Blog Post No. 514
I’m a little embarrassed at how long it took me to get back into the edits on the Invasion Novel, but I’ve finally started to go over Christian‘s notes. As I suspected (and worried about) he had a few big picture suggestions that will really make the book better. The problem is that now I have to make those changes which involves going through the whole novel and making sure I connect all the dots so it makes any kind of sense.
Blog Post No. 493
Christian was at Shock Stock last weekend and I can’t tell you how disappointed I was that I didn’t go with him. (But let me try. I was very disappointed). I’ve mentioned a few times recently that I don’t feel comfortable at public gatherings yet. That means he had to make the difficult decision to go without me. I know he must have been torn, but he soldiered on alone—with his family. His daughter filled my roll admirably, selling stickers (and probably drawing in more people than I would have with my dumb books). Continue reading “Missing the Sessions”
Blog Post No. 489
As I get older, the weeks go by faster and faster. It’s a common phenomenon that was shaken up by the nearly two-year-long shutdown. During that odd period, time lost some of its meaning. The months would blink by, but the days would sometimes drag. The temporary change seemed to soften the edge of the speedy weeks in exchange for a potentially worst manipulation of time.
Blog Post No. 480
January was tough. All my shifts at the day job were cancelled (as I mentioned recently) which means I had no money coming in. The plan was to use the time to write short stories and get ahead on the edits for Snow from a Distant Sky. Unfortunately, despite the free time, I just couldn’t seem to get motivated at all. Continue reading “2006”
Blog Post No. 460
I’m still sitting on the first draft of Snow from a Distant Sky right now. I need to leave enough time between drafts to get nice and critical about my own writing (and to forget a little about what I meant when I wrote awkward sentences so that I can notice and fix them). The trick is not waiting too long and deciding what to do in the mean time. I’ve found that I need at least two weeks between the first and second drafts (though three is better) but I’m still not great with effectively using that down time. Sure, I don’t have to be totally productive at all times. It’s a good thing to take a break and burning out is a real potential problem. My issue is falling out of the routine and picking it back up again. Continue reading “Down Time”
Blog Post No. 443
I’ve picked myself up off the floor, dusted my myself off, and gotten back to work. It’s only a start, but I feel like I’m rebuilding the routine with editing the Invasion Novel. I’ve said it many times, but routine is everything to my productivity. With a good routine, I can get a lot of work done with time to spare. I still have to get back into the daily workouts. As little as they were, I felt good getting at least that much done regularly, and having the novel and novella to write helped me keep at it (and vice versa). Getting a little exercising in helps with sitting in front of the computer for hours at a time, too. It’s nice to feel like I’m building some steam again, but I’m not necessarily out of the woods. Continue reading “Morning, Noon, and Night”
Blog Post No. 413
It’s been a week since my last post, somehow. In a year with not a lot to say, for some reason, last week was even less worthy of a blog post. I kept up my struggle with editing Break/Interrupt (yay) making some progress but not enough. I had a nice video hang out with Arvin over the weekend. I, uh. I’m not really sure what took up the rest of my time. Part of the problem is that my routine has been shaken up and I’m really good at blaming that for my lack of motivation. Another part is that nothing is really happening and it’s a miracle that I’ve been able to come up with topics each week up to this post. And finally, I still haven’t been able to get my feet under myself after that three month marathon of daly writing. Continue reading “Kitten Bomb”
Blog Post No. 403
As you probably know, I’ve been home from the Day Job since early March. There are a lot of people in similar situations, and to be honest, it hasn’t been too bad for me. With Employment Insurance and the Emergency Benefits, I’m not really losing much money. (Some months may have even been better than what I sometimes get since the Day Job fluctuates so much). With the various stages of opening (for better or worse) across the province where I live, some folks have been going back to work, and many more are scheduled to when my area hits the third stage and schools open. As for me, I’ve been officially informed that my Day Job won’t be reopening until 2021. Continue reading “Called Off”
Blog No. 388
The last thing I wanted to do on this blog was to write a post (or several posts) about the quarantine. I’ve mentioned it in a couple of my previous posts, but my attempt was to do so only in regards to other topics (ie a book release, writing a novel, and being laid off). Now I’m in what feels like simultaneously a weekend and ten a year of being at home. My book is still out (and I’ve done a few deliveries to people in the city) I’m still writing the Invasion novel, and I’m still laid off. I’m also still having trouble sleeping, but magically, getting into a habit of reading before bed has helped a little there. Two birds, one stone. The problem is, that’s it. I watch too much TV and play too many video games (same as always but more) I spend more time making food, and, I go to bed and wake up and do it again. Continue reading “Scratching out a Day”
Blog No. 224
Time and time again, I’ve learned the hard lesson that it’s harder to get back into a routine than it is to stick with one. The trouble with that in regards to writing (at least as far along as I am) is that writing is only a small aspect of putting out a book. Right now my to do list is full of editing, and for some reason, I can’t get into the same daily habits as I did in January when I was writing. Part of it is that I have more than one project on the go, but even further, I have more than one medium on the go. Hot on the heels of the Wii Like To Podcast Anniversary Show, Arvin and I are still working on our new podcast (and it’s starting to become a time sink). Flags and High Fives is a retrospective on WLTP and so far, the first episode has taken us several weeks to hammer out. Continue reading “Flags And High Fives”
Ben Van Dongen 