What Does this Supposed Relaunch Look Like?

I was going to post my final thoughts on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe today but the pieces have become a larger beast than I anticipated and I am currently buried in client work. Considering my client work pays a decent amount per hour, I am grateful for being overwhelmed by the amount, especially since recent history has proven that work can dry up rather quickly.

Instead, I'll dig into my vision for the September relaunch of Beyond the Balcony and how I plan to keep it going for the foreseeable future and beyond.

The site will have daily posts that will usually arrive early morning. My desire is to increase output when time allows, and definitely when the audience grows. 

The Movie Breakdown will return to weekly Monday postings with four to five reviews a week. There will likely be one review from the archives that will contain the lovely voice of Scott. In September, I'll probably just stick with me solo reviewing all the new movies with the plan to bring in guest host for reviews in October. This may change but that is the target for now.

I also plan to write reviews for every movie that is reviewed on the podcast as well. In order for this to be achieved. I'll allow some reviews to be as short as 250 words while the movies that really sing would top out at around 1k.

The remaining days will either be an analysis of movie news or creative musings on my personal life. The hope is always to try to impart some broader insight to avoid being naval gazing. Essentially, these are personal opinion columns that were all the rage when newspapers existed. 

It won't likely happen in September but the serialized fiction is still a thing I want to happen before 2024 says goodbye. I also still plan to review every Dsiney animated movie and every MCU movie, but again I won't likely jump into it right away.

Now, here is a peek behind the curtain as it were.

Monday to Friday from 9 to 5 (ish -- kids come home before 4 and some days dinner needs to be ready by 5) will be devoted to my 'day job'. I currently have consistent client work, and since that pays, that is where I will block out my most productive time of the day.

This means my site writing will be early in the morning when everyone else is asleep, and if I have enough energy, in the evening when the kids are off to bed. I'll also try to devote some site writing on weekends while balancing that with family time and work around the house. Also, some evenings will be when I actually watch the movies that I plan to review.

There is also a chance during the day I get ahead of client work or at least don't have deadline work due that day, so I use that 'free time' to work on the site or podcast.

The other non-client work writing time will be occupied for fiction writing that I want to pursue again, and pitches to various magazines and pop culture sites that pay. Both of these are things I want to get back into my career, so it will battle for time with the site and podcast. 

This means something may not always be posted first thing in the morning. Sometimes the things posted will need to be short. This also means that a new release review may not always get posted on a Friday. If I see it Thursday night, it should be up Friday evening or Saturday. If I see it on a Friday or later, it may go much deeper into the weekend.

The big thing will be allowing myself to be okay with stuff going up late and not being hot off the presses. I've allowed things being posted late to freak me out in the past, but for now, client work is my 'day job'. If this grows an audience, then I can review how I devote my time. 

For now for my own career health needs to be the focus, and that is client work right now. I also know that getting published in magazines and pursuing fiction is very important to me. I need to slot out time for that when I am not doing client work.

I plan to really get this site rolling in September. There is other work. I hope not being as worried about things being new or long, can give me some freedom and balance. 

As always, thank you for your support.