It's Just This Little Chromium Switch Here...
Sunday, November 3. 2019
Here I go again—attempting to jump-start my writing by adding some structure and accountability to my word production. NaNoWriMo started a few days ago for this year, but I don't need to start producing yet another new novel—what I really need to do is to get some of my old (some very old) projects completed.
Toward that end, I am committing to spending a total of 60 hours in November working on writing.
Specific projects I plan to tackle are:
- Selecting a writing tool and associated devices to allow me to work wherever I find myself.
- Selecting one of my short stories in progress to finish this month and begin shopping.
- Focusing on one novel to get refamiliarized with and drive toward a sellable state—meaning I need to finish plotting the entire novel, add text to get to the word count I want, and finish editing what I've already written.
I don't necessarily expect to finish the novel this month, but I'd like to get items 1 and 2 completed. Number 1, anyway, should be pretty easy; I just have to try out the various tools recommended by and/or sponsoring NaNoWriMo and pick the best for my purposes. I'm making pretty good progress so far this month, but we'll see where I am by the time 1 December rolls around...soon!
Here I go again—attempting to jump-start my writing by adding some structure and accountability to my word production. NaNoWriMo started a few days ago for this year, but I don't need to start producing yet another new novel—what I really need to do is to get some of my old (some very old) projects completed.
Toward that end, I am committing to spending a total of 60 hours in November working on writing.
Specific projects I plan to tackle are:
Toward that end, I am committing to spending a total of 60 hours in November working on writing.
Specific projects I plan to tackle are:
- Selecting a writing tool and associated devices to allow me to work wherever I find myself.
- Selecting one of my short stories in progress to finish this month and begin shopping.
- Focusing on one novel to get refamiliarized with and drive toward a sellable state—meaning I need to finish plotting the entire novel, add text to get to the word count I want, and finish editing what I've already written.
The Year of Everything and Nothing
Wednesday, September 14. 2011
What a year it's been so far. Some significant events have occurred—such as the launch of my full-time business—and yet I feel like I've "done nothing" in many ways. I've been terribly busy with life, and I've struggled to find time to live.
Health (running and visits to the gym), music (bagpipe studies and, of course, keyboards), and blogging (case in point) have fallen completely by the wayside since January.
I've barely done enough crits this year to stay in the game. I'm on double-secret probation right this very minute, and should probably be critting instead of blogging.
I've written close to nothing. Awhile back, I wondered whether I was capable of not writing. I have my answer, and it is: "yes and no."
I can fail to make time to write. It's easy, I know, I'm quite proficient at it now. So not writing is certainly do-able.
But it really hurts. The lack of a creative release has wounded me, and I didn't even realize it until I finally made time, last night, to write. After such a prolonged absence, I was almost physically struck by the impact of writing. It moved me greatly to get a chance to let those juices flow once more. It's almost impossible to describe how it felt to re-attune myself with a writer's world-view, with the requirement and the ability to see things simultaneously from further away and from closer in.
So though I could "not write," just like I could "not eat," I now know it's painful, even dangerous for me to do so. Armed with this knowledge, I'll try—yes, try, once again—to incorporate writing into my daily life. I'm still on a "writer's high" from yesterday's wordflow, so I know I'll be writing again tonight. What's in question is my behavior next month, or even next week. Like trips to the gym, some willpower will be required to sweep areas of my schedule clean and keep appointments with myself, knowing that my health (mental vs. physical) will benefit from it.
Maybe I can actually blog more regularly than twice a year, too.
What a year it's been so far. Some significant events have occurred—such as the launch of my full-time business—and yet I feel like I've "done nothing" in many ways. I've been terribly busy with life, and I've struggled to find time to live.
Health (running and visits to the gym), music (bagpipe studies and, of course, keyboards), and blogging (case in point) have fallen completely by the wayside since January.
I've barely done enough crits this year to stay in the game. I'm on double-secret probation right this very minute, and should probably be critting instead of blogging.
I've written close to nothing. Awhile back, I wondered whether I was capable of not writing. I have my answer, and it is: "yes and no."
I can fail to make time to write. It's easy, I know, I'm quite proficient at it now. So not writing is certainly do-able.
But it really hurts. The lack of a creative release has wounded me, and I didn't even realize it until I finally made time, last night, to write. After such a prolonged absence, I was almost physically struck by the impact of writing. It moved me greatly to get a chance to let those juices flow once more. It's almost impossible to describe how it felt to re-attune myself with a writer's world-view, with the requirement and the ability to see things simultaneously from further away and from closer in.
So though I could "not write," just like I could "not eat," I now know it's painful, even dangerous for me to do so. Armed with this knowledge, I'll try—yes, try, once again—to incorporate writing into my daily life. I'm still on a "writer's high" from yesterday's wordflow, so I know I'll be writing again tonight. What's in question is my behavior next month, or even next week. Like trips to the gym, some willpower will be required to sweep areas of my schedule clean and keep appointments with myself, knowing that my health (mental vs. physical) will benefit from it.
Maybe I can actually blog more regularly than twice a year, too.
Health (running and visits to the gym), music (bagpipe studies and, of course, keyboards), and blogging (case in point) have fallen completely by the wayside since January.
I've barely done enough crits this year to stay in the game. I'm on double-secret probation right this very minute, and should probably be critting instead of blogging.
I've written close to nothing. Awhile back, I wondered whether I was capable of not writing. I have my answer, and it is: "yes and no."
I can fail to make time to write. It's easy, I know, I'm quite proficient at it now. So not writing is certainly do-able.
But it really hurts. The lack of a creative release has wounded me, and I didn't even realize it until I finally made time, last night, to write. After such a prolonged absence, I was almost physically struck by the impact of writing. It moved me greatly to get a chance to let those juices flow once more. It's almost impossible to describe how it felt to re-attune myself with a writer's world-view, with the requirement and the ability to see things simultaneously from further away and from closer in.
So though I could "not write," just like I could "not eat," I now know it's painful, even dangerous for me to do so. Armed with this knowledge, I'll try—yes, try, once again—to incorporate writing into my daily life. I'm still on a "writer's high" from yesterday's wordflow, so I know I'll be writing again tonight. What's in question is my behavior next month, or even next week. Like trips to the gym, some willpower will be required to sweep areas of my schedule clean and keep appointments with myself, knowing that my health (mental vs. physical) will benefit from it.
Maybe I can actually blog more regularly than twice a year, too.
Deep Breaths
Tuesday, January 4. 2011
Changing the year we write on our checks makes some people also want to change their habits. Now seems like as good a time as any for me.
It seems like I spent most of 2010 shooting. Taking aim at the target of the moment, concentrating on what was right in front of me, and failing to force myself into big picture territory. I have hardly written at all, I have spent very little time running, and I haven't engaged in the research and technical tinkering I want to do.
All that has to change—again.
I find that I often scold myself in this blog for not keeping my sights on the things that matter most to me. I don't know how to stop the pattern of behavior of trivializing my life. I'm very scared I simply won't be able to. But that doesn't mean I won't stop trying.
So I'm writing tonight. Not much of any substance, but I'm warming up again. I'll be running in the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on Saturday, with just a minimal amount of training (enough not to die). And I spent the weekend setting up a new "research station" in a corner of my office with a new (repurposed) PC and all my embedded electronics paraphernalia, to start investigating some ideas in earnest (beyond the lightsaber I built over a year ago).
I'm trying. I'm taking deep breaths, and I'm diving in. I want to trust my future self to keep it going. Time will tell.
Changing the year we write on our checks makes some people also want to change their habits. Now seems like as good a time as any for me.
It seems like I spent most of 2010 shooting. Taking aim at the target of the moment, concentrating on what was right in front of me, and failing to force myself into big picture territory. I have hardly written at all, I have spent very little time running, and I haven't engaged in the research and technical tinkering I want to do.
All that has to change—again.
I find that I often scold myself in this blog for not keeping my sights on the things that matter most to me. I don't know how to stop the pattern of behavior of trivializing my life. I'm very scared I simply won't be able to. But that doesn't mean I won't stop trying.
So I'm writing tonight. Not much of any substance, but I'm warming up again. I'll be running in the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on Saturday, with just a minimal amount of training (enough not to die). And I spent the weekend setting up a new "research station" in a corner of my office with a new (repurposed) PC and all my embedded electronics paraphernalia, to start investigating some ideas in earnest (beyond the lightsaber I built over a year ago).
I'm trying. I'm taking deep breaths, and I'm diving in. I want to trust my future self to keep it going. Time will tell.
It seems like I spent most of 2010 shooting. Taking aim at the target of the moment, concentrating on what was right in front of me, and failing to force myself into big picture territory. I have hardly written at all, I have spent very little time running, and I haven't engaged in the research and technical tinkering I want to do.
All that has to change—again.
I find that I often scold myself in this blog for not keeping my sights on the things that matter most to me. I don't know how to stop the pattern of behavior of trivializing my life. I'm very scared I simply won't be able to. But that doesn't mean I won't stop trying.
So I'm writing tonight. Not much of any substance, but I'm warming up again. I'll be running in the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on Saturday, with just a minimal amount of training (enough not to die). And I spent the weekend setting up a new "research station" in a corner of my office with a new (repurposed) PC and all my embedded electronics paraphernalia, to start investigating some ideas in earnest (beyond the lightsaber I built over a year ago).
I'm trying. I'm taking deep breaths, and I'm diving in. I want to trust my future self to keep it going. Time will tell.
Alive Again?
Saturday, January 1. 2011
Away from the breech
Fresh breeze from absent showers
Breathe deep deep deep go
Away from the breech
Fresh breeze from absent showers
Breathe deep deep deep go
Fresh breeze from absent showers
Breathe deep deep deep go
There's a Reason...Right?
Tuesday, June 15. 2010
One of my favorite themes to explore in my writing is that of free will vs. predestination. How much of one's life is not only outside one's own control, but actually in the control of an outside agency? Are we as individuals able to make choices, or is every crossroads in one's existence merely a foregone conclusion, inevitable in light of what has gone before?
I've had a real roller coaster ride so far this year. Many opportunities have been placed before me, and never being one to turn away from possibilities, I tend to explore them all to at least some extent. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, that chance is not a factor in my life. So now I look back over the first half of the year and wonder how I'm supposed to grow based on what I've experienced...particularly since I've written perhaps a thousand words of prose in six months, and I've maintained this writing blog almost not at all.
I trust that I'm learning something, I just don't know what it is yet.
One thing I have learned, once again, is that I have to make time to write — words won't just happen. I started doing that again about a week ago, and now I'm getting ready to shop a short story for the first time in quite awhile. My life goal for the rest of this year is to get really serious about writing. Of course, I have two other unrelated life goals, and the key will be to divide my time appropriately between them.
And by the end of the year, maybe I'll have some inkling as to the reason behind some of my recent experiences. Perhaps it's just to give me a larger palette from which to paint with words. If so, I can accept that...it's more than reason enough.
One of my favorite themes to explore in my writing is that of free will vs. predestination. How much of one's life is not only outside one's own control, but actually in the control of an outside agency? Are we as individuals able to make choices, or is every crossroads in one's existence merely a foregone conclusion, inevitable in light of what has gone before?
I've had a real roller coaster ride so far this year. Many opportunities have been placed before me, and never being one to turn away from possibilities, I tend to explore them all to at least some extent. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, that chance is not a factor in my life. So now I look back over the first half of the year and wonder how I'm supposed to grow based on what I've experienced...particularly since I've written perhaps a thousand words of prose in six months, and I've maintained this writing blog almost not at all.
I trust that I'm learning something, I just don't know what it is yet.
One thing I have learned, once again, is that I have to make time to write — words won't just happen. I started doing that again about a week ago, and now I'm getting ready to shop a short story for the first time in quite awhile. My life goal for the rest of this year is to get really serious about writing. Of course, I have two other unrelated life goals, and the key will be to divide my time appropriately between them.
And by the end of the year, maybe I'll have some inkling as to the reason behind some of my recent experiences. Perhaps it's just to give me a larger palette from which to paint with words. If so, I can accept that...it's more than reason enough.
I've had a real roller coaster ride so far this year. Many opportunities have been placed before me, and never being one to turn away from possibilities, I tend to explore them all to at least some extent. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, that chance is not a factor in my life. So now I look back over the first half of the year and wonder how I'm supposed to grow based on what I've experienced...particularly since I've written perhaps a thousand words of prose in six months, and I've maintained this writing blog almost not at all.
I trust that I'm learning something, I just don't know what it is yet.
One thing I have learned, once again, is that I have to make time to write — words won't just happen. I started doing that again about a week ago, and now I'm getting ready to shop a short story for the first time in quite awhile. My life goal for the rest of this year is to get really serious about writing. Of course, I have two other unrelated life goals, and the key will be to divide my time appropriately between them.
And by the end of the year, maybe I'll have some inkling as to the reason behind some of my recent experiences. Perhaps it's just to give me a larger palette from which to paint with words. If so, I can accept that...it's more than reason enough.
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