Posted in Writing, tagged creativity, inspiration, JK Rowling, quotes, Thoughts, work, writing on January 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »
“…perfection is not necessary to make a real and lasting difference in other people’s lives.”
— JK Rowling
Thank goodness, that’s all I have to say. Because some days the best you can hope for is some small measure of progress. Why, Monday, why?
Time for another cup of tea, methinks:)
Posted in Likes, tagged creativity, Feynman, future, inspiration, Motivation, quotes, science, Thoughts, work, yay on January 8, 2014| 2 Comments »
We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.
— Richard P. Feynman
Posted in Likes, tagged awesome, creativity, inspiration, neil gaiman, Thoughts, yay on January 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »
The following is from Neil Gaiman’s Journal: My New Year Wish in 2011, and is, as far as I’m concerned, about as good a guide for the coming year as I can imagine:
…for this year, my wish for each of us is small and very simple.
And it’s this.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.
…
Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.
Make mistakes, and pat yourself on the back when you do. Then get up and try again.
In related news, I just spent the past hour ice skating. I don’t skate:)
Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged Anne Enright, creativity, finishing, inspiration, Motivation, resolutions, Thoughts, work, writing on December 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Apologies for my lack of presence here; like many of you, I’m up to my ears in holiday fun. Eggnog, presents, family, Swedish smörgåsbord delights, and the ensuing fallout has me busy, busy, busy! I’ll be around the site off and on for the next week and back in force after the New Year. In the meantime, let me leave you with this terrific quote:
Imagine that you are dying. If you had a terminal disease would you finish this book? Why not? The thing that annoys this 10-weeks-to-live self is the thing that is wrong with the book. So change it. Stop arguing with yourself. Change it. See? Easy. And no one had to die.
― Anne Enright
It’s applicable to writing, of course, but substitute “do [fill in the blank with your own white whale]” for “finish this book” and it may also be useful for those looking ahead to the new year, and related resolutions:)
Posted in Writing, tagged Anne Lamott, creativity, Motivation, quotes, sauerkraut, Thoughts, work, writing on December 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Some days I find it hard to focus. My mind wanders, and if I don’t turn off the internet I suddenly discover myself researching machine embroidery, the weather patterns of eastern Nepal, or the art of lactic acid fermentation. All fine topics, to be sure, but sadly Not What I Am Supposed to be Doing at the moment.
If you also have this problem at times, I recommend the following bit of wisdom from Anne Lamott:
Try looking at your mind as a wayward puppy that you are trying to paper train. You don’t drop-kick a puppy into the neighbor’s yard every time it piddles on the floor. You just keep bringing it back to the newspaper.
― Anne Lamott
That was yesterday. Today will be better.
If I could just find some more newspaper.
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged awesome, creativity, inspiration, Maya Angelou, Motivation, Thoughts, work, yay on December 4, 2013| 1 Comment »
You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.
― Maya Angelou
As an addendum, I posit that you don’t have to start out loving your work to be good at it. Pay close enough attention to a thing for long enough, and its beauty becomes clear.
Posted in Writing, tagged books, creativity, Fiction, finishing, nanowrimo, science fiction, Writers, writing, yay on November 21, 2013| 2 Comments »
“Never let perfect be the enemy of the good.”
I just passed 50,000 words on my NaNoWriMo project so I am officially done. Congratulations to the other winners and good luck to those still working!
Now it’s time to get back to… everything else:)
Posted in Writing, tagged Ceallaigh MacCath-Moran, creativity, finishing, inner editor, Motivation, nanowrimo, SF Canada, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on November 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Like a lot of you I have a pretty (read very;) active inner editor. Most of the time we have a good relationship. He’s helpful when I need to find typos or structure a plot line but can be a pain in the ass when I just need to get words on the page. When writing, my strategy has been to find a balance between my instinctive urge to edit as I go and the not-as-helpful urge to redo absolutely everything all the time.
For me, that’s where speed writing comes in.
I was an archer in a former life and found that the best thing to do when I was missing my shots was to loosen up. The best way for me to do that was speed shooting. Forget the rules, forget “nine steps to the ten ring,” forget breathing and pacing and everything else. Just shoot, as many arrows as fast as you can. By the time my quiver was empty I’d regained my sense of balance and perhaps most importantly, my sense of fun. When I became an instructor I found this technique was one of my best for helping students over humps.
That’s why NaNoWriMo appeals to me. I do NaNo because it gives me a structured opportunity to focus on something that the inner editor doesn’t have a part in, word count. If nothing else, it gives me the opportunity to loosen up my writing muscles to the point where I can restore the balance I may have lost editing the rest of the year. It also gets me back in the practice of writing, rather than editing, on a daily basis. And it reminds me how much fun writing can be.
I also found that being mean to my inner editor didn’t work, I had to silence him with kindness. I mentally send him on vacation for the month of November. I thank him for being so diligent, so dedicated, and as a reward I send him somewhere warm, a sunny place with bright blue water and umbrella drinks. (Not surprisingly, he’s a lot less uptight come December.) And then I write.
I should also say that the strategic use of deadlines, both in and out of November, has been critical as well. Having a cutoff date does wonders for my sense of focus.
So, finding a way to get out of my own way, that’s what works for me.
Good luck finding a strategy that works for you:)
.
.
* Thanks to Ceallaigh MacCath-Moran of SF Canada for the discussion that inspired this post.
Posted in Writing, tagged artists, books, Cat Valente, creativity, Fiction, inspiration, nanowrimo, work, Writers, writing on November 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »
As you can see from the widget in the sidebar (just there, to the right:) I am indeed doing NaNoWriMo this year and I’m making decent progress. I am not worrying about writing a work of unimpeachable genius. I am not sweating typos. I am not questioning my character’s motivation or whether he really would want to eat the fried pigeon at that corner street cart (he does, he told me so). I’m just showing up and getting it done.
Show up and get it done. That is a decent summary (ok, paraphrase, she’s a little more forceful:) of Cat Valente’s NaNo Pep Talk for today, and I was happy to see it. I was also happy to see her push for the possibility of writing that is done fast and also well. It’s not all going to be good, but there’s no reason why it should be bad. And no matter what happens, it certainly won’t be a waste of your time.
Check out the Pep Talk, enjoy the wisdom of a voice of experience. Then whatever your project may be, show up and get it done. Good luck!
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