writing | J.R. Johnson

“Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.”
— Nolan Bushnell

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African Futures

Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, Africa, ASU, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Writers, writing on November 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

While I’m more of a written word sort of a person, you may have noticed that this thing called a (checks notes) “podcast” has become something of a trend;)

If you are a fan of the spoken word, speculative fiction, futurism, African writers, writers in general and interviews with same, this new series from Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination might be just the ticket.

The Imagination Desk: Introducing Griots & Galaxies

The Center for Science and the Imagination is proud to present the new podcast Griots & Galaxies! This is a ten episode series hosted by Jenna Hanchey, Chinelo Onwualu, and Yvette Lisa Ndlovu that explores the work of ten African speculative fiction authors and imagining new futures for the continent.

Here’s a link to the series page.

Podcasts: Center for Science and the Imagination

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An Uncommon Place

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #wotf39, creativity, interviews, podcast, scifi, speculative fiction, Thoughts, writing on October 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I was recently invited to be a guest on the West Virginia Uncommon Place podcast. It was a fun interview, and I enjoyed the opportunity to explore multiple facets of writing, including how the landscapes and ideas we think of as home influence our creativity.

An Interview with Jennifer R. Johnson: Unveiling the World of Science Fiction Writing – WV Uncommon Place | Podcast on Spotify

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Countdown to Winter

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, haiku, Thoughts, writing on October 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Warm days can’t disguise

the seconds, minutes, hours

lost with each sunset.

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Notification of Erratum, or, Whoops!

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, erratum, Thoughts, writing on October 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This morning I realized that, through a combination of tight timing and incomplete record-keeping, I repeated a quote a couple of weeks apart.

These things happen when you are:

writing every day
working out post ideas using a collection of drafts (many, many drafts)
rushing, because sometimes the cat needs his dinner like now, human, now!

The relevant posts are Consulting My Inner Eight and There’s Always A Right Person.

The relevant quote belonged to Richard Osman, writer of the charming Thursday Murder Club series. I’ve replaced the duplicate quote with another quote from the same book.

While I apologize for failing in my self-appointed task of sharing new, interesting and entertaining posts, I’m not sorry for doubling up on Mr. Osman. His work is fun, touching, thoughtful and often witty and I again recommend it if you’re into that sort of thing.

What sort of thing would that be, you may ask? The “octogenarians are clever, interesting people too and also murder murder murder” sort of thing. What’s not to love?

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The 2023 Hugo Award Winners

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, Hugo Awards, inspiration, Worldcon, Writers, writing on October 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

My timing’s a little off (thanks, International Date Line!), but the 2023 Hugo Awards were announced this weekend at Chengdu Worldcon in China.

Here is the full list with winners highlighted: 2023 Hugo Awards | The Hugo Awards.

If you’re interested in short fiction, here’s the winning short story, by Samantha Mills:

Rabbit Test – Uncanny Magazine

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On Avoidance, and Its Discontents

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #blueskysomewhere, creativity, meh, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

In which I share a snapshot from my creative life, acknowledge that progress isn’t always linear and look forward to funner times.

What is it about avoiding a project that causes it to snowball into its own sort of blockade?

I’ve talked about creative friction before, and it’s a bit of a process. (I don’t care who you are, the life of an artist is not all productivity and acclaim. Some days are just slow like molasses.)

It’s not just “the project” itself I’m avoiding now, it’s the increasingly large speed bump that has been growing between me and it. At this point, I’m having trouble even seeing the original idea, just the mountain standing between me and the task that’s been haunting my to do list for lo these many weeks.

Avoidance takes on its own power, not replacing but adding to existing barriers to action.

So much of what paralyzes us when we’re stuck isn’t the act we’re supposed to be doing, but rather the questions that hover above the act like a curious vulture. “Why is this so hard?” “Why am I not making more progress?” “Should I be doing something else instead?” “How much longer do I need to spend on this?”
— Adam Alter, Anatomy of a Breakthrough

The good news is that the opposite also holds true. Action dismantles both types of barriers, or allows you to bypass them altogether.

The other good news is that it helps to remind myself that my key to creative progress has always been to tilt my perspective far enough that “must focus” becomes “must have fun.”

And that I can do.

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