Writing Challenge

2025 WIP Challenge: End-of-Year Wrap-Up

| C.E. Flores

Well… here we are at the end of the 2025 WIP Challenge, and yes, I know that I haven’t posted an update since August. Oops. But in my defense, time is a weird soup, and somehow the last four months evaporated when I wasn’t looking.

Did I write?
A little! Here and there! Enough to feel smug for a moment and then promptly forget what I was working on.

Did I finish any new WIPs this year?
Absolutely not. Not a single one. Zip. Zero. A very symmetrical number, if nothing else.

But did I learn something?
Oh, definitely. I learned that if I ever expect to actually complete any of these WIPs, I need to carve out more consistent writing time instead of assuming Future Me will magically take care of it. (Future Me did not.)

Was it a wasted year?
If we’re talking strictly in terms of word count, maybe.
But in terms of life experience, growth, chaos, plot material, emotional arc-building, and general character development? A gold mine. I’ve been living the chapters I’ll write later. Transformation, baby. Sometimes that counts just as much as finishing a draft.

To anyone who made an honest attempt to write this year, whether you wrote a sentence, a page, or just opened the document and stared at it meaningfully, congratulations! You showed up. That’s the hardest part.

As for whether I’ll undertake another challenge next year, that remains to be seen. I might switch things up and track actual hours or word counts per month. I haven’t decided yet; I’m still in the “thinking about thinking about it” phase.

Here’s to the stories still simmering, the WIPs patiently waiting, and the small but mighty wins that carried us through 2025. Onward!

August 2025 WIP Challenge Update

| C.E. Flores

¡Híjole! Where did August go? Seriously, it flew by so fast I’m not even sure it actually happened! The whole month feels like a blur, a whirlwind of life, projects, and probably way too much coffee and chocolate.

I think I managed to sneak in a draft for the herb study, did a little tinkering on the healthcare book, and maybe even squeezed out a chapter or two for La Yacata Insurrection. But honestly? Don’t ask me for proof. August came, August went, and I’m still standing here wondering what just happened.

How did your writing go this month?

July 2025 WIP Challenge Update

| C.E. Flores

I wrote some chapters of La Yacata Insurrection, drafts, mind you, since things are moving so fast these days that I can barely get one event written when another has begun. I have notes for other sections of the book that I’ll need to wait to see the results before I can write those up. And of course, since things were so busy, I didn’t get much other writing done.

I did get some editing done at the beginning of July on the revised healthcare book. It would be nice if I could get that finished up to republish in September, but we shall see. Here it is already the 10th, and I’m just getting the WIP challenge update up. 

How have things been in your writing world?

June 2025 WIP Challenge Update

| C.E. Flores

So I have to say that no progress was made in June on any of my WIPs. Let’s hope July is a little better????

How did your writing go?

May 2025 WIP Challenge Update

| C.E. Flores

Where did May go?! Somehow, it’s already June 9, and I haven’t had a single moment to update my writing progress. But—today’s the day!

Lately, my progress has looked a lot like this: doing some tedious but necessary tasks (note-taking included), and then undertaking some courageous, albeit mildly terrifying, tasks (also involving note-taking), all in service of the next book in the La Yacata series.

So far, June is following the same pattern—equal parts boring and bold.

How’s your writing going?

April 2025 WIP Challenge Update

| C.E. Flores

Chapters in La Yacata saga have been coming slowly and steadily as we work through our advancement towards independence. Some chapters won’t be published on my blog due to the sensitive nature of the events, but the drafts are to be included in the book. 

I finally fixed the formatting for the Special Edition herb book and republished it along with the paperback and Kindle versions. That’s a load off my mind. 

I also did some editing on the Healthcare book. Overall, I feel like April wasn’t a total waste of writing time.

What did you accomplish this month?

March 2025 WIP Challenge Update

| C.E. Flores

How is it April already? So, in March, I edited and republished the paperback and ebook version of Surviving Voluntary Exile: How to Overcome Common Obstacles to Making a Successful Life Transition. I also added a hardcover and audio version. I hadn’t planned on making those last two versions of that book in March, but with the current situation in the US, I thought it could be a useful book to anyone thinking of making the switch to a new location, and I wanted to make it as easily accessible as possible. 

Spring has come and I’ve been itching to work on some herb studies, so that’s what I’m going to do in April. I’d also like to keep editing the Healthcare book and adding anecdotes to the Insurrection book. 

What are you writing?

March 2025 Book Marketing Challenge Update

| C.E. Flores

I actually started focusing on creating more content in December or thereabouts. I started posting a plant study teaser with a link to my Exploring Traditional Herbal Remedies in Mexico series once daily. Then, in February, I switched to remedies from the Mexican Apothecary book. 

I created simple graphics in Canva and used an AI generator to write the short blurbs with hashtags for these. I used Google Calendar to set a reminder. With the task function, I popped the social media post there so I could just grab it and upload the image, making it as brainless as possible. Of course, this required some serious prepping ahead of time. 

Looking back, I should have spaced the herb posts out more initially. Instead of having daily posts, weekly or monthly would have been better. Additionally, on the first day of March, I used the wrong image and then had to reschedule the post for another day, so I wasn’t off to a great start.
I also made some graphics from my Surviving Voluntary Exile book. Instead of posting daily, I switched to weekly highlights.

I scheduled weekly book highlights for several of my books to keep the momentum going. It’s not true that if you write it, they will buy it (or if you build it, they will come). Readers have to KNOW about my books, and I need to toot my own horn more so that they do. I made some images in Canva; for others, I used www.MockupShots.com. 

I have been trying to do a WIP challenge beginning in 2024 and continued in 2025, so I have been doing monthly updates on that. I can’t say that my updates are very interesting, but they do provide some accountability for me. Those would be my “behind-the-scenes” posts. 

I opted not to do any videos of me, live or otherwise. I just don’t have the bandwidth for that sort of publicity. I did make some book videos, and that will have to be enough.

As to whether or not these social posts resonate with my ideal reader, well, that’s another matter entirely. 

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February 2025 WIP Challenge Update

| C.E. Flores

February was busy, but I made some progress on La Yacata Insurrection. Finding time to write between my actual responsibilities in La Yacata was a challenge, but I got some words down, which is a win.

I also made headway on editing the healthcare book. There’s still more to do, and I need to carve out dedicated time to finish it.

Looking ahead to March, my goal is to update the Exile book. It shouldn’t be a massive undertaking, but, as always, setting aside focused time will be key.

How was your writing progress in February?