Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, home, inspiration, Thoughts, winter, yay on January 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
It’s a snow day! True, I still have to work and all that but regardless, there’s something about a fresh blanket of deep snow that brings back childhood feelings of joy.
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“Perhaps I write for no one. Perhaps for the same person children are writing for when they scrawl their names in the snow.”
― Margaret Atwood
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, Thoughts, writing, yay on December 31, 2021| 1 Comment »
I began this year with the target of writing every day. It was a biggish goal for me, as 2020 put paid to a lot of plans and it had been a long time since I’d written as much as I’d hoped.
For maximum accountability, I decided to use the blog. There’s no cheating if your posts are out there for the whole world to see. It also forces me to have a beginning, middle and end to whatever it is I’m writing. More or less.
The goal was to use the daily post as both goad and guide. Write daily, yes, but about what? The resulting essays range the gamut from magic to writing to science, food, inspiration and more.
Here they all are, a map of both internal and external worlds: #365Ways | J.R. Johnson
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It’s the last day of the year and that brings me to a question: Now that I’ve established this daily habit, what next? Keep the streak going, shift to other forms of writing, all of the above?
Does the time and attention needed to write a daily post serve as a motivator, a distraction, or fuel for other writing? That’s to be determined but I won’t lie, crossing each day off the calendar is satisfying.
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We all have an outer face that we show the world, but the other day someone told me I resembled my blog, which is just about the nicest thing they could have said.
I’m not always positive, productive, happy or sweet, but I do try, and that’s what I’ve tried to share with you.
As we all know, it’s been a long, strange pandemic. While I haven’t learned another language, perfected my tango or taken up blacksmithing, I have managed to make progress on some fronts. More importantly, I’ve tried to find ways to help you look on the bright side of what has been an often dark time.
Three hundred and sixty-five ways, in fact.
Thanks for sharing the year with me. May our next one be bright.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, future, inspiration, the past, Thoughts, yay on December 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I am feeling particular affection for my past self today.
Earlier this year I needed to design and print multiple versions of a complicated spreadsheet. It was the sort of project that should have been easy but was a verifiable pain. After more time on it than I want to remember, I had my printouts finalized. Yay. I have a vague memory of thinking, “Self, this is great, you have this covered allllll the way to the end of the year. Go you!” And then I forgot about it.
Yesterday I went to flip December over to the next sheet. You can guess what happened next.
There is no next printout. The stack only went to December and now here I am at the end of the line.
Usually this would mean having to start over from scratch, trying to remember exactly which hoops I had to jump through to get the end result.
Not this time.
This time, Past Me realized that there was no way I’d remember all the annoying details required in each of the multiple applications used. This time, Past Me not only took notes but also clipped them to the last printout in the stack.
I left myself a map.
And so today I am feeling grateful for my past decisions. I’m also asking a question with the potential to make the future a better destination:
What can I do today to help myself tomorrow?
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, snowy afternoon, Thoughts, yay on December 11, 2021| Leave a Comment »
“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”
― Guillaume Apollinaire
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, home, Thoughts, yay on December 4, 2021| Leave a Comment »
We had snow this morning and now the sun is out, streets are white and skies are blue. It’s lovely. I have work to do but I’m grateful to be able to carve out a little time to drink tea and read by the fire.
Happy Saturday!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, nanowrimo, sff, Thoughts, writing, yay on December 2, 2021| 2 Comments »
To Whom It May Concern,
Enclosed please find my NaNoWriMo after-action report. Please be advised that this AAR is a summary document of an ongoing project and may be reassessed upon future review.
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Project: NaNoWriMo 2021, Modified Edition (a.k.a. NaYes, a.k.a. NaNoFinMo)
Overview, or The NaNo Plan-Mo
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Analysis
Looking back, how did it go?
Notes on the process, using previous related posts and their goals as guides:
Yes, I took on the challenge. Go me.
No, I did not actually finish said story. And yes, I will expect this fact to be reflected in my end-of-year bonus package. No need to remind me.
I am happy to report that I fixed the stopping and restarting problem, picked one idea and rolled with it for the rest of the month.
About halfway through the month I decided that project parameters be damned, I really didn’t care about the word count. At all. What I wanted was a platform to act as a springboard for next steps. So that’s what I did.
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Recommendations & Action Items**
What would I change for next time?
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In Conclusion!
Experimental or not, this year’s NaNoWriMo actually went pretty well. My main takeaway is not to stress very much. Or at all. I’m much more productive when I’m having fun.
Because I didn’t bother with the 50,000 words I didn’t count this NaNo as a “win” in the formal sense. I do count it as a win in the “getting things done my own dang way, thanks very much” sense, so yay.
I may be the only one in this particular race, but still. I win!
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* A guide to NaNoWriMo strategies, including pantsing. I suppose you could say I’m a “plantser” at this point, but really, that’s a pretty terrible word.
** I just wanted to say “action items” because it’s ridiculous and fun.
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #amwritingscifi, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing, yay on November 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »
“Read books. Care about things. Get excited. Try not to be too down on yourself. Enjoy the ever present game of knowing.”
― Hank Green
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #adventure, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, technology, Writers, writing, yay on November 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »
There are a lot of ways to tell a story. Out loud, on a screen, around a fire, on paper, you name it. And structure? Novels, plays, shorts, longs, movies, TV, take your pick, and new technologies mean new possibilities.
This Twitter-based choose your own adventure story is one fun example:
Metaverse Noir on Twitter: “START HERE” by Kathryn Yu
Would you like to know more? Here’s an article about the project.
There are so many ways to be creative, and it’s nice to be reminded that most limits are ones we put there ourselves:)
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #NaNoFinMo, creativity, Fiction, finishing, genre fiction, inspiration, nanowrimo, sff, Thoughts, writing, yay on November 3, 2021| 2 Comments »
I like NaNoWriMo for a lot of reasons. It provides a useful set of constraints, a deadline, and a global group of fellow travelers with which to share the journey. It’s also completely bonkers, in a good way. I remember the sheer sense of glee when I realized that I could actually produce that many words in that short a time.
First question: Can I churn out 50,000 words in a month? Yes, yes I can. Go me.*
Next question, and one that most NaNo participants come up against as the first flush of success fades: Do those words mean anything? Are they useful?
In my case, and no surprise here, the first draft was not 100% terrible but certainly needed work. Writing to a tight deadline with a high word count left me, at least, with the sort of prose I don’t usually write in fiction.
That part of NaNoWriMo wasn’t as helpful to me. This year, I’m rewriting the rules.
So this November I’m being a bit of a NaNo radical. Word count is not my focus. I’ve chosen one story idea and will work on it until it’s done. That’s it.**
The end:)
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* I bet you could do it too. Need a pep talk? Check out the NaNoWriMo archives.
** I may or may not also be participating in an imaginary mentorship program with Ilona Andrews. Because what good is imagination if it can’t take you where you want to go?
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, Fiction, finishing, nanowrimo, Writers, writing, yay on November 1, 2021| 1 Comment »
It’s been a while since I used November for its true purpose, which is (of course) writing a novel in 30 days.
Is it time?
I think it might be time:)
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