Every day you have 86,400 seconds.
Neat huh?
Now, let's make that a week. In a week you have 604,800 seconds.
I'm at work 8.5 hours a day, 5 days a week. So that's 153,000 seconds.
I drive an hour (total) a day to work, 5 days a week. That's another 18,000 seconds
I'm not the best sleeper, but sometimes splurge. I'll be generous and say I get 7 hours a night on average, so 49 hours of sleep total or 176,400 seconds.
Lunch happens at work 5 days a week, so we'll say 2 hours total for Saturday and Sunday including prep, eating, and cleanup time. Another 7 hours will go into dinner every day of the week. I'm not a big breakfast person. 9 hours total, or 32,400 seconds.
At present we've gone to work, been at work, slept, and ate. We're at a total of 379,800 seconds of the 604,800 we have for the week. The next numbers are estimates and likely vary from week to week depending on need and energy.
Another 5 hours goes into grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, and general house maintenance. That's 18,000 seconds.
7 hours for self care, changing, and some odds and ends works out to: 25,200 seconds
Finally, about 10 hours a week is spent on regular social commitments. That's another 36,000 seconds.
My total weekly time spent in seconds: 426,600 seconds.
The total amount of time in a week: 604,800 seconds.
That means I have 178,200 seconds a week not taken up by necessities or pre-planned social engagements.
That's 49.5 hours. That's another full time job. Even allowing for some of the time points I list here to be off, there's still a lot of time...so where does it all go?
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Sunday, November 1, 2015
NaNoWriMo...but not for me
About an hour and a half ago it became November 1st, the official beginning to NaNoWriMo for 2015. I love NaNoWriMo. I've done it several times, and it was responsible for the first three 50k+ word count stories I ever wrote. My first novel was written during NaNo, and while it was horrible it was very important to get done. My second was done during NaNo as well.
NaNoWriMo has been good to me. And yet, this year I won't be doing it. Why? Well, several reasons.
For one, October has been a very long month and November is going to be just as busy if not worse. Among other things, I may be moving and ending up in a house, and work has been busy to say the least. That's not all though.
Among other things, I'm already in the middle of a work I'm writing. For another, I have three or four other manuscripts that need editorial love and re-writing. Effectively, for this year, I'm basically booked up with writing, so NaNo is going to have to wait until next year.
I hope you have fun though, if you're doing it.
NaNoWriMo has been good to me. And yet, this year I won't be doing it. Why? Well, several reasons.
For one, October has been a very long month and November is going to be just as busy if not worse. Among other things, I may be moving and ending up in a house, and work has been busy to say the least. That's not all though.
Among other things, I'm already in the middle of a work I'm writing. For another, I have three or four other manuscripts that need editorial love and re-writing. Effectively, for this year, I'm basically booked up with writing, so NaNo is going to have to wait until next year.
I hope you have fun though, if you're doing it.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
The Year So Far
This is the last week of summer as far as my job is concerned. This coming weekend I work both Sunday and Monday despite it being labor day as college students move into their dorms and start classes on Tuesday. It makes this a good point to look back on the year so far, and honestly - at least as far as writing is concerned - I'm pretty excited.
Somehow without realizing it I've written three (3) novels so far in 2015. To be clear, none have been edited. All are just rough drafts, but still, that is a lot of work. Two of them I know for a fact need a lot of editing, and the third I'm not sure (so probably yes.) Still a lot of work to go on them, but as far as raw content goes it is not bad. Most people write a novel once every never. Even a lot of writers don't do more than a single full manuscript in a year, and here I have 3. It works out to about 260,000 words written, and closer to 300,000 if you include prep work and plotting.
I'm not sure if I'll ever even try to publish one of these three novels, but each one has taught me things. I'm getting closer to having my own style of prep that works for me. I'm learning how to start off stronger and with a plan that will carry me through the whole work. I don't want to say I have any of those skills particularly down now, 3 works isn't enough to test that, but it is a grand improvement over the previous couple years.
Going forward, I'm hoping to write a fourth rough draft in 2015, and perhaps a couple short stories. Fireside is open to submissions this month, and I think I have a couple works I'd like to dust off, wipe down, polish, and submit.
That's my year. How is yours going?
Somehow without realizing it I've written three (3) novels so far in 2015. To be clear, none have been edited. All are just rough drafts, but still, that is a lot of work. Two of them I know for a fact need a lot of editing, and the third I'm not sure (so probably yes.) Still a lot of work to go on them, but as far as raw content goes it is not bad. Most people write a novel once every never. Even a lot of writers don't do more than a single full manuscript in a year, and here I have 3. It works out to about 260,000 words written, and closer to 300,000 if you include prep work and plotting.
I'm not sure if I'll ever even try to publish one of these three novels, but each one has taught me things. I'm getting closer to having my own style of prep that works for me. I'm learning how to start off stronger and with a plan that will carry me through the whole work. I don't want to say I have any of those skills particularly down now, 3 works isn't enough to test that, but it is a grand improvement over the previous couple years.
Going forward, I'm hoping to write a fourth rough draft in 2015, and perhaps a couple short stories. Fireside is open to submissions this month, and I think I have a couple works I'd like to dust off, wipe down, polish, and submit.
That's my year. How is yours going?
Thursday, August 13, 2015
12 Chapters, 20 Days
With my recent writing pace I've been averaging about a chapter a day (less or more on weekends depending) and about 40 chapters to a story. It is a system that works for me. The progress is nice to have. The number of chapters makes me feel accomplished. Best of all, the momentum is keeping me going.
However, the other day I got bit by the bug. You know the one. The bug that tells you what you're working on now is crap and that you should switch gears to this other story. The bug bit me pretty hard. Ideas and scenes flashed before my eyes. I could smell parts of the world. Hear the scrape of steel on steel. It was quite the vivid moment. I was tempted to give in. Thankfully, I've messed up enough times in recent memory to recognize some of the faults. What I had were random ideas and glimpses, not an idea for a plot or even a solid premise. Sure, I had plot points. And yes, I had character elements. But I didn't have full characters, nor a coherent idea. Still, the idea did seem fun.
Looking at my current WIP at the time I had about 15 chapters to go before hitting chapter 40 and the end of my first draft. That made one solution easy to try.
See, last year at GenCon among other things I grabbed a copy of Michael Stackpole's 21 Days to a Novel. I've flipped through the PDF, stolen some of the ideas, but I've never run through the thing whole hog. This, I decided, was my chance to give it a shot.
How does it work? Simple. Every day I need to finish the work on my WIP for the day (finish a chapter, begin the next.) After that, I can follow that day's step for 21 days to a novel. The book works by slowly stepping you through fleshing out one, then two, and then finally three characters before cementing them in the world (and the world around them) and gearing up towards a story. The idea is that by 21 days you have 3 interesting and realized characters who can interact and be at cross purposes with each other.
So far I've done 3 days and am working on chapter 28 of my current WIP. The first character coming out of the 21 days pdf is interesting. Maybe interesting enough to be in the next WIP?
I guess we'll see.
However, the other day I got bit by the bug. You know the one. The bug that tells you what you're working on now is crap and that you should switch gears to this other story. The bug bit me pretty hard. Ideas and scenes flashed before my eyes. I could smell parts of the world. Hear the scrape of steel on steel. It was quite the vivid moment. I was tempted to give in. Thankfully, I've messed up enough times in recent memory to recognize some of the faults. What I had were random ideas and glimpses, not an idea for a plot or even a solid premise. Sure, I had plot points. And yes, I had character elements. But I didn't have full characters, nor a coherent idea. Still, the idea did seem fun.
Looking at my current WIP at the time I had about 15 chapters to go before hitting chapter 40 and the end of my first draft. That made one solution easy to try.
See, last year at GenCon among other things I grabbed a copy of Michael Stackpole's 21 Days to a Novel. I've flipped through the PDF, stolen some of the ideas, but I've never run through the thing whole hog. This, I decided, was my chance to give it a shot.
How does it work? Simple. Every day I need to finish the work on my WIP for the day (finish a chapter, begin the next.) After that, I can follow that day's step for 21 days to a novel. The book works by slowly stepping you through fleshing out one, then two, and then finally three characters before cementing them in the world (and the world around them) and gearing up towards a story. The idea is that by 21 days you have 3 interesting and realized characters who can interact and be at cross purposes with each other.
So far I've done 3 days and am working on chapter 28 of my current WIP. The first character coming out of the 21 days pdf is interesting. Maybe interesting enough to be in the next WIP?
I guess we'll see.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Heading to GenCon
This time next week GenCon will be in full swing, and I will be there. I'm pretty excited. It is my second time going, and somehow I'm even more excited than I was last year. My housemate says it is because I don't have the anxiety about the unknown. Maybe she's right.
Last year I also had more of a plan for when I was there. The Writer's Symposium was a big draw for me, and I attended a good 10-12 hours of lectures given by Michael Stackpole. Considering how much that advice improved my own writing, I'd say it was worth the trip for that alone.
This year the writer's symposium is also a big draw and will be featuring two of my favorite authors in the guise of Delilah S. Dawson and Chuck Wendig. The only problem is, when we made the plans to go last year I made the decision that my focus this time around would be more on gaming. That doesn't mean I can't go to one of the Writer Symposium events (or several) but I do want to get my game on while there.
I suppose we'll see what happens. Last year my friend and I had more fun the days we had vague notions of what we wanted to do and just walked around with generic tickets than we did the times we had specific things we wanted to be a part of. We also tended to stray towards the more professional games. Demos run with WotC sponsorship for D&D 5th, an Edge of the Empire game run by Fantasy Flight Game, stuff like that.
This year, well, we'll see.
Either way I'm excited.
Last year I also had more of a plan for when I was there. The Writer's Symposium was a big draw for me, and I attended a good 10-12 hours of lectures given by Michael Stackpole. Considering how much that advice improved my own writing, I'd say it was worth the trip for that alone.
This year the writer's symposium is also a big draw and will be featuring two of my favorite authors in the guise of Delilah S. Dawson and Chuck Wendig. The only problem is, when we made the plans to go last year I made the decision that my focus this time around would be more on gaming. That doesn't mean I can't go to one of the Writer Symposium events (or several) but I do want to get my game on while there.
I suppose we'll see what happens. Last year my friend and I had more fun the days we had vague notions of what we wanted to do and just walked around with generic tickets than we did the times we had specific things we wanted to be a part of. We also tended to stray towards the more professional games. Demos run with WotC sponsorship for D&D 5th, an Edge of the Empire game run by Fantasy Flight Game, stuff like that.
This year, well, we'll see.
Either way I'm excited.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
What You Know. What You Don't Know
For the Fourth of July a good friend of mine invited me out to the cape to enjoy the fireworks in his hometown while partaking in a friends and family barbecue on his father and brother's lobster boats. The trip was a lot of fun. Enough so that it made the 4 hour drive there and 6 hour drive back (fatigue + traffic slowed us down) more than worth it. It also was an enlightening experience for me. So much of what I saw was knew, and yet much of it was also things I already knew, just made obvious to me in that way that makes them feel so relevant and meaningful.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Progress & Check In
Despite best intentions it's almost been a month since an update here. In May I talked about making small steps towards progress. Today I'm happy to report that things are still on track.
I am not sure how far I have made it from my starting point, but I know I have made progress. Some is small ways. I'm increasing my average amount of steps taken each day using a step tracker. I'm still far from the recommended 10,000, but I am doing better than I was before. I have been writing nearly every day. In fact, a story I started on May 13th is 4 chapters from having a draft done right now. Today I am scheduled to write chapter 36, and yes that means I am averaging more than a chapter a day if only by a little. My living area has recently taken a step back, but not in a large way. I started it back on track just yesterday.
The best part of all this though is that by focusing on small steps I am not feeling daunted by anything. I'm not looking at the large goals and judging my progress to them, I am looking at the small goals. I have expectations for my day, and people (or person) to help me meet them and keep on task. Every day I have a feeling of progress, and that also is helping my mental state and keeping me move forward, at least so far.
For anyone out there mired in a rut and not sure how to get back on track, try doing it in small steps. You don't need to clean your whole house. Just clean one corner of one room. Tomorrow clean another corner and take a minute to maintain the previous corner if it got dirty. Do it in small steps and enjoy the progress. Don't let the enormity of the final task confront you. Had I told myself on May 13th that on June 15th I would have written Chapters 1-36 of this story I don't think I'd have ever done it. 36 chapters at even just 2k words a day is 72,000 words.
So how did I do it? Well, for starters when I say I intend to write chapter 36 today what I mean is I intend to finish chapter 36 today. I've already written the first 300-600 words of the chapter. I don't need to write 2k words, I need to write 1.5k words. Once that 1.5k words is done and the chapter is finished, I'm done. Except that the blank page is scary and what is another 300 words at that point? So I'll get some amount of words done on Chapter 37. Then, tomorrow I'll just have to finish Chapter 37.
I help myself with this in other ways to. Every chapter has to end at a point that draws the reader into the next chapter. You know what draws the reader? The same stuff that draws the writer. That means my daily writing consists of building up to something and ends with a resolution and the start of the next thing. Resolution and start is easy after buildup, it has a flow, but that also means that when I start writing that the start is already done and I just have to do the next build up.
Small steps are key. Small steps make a big journey manageable. Give it a try. It works, at least for me.
I am not sure how far I have made it from my starting point, but I know I have made progress. Some is small ways. I'm increasing my average amount of steps taken each day using a step tracker. I'm still far from the recommended 10,000, but I am doing better than I was before. I have been writing nearly every day. In fact, a story I started on May 13th is 4 chapters from having a draft done right now. Today I am scheduled to write chapter 36, and yes that means I am averaging more than a chapter a day if only by a little. My living area has recently taken a step back, but not in a large way. I started it back on track just yesterday.
The best part of all this though is that by focusing on small steps I am not feeling daunted by anything. I'm not looking at the large goals and judging my progress to them, I am looking at the small goals. I have expectations for my day, and people (or person) to help me meet them and keep on task. Every day I have a feeling of progress, and that also is helping my mental state and keeping me move forward, at least so far.
For anyone out there mired in a rut and not sure how to get back on track, try doing it in small steps. You don't need to clean your whole house. Just clean one corner of one room. Tomorrow clean another corner and take a minute to maintain the previous corner if it got dirty. Do it in small steps and enjoy the progress. Don't let the enormity of the final task confront you. Had I told myself on May 13th that on June 15th I would have written Chapters 1-36 of this story I don't think I'd have ever done it. 36 chapters at even just 2k words a day is 72,000 words.
So how did I do it? Well, for starters when I say I intend to write chapter 36 today what I mean is I intend to finish chapter 36 today. I've already written the first 300-600 words of the chapter. I don't need to write 2k words, I need to write 1.5k words. Once that 1.5k words is done and the chapter is finished, I'm done. Except that the blank page is scary and what is another 300 words at that point? So I'll get some amount of words done on Chapter 37. Then, tomorrow I'll just have to finish Chapter 37.
I help myself with this in other ways to. Every chapter has to end at a point that draws the reader into the next chapter. You know what draws the reader? The same stuff that draws the writer. That means my daily writing consists of building up to something and ends with a resolution and the start of the next thing. Resolution and start is easy after buildup, it has a flow, but that also means that when I start writing that the start is already done and I just have to do the next build up.
Small steps are key. Small steps make a big journey manageable. Give it a try. It works, at least for me.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Baby Steps - Big Things Are Made of Smaller Things
In the beginning of May I talked about April being a tough month and had a fairly down revelation about what I was doing with my life. Today I'm following up on that, because, well, I figure if I started the whining on here I can continue with it.
So how have things been going?
So how have things been going?
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Depression, Sickness, and Motivation
April was a rough month.
I don't say that to apologize for a lack of updates. I don't say it for pity. I say it because, to me, April was a rough month. Somewhere along the way I let the month get the best of me. This May, I'm trying to take my life back.
The thing is I live a very simple life. Whatever my dreams/goals, my life is ridiculously simple. Every day I wake up, I go to work, I come home from work, I play League of Legends with a friend, and I go to sleep. On the weekends I mix in table top RPGs with friends, and replace work with house chores.
That is it. That is my life. It's not even a bad life. There are people who would kill for this luxury.
Realistically, I am working towards two goals this year. I say realistically because they are the only things I am working on with any regularity. The goal I am working hardest on is I want to get Gold ranked in League of Legends. The goal I should be working hardest on is I want to be a published author able to make a living off of my writing.
So what happened in April? I got sick. I had bad luck in League of Legends and played badly causing me to lose rank. I received numerous rejections in short order for a short story that I feel is the best thing I've written to date. Not just rejection letters, but form rejections "not even worth my time to give you a quick note about why" rejection.
It hurt. It was a soul pain. Bad enough I'm not doing anything with my life, but I can't even win in a video game and the best I can write gets summarily rejected from anywhere I can find even willing to look at it?
To say the least, I didn't have much energy to try the last couple weeks...which is just as well because, like I said, I got sick. Or maybe I got sick because I didn't have the energy to try, or to care.
So what happens now? As I write this it is 12:54am on a work day. I have to be up in 6 hours to go to work and I should be sleeping. I have a never ending stream of "motivational" videos going on my second monitor.
I want to say that this is my moment of epiphany. This is the moment I make the decision that sticks and work from here to re-arrange my priorities and move on. I'd love to say that this is the day I say "my shit gets in order and stays there." But that's not how this works, and everyone on the internet should know that.
This post is reading like a journal entry and I don't care. If nothing else this blog can serve to chronicle my thoughts and feelings and experiences along with whatever else ends up on here. If I make it bigger than I could ever dream, maybe someone will find this post someday and see that even those who made it hit these moments. Even if I don't, maybe someone else will see it and go "hey, that guy has those moments too."
Change takes motivation, and I have never been big on motivation when it comes to myself, not for the long term. However, I do like straight talk. One of the videos on youtube makes the claim that "most of us don't want success, we only kind of want it." It then goes on to say "you don't want it more than you want to sleep." I think that's a fair point. It's a reminder. More importantly, it's a reminder you can hang up near yourself.
Do I want to be a writer, or do I want to already be a writer? It's a fair question. One does the work. The other is envying the lofty position of the one who has already done the work. How bad do I want to be a writer? Do I want to be a writer more than I want to read reddit? Do I want to be a writer more than I want to eat lunch at work? Do I want to be a writer more than I want to play a game of League of Legends? More than I want to sleep?
Momentum is hard to build. Motivation is hard to keep. Setbacks and obstacles are numerous. It takes a special person to stay motivated and to want something enough that doing something else just doesn't even occur. The rest of us have to work at it. We need reminders. We need to think. We need to let logic win out over emotion, because waiting for inspiration to strike and take hold is going to a casino and waiting for luck to make you rich.
What am I afraid of? Am I afraid of failure? Am I afraid of success? Am I afraid of change? Does it matter? Change done gradually enough is not perceptible except in reflection. Choices though, small choices, those we can make. Make them the right way enough times and it adds up.
Do I want that icecream right now more than I want to be healthier?
Do I want I want to play that videogame more than I want to be a writer?
There's nothing wrong with either answer. Somedays, sometimes, we'll need that icecream. Somedays and times we'll need to destress with that videogame. But most of the time? I doubt it. Make the choice. But to do that you have to recognize the choice.
I'm going to try to start there. Right now though, I want to be awake for my work day tomorrow more than I want to continue to wax poetic on this blog.
We all have our struggles. Some are more romantic, more realistic, or just plain seem more serious than others. That doesn't change the fact that we all have our own, and by their very nature they are struggles.
I don't say that to apologize for a lack of updates. I don't say it for pity. I say it because, to me, April was a rough month. Somewhere along the way I let the month get the best of me. This May, I'm trying to take my life back.
The thing is I live a very simple life. Whatever my dreams/goals, my life is ridiculously simple. Every day I wake up, I go to work, I come home from work, I play League of Legends with a friend, and I go to sleep. On the weekends I mix in table top RPGs with friends, and replace work with house chores.
That is it. That is my life. It's not even a bad life. There are people who would kill for this luxury.
Realistically, I am working towards two goals this year. I say realistically because they are the only things I am working on with any regularity. The goal I am working hardest on is I want to get Gold ranked in League of Legends. The goal I should be working hardest on is I want to be a published author able to make a living off of my writing.
So what happened in April? I got sick. I had bad luck in League of Legends and played badly causing me to lose rank. I received numerous rejections in short order for a short story that I feel is the best thing I've written to date. Not just rejection letters, but form rejections "not even worth my time to give you a quick note about why" rejection.
It hurt. It was a soul pain. Bad enough I'm not doing anything with my life, but I can't even win in a video game and the best I can write gets summarily rejected from anywhere I can find even willing to look at it?
To say the least, I didn't have much energy to try the last couple weeks...which is just as well because, like I said, I got sick. Or maybe I got sick because I didn't have the energy to try, or to care.
So what happens now? As I write this it is 12:54am on a work day. I have to be up in 6 hours to go to work and I should be sleeping. I have a never ending stream of "motivational" videos going on my second monitor.
I want to say that this is my moment of epiphany. This is the moment I make the decision that sticks and work from here to re-arrange my priorities and move on. I'd love to say that this is the day I say "my shit gets in order and stays there." But that's not how this works, and everyone on the internet should know that.
This post is reading like a journal entry and I don't care. If nothing else this blog can serve to chronicle my thoughts and feelings and experiences along with whatever else ends up on here. If I make it bigger than I could ever dream, maybe someone will find this post someday and see that even those who made it hit these moments. Even if I don't, maybe someone else will see it and go "hey, that guy has those moments too."
Change takes motivation, and I have never been big on motivation when it comes to myself, not for the long term. However, I do like straight talk. One of the videos on youtube makes the claim that "most of us don't want success, we only kind of want it." It then goes on to say "you don't want it more than you want to sleep." I think that's a fair point. It's a reminder. More importantly, it's a reminder you can hang up near yourself.
Do I want to be a writer, or do I want to already be a writer? It's a fair question. One does the work. The other is envying the lofty position of the one who has already done the work. How bad do I want to be a writer? Do I want to be a writer more than I want to read reddit? Do I want to be a writer more than I want to eat lunch at work? Do I want to be a writer more than I want to play a game of League of Legends? More than I want to sleep?
Momentum is hard to build. Motivation is hard to keep. Setbacks and obstacles are numerous. It takes a special person to stay motivated and to want something enough that doing something else just doesn't even occur. The rest of us have to work at it. We need reminders. We need to think. We need to let logic win out over emotion, because waiting for inspiration to strike and take hold is going to a casino and waiting for luck to make you rich.
What am I afraid of? Am I afraid of failure? Am I afraid of success? Am I afraid of change? Does it matter? Change done gradually enough is not perceptible except in reflection. Choices though, small choices, those we can make. Make them the right way enough times and it adds up.
Do I want that icecream right now more than I want to be healthier?
Do I want I want to play that videogame more than I want to be a writer?
There's nothing wrong with either answer. Somedays, sometimes, we'll need that icecream. Somedays and times we'll need to destress with that videogame. But most of the time? I doubt it. Make the choice. But to do that you have to recognize the choice.
I'm going to try to start there. Right now though, I want to be awake for my work day tomorrow more than I want to continue to wax poetic on this blog.
We all have our struggles. Some are more romantic, more realistic, or just plain seem more serious than others. That doesn't change the fact that we all have our own, and by their very nature they are struggles.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
On Rejection
Rejection is a big part of being alive when you think about it. Looking for a job? You face rejection. Looking for a date? You face rejection. Looking to make it in some kind of creative career? Rejection is the norm, even for the successful.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Flash Fiction: Chicago Fizz - Terribleminds Flashfiction Challenge
Another week another Flash Fiction challenge from Terribleminds head guru, Chuck Wendig. This week's prompt? A random generated cocktail drink whose name serves as the title of your piece. Not sure if this gives bonus points or not, but I used the drink itself in my post and the purpose of the drink inspired the piece itself.
That said, not sure how much of a story this is. Also, this is - at present - an unedited rough draft. I'm using these to practice creation more than editing, but I'll try to come back and clean it up later on if I can. Click the link above to see the challenge, and maybe make your own entry?
That said, not sure how much of a story this is. Also, this is - at present - an unedited rough draft. I'm using these to practice creation more than editing, but I'll try to come back and clean it up later on if I can. Click the link above to see the challenge, and maybe make your own entry?
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Flash Fiction: The River Stole The Gods - Terribleminds Challenge
As promised, here is a bit of Flash Fiction from one of the weekly Terribleminds flash fiction challenges. The challenge for this week was to work one of a group of random lines into the story. So that is what I did. I'm not sure how well it worked out, so I'll leave that up to you. I consider this more of a writing sketch than a finished work, so be warned.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Japanese Phrases: Ganbatte!
When someone goes in for a job interview or is going to perform in a play, sporting event, or something like that we tend to wish them "good luck." The idea is that we want them to do well, and so we wish them luck in their endeavor. However, in Japan in the same situation you would tell the person "Ganbatte" (or "Ganbattekudasai" if you wanted to be more polite, but that may also be awkward westerner Japanese.)
Pronunciation: gone - bot - tay (like day w/ a t instead of the d)
Pronunciation: gone - bot - tay (like day w/ a t instead of the d)
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
About Here
Confession time: I've spent a lot of the last couple weeks, when I did think of this blog, thinking about what I want to do with this space. See, Reality Refracted is easy. That is a blog about Table Top RPGs, and it has been going for 5 years now so that's pretty impressive. It is a dedicated space and I like it. This blog was formed so I could write about other stuff....only what that other has included has been kind of out there.
That said, I do want to maintain this space. I think a place to get some thoughts down, especially non-gaming related thoughts, is important. But what to do here?
I think the name is important to the blog. Shattered Refractions started as a play on Reality Refracted like I'd used for the gaming blog. Both of them have to do with writing and story telling. I think I'd like to keep that going.
So what is the plan?
First, in the interest of producing more, finished, works I'm going to put a real effort into getting some sort of weekly flash fiction up here. Most often this will be following the prompt from Chuck Wendig's Terrible Minds blog.
Second, I will chime in here on occasion about shows, movies, books, and other forms of media.
Third, I'm going to allow myself to venture off topic and discuss other things. Sometimes that may be video games and my trials and challenges as a Bronze level League of Legends player. Other times it might be something more poignant.
The problem is that big mission statements and forced lifestyle changes don't work very well for me, but small shifts can work wonders. This transition will be slow. Most likely it will start with the Flash Fiction stuff only and go from there. Hopefully it will grow and blossom.
Slow and steady wins the race, a journey of 5,000 miles starts with a single step, and all of that jazz. :)
That said, I do want to maintain this space. I think a place to get some thoughts down, especially non-gaming related thoughts, is important. But what to do here?
I think the name is important to the blog. Shattered Refractions started as a play on Reality Refracted like I'd used for the gaming blog. Both of them have to do with writing and story telling. I think I'd like to keep that going.
So what is the plan?
First, in the interest of producing more, finished, works I'm going to put a real effort into getting some sort of weekly flash fiction up here. Most often this will be following the prompt from Chuck Wendig's Terrible Minds blog.
Second, I will chime in here on occasion about shows, movies, books, and other forms of media.
Third, I'm going to allow myself to venture off topic and discuss other things. Sometimes that may be video games and my trials and challenges as a Bronze level League of Legends player. Other times it might be something more poignant.
The problem is that big mission statements and forced lifestyle changes don't work very well for me, but small shifts can work wonders. This transition will be slow. Most likely it will start with the Flash Fiction stuff only and go from there. Hopefully it will grow and blossom.
Slow and steady wins the race, a journey of 5,000 miles starts with a single step, and all of that jazz. :)
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
New Years Round Up and Resolutions
It being December 30th, it seems a good time to get my crap in order for going into the New Year. Now, I'm a firm believer that starting something new, or trying to change something about yourself, just because it is the new year is a planned destined to fail. However, if you want to change something for yourself, or for some other powerful reason, the New Year can be a great time to do it for both the symbolism and the extra energy that is going on around this time.
For me, I only have one major resolution that I want to get done this next year. It is something I have been working on for years, and with every year I am getting better and closer at it. The resolution? I want to write every day.
I'm not setting a word count on that. I've tried before. I tried with 2k a day, then 1k a day, then 500 words a day, and in all cases all that does is build up and make it harder to get back to work because the amount of missed words is so big. However, when partway through the year I switched to just trying to write everyday I noticed something. I started producing a lot more.
Two years ago I wanted to write four novels in the year. I failed laughably at it. Right now, I've got three separate manuscripts that are just a few thousand words shy of being finished first drafts. I am hoping to have two of them finished before the end of January, but the Holidays have kind of slowed things down.
This is a change I know I can make. Momentum is a wonderful thing, and the freedom to be able to know I at least wrote "something" will help get through some of the harshest days.
So, how about you? What do you want out of yourself for the next year?
For me, I only have one major resolution that I want to get done this next year. It is something I have been working on for years, and with every year I am getting better and closer at it. The resolution? I want to write every day.
I'm not setting a word count on that. I've tried before. I tried with 2k a day, then 1k a day, then 500 words a day, and in all cases all that does is build up and make it harder to get back to work because the amount of missed words is so big. However, when partway through the year I switched to just trying to write everyday I noticed something. I started producing a lot more.
Two years ago I wanted to write four novels in the year. I failed laughably at it. Right now, I've got three separate manuscripts that are just a few thousand words shy of being finished first drafts. I am hoping to have two of them finished before the end of January, but the Holidays have kind of slowed things down.
This is a change I know I can make. Momentum is a wonderful thing, and the freedom to be able to know I at least wrote "something" will help get through some of the harshest days.
So, how about you? What do you want out of yourself for the next year?
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
End of the Year
We're fast approaching the End of the Year, so how are folks doing? Bogged down with stress? Remarkably well?
This year I feel so strange about it. I'm aware it is December 10th, but I keep feeling like we have yet to reach Thanksgiving. It is a strange feeling, especially considering how crap I know it is.
I'm hoping to have a few more posts here before the new year. Recapping my year, asking about yours, and plans for the new year at the very least. For now though, how is December treating you?
This year I feel so strange about it. I'm aware it is December 10th, but I keep feeling like we have yet to reach Thanksgiving. It is a strange feeling, especially considering how crap I know it is.
I'm hoping to have a few more posts here before the new year. Recapping my year, asking about yours, and plans for the new year at the very least. For now though, how is December treating you?
Sunday, November 30, 2014
End of November
Today marks the 30th of November. I'm back home after a few days away with family and a very dead, but very tasty, turkey. How did November treat you? For me, on personal projects at least, November was productive. I made it across the 50k line for NaNoWriMo, and while I still have a lot of story to write I'm also a huge chunk through it. I have similar project on my other story where I believe I'm somewhere in the 60ks and going from there.
Video game wise November was a month for finishing things. I managed to wrap up Alien Isolation, Shadow of Mordor, and Assassin's Creed: Rogue over the last couple of weeks - all while maintaining my League/World of Tanks habit and beginning a Dragon Age: Inquisition problem. I'm excited for this though. When I'm in the mood to finish things it tends to hit everything around me, and the fact that I'm going out of my way to fight my inclination to drift to new shinies for things as trivial as games bodes well for more serious projects (writing!)
Beyond that, December is here now. A month of panic and charging through the stores to grab Christmas gifts for the family and close friends. Thankfully, as real life ramps up work tends to ramp down so that's nice. If things go well for me I should be finishing both first drafts I currently have going in December. Maybe I'll even get the other rough draft I have sitting in the 70ks finished as well. That'd be a hell of an end to the year, wouldn't it?
But that's it. I hope November was as good to you as it was to me at the very least!
Video game wise November was a month for finishing things. I managed to wrap up Alien Isolation, Shadow of Mordor, and Assassin's Creed: Rogue over the last couple of weeks - all while maintaining my League/World of Tanks habit and beginning a Dragon Age: Inquisition problem. I'm excited for this though. When I'm in the mood to finish things it tends to hit everything around me, and the fact that I'm going out of my way to fight my inclination to drift to new shinies for things as trivial as games bodes well for more serious projects (writing!)
Beyond that, December is here now. A month of panic and charging through the stores to grab Christmas gifts for the family and close friends. Thankfully, as real life ramps up work tends to ramp down so that's nice. If things go well for me I should be finishing both first drafts I currently have going in December. Maybe I'll even get the other rough draft I have sitting in the 70ks finished as well. That'd be a hell of an end to the year, wouldn't it?
But that's it. I hope November was as good to you as it was to me at the very least!
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
NaNoWriMo - Update 2 - The Slushy Middle
I've lost some traction on my story. Yesterday was the first day I didn't write at least the 1.666k that NaNo requires. I'm not sure how it happened. I was off from work the whole day, but somewhere between being a bit sick, minecrafting with my housemate, and trying out Assassin's Creed Rogue the whole day was lost. Beyond that though, my progress has slowed.
On day 3 I was over double the word count that was required for that point, sitting pretty at 10k+ words. Today, November 12th, I'm sitting just shy of 30k. I am still way ahead of where I should be, but it has slowed.
So what happened? Part of it has been doing other stuff. Days of hard writing made my brain want other things. Other things are enticing. But what actually happened is I hit the middle of the story. Even for a 90k work, 30k is in the middle of the story. Even worse it can be where things hit the hardest. Stuff starts happening slower. Things stop beginning, but it's not yet time for them to end. It's the mucky middle that happens after the shine of new story wears off and you're left alone with a word count, a pile of words you don't want to abandon, and the self loathing you can only experience during creation.
Now I'm not giving up. I have a plan, and going forward it should work. I know what needs to happen, new characters are about to be introduced, new aspects of the story (it's almost like my plan accounted for hitting the muck right here) and the police are getting closer to finding out my MC is responsible for not one but two dead bodies.
I just need to get home and write it.
How is your story going?
On day 3 I was over double the word count that was required for that point, sitting pretty at 10k+ words. Today, November 12th, I'm sitting just shy of 30k. I am still way ahead of where I should be, but it has slowed.
So what happened? Part of it has been doing other stuff. Days of hard writing made my brain want other things. Other things are enticing. But what actually happened is I hit the middle of the story. Even for a 90k work, 30k is in the middle of the story. Even worse it can be where things hit the hardest. Stuff starts happening slower. Things stop beginning, but it's not yet time for them to end. It's the mucky middle that happens after the shine of new story wears off and you're left alone with a word count, a pile of words you don't want to abandon, and the self loathing you can only experience during creation.
Now I'm not giving up. I have a plan, and going forward it should work. I know what needs to happen, new characters are about to be introduced, new aspects of the story (it's almost like my plan accounted for hitting the muck right here) and the police are getting closer to finding out my MC is responsible for not one but two dead bodies.
I just need to get home and write it.
How is your story going?
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
NaNoWriMo Update #1 - A Hopeful Start
As of this writing it is the beginning of the day on November 5th and my NaNo word count - after 4 days of writing - sits at just over 15,000 words. This has me well on track for a 100k NaNo, which isn't the plan but awesome none the less.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Tomorrow NaNoWriMo Begins
I'm bad at keeping this blog updated. I'll fix that later. For now I want to make sure that those who do read this blog are aware that NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow.
If you don't know, NaNoWriMo is an international event where people try to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Now a real novel is like 70k to 100k words, but NaNo isn't about making a finished product. It's about getting a zero or very rough first draft done so you have something to work with.
Personally I've done NaNoWriMo four times so far. I've "won" three times and failed once. This year I'm intending to give it another whirl and starting a new story idea at midnight tonight.
Over the course of the month I hope to use this blog for weekly updates on my progress, and my thoughts. I'll include thoughts on some of the pep talks that go out or different parts of writing the novel.
I hope you'll join me. It's a fun event.
If you don't know, NaNoWriMo is an international event where people try to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Now a real novel is like 70k to 100k words, but NaNo isn't about making a finished product. It's about getting a zero or very rough first draft done so you have something to work with.
Personally I've done NaNoWriMo four times so far. I've "won" three times and failed once. This year I'm intending to give it another whirl and starting a new story idea at midnight tonight.
Over the course of the month I hope to use this blog for weekly updates on my progress, and my thoughts. I'll include thoughts on some of the pep talks that go out or different parts of writing the novel.
I hope you'll join me. It's a fun event.
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