Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Motivation, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Action is hope. At the end of each day, when you’ve done your work, you lie there and think, Well, I’ll be damned, I did this today. It doesn’t matter how good it is, or how bad—you did it. At the end of the week you’ll have a certain amount of accumulation. At the end of a year, you look back and say, I’ll be damned, it’s been a good year.
— Ray Bradbury
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, inspiration, magic, Thoughts, Writers of the Future on January 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »
tl;dr Mr Man has mad shopping mojo.
Those who know me know that I am not a big shopper. Maybe I’m hard to fit or just hard to please, but shopping trips typically mean returning home empty-handed after hours of “maybe” and “nope, sorry” and ”almost, but.” Frustrating, made doubly so by the fact that I only shop when I really need something. Like an outfit for a fancy writers’ gala.
So when Mr Man and I headed out to search for black-tie-worthy wear last week, my expectations were low. Typically, we go shopping for me and I find exactly nothing, but Mr Man magically stumbles upon that thing he wasn’t even looking for in the perfect color and fit, no hassle necessary. I call it his shopping mojo.
This time, he offered to transfer his mojo to me.
It doesn’t work that way, I said. Magic isn’t something you can just hand off to someone else, like an ice cream sandwich or a toaster. I wish, but no.
Ok, he said, but let’s just go see what’s out there. I’m sure we’ll find something that will work.
I agreed, (not so) secretly braced for potential disappointment.
But then a miracle occurred! The dress I saw online was actually in stock at the store around the corner. It fit. And it was on sale, as was the matching necklace. Unpossible! For what was possibly the first time ever, I had an excellent shopping experience.
I remained unconvinced about the magic mojo, though. Pure coincidence, I said. Or at least, just scale-balancing after my previous bad shopping karma. It can’t last, surely.
And I still needed shoes to go with the dress.
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Today, we went out again, this time on the hunt for that most elusive of prizes, the cute yet (relatively) comfortable dress shoe.
Not a chance, I thought. I mean, I found some possibilities online and they looked good, but would they be in stock when we got to the store? Would they feel as good as they looked? Would the heel be manageable, the color match, my feet agree that three years in slippers was long enough?
I don’t know about that last bit but we got to the store and there they were: the perfect shoes, elegant and comfortable (relatively), with a low yet still stylish heel. (Chances of tripping on my way up to the stage? Minimal, and that’s really all I can ask for.) While they did not come in silver (as a sci-fi writer this did, I admit, cause some sadness) they were available in always versatile black.
Mr Man’s mojo had struck again. And as I was about to check out, Mr Magic had one more spell up his sleeve.
Look, honey, he said, here’s the same style in an even cooler pattern. There’s only one pair left but I think it’s your size?
It was. And because Mr Man’s mojo is top notch, that funky cool pattern was also on sale. Now I have an outfit I feel good in and I didn’t have to drain my Gringotts account to do it.
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And that is how I discovered that you don’t have to be born with magic. It can also be shared.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I have come to the conclusion that I typically have enough space in my brain for two things a day: work and one other project.
Today, my brain overfloweth.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, cozy is as cozy does, genre fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »
You know how some nights you’re looking forward to a nice relaxing book by the fire? … But then you realize that “cozy mystery” is really just another way of saying “obstruction of justice.”
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Kafka, music, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Some days you wake up with a story idea crystallized in your mind, bright and shiny and ready to go. And some days you wake up with “She’s An Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins stuck on repeat.
Guess which kind of day I’m having.
The funny part is that it’s not a song I’ve ever actively liked, I wasn’t dreaming about anything related to its subject, and it’s not the sort of fiction I tend to write. I mean, it’s not as if the song is about the lead singer of a band telling the story of how he stumbled into a dark street one night after a show and into the arms of a beautiful and deadly vampire or anything.
Right?
So maybe there’s a story seed here after all. I still don’t know why this particular song came to me at this particular time, but that’s the wild and unpredictable nature of creativity for you.
“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.”
― Franz Kafka
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.”
― Beatrix Potter
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, back to work!, creativity, Fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Where has this day gone? Despite constant motion since pre-dawn, I have accomplished exactly two of the many things on my list for today. Ok, fine, three if I stretch it. It’s time to buckle down and finalize the edits on this story.
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”
― Alexander Graham Bell
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, writing, yay on January 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“You are perfectly cast in your life. I can’t imagine anyone but you in the role. Go play.”
— Lin-Manuel Miranda
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, editing, Thoughts, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on January 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Today’s post-day job project is to start editing the final proof of my Writers of the Future story. Because words are magic, even when they have typos.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“Imperfection inspires invention, imagination, creativity. It stimulates. The more I feel imperfect, the more I feel alive.”
― Jhumpa Lahiri, In Other Words
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