romance Novel Planner from writersguide

The longer I was away from A Tided Love, the harder it was to get back to it. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow until holy crap it's somehow March?!

Eventually, I felt like I needed a new approach so I downloaded some plotting workbooks from writersguide on Etsy (which were fantastic for breaking down my story and seeing where the gaps were). This is where the story's conflicts really started taking shape, and that was the thing that reignited that creative spark for me.

That said, there came a point where plotting became its own form of procrastination. And as a Plantser, my outlines hardly hold up once I get writing, so while having the groundwork laid out is good in theory, the ground that work is laid on is usually shaky.

It's taken a tad longer to get back in the swing of things. I became painfully aware of how much of an overwriter I truly am. One of the downsides to handwritten first drafts is having to type everything up. And as I was typing up my draft, I quickly realized how much of what I'd written would need to be scrapped or moved elsewhere (which would often be the Graveyard Doc I've created for this project), and that stirred up a sense of why??. If you know, you know. That frustrated dejection.

As I did in 2024, I've decided to take a semi-hiatus from the blog, posting only on alternating weeks through July and August, so I can devote more time to A Tided Love and hopefully make a solid dent in it.

RIP NaNoWriMo

At the end of March, NaNoWriMo, the nonprofit organization at the helm of National Novel Writing Month, announced its closure. I won't spend too much time on the subject in this post (this one goes into more detail, though).

It didn't come as a shock to me; it seemed a foregone conclusion given the controversies. But it did put a surprising damper on my writing.

I didn't have a longstanding relationship with NaNoWriMo that so many writers had. I'd only ever participated in an official capacity once, abstaining in 2024 given everything that was happening. Yet I found myself in a bit of a grieving period, and not just because losing NaNoWriMo meant losing a sense of community that can be hard to find as an "internet introvert" like myself.

Reflecting on it a few months after, I think it's because the one year I did participate was the year I started the first draft of A Tided Love. I don't know if A Tided Love would exist as it does without NaNoWriMo being the reason I actually started writing it instead of letting it swim around my head while I worked on edits for another project. I feel like I've grown significantly more as a writer through A Tided Love than with Bound to the Heart or Forged in the Salle or even my first effort at writing a novel.

That's not to say I need NaNoWriMo to be a writer. I wrote for years before taking the plunge, and there are rumblings of even more NaNo-inspired challenges popping up this year that I'm excited about. But that knowledge doesn't dispel that tinge. That tie that I'm gradually learning to write not because of, but in spite of.

Reading For Quality Over Quantity And Being Okay With DNFing

This year, I didn't give myself a set number of books I wanted to read. Instead, I decided to focus on finding books I enjoy and reading at a pace that allows me to savor them while rebuilding a steady reading habit. Audiobooks have been a huge help in that regard, especially because they allow me to multitask and catch up on stuff around the house that my ADHD brain has a habit of putting off.

So far, I can say I've read more in 2025 than in 2024, finishing about 1 1/2 books each month. Among those finished books are ones I've DNFed.

DNFing is something I've often felt guilty about. There's that "finish what you started" mentality that makes it hard for me to put down a book, even if I'm not enjoying it as much as I'd hope, but there's also the feeling of guilt that comes from my perspective as a writer and know how much work goes into writing and publishing a book.

But being a writer, I also understand that, realistically, there will be readers who DNF my own books, too, likely for reasons that are similar to those that prompted me to DNF these books. That's something I've only accepted in the past couple of years.

This year, I've become less reluctant to DNF. It still takes me a couple of days to officially call it off, but I'm learning to feel less guilty for doing so.

Life's too short to read books that aren't your thing. You don't have to see it through if it isn't for you.

Trouble Afoot

If you've been keeping up with my stories on Instagram, chances are you've seen updates about my ankle.

Around mid-April, I noticed some swelling and a lump by my ankle but didn't think much of it until taking my shoes off after work one night and seeing that the swelling had pretty much doubled. I went to a walk-in clinic after my shift the next day, got some X-rays done but there weren't any fractures so I was given a podiatrist referral, an ACE wrap, and light-duty orders for work. And I was stuck wearing pastel pink Crocs to my spooky escape room job because I couldn't get my foot into my sneaker with the wrap on (nobody really cared, it just felt like such a weird combo).

The podiatrist sent me for an MRI and upgraded(?) my wrap to a boot; that gave me some mobility again, albeit with a learning curve.

The MRI came back fine. Turns out it wasn't tendonitis as assumed but a benign bone growth we're monitoring.

I referred to all of this as life making me slow down. I hadn't been doing much in the way of self-care, so I took this as a reminder to take it easy and let myself rest now and then—even though I felt like I had a lot of things to catch up on and get done once I was out of the boot, including physical therapy.

This post will go live before my next podiatry appointment so I don't have anything new to report apart from still experiencing mild pain and swelling and having another month of PT scheduled.

Learning To Work With My ADHD Rather Than Against It

In 2024, I was diagnosed with ADHD after suspecting it for a while, and it brought a lot of big feelings to the surface. One of the things I wanted to do heading into the new year was find ways to work with it rather than against it.

It hasn't been easy. There's been a lot of trial and error with meds. I've been trying out different fidgets (my favorite is the NeeDoh Nice Cube). But I've still got a lot to figure out when it comes to navigating my ADHD.

This will sound like a tangent, but stick with me. My coworkers and I found out that I'm oddly good at balancing things on my head, and it became a running joke of me putting random things on my head and going about my day.

For whatever reason, I was having an easier time concentrating with a heavier object on my head. As one of the guys put it, "This is the calmest I have ever seen you."

I'm not sure why, but I think it has to do with the sensation of something heavy on my head.

So I got crafty and made what I ended up calling a "Heavy Hat."

It needs a better name, I know...

It's pretty simple. I made some tubes out of scrap fabric and filled them with glass stones, plus some crystal chips left over from a different project, then attached them to the inside of a baseball cap with velcro. I can't explain how, but it's made such a difference when it comes to my focus.

Sometimes, navigating something like ADHD is a matter of finding your own way of handling your specific flavor of neuro-spiciness. For me, that partially entails having a pound and a half of rocks on my head.

Bowling Night With The Work Fam

Work took us bowling for an employee appreciation night. And while you might reasonably assume that bowling three strikes in the same game was the highlight for me, that distinction actually goes to the rules of our second game: Bumpers On. Lowest Score Wins.

Aiming for the fewest pins knocked down without the convenience of a gutterball led to a number of interesting approaches and trick shots (and a moderately confused employee as she brought over our pizza to see us actually lamenting a strike).

It honestly felt right out of a sitcom in the best possible way.

It was also an important reminder that, sometimes, it's okay to let go of the rules and play the game your own way. And that's something I'm trying to do more often in my writing—especially in my fiction.

Like I've mentioned, I've struggled with finding my voice as a writer. I'd often be trying to cram myself into rubrics that didn't apply to fiction. It's vital to understand the rules of writing, but it's just as important to know how to break them. That you can bend them. It's those bends in the expectations that make your writing not only memorable but yours.

Looking back on that bowling night, I don't remember the scores. I remember the accidental mozzarella stick theft incident. My three strikes. The Time Warp blaring and prompting a mid-frame dance break.

Your readers probably aren't going to care about the exact percentage of the way through that you reach a certain plot point.

What will matter is how you made them feel. Whether or not they were able to connect with your characters and follow the plot. What they will remember beyond the last page.

Making your story your own, in your own voice, on your own terms, is everything, and where I hope my writing grows most over these next few months.

We're only halfway through 2025, but it's already shaping up to be a year of worthwhile writing lessons.

I can't wait to see what lies in store for myself and my writing. In the meantime, thank you for reading! If you want to stay updated on my writing, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and find me on Instagram.

I'll see you again next week for another writing-related post, and it's one I'm especially excited about!