Tag: Real Life

Reset

Every so often, I fall into a bit of a funk. Sometimes, it’s depression or anxiety, but sometimes it’s more about things that are happening in my life that are beyond my control. My anxious brain hates losing control, so it often decides to lock up rather than face things I can control. I’ve gotten better at seeing these funks in advance, but they still sneak up on me every so often. When I get stuck, it can be hard to get out. So, for the sake of anyone who gets stuck, here are a few things I do to reset my brain in an attempt to get some control back. (Obviously, I encourage therapy for anyone who thinks they need it and know that these are only quick fixes that help get through the tougher spots)

  1. Go for a Hike:
    This one is probably my favorite and usually my default. There’s nothing like going deep into the woods and shedding the worries of the human world into the boughs of the tall trees. It gets harder when you need to think about the weather, but getting out of the same routine/place can be really invigorating to me.
  2. Bake:
    This one is probably more people’s cup of tea for the rewards built into it! There’s something about the methodicalness of baking that I find very relaxing. You find a recipe, collect the ingredients, mix them together as instructed, and pop them in the oven. Plus, a nice, warm baked good can be good for the soul.
  3. Photography:
    Taking pictures is another one of my passions. There’s something about focusing through the lens of a camera (pun intended, of course) and blocking out the rest of the world. Whether it’s something indoors or nature photography, I find that shifting my creative gears with no expectations can be really good for my brain.
  4. Reading:
    This one can really depend on the funk or the book, to be honest, but it can work really well in the right circumstances. There’s a comfort in a story, particularly one that you know really well. The words are welcoming and kinder. When everything outside is out of control, knowing that things will work out in the right book is a small glimmer of hope that the outside will work out as well.
  5. Meditate to Music:
    This is better when I’m wrestling anxiety because it gives me a chance to work exactly what I’m feeling and how. It’s hard to embrace the feelings without judging them, but taking time to really sit with some music to help focus my thoughts can give me a chance to really zero in on what’s bothering me and what I can do to fix it.

If you find yourself in a funk, what do you like to do? Do you turn to your passions and push through or do you try to enter the things you love without bringing negative emotions into it?

Lunch Time Novelist

Let’s be honest. Having a writing success land into your lap is unlikely. It takes effort, luck, and time, which are resources few people have in spades when it comes to starting their writing careers. So, the solution is to work while writing and hope for the big break to come along. I’ve often called myself a “lunch break novelist”, taking time on paid breaks to sneak in a little bit of creative time to up my word count (even if it’s a few frantically written ideas on a scrap paper that I’ll have to decode later). With all of the jobs I’ve worked, I’ve decided to go through them all and list the pros and cons of each of the jobs I’ve worked and determine which is the best for burning the Creative Oil.

  1. Library Assistant – Where better to work on writing than in a building surrounded by books! The quiet atmosphere, the literary osmosis from having so many books pass through your hands and a first person perspective on what people are checking in and out on a regular basis! Learn from the best and find new books to read regularly.
    Pros: Quiet space, lots of inspiration, people to talk books with, and access to just about research material you could need! And, unlike a bookstore, there’s very rarely an exchange of currency for people to get upset over.
    Cons: Breaks are often short, hours can be erratic, and weekends are often spent in the stacks. The timing isn’t ideal, but if you can start and stop the writing process easily, it’s not a bad fit. Keep a notebook on your person for ideas and new authors to read!
  2. Office Work/Data Entry – The truly romantic story of an artist wading their way through the corporate swamps is the classic tale for every new writer. The hours are pretty regular and you can plan your time accordingly. Most offices have a break room as well, which can give you a small space to work over the course of a lunch break.
    Pros: Regular Schedule that’s easy to plan around. Nights and weekends can be committed to creative endeavors. If you can find an isolated spot with your laptop, you can get a good chunk of writing done without distractions like internet or minor household chores.
    Cons: Soul sucking work that can be creatively stifling. Mindlessly pushing numbers around or doing basic procedural work can make the creative part of your brain lethargic and tired. Make sure it’s an office where you can leave the work at work and preserve the writing time for writing. Nothing worse than saying “Someday” over and over again until someday becomes yesterday.
  3. Dishwasher/Restaurant Worker – I’ve worked in quite a few restaurants and it’s always come with it’s fair share of characters! Customers and coworkers alike can make for some interesting character fodder.
    Pros: Easily separate work and creative time, lots of time to think about stories and get inspired, lots of social interaction for dialogue study.
    Cons: No real ‘Break Room’ (usually an over turned bucket in the back), hard to stop work to scribble down ideas, mostly working nights/weekends can be overwhelming very quickly when the dinner rush hits, physically exhausting.

So, while I don’t think there’s a “Best Job” for writers, I think that each job has its pros and cons. Personally, I can’t see myself working anywhere other than a library and I think that it’s the best fit. There might be some writers who prefer having the consistent schedule of a desk job or the fast-paced environment of a restaurant. Any number of jobs have factors that can make them good or bad, but since no two writers are the same, there is no perfect job for all writers.

If you’re a writer, what parts of your job encourage or encumber your creative process?

Closing Chapters

This is a bit of a hard one to write. After almost 5 years in Seattle, I’m afraid that I’m leaving the city. Whether or not this will be my last time living here or not, I don’t know for sure. Regardless, this feels a bit like the close of a big chapter of my life, so I wanted to reflect on that a little here. So, this is equal parts update and journaling.

I came out to Seattle on–almost–a whim. I had just wrapped up Graduate School and wanted to try something very different from small town New England life. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for in the city, but the only way I could describe it was “an adventure.” The only person I knew out here was my second-cousin, so it was about as far from my comfort zone as I could go.

Since moving out here, I’ve lived in three different apartments of various sizes, worked four different jobs and made countless friends. I really came into my own when it came to my asexuality, my independence, and ability to improvise in difficult situations. I started playing Dungeons and Dragons. I (basically) learned how to cook. I really applied myself to my writing and my photography. I had my first serious relationship out here (I don’t know if that ties more into my asexuality or moving, but it’s included in this chapter for the sake of the chronology). I self-published my first book. There were some difficulties along the way, for sure. Being on the other side of the country from a majority of my family was difficult and I had to learn a few lessons the hard way. I was working multiple jobs to make rent (sometimes going 14 or 15 hour days to make everything balance) and none of them were really fulfilling or satisfying by the end.

It’s been a ride of ups and downs. Some of my friends I made within a couple weeks of moving out here and I still see them on a weekly basis to this day. I’ve made some really great connections here and I’ll keep those after I leave. I learned a lot of skills, both professional and personal. I learned a lot about myself and discovered the boundaries that I need to work on for myself.

I don’t know what the next step is now. It’s a bizarre and wild time to move, so most of my efforts has been focused on moving. When I get to my next step, I’ll decide then, but I know that my writing will stay constant. Right now, my writing has been a rock in all the confusion of the world right now. I feel like creating is my therapy and my writing has always been what brings me the most peace.

I move at the end of the week with a very early flight and, as sad as I am to leave the city behind, I’m excited to see what happens next.

If you haven’t yet, go and pick up a copy of Found Mysteries: The Rebirth of Violet Franklin and Other Tales. It’s been doing pretty well so far and it’s been exciting every time I hear someone else has read it.

New Year, New Words

Last year, I started with a simple goal: 365 words a day, every day, for the entire year. The goal was to build up stamina and be consistent in forming writing habits. My goal was to go an entire year Raptor-Free (meaning that I don’t miss any days) and I actually managed to pull it off!

New Years Resolutions are always kind of hit and miss. I’m used to having a strong star followed by a slow decline. However, this resolution went very well! Below are some more elaborate statistics and facts.

Average Words Per Day: 1,092 Words
Best Day: August 20- 5,837 words
Worst Day: January 22- 376 words
Total for the year: 398,443 words

I feel like I learned two main things from the project. Firstly, I learned that consistency is a skill. Having accountability, in the company of other writing groups or personal family, was actually crucial in building my writing stamina.

The second thing is that there’s a difference between “Finding the Time” and “Making the Time” when it comes to writing. Even when I working full-time, I would wake up early to get my writing time in before going to the office. I know myself well enough to know that I wouldn’t want to write after working a full day. Waking up early to write was sometimes the best part of my day.

This year, I’m planning on doing more editing and submitting (gulp!) and I’m attempting to do all three things (Writing, Editing and Submitting) in a slightly more even distribution than just writing nothing but new material. I’m calling it the W.E.S.T. (Writing, Editing, Submitting Tally). I have a lot of raw ‘Novel Fodder’ to work with and I’m looking forward to tackling the new year with new opportunities to put my writing out there! If there are any other writers who want to join me in this (or attempt their own 365 for 365), feel free to let me know!

Thank you to everyone who’s stuck with me for 365 of 365! Stick around for more fiction, more thoughts and a lot more excitement in the coming year!

What’re you workin’ on?

Anyone who’s a creative (visual artist, writer, musician) dreads and fears this question. How do you consolidate weeks, months or years worth of work into a few sentences? It’s daunting, especially when you’re trying to justify all the time and effort spent making your art.

For me, answering this question results in a few vaguely connected sentences about what I’m currently working on. Usually, it ends with ‘…or something like that, I’m still working on it.’ This year in particular, with my goal to write four hundred words a day, I have three or four projects cooking at any given time. Either short stories or novel length projects, drafting has been my main goal this year. The answer to this question changes so often, it could be one thing during one week and something completely different not long after. So, I usually try to mention whatever project I’m working on: Dinosaur Westerns, Endless Summers, Werewolves, Fauns in the Modern World, or whatever else might draw someone’s interest.

As much as I’m enjoying my writing streak (which I plan to go more in depth about in January), I’m also looking forward to being able to sit with what I’ve written and really make sense of it all. I think a lot of artists feel this way at some point: so many rough ideas, sketches or tunes that you need to just get out on paper. In a way, it’s freeing to do it, but there’s so much going on that it’s hard to make sense of it all at once.

Hitting the Books…

Recently, I’ve been doing some subjects that require some substantial research. Pirates, cowboys, space travel…I’m willing to bet my search history looks like an eclectic hummingbird buzzing from article to article for an information high.

I’m always a fan of using libraries and will usually check out a few books on new subject when I first start working on a story. I’m also a big fan of documentaries and YouTube videos from historians. A favorite channel of mine is ‘It’s History’. Seriously, if you have an afternoon, jump on down that rabbit hole.

I love talking with other writers about things they’ve searched for for the purpose of a story. Below are a couple of examples of questions I or my writer friends have researched for in the pursuit of fiction.

“How much does an elephant cost?”
“What bones could you lose in your hand and still have it work?”
“How much is a human liver worth?”
“What poisons can be transferred by touch?”
“How did pirates get their peg legs?”
“What’s the cost of cocaine in 1975?”
“How long can a person survive in subzero temperatures?”
“How to survive a bear attack?”

I always feel like I should end every search with “it’s OK, I’m a writer!” What’s some of the weird questions that your research has brought you to?

Workin’ for a Living

“Don’t quit your day job.”

Every artist, comedian, musician or other creative has heard this at some point. It’s well-meaning advice in some cases, but sometimes given in a less friendly tone. This coming week, however, I am not taking that advice.

Yes, I’m leaving my current place of employment. Without going into too much detail, it was a good run, but there’s a time when things come to a natural stopping point and I felt that I was there. And while I’m not the first desk jockey with dreams of leaving their office with dramatic flair, I haven’t been the first writer to also shuffle papers during the day.

So, both as inspiration and a little brain storming for myself, here are some famous writers who started out pushing the 9-5. I stumbled on this interesting article, but here are some of my favorites!

Arthur Conan Doyle started his career as a surgeon. This actually makes a lot of sense considering Holmes’s famous sidekick was a surgeon as well. According to some lore, Holmes was actually based off of another surgeon that Doyle met who could analyze people and learn things like their hobbies, professions and living conditions.

Jack London was a self-proclaimed Oyster-Pirate, stealing oysters from oyster farms and selling them himself. Eventually, his piracy turned to honest sailing work that probably inspired his many adventure stories at sea.

Charles Dickens was a factory worker for a period of time. And by “period of time” I mean when he was 12-Years-Old and working in a factory. I can’t help but feel like this inspired the dynamic to the group of orphans in Oliver Twist. By the way, the name of one of his coworkers? Bob Fagin.

Jack Kerouac had a number of odd jobs, including dishwasher, night guard, fire lookout, deck hand and rail brake operator.

Stephen King– Famously, Steven King was a high school janitor while writing Carrie, what would become one of his classics.

Obviously, some of these aren’t very practical for me (though, Oyster Pirate sounds like a great career choice). But in a very real way, it’s comforting to know that there’s no one singular path in life. Whether that means you drop out of an Ivy League school and become a teacher like Robert Frost or start your career as a Theatre Critic writing in his spare time like Bram Stroker, if you have drive–and a lot of luck–you’re only a few steps away from the job of your dreams. For now I’ll just have to keep sending out resumes and keep writing in the early hours before the rest of the world wakes.

Spoilers (A Subject, Not Content)

If you’ve been near the Internet in the last few months, you’ve probably seen posts along the lines of “No Spoilers about XYZ” or similar. People do their very best to avoid ruining the big plot twist of a book, movie or TV Show. We’re all guilty of walking into the office and covering our ears to keep people from blabbing the big reveal. Reasonably, how long can we demand this as the standard?

Firstly, as soon as something comes out, you have to give at least as long as the media itself takes to absorb. A movie? Give it a couple days. TV show? At least a day. A book? Better be prepared to wait awhile. Even after these time durations, you’re only allowed to ask if someone has seen something. The most I tolerate after this period is “Oh, let me know when you’ve seen/read it!” I encourage excitement, but would much rather experience why I’m excited about it myself. This is the usually the first week. 

The second week gets a little fuzzier. By now, more people have viewed whatever media you’ve worked so hard to avoid. By this point, people still have to ask if anyone has seen it in the room before talking about it. At this point, it’s up to you to inform others of your intent and the responsibility they have in preventing spoiling your view experience. Don’t expect conversations to come to a screeching halt, but feel free take a walk about so people can share their excitement. Brace yourself, here comes the doozy…

Week three. Somehow, you’ve done it. The minefield that is the speed of Internet has not taken you out with a misplaced article title or untagged blog post. You’ve bobbed and weaved through conversations with friends and family and managed to stay spoiler free. Still, you better hurry. If you haven’t made time to see that movie/episode or made the time to read that book? You’re deep in the trenches of Spoiler Mountain. 

That, for me, is a good guideline for when you talk about new media. For books, I give it a little bit longer, but if you’re complaining about me spoiling Star Wars or Dark Knight Rises? You knew the risk going into this game. 

The Work Space

Some of you may have heard that I moved recently, but it occurs to me that I never told you about my new writing space. I have a bedroom with an actual door (which is a big upgrade) and I moved my kitchen table into the bedroom to try and make it a proper desk. The thing I love best about my new space is the window that lets me look out and see the big tree that’s starting to show it’s leaves now.

The biggest difference from my old workspace is that I have a little egg-timer at my desk now. I used to time myself on my phone, but it was a little awkward and my anxiety brain kept checking it and interrupting my writing. The new set up lets me check frequently and provides a regular drone for me to write to. I do my best scene blocking to music, but I’m finding I need quiet as I write.

When I’m not at my desk, I bring my laptop to work and tend to write on my lunch breaks. We have a few conference rooms and it’s rare that they’re all in use, so I can close myself off for an hour and get some writing done over a sandwich. When they are all used? I just eat and work at my desk.

It’s very important to me that I have a special place to get my writing done. The secret for me is that there’s a little splash of green. Whether that’s a real tree outside or a plastic ficus inside? I’ve had to be flexible.

Writers on the move!

Currently, I’m at 30,000 feet. Sadly, I have not inherited a zeppelin, turned it into my floating base overlooking the city below. That comes later.

I am currently on a plane to California where I’ll be spending the weekend away from work and with my wonderful girlfriend. But it does pose something worth noting. On the one hand, I am very glad to be away from the usual humdrum of work and the city shuffle. However, I also want to keep up with my usual writing goals. To date, I’ve been able to make at least 400 words a day (and sometimes even a1000). So I intend to make my minimums, at least.

How do writers continue to work on the go? What challenges do we face? Time? Space? Resources? For some people, it’s a question of what to do when you aren’t surrounded by your pens, reference books or away from Wifi.

  1. Editing- This one depends on your style of editing, but I like the idea of being stuck in the air without Wifi or any other distractions. I like to crack open my laptop and whatever my current project is and making some tweaks that I’ve been meaning to do. You might need a dictionary app (I have one on my phone that I can use) if that’s your style. Most of my travel editing time is spent with word choice and content, so it’s a good way to pass the time.
  2. Brush Up Your Query Letter- No one likes doing this, but frankly, it’s an important thing to do. If you got ten minutes in the morning, you can prepare your next Query Letter for your current project.
  3. Flash Writing- When I’m in a new place, I like taking notes in a notebook throughout the day and then use those notes to recall as much as I can later on. The ability to build scenes is the bread and butter of a writer. I like to describe places that I visit in as many details as possible, make stories for random people that I see and journal things I’ve done and seen throughout a day. It takes a few minutes at the end of the day (or beginning of the next day), but it keeps your writer brain active the entire time you’re out and enjoying new things.
  4. Rest Your Creative Brain- If you work a day job as your side hustle (like myself), having some time to rest your creative brain is just as important as resting your day job brain. Focus on the details around you, but really take time to experience thing.
  5. Make A Post For Your Blog- Patting my own back on this one, but writing out a post for your website to post for later is a quick and easy way to get some ‘real work’ done. It’s not the most fun way to spend part of your vacation, but it’s definitely a useful way to spend flights, train rides or road trips (Planes, Trains, and Automobiles…those are the big ones, right?).

At any rate, I’m off and away! Some well earned Rest and Relaxation.

How do you keep your writing brain a little active during times when you’re on vacation? Let me know your strategies for writing on the go!

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