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Posts Tagged ‘Thoughts’

Right and True

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , 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.
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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:)

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Holidays

Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , 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:)

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A Night and a Sky

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , on December 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.
— Vincent van Gogh

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Today’s Quote: 12/14/13

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , on December 14, 2013| 1 Comment »

 

I was thinking about all the things I have to do and the diminishing time in which I have to do them when I came across this lovely quote from “psychiatrist, neurologist and Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl” at the Root Simple blog:

The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his wall calendar, from which he daily tears a sheet, grows thinner with each passing day. On the other hand, the person who attacks the problems of life actively is like a man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it neatly and carefully away with its predecessors, after first having jotted down a few diary notes on the back. He can reflect with pride and joy on all the richness set down in these notes, on all the life he has already lived to the fullest. What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old? Has he any reason to envy the young people whom he sees, or wax nostalgic over his own lost youth? What reasons has he to envy a young person? For the possibilities that a young person has, the future which is in store for him?

No, thank you, he will think. Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and of love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, although these are things which cannot inspire envy.

I think I’ll choose optimism:)

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Trying to Focus Here…

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , 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.

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Nelson Mandela, 1918–2013

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on December 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Nelson Mandela, Inspiration To World, Dies At 95

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair.
― Nelson Mandela

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A Little Inspiration

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , 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.

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Kowal | Don’t blame the homogeneity of your novel on historical accuracy. That’s your choice, as an author.

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on November 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’m busy working on a hard deadline so today I invite you to enjoy this great, self-reflective piece on diversity in historical fiction (and by extension, all fictional worlds) by Mary Robinette Kowal. She’s talking specifically about race but the same points apply to gender, sexuality, etc. as well.

Don’t blame the homogeneity of your novel on historical accuracy. That’s your choice, as an author.

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Silencing the Inner Editor

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , 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:)
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* Thanks to Ceallaigh MacCath-Moran of SF Canada for the discussion that inspired this post.

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I Like: Practical Shoes

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I like practical shoes. They don’t have to be ungainly, or ugly, or orthopedic* but I do like it when shoes are sturdy yet still attractive, appropriate to the task, and preferably waterproof. A help rather than a hindrance.

Sadly, women in TV Land do not often get all of those things. Or even some of those things.

Let’s take a non-random sampling of TV shows as one small example. One of the very first things I noticed** about the private detective show King & Maxwell was that Maxwell, played by Rebecca Romijn, wears practical shoes. Finally! I said to myself (and Mr. Man and the cats, none of whom care much about shoes but should), a show that does not feel the need to undermine its own plausibility by putting its female star in impossibly impractical footwear. Who chases bad guys in stilettos? Who can possibly sneak up on a secret lair in clompy clompy shoes? No one, that’s who.***

Now, I love Castle. Love Nathan Fillion (of course, and may Serenity fly forever, but he’s carved out a nice new niche for himself… one in which he gets to wear practical shoes:p), love the writing, love the humor, but Beckett (played by Stana Katic) should get an Emmy just for being able to walk in the shoes those costumers put her in, much less run and chase and fight and snare baddies.

A frikking Emmy.

And that’s my “thing I like” for today.
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*  Updated because I just received an objection to this bit because the commenter likes their orthopedic shoes, which is fine, I’m just saying that shoes can be practical without being medical. So enjoy your posturally and otherwise functional footwear, people, whatever type they may be!

** Well, after I noticed the kick-ass intro they used for the premiere, complete with great music and a car chase and a man in a furry suit. Sadly, it was followed by the snooze-inducing actual intro which, while stylish in a sedentary way, should be updated as soon as possible. Why put your audience to sleep before they have a chance to appreciate the show?

*** Well, maybe RuPaul, but she’s just that fabulous.

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