Rockin' the Suburbs

The official return of Jonc' Whiteboard Writing Schedule worked out pretty well for September, all things considered. The output was a little lower than I wanted it to be, but on the other hand I am using the non-project exercises to a good extent. The numbers below give me a good idea where my strength is and where I need to adjust.

( Numbers and Plans below this here cut )

It took awhile, but my writing habits are becoming solid again. It's obvious that my best course of action when this needs to be done is to use a schedule, and to stick to it. Nearly every weekday morning at my 9:30 break, I step away from my work PC and my home PC, grab the moleskine notebook under the monitor stand, and write a journal entry. I write about pretty much everything there...whatever's on my mind, unedited. This space in particular, I try not to let the internal editor interrupt, so my sentences might be wonky, there's a lot of scribbled-out words, and questionable word choice. But that's one of the reasons I started doing it--to write something and not edit myself in the process. No one's going to be reading it except myself, so why hold back?

There's also the weeknight sessions writing Walk in Silence. The funny thing is that I'd completely forgotten what it felt like to jumpstart the creative juices when the session starts--I've been revising and rewriting the trilogy for so long that it feels like a new process again. Given that I'm currently writing about my teen years, every night has started with the same exact feeling that homework is due tomorrow, and I haven't started it yet. But about fifteen minutes in, once I push myself to keep going, I feel the pistons catch and I'm off to the races. I've been doing just shy of a thousand words a night, and I'm already about halfway through chapter two.

This is by far the fastest book I've ever written, even more so than The Persistence of Memories, for a few reasons. First, it's not going to be nearly as long as the trilogy books. I'm thinking the first run-through will be close to about 50-60k, give or take? And I'm at 7k now. Much editing and revising later, but at this rate, I could possibly be done before summer's out, which surprises the hell out of me. I guess that's what happens when you're not writing epics!

I've also scheduled myself to start blogging at the WordPress sites again. As said last week, my schedule has cleared somewhat, so I'm able to resume work on them again. I've already posted a few, so it's a matter of keeping it up at this point.

There's still a few other things I need to start picking up again--the drawing and the poetry, in particular. I know, I've been slacking and/or putting it off. But these are like the journaling and the blogging--for me, it's just a matter of shutting the hell up and doing it already. And given that our weekends will be relatively quiet for the next month, I should have more time to devote to it as well.

There's another action I need to take as well, to get these things in motion: making it obvious that I need to work on them. I have a terrible time with distraction, the "out of sight, out of mind" issue where if I don't have a to-do list or a schedule or have it written on a calendar, I don't always remember to follow through. I have the moleskine sitting on top of a new composition book just waiting to have entries put into it. And both of them are sitting on top of the Wacom tablet. And next to the monitor is another moleskine--this one unlined and just waiting to be drawn in.

Again--the only thing that's missing for those is the schedule. I like schedules. They keep me from slacking off and guilt me if I don't follow them. So what does this mean? Perhaps adding these things to the whiteboard again?

Maybe so.

What is it with me and Best Laid Plans, anyway? I think it's partly due to distraction, and also due to finally giving myself some mental time off for a while. Well, that's not entirely true. I've been doing some serious longhand journaling and sorting some personal things out in the process. This is what happens when I choose to diarize something (is that a word?) and not share it with the world on one of my blogs...the voice changes from being "on" to being true to myself, unedited and uncensored. It's weirdly refreshing and eye-opening. It's been a relaxing couple of weeks, not having my creative brain in constant overdrive.

Still...I'm not exactly behind any schedule, because I currently don't have a schedule, other than working on my Walk in Silence outline. It's coming along...shockingly long at around 35 pages in the current iteration, though I'd say roughly 1/3 or so is filed with lists of songs and albums I'll possibly be referencing. The framework is coming along nicely, as I can better see how I'm going to tackle the actual writing--it'll definitely be in the form of a memoir, but there's going to be a lot of geeking out about music, radio, and collecting. I will admit that in the back of my mind, I already have an idea of a few publishers I'd like to send this to, but I'm not going to focus to seriously on that until I'm closer to the end of the writing part of it. I know of a few agents who might be interested too (I floated this book idea by them a few years ago at the SF Writer's Conference, and they all thought it was a cool idea), so I may go in that direction as well.

Nonetheless...after a few weeks of finishing off the Great Revision, it truly feels weird not to be focusing on anything trilogy-related. I've got a few possible story ideas in the back of my head that take place in that universe, but I'm not going to focus on them just yet. I did, however, write a few of them down on scraps of paper and add them to my Glass Jar of Ideas that I have on my desk. This is another idea I'd had, to create a "job jar" where I would write down various snippets of ideas, fold them up and toss them in the jar for further use. The jar is woefully scant at the moment, as I haven't given myself time to freeform anything new, but I'm hoping to change that in June.

So what is on tap for June '14, anyway? Well! Glad you asked.

--The End of the Mental Vacation. Sad to see it go, but it's time for me to get back on the creative highway and get going.
--Blog Entries. I'm over a month behind on them and, as said, haven't given myself time to work on any. I'll most likely be writing them during the week in between the WiS work (or during slow moments during the day, if there are any), and posting them on the weekend.
--Poetry. I'm ready to start longhand poetry again, for varying reasons that I may or may not go into at a later time. Not sure if these will ever be posted, but the main idea is, like the journaling, to do it on my own time, for myself.
--Art. Geez, I haven't been able to do this in a while, either! Hopefully I can plug in the Wacom and get some doodling done again. It's been WAY too long.

So yes...June promises to be the start of another wave of creativity. Here's to hoping it works out! :)

Eep! Been awhile since I last updated here. Let's do a recap:

--Been a crazy busy year for me, personally and otherwise. I have wanted to work on side projects, but many of them have stalled for no other reason than I've been focusing mostly on the Trilogy revision during the week and the Blogging the Beatles posts on the weekends. I haven't really been able to work on anything during downtime at work (such as the 750 Words or uploading pictures/poetry), simply because there hasn't been any downtime lately. Things are finally quieting down, however, so perhaps it's time for me to jump back in.

--Speaking of pictures...I've been having a hell of a time trying to upload pictures to not just Tumblr but my WordPress blog, but I'm beginning to think it's an IE quirk. The uploads work just fine on some days, but stall others. I was able to upload just fine on Chrome, so perhaps I should utilize that browser for visuals from now on. For the record, I'm not an IE hater...it has its issues, but 98% of the time it works just fine for me, so I see no reason to abandon it. The only issue that remains is figuring out how to tweak the pictures I've taken with my phone--about half the pictures I take are showing up as upside-down or sideways when I try to upload them to Tumblr or elsewhere, and it's a pain in the butt to tweak them. Lastly...I may have been looking at low-end cameras that are a step up from my current one. I'm not actively looking to buy one at the moment, but I am window shopping. I do get some neat shots from my current camera, but I'd really like to take some more professional-looking pictures as well.

--With other side-projects, I'm hoping to get into the music thing again right soon. I finally broke down and bought the newest version of the NCH software at Fry's [the famous computer/appliance store down in Palo Alto where all the original Silicon Valley computer nerds have always gone to--it's a lovely ride and takes you past the Stanford campus too]. I plan on installing the software in the next day or so and working on that project on the weekends. As mentioned much earlier, the current iteration of my solo music work is going under the name of Drunken Owl...I just need to start working on the songs in my head now!

--As you might have noticed, I'm in the home stretch on the Blogging the Beatles posts. I've got two albums and a small handful of singles left to go before I'm done with the series. So what will I do from there? Well, since I had such a fun time working on it, I'm thinking I'd like to go over a few albums and discographies of other bands in a similar fashion. I did a few previously (like the Love and Rockets 5 Albums review), and would like to cover the some other classic alternative albums. I think the next non-Beatles post may be about the reissues of We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It!!'s two albums that came out earlier this year--they're an interesting duo of albums worth checking out.

--The Great Trilogy Revision Project is moving ever forward. I'm a little over halfway through Book II, which means I'm right about at the halfway point for the trilogy itself. That's saying something, considering I started this major revision late last year. I'll go into detail on that in another post later on, but for now I'll just say that I'm quite happy with the outcome. I'm also looking forward to finishing it up so I can truly start working on a new main project--something I haven't done in a few years, come to think of it! Not sure what it'll be, but I have a few contenders. As for the trilogy...I have sent out a few queries to agents and may send to a few publishing houses as well, and have yet to hear anything back as of yet, but I'm fine with that. I'm also keeping the avenue of self-publishing open as well (and yes, I've done my homework in that direction)--more on that in a later post too.

--Art! Geez, I've been so busy on the weekends that I've let that one slide again. I need to jump back onto the schedule of working on that as well. Plug in the ol' Wacom and work on the drawing. I would like to try a bit of blue-penciling when I have the chance, but that might be a little further down the road, maybe in the new year. For now it's working out the drawing kinks and relearning how to draw.


So yeah...it's been a busy year, but it's also been quite the creative and productive one, and I'm happy about that. We're on the last quarter of the year, often the most productive time for me, as well as the time of year when all the great new music releases come out (coincidence? I think not!). It's the home stretch, and I'm not going to let it slide.

It's not the end yet
It's not the end of anything
Just a change in the weather
There's nothing to be afraid of
You've always expected the closing down
And deep down you know how it feels
Yet you know it's time to move on
Time for you to let it all go
Say goodbye to what you knew

This entry was originally posted at http://jonchaisson.dreamwidth.org/14983.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

I've been on this big Zen kick lately. I think part of it might be due to the one-a-day calendar I get in my email that gives me daily Zen quotes. There's also the fact that I've been rethinking a LOT lately on my thought processes, habits, and goals.

You've probably noticed I haven't been online nearly as much as I have in the past. I'd like to post here more, and I'd like to interact with my friends on Twitter more, but on the other hand, I've decided to take some things private. I decided that I may still want to work out my thoughts and actions by writing, but instead of doing it online, I bought a moleskine notebook and have been using that as a diary of sorts. I've also taken my poetry offline as well, returning to the composition notebooks. It has nothing to do with fear of lack of privacy; it's more to do with making it more personal for myself. Once again using my latest mantra of "start at the beginning", I thought I'd return to the methods of personal writing that I had when I first started out.

I think it's worked out well so far. One of the benefits is that I'm not editing myself internally, something I've always done online. I can be more random, more stream-of-conscious. I think one of the problems with writing online is that I invariably end up editing myself, probably more than I should. I want to say something, but I end up taking a good hour or so to write a post because I want to think it through so it doesn't sound scattered. I end up holding back, not saying what I really want to say. I've noticed this in my prose and poetry as well. Taking it back to a more private and personal level has let me open up a little, be more spontaneous. I still feel a bit rusty at it, but it feels good to do this again.

I've also been thinking about the idea of balance in my writing, particularly in the Eden Cycle. Balance is a big part of the plot--the polar opposites must coexist in a balance, rather than good triumphing over evil--especially with this latest revision. I keep this in mind every time I've worked on it this round, and I've been able to strengthen a lot of the plot in the process, something I may not have been able to do in the past because I wasn't looking at the story on that level. I haven't utilized this mode of thinking in any of my other works as of yet, but I definitely think it's worth thinking about once I do pick them up.

So I think the first few weeks of January have been good so far, on a personal and also on a creative level. I can go much farther, and I still need to remind myself where I am now and again, but for the most part, I'm happy at how everything's working out at this point. It's an ongoing process, and I think it's one worth working on.

2012 WRITING SCHEDULE

Main Goals
--Finish and prepare front burner projects
      --A Division of Souls (revision, submission)
      --Love Like Blood (revision, submission)
      --Walk in Silence (writing, interviews, research)
--Prepare secondary projects for shift to front burner
      --The Persistence of Memories (revision)
      --Can’t Find My Way Home (revision of outline, writing)
      --Angela Death (revamp of story/outline, writing)
--Utilize time available for new projects
      --Longhand writing when away from PC/laptop
      --Weekends for non-writing projects


By Time

--As time allows, time spent between arriving at work and actual work time (7am-ish to 7:30am) should be utilized by longhand work. This can include poetry, new work, notes, revision, or brainstorming.

--As time allows, time spent after arriving home (minus any errands/dinner/workout, etc.) should follow the "By Week" schedule below. Minimum productive writing time: 1.5 hours, more if time allows.

By Day

SUNDAY:
--Outlining current and future projects
--Post poem on Dreamwidth account (worked on over the week or at that moment)
--Walk in Silence project
      --Research or writing
      --Update WordPress WiS website
--2x a month: Artwork--work on a project or scan and post

MONDAY:
--New Words

TUESDAY:
--Revision

WEDNESDAY:
--New Words

THURSDAY:
--Revision
--Update WordPress WiS website (optional)

FRIDAY:
--Any transcription/revision of longhand into PC
--Catch-up on any work of current week

SATURDAY:
--Outlining current and future projects
--New Words and/or Revision
--Tumblr picture post

--New words or revision as time allows
--Any additional work/posting is of course acceptable, if time allows.



By Project

Current projects/works in progress to be worked on:

EDEN CYCLE BRIDGETOWN TRILOGY
--Update reference files and character sheets
--Revision
--Submission

EDEN CYCLE NEW TRILOGY/PREQUELS/SHORTS/ETC.
--Brainstorming new ideas
--Character sheets
--Outlining and plot-mapping
--Outtakes and notes
--Longhand writing

LOVE LIKE BLOOD
--Revision
--Submission

CAN'T FIND MY WAY HOME
--Outline revision
--Character sheets
--Longhand writing

ANGELA DEATH
--Revamp of characters and story
--Outlining
--Character sheets
--Longhand writing

WALK IN SILENCE
--Outlining
--Writing
--Reference
--Interviews
--Submission


Non-Writing Projects (Long-Term)

MUSIC
--Guitar practice
--Record demos on PC software
--Dub/Remix older songs from cassette

ART
--drawing
--Murph strips/storyline
--ink/pastel
--scanning of older work
--posting online

PHOTOGRAPHY
--Learn more about what I can do with new camera
--Utilize Photoshop for editing, etc.

Morning, all...I'm operating on about 4.5 hours of sleep due to our misguided idea that an arrival at SFO at 11pm last night would be a good thing (well, there was little traffic, so it wasn't all bad), so it may take me a few more hours to achieve full coherence. We apologize for any GrammarFail ahead of time.



That said...many things on the table for today as well as in the next few weeks, writing and otherwise.

--Today being August 1st and the 30th Birthday of MTV, I will of course need to write an RTS post about it. I'll try to avoid the trap of complaining that the "M" pretty much stands for Mediocre nowadays, instead focusing on some fun memories and thoughts about the channel that's shaped our listening habits over the years.

--Also starting today will be some serious outline work for The Children of Dun Corran, revision work for A Division of Souls, and preplanning for Eden Cycle Book 4 (I wrote about four pages of notes on the plane last night while flying over the midwest). Also starting today is Daily Poetry. More on that in a later post, but this is another exercise I want to try...

--Time to clean and arrange my stuff in Spare Oom. I want to go through that Blue Bin O' Crap next to the love seat and empty that out, and perhaps use that for real storage in the closet. Plus, I need to refile quite a bit of writing and get it all organized. This of course should be a weekend project, so I'll start doing that soon.

--I also need to go through our cds and weed out again...I think I've amassed enough from the last year or two to be able to sell them at Amoeba for a decent amount of credit. Again, another weekend project.


I'm sure I'll come up with more ideas and projects that will keep me from getting anything done, but we'll see. Have a spiffy day, everyone!

So not only did I forget about posting every Wednesday at my writing block, I completely forgot to write a poem at my Dreamwidth blog! Further proof that I desperately need to make deadlines for myself, or I'm never going to get anything done.

Okay, to be fair, I didn't post anything Sunday because I had a busy weekend--between going to the Symphony on Saturday night, going to the opera Sunday afternoon, and watching football and doing other things once I got home, I simply forgot about it. Not bad, considering I've written fourteen poems there every Sunday and only barely missed it once.

Tomorrow, if we're both up to it, we may head down to Target and buy random things (we need more Christmas wrapping, as the rolls I snagged at World Market last weekend are almost out already), and one of the things I had thought of was a marker board and a corkboard. The corkboard I'd put near the door, next to the calendar, as that'll be where the bills, coming attractions and whatnot can be placed (instead of on my desk). The marker board? Well, I'm thinking of looking for one similar to the one I had down in the Belfry for a few years...one that has a blank calendar template. As stated above, I'm thinking my 2011 goals are doable but I need to give them a deadline, or else they'll never get done. That worked pretty well with the trilogy for the most part, so I'd like to give that a try and see where it goes.


Speaking of which, I've been disgustingly lazy and not done any writing work since Saturday. THAT WILL BE RECTIFIED TOMORROW!

So I pretty much goofed off yesterday between football and doing other non-writing, non-productive things (well, aside from going out for a walk and doing the laundry), and it occured to me this morning that:

--I completely forgot to listen to the Potted Plant Countdown on WAMH's streaming site (Yes, head58, they still have it after all these years, but I don't think they give away potted plants anymore...)

--I completely forgot to do my Dreamwidth poem posting. [On the plus side, I also realized that the subject of holidays could possibly be used in this one. Thank you instant inspiration!]

Ah well...at least I have today off, so I can work on the latter sometime today. And perhaps getting some actual work done as well would be good.



On tap for today:


Going to see this around the corner at the 4 Star later today. I have to say the actor has Ginsburg's voice down perfectly, right down to the delivery of the famous poem itself. I suppose it's fitting that I'm going to see an indie movie about poetry and San Francisco and alternative culture, at an indie movie house around the corner from my apartment here in San Francisco where I do my writing... :)