I really didn’t expect to throw myself into this change the way I have. Change is always difficult, and it can be more sweeping than we realize. I’m going to make myself more mindful of what I eat (yes, moreso than before). I need to adjust my sleeping schedule. And I have to get serious about blogging before the day a post should go up.
I was hoping to complete Chuck’s Super Ultra Mega Game of Aspects this week, but I ran out of time. As much as I’ve nailed down how and when to run, as well as where and how to lift, there’s still some scheduling changes that need to happen to I can accomplish other non-fitness goals. As much as I feel like I’m slowly but surely winning this fight against weight gain and sloth, I don’t want to lose out on my writing, or any of my hobbies.
If this means I have to start getting up earlier in the morning, so be it.
So last week I talked about having goals, which in the case of the stories I’m writing means finishing Cold Streets and at least one other novel by the end of the year. The best way to get there, I would say, is one word at a time, but thanks to Chuck, I can move at a bit faster pace than that.
Writing a novel in less than a year can seem daunting, even to experienced authors and especially to mostly untested wordsmiths like myself. We’re talking tens if not hundreds of thousands of words, all within an ultimately limited timeframe. Like a pizza or a cake, however, you can manage things better if you divide it into smaller pieces. Hence this handy guide from Master Wendig. I highly suggest you check it out.
Other than last night, I’ve managed to stick to this, even working on multiple stories in one night. It definitely is easier to grok what needs to be accomplished when you’re worrying only about the next 350 words, not the next 3500. Weekends off is a neat idea, but I might squeeze in a few words here and there. I’ll also be checking out a local gym or two and building myself up to start running. This year already feels different…
I’ve been dropping words here and there into Cold Streets this week. I have the feeling that I’m reaching the top of the hill, and that in a couple hundred words, things are just going to take off. Moreso than the first novella, this one is taking its time getting to really juicy peril, and I hope people like the time it takes building on relationships and exploring new perspectives.
Both Godslayer and the sci-fi noir project have been getting some attention from me, as well. I’ve spent some time wondering what other media could be used to convey these stories. Do I hit up an artist to put one of them out in webcomic form? Should I teach myself a game engine and put my programming chops to use in something other than the dayjob? At this point, I’m still operating under the ‘novel’ assumption, but things can always change.
Basically, my goal is to have two major tales done by the end of this year, Cold Streets and perhaps one of the others. To do that I have targets to meet on a daily and weekly basis, much like I will for the renewed attempts I’ll be making at fitness (more to come on that). The more I examine how I spend my days and nights, the more I see that there’s plenty of time for me to get everything done, as long as I actually take the time to plan things in advance. Life will happen, of course, but the more I prepare beforehand, the more I’ll be able to roll with the punches.
If you’re anything like me, you saw Chuck’s post on the Authorial Sludgebody yesterday and resolved to follow his beardy, foul-mouthed example: pick up the pace on exercise and more closely monitor diet. Great! You might have even hit certain goals, like getting in an entire hour of exercise (be it all at once or broken into chunks) and avoided sweets or soft drinks as much as possible. Wonderful!
Now it’s the next day. Guess what? You have to do it again.
This is probably the hardest part. Establishing good habits is much more difficult than falling into bad ones. We are creatures that crave comfort, and putting stress on our bodies through exercise is often less comforting than getting in just one more episode of Antiques Road Show or just one more deathmatch in Counter-Strike. But that weight is not going to leave on its own, and your energy levels won’t raise themselves; you have to actively cultivate that habit.
The more consistently you repeat a behavior, the easier it becomes to incorporate it into your daily life. Shooting to go for a run at the same time every day is admirable, but it might not always happen, and if it doesn’t, what then? Skipping it simply doesn’t work (talking from experience, here). You have to carve out time for it, much like you must for writing, or else the creature comforts with which we surround ourselves will start their siren’s song. If you don’t have a concrete goal with which to lash yourself to the mast, you’ll be adrift in the undertow of leisure activities before you know it.
This is a wonderful opportunity for me to remind you that you’re not always going to get it right.
I talk a lot about rejection and failure here, but we face many more defeats every day than just those from outside sources. We miss a deadline we set for ourselves; we break down and indulge in that taste of chocolate; we lose track of time and let some distraction eat up an hour we’d set aside for productive work. I will remind you that these things are not in and of themselves hallmarks of failure; they’re little more than speedbumps and pot holes in the road to our success, and the best way to get there is keep moving forward. Keep trying. Try harder.
While Edison may not be as interesting or as brilliant at Tesla, he did say something I agree with. Instead of failing 1000 times to invent the filament-powered light bulb, his philosophy was that he discovered 1000 ways the filament-powered light bulb does not work. If a day goes by and you miss a chance to get some exercise or writing or other endeavor in, congratulations! You’ve discovered a schedule that doesn’t give you what you want. Sure, you might have dinged another level in your game or gotten another couple episodes of Pawn Stars under your belt, but tomorrow you can hammer out a different timetable, and maybe get closer to some of your other, less convenient goals.
And when you find those timetables, they’re easier to repeat, and repeat, and repeat again.
Success isn’t just talent. It isn’t just luck or fate or knowing the right people. It’s perseverance. It’s resolving to keep trying even if it means disrupting your schedules, stepping out of your comfort zones, thumbing your nose at expectations. It’s doing things that help you rather than hinder you, and doing them again and again, even if the hindrance comes in the form of a delightful hobby or distraction. It’s repetition.
So, that thing you did yesterday when you were all inspired? That calorie goal you met, that soft drink you refused to pick up, that timestamp you hit with one step after another on the walking path or treadmill?
Do it again today. And tomorrow. And the day after that.
In addition to Cold Streets, I’ve been handed what amounts to a writing assignment for work. Unfortunately, I’m not interviewing anybody cool in the industry or crafting an expose on something juicy, I’m writing about myself. It’s self-evaluation time around the office, and it turns out that ‘myself’ is one of the hardest things you could ever ask me to write about.
As much as writers tend to be a narcissistic lot, reviewing one’s own performance tends to be difficult for me. I have a tendency to focus on things I do wrong in the course of executing my duties, which is also why I tend to get bogged down when editing my own work. Hell, I’m even having trouble writing this entry about writing about myself. It just strikes me as uninteresting. I’m not going in-depth about some psychological issue, talking about my fictional works, or recounting the tale of a trip to a convention or exotic location. I’m just rattling on about my day-to-day goings-on, and those are about as exciting as dusting your home or doing your laundry or picking bits of unwanted vegetables out of your salad.
Hopefully I can wrap that Damocledian tedium up today and get back to the really important stuff in my life, like writing Cold Streets, playing more games to review, and preparing for PAX East.
