jon_chaisson: (Default)
It's Sunday afternoon and most of the house errands are done. We walked up to the other end of Clement to stop at the garden store, the Ace and then check out the farmer's market, pick up some pork buns for lunch, then walked back, totaling just over three miles. We're understandably tired now, but I ended up doing the laundry anyway!

Speaking of which, someone spilled what I think is laundry detergent three days ago and no one has cleaned it up yet, so instead of doing my usual well I'd better clean it up BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE EFFING WILL, I decided to be a bit catty and post a sign above it: "Come on, people...this spill has been here for THREE DAYS. Didn't your parents teach you to clean up after yourself??"  We'll see how long it lasts. And yes, I plan on going down there and updating the sign as the days go on.

ANYWAY! Not too much else going on. Saturday was a shopping day and we were indeed happy that pretty much every person we saw at the Target and Home Depot had the masks on and were keeping a decent distance. We bought a few things including carpet tape in hopes that our throw rugs will finally stop migrating of their own accord (our big rug under the kitchen table seems to move significantly which is a weird thing and I have no idea how it happens...I'll be taping that one down later this week).

I'm still doing fine with the whiteboard schedule, either hitting all the daily projects before A is done working for the day, or making up for it the next day. I'm averaging about 300 - 500 words a day for Theadia, which is pretty good for starters. I'm even getting some poetry done! Woot!

So...any plans for the week? A few, including the carpet taping. I'm gonna see if I can get some of these Goodwill donations out of Spare Oom because I am REALLY sick of looking at them and would love to have some floor space back! And I'm also thrilled to discover that the Friends of SF Library is taking book donations again, so those can go as well once I'm able to get an opening for it! [Side note: One of the reasons I wanted to clear out that space is because that will then give me room to go into Spare Oom closet and start weeding out the CDs that are there, so I can start selling them at Amoeba. That was one of my plans from earlier this year before the 'rona scuppered it.]


Hope everyone has a good week! :)

jon_chaisson: (Default)
Another lovely day here in SF,  temperature hovering in the low 70s with nary a sign of the windiness we had a few days ago.  I've got the shades and the window open here in Spare Oom, enjoying it all.  My allergies will flare up every now and again, but it's a small price to pay for a nice day!

I seem to be moving towards another cleaning/organization wave again.  That small growling of 'you've put this off long enough, it's high time you took care of it' is coming on strong.  I've got various small projects and errands that I've put off for far too long, so I think it's high time I took care of them. Paperwork to clean out and shred, things to update, things to write.  That sort of thing.  The trick is that I have to make sure these don't interfere with the Day Job OR the Current Writing Projects.  So yeah, it's a bit of a trick, but I can get it done if I try.

Sort of related, I was thinking again about my poetry writing.  I've been worried lately that I'm spending more time finding excuses to avoid writing any than actually writing it.  I've come to the realization that this too needs to be a part of the Project 750... sort of.  I need to rethink the way I approach writing poetry as well, because I seem to have fallen into the habit of overthinking its worth. I mean, sure, it might never get published, but that's no reason for me to give up on it.  I've been thinking a lot about using it as an emotional release, just like I did back in the day.  Something to air out the anxiety and the worry, but also the frivolous amusements and the unedited experimentation.  Put it this way -- Project 750 made me rethink my novel writing and the thought processes that go into it.  I think I need to do the same here.  Just open up the notebook and focus only on the words and thoughts in front of me instead of the bigger picture.

More on this in a later entry...


Hope everyone's having a good week!




jon_chaisson: (Mooch writing)
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 )
jon_chaisson: (Mooch writing)

As mentioned earlier, I felt a need to return to the whiteboard writing schedule. Not because I was getting lazy, but because I'm once again feeling the need to kick it up a notch. Since I'm no longer balancing a major revision with other projects, I have quite a bit of time on my hands and I'd like to get more productive. This will give me more practice and experience in the process, which is always a good thing.

I'm okay with Two Thousand hitting on average around 500-600 words a day--that's actually pretty good for a project that just started last week...as you can see in the picture, I'm reserving work on that (abbreviated as 2K) for the weekdays, the primary writing sessions at the end of the day.

Most of this schedule is actually copied from my early 2013 schedule, with a few tweaks here and there. It worked quite well in the past, so I figure I'd try it again. This time I'm playing it a bit differently:

--Two days of writing poetry, which will be offline for the most part but may be posted here or elsewhere if I feel like it. I still have my Dreamwidth account, but I've chosen not to post there anymore (the main reasons being that I just don't use it all that much, and it rarely gets traffic).

--Taking and/or posting a picture midweek, most likely to my Tumblr. I can of course do this any time I like, but I'm choosing to use Wednesdays as a deadline for posting.

--Art! This I'm keeping up in the air...this could mean me playing around with my Wacom, or it could be drawing something in the art moleskine notebook I have. As long as it's something drawn, that's all that matters. Again, this will probably stay offline unless I feel like posting.

--Music: I left this one deliberately vague, as it means two things:
1) Guitar practice. I do this almost on a daily basis anyway, noodling around on one of my guitars for a few minutes a day, but this will be a dedicated time where I'll play one of my instruments here, be it the guitar, the bass, the ukulele, or the keyboard. As long as it's something.
2) The Walk in Silence WordPress blog. I find that I really enjoy writing the music-themed entries on the weekends, as I can take my own time to work on them, give them a quick edit and revision, and then post them at the end of the day. Sundays seem to be the best time for those.

The only things I did not add were:
--750 Words. I want to start this up again, it's been awhile. I still get the daily email reminder as I never turned it off, and it's a lot of fun using it as an infodump or a playground for ideas.
--Journaling. I still do this every weekday during my 9:30am break, so no reason to add it here.
--The Welcome to Bridgetown WordPress blog. At the moment I'm lumping that in with the "Music" header, as I tend to write those on the weekend anyway, but I may add those on Saturday.

This schedule is of course subject to change, but at this point in time, I'm happy with it.  It'll definitely keep me busy!


Looking forward to a creative Q4! :)
jon_chaisson: (Mooch writing)
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.
jon_chaisson: (Mooch writing)
Got SiriusXM First Wave playing--if my PC isn't completely stuck on KSCU's online feed, it's playing 80s alt.rock goodness--and preparing myself for some serious writing in the next few days. On tap:

--A 900-1500 word essay about my hometown. One of my former high school teachers (and current antique seller and small indie publisher) reached out to me a few weeks previous and asked if I wanted to write something for a book she's putting together, and I thought it would be fun! Considering I'm now in the writing phase of Walk in Silence, I felt this request was quite serendipitous as well, so I'm going for it. It's due next Sunday, and after mulling over various ideas, I've come up with a few that I'll be working on tonight. I should have it done and polished by then.

--Yes, it's true! I am now in the writing phase of WiS! It's been kind of slow going, as I'm still attempting to get myself back in the groove of writing new stuff, but 1600 words with just a few hours' work isn't a bad start. Once I find said groove, it should be smooth sailing again. Yay!

--As you may have seen on my Twitter/Tumblr/WordPress feeds, I've been woefully neglecting my two blogs, but I'm hoping to get them updated by week's end, Sunday the latest, and give both of them a regular schedule. Various impediments and obstacles have finally cleared, so things should be back to normal this week. Woo!

--Poetry. Yes, I've been threatening to write new poems for at least a few months now, and I'm ready to start that up again as well. As said...my schedule should be clearing, so I should have time for this again.


More soon! :)
jon_chaisson: (Mooch writing)
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! :)
jon_chaisson: (Mooch writing)
I think if I learned anything in 2013, it's not to dwell on things.

Or more to the point, to dwell on things only when necessary.

This year I gave up doing a lot of things that were either a waste of time or were distractions.

One was giving up reading the news. I did not do this to become an ignoramus, far from it; it was that I had become keenly aware of the quality (or lack thereof) of the most popular news sites (CNN, Yahoo, etc.). It frustrated me how it was no longer reportage--the profession I know quite well through my father--and had devolved into the quest for site hits. Go to any high-traffic news site, and you'll see it: the headline/link is no longer informative, it's a teaser to get you to click through. The article itself teases you, in its attempt to get a rise out of you. There are blatant and often false assumptions bandied about--the latest being the shock and horror of Obama's selfie during the Mandela memorial the other day being one. It seems these sites no longer aim to inform so as to get site hits and thus more revenue from the ads that pop up on those pages. And when you get the populace in a dither about some perceived peccadillo so that they spend all day yelling at and accusing each other of being stupid poopyheads in the comments section and Twitter, well...their job is done. It's pretty much made a mockery of actual writing and reporting.

That's not to say that I've put an embargo on all news ever--more that I now choose my sources carefully. Call me stuck-up if you want, but good captivating writing is a hell of a lot better than the blustery cheapshot. This is in addition to my resolution over the past few years: I don't need to be plugged in 24/7. I'm still informed...I'm just no longer stuck in the feedback loop.


I also forced myself to ignore that "but you haven't written anything new in years!" voice in my head. The thing is, I have written new things--especially this year, when I heavily revised the trilogy. There are completely new scenes in there, right alongside some of the oldest scenes written from years ago. I realized that it was more important for me to address writing priorities before I went off onto the storyline playground; I've been sitting on this trilogy for over a decade, and I felt it was high time I brought it to the next level.

Which brings me to the next thing: future plans.

As I've mentioned before, I'm frantically getting A Division of Souls and its synopsis ready for submission to Angry Robot Books. I have no idea whether or not it'll be accepted, but I'm super excited about this, as AR publishes some of my favorite books, and I've a feeling the trilogy would be a nice fit with them.

More to the point, 2013 was a year where I learned a hell of a lot about what makes a good manuscript. A few years ago I opined about being stuck in that "OK Plateau", where I had a decent story but lacked the "oomph" to make it to a professional level. In the comments I'd said that one of the problems was that I had too vague of a goal--I wanted to be a pro writer, and...yeah. So I spent the time between then and now working on a more concrete goal: not to just be a pro, but to consciously write on a pro level, to consciously revise the trilogy into something publishable, and most importantly, to keep my writing up at that level.

And thus the last year and a half focusing solely on the revision of the trilogy, the Welcome to Bridgetown website, and all the constant reading, rereading, learning, and relearning the craft.


So! What does 2014 have in store for me?

Well, regardless as to whether or not the trilogy gets accepted by Angry Robot or some other publisher or agency, next year is the year of Moving Forward. I'll be expanding on the Mendaihu Universe (my new name for the trilogy's setting) with new novels and perhaps short stories, maybe even applying some of what I've learned to newer projects as well. I'll be updating Welcome to Bridgetown with more insights and commentary over the year. And once I finally finish the 'Blogging the Beatles' series, I'll also be posting music insights and commentary over at Walk in Silence. And on a more personal level, I'll be working more on my morning words, poetry, art, and music. The finished, posted output for those last three may not be as high as the previous, but I do hope to keep more of a schedule.


Yes, there is a theme here: consistency.

That will be the main goal for 2014: to maintain this higher standard across the board.
jon_chaisson: (Mooch writing)
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.
jon_chaisson: (Mooch writing)
So where have I been the last few weeks? Busy! Been posting some music-related stuff over at Walk in Silence, doing some serious revision of my trilogy, and whatnot. I've been sadly lax with the picture posting at my Tumblr and the poetry at the Dreamwidth site, but I promise that will pick up. Been an insane couple of weeks there.

Anyhoo...I'm currently writing this at work in Concord (CA, not MA) while I await my next meeting. It's at least thirty degrees warmer than at home. It's really weird to walk outside and feel heat rather than a consistent breeze and Karl the Fog making his ominous way into the Golden Gate. It's also reminding me that I don't function nearly as well in high temperature...I just get sluggish and cranky. Guess this means I'm a full-blooded Bay Area guy now. ;)

In other news, I've been doing some more thinking about my writing...my main focus is still the trilogy revision and submission [note: Book 1 has been sent to one potential agent at this time, and I'm currently four chapters in on the revision of The Persistence of Memories], but I'm also thinking about what my next NEW project is going to be. Another book in the Eden Cycle universe? Finally getting started on Can't Find My Way Home? This of course is aside from the off-and-on work I've been doing on Walk in Silence, which is currently in "reading more books about the subject" mode. The new EC book is tempting, though I think I really need to do some more planning/plotting/idea creation before I get too far there.

Another thought I had was about what I'd like to do with that universe as a whole. I've got some nifty ideas that extend not just with book form, but maybe some online, behind-the-scenes, extraneous stuff that would be fun to work on. Maybe some interactive stuff, I don't know. I have Ideas on this, some of which are a bit out of the scope of my creative expertise at this time and need reining in. More on that in a future post.

Other than that...been keeping myself busy and moving forward as much as I can, so I'm happy about that. :)
jon_chaisson: (Default)
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.
jon_chaisson: (Mooch writing)
I've some internetty plans in store within the next few weeks that I think will be fun and kinda neat:

1. Since I've been getting a small but very positive response to my Blogging the Beatles posts (thanks to [livejournal.com profile] kateelliott for the RTs!), I've decided that I'm going to speed up the series to twice a week. I'm thinking midweek, maybe Wednesdays or Thursdays. Originally I've been working on them on Sunday afternoons and posting them that evening, but I've decided that it would make more sense to work on them over the course of a few days, which will free up time for other things.

2. Somewhat related--after doing many of the BtB and settling into a familiar pattern of light research and personal past-and-present experience of the music, I came to the conclusion that this pattern would also fit quite nicely in how I'd like to present the music portion of Walk in Silence (the book project). So, that being said, in the next few weeks I will be presenting "official" WiS entries, focusing on albums, singles and/or single songs from the 'college rock' era. No set days for posting these as of yet, but they'll probably be on the off-days, in between the BtB posts.

3. I will be reviving the Dreamwidth poetry account as well. I've been inspired to revive writing poetry in my trusty composition notebooks, especially given that April has been National Poetry Month. I had a lot of fun posting them a few days a week a few years back, and I'd like to start doing that again. These will probably be on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

4. Time to start posting pictures on the Tumblr again. Scheduled for Wednesdays.

And through all of this, I'll be spending the evenings revising the Eden Cycle books. All of this planning is going to be insane, but damn it, I'm in full steam ahead mode now, and I don't want to lose it again.


So yes...Q2 in JoncWorld is starting to take shape in a good way. I will of course be keeping tabs here and elsewhere, just to let y'all know what's new on the sites. See you online soon!
jon_chaisson: (Mooch writing)
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.
jon_chaisson: (Default)
Been awhile since I posted this kind of update...all kinds of things in the works in Joncland.

SFWC
The San Francisco Writers Conference starts this coming Thursday and I am PUMPED to go, writer nerd that I am. I've been working on getting some simple one-sheets together of a few of my projects (primarily the trilogy and Walk in Silence), which I will be using during the "Agent speed dating" segment on Sunday. Yes, the name sounds odd, but it's actually kind of neat--you get to sit with a few agents for a few minutes and try to sell them your book idea, and move onto the next one. They suggest bringing the first page and/or a summary that you can hand them if they ask. The schedule is up as a pdf at the site now, if you're curious. There's a lot of neat panels that I'm interested in, so it looks like it'll be quite enjoyable. Plus there are some lunches included in the price!

The good thing is that I can just hop on the 1 bus to and from the conference, so no worries about transportation. The one downfall is that I found out that President Obama will also be in town on Thursday afternoon (the day it starts) and will be one block down the street, so I'll have to make sure I can get there before the vehicle and pedestrian traffic is temporarily halted. I will, of course, give him a wave if I see him going by. :)

Writing in General
My schedule is still a bit wonky, due to wanting to get a good portion of both WiS and ADoS prepared for the conference, but once it's over I'll be back to normal. I have a few things in the works:

--Updating the Wordpress blog on a more consistent basis. This would also entail taking some time to switch it over to wordpress.org so I can mirror posts and do more with it.
--More poetry to work on. This would include perhaps gathering some together into a chapbook and getting it published at some future point.
--Rewriting the first five chapters of A Division of Soul almost from scratch. This one's a biggie...I'm preparing some big things for this one, and if it goes well, I'll continue with the rest of it.

Exercise
Going to the local YMCA for a bit of treadmill walking and bike riding continues apace. [Hey! I made a funny!] [No you didn't. -- Ed.] I'm still a bit over my ideal weight, but I've definitely lost a good amount since we moved here to SF, when I was 250 or so. I'm now currently hovering around 220 or so, so that's good. Cutting down on soda and snacking on much healthier things has also helped, as has our weekend walks around the neighborhood. I'm hoping to get down to the 2-teens sometime this year.


...and that's part of what's going on. Hopef all is well elsewhere with everyone else!
jon_chaisson: (Default)



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.
jon_chaisson: (Default)
If anyone asks me how 2011 was for me, I'd really have to think about how I'd answer that. The short version is that I'd say it was a pretty good albeit stressful year. The slightly longer version? Personally, I think I've made some life decisions that were for the better (going to the Y, eating better, etc.). Creatively I got quite a bit done (the revision of A Division of Souls is about halfway done, and I've mapped out most of 1984 in Walk in Silence and also established a few contacts for said project), with room for more improvement. Workwise, well...I'll just say 'stressful but I'm dealing with it' and leave it at that. So yeah, I think for the most part the year was good to me.

Online
I've really been thinking more about what I want to do with my "official" website (the WordPress one), and I have a few ideas. It's still in embryonic stage and I probably have one other reader aside from myself at the moment, but I have some good ideas of what I'd like to do with it in the new year. One of the things I was thinking about while off the radar is how serious I'd like my online footprint to be...I of course have my LJ, Facebook, Twitter, Dreamwidth, and Google+ accounts (and others that I keep forgetting about, of course), and it is fun to pop on and talk with coworkers and friends on those sites, but as a writer I don't have much to show professionally. I have a few excerpts at the WordPress site, and a few long RTS posts that are here at LJ (plus the older versions of the Bridgetown Trilogy at its own LJ), but nothing much else. I'm thinking that starting in the new year, I'll be posting my more serious writing over there and keeping the LJ for more personal and lightweight things. I'm also thinking of using LJ as a daily/weekly aggregator of links to my various writings--this makes sense as I can then have the link post mirrored at Twitter and Facebook.

Writing
As mentioned above and in previous posts, I spent most of this year revising A Division of Souls and not much else aside from Walk in Silence prep work and a bunch of poetry. I think that 2012 should contain at least one NEW project, though I'm not sure what yet. It could be one of the backburner ideas (I'm thinking either Angela Death or Can't Find My Way Home, or work on the next Eden Cycle story/stories, or perhaps even something completely new), just to keep the creative juices flowing. If anything, I proved to myself that I can multitask projects if I manage my time correctly. In addition to that, during the next year I should also make some serious submissions. Part of that decision is tied in with the SFWC, in that I will be talking with a few agents/publishers about the two major projects I want to push: the Bridgetown Trilogy and Walk in Silence. I would also like to look into submitting some poetry to various places, as I know I have more than enough that are worthy of submission.

Music
The next year should also be creative musically. The last bit of new music I recorded had to be the next-to-last jeb! session back in 2005, six years ago. I've been picking up my guitar, bass and uke off and on over the past year, and I think it's time for me to start recording some of it. I have the software for it, I just need to sit down and do it. I'm not sure where I'll post it, but I think it's time. I may even do what all other old musicians are doing nowadays and do some rerecordings of Flying Bohemians tunes. Music has always been part of what I am, and I think it's time to share some of it.


So I'm pretty much coasting for the last week of this year...I'll be writing and whatnot, but I won't be too worried if I don't get much done. It's been a long year, and I'm just going to treat this last week as a Christmas vacation of sorts. I'll be posting my Best of 2011 list sometime over the next few days (which of course will include videos again) and adjusting my writing schedule to fit some of the new changes.

Hope everyone has a great holiday season!
jon_chaisson: (Default)
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!
jon_chaisson: (Default)
...I got a hell of a lot done.

--1600+ words for Walk in Silence
--poem on my Dreamwidth account
--dropped off e-recycling (old computer and other electronics at recycling center)
--picked up new receiver for TV
--walked a few miles
--laundry and trash

Not that I'm complaining... ;)
jon_chaisson: (Default)
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!
jon_chaisson: (Default)
No Pats game here on the west coast. BOO! X( On the other hand, we do get the Raiders/Steelers game, as well as the Bucs/Niners game, so at least we do have some local games. Although I've a feeling the Niners are going to tank as usual...this is definitely not their season...

Today continues the weird weather: the rain sun rain sun MAKEUPYERFRIGGINMIND who-knows-at-this-point is most likely going to play havoc with any ideas of going outside, although a quick run for coffee may be in order, as usual. It's freakin' COLD out this morning, in terms of San Francisco weather at least (yeah, I know 49 degrees is balmy back east, shut up). The psychotic weather should end somewhere around Tuesday, just in time for a few sunny days near the end of the week. Just in time for Turkey Day! :)

Not too much else to report here...I need to start the laundry, straighten up Spare Oom a bit, maybe even do a bit more cleaning. You know, the usual boring housecleaning. I believe we have nearly everything we need for our Thanksgiving food preparation ([livejournal.com profile] emmalyon is gonna make butter tarts!!), so I don't think we need to do much food shopping, especially since we bought quite a bit from the Grande around the corner yesterday.

And later, while listening to the Potted Plant Countdown (thank you, streaming WAMH), I'll be doing more work on Love Like Blood. As mentioned briefly on my Facebook page, chapter 9 needs a bit more work, so after I finish this go-round, I may backtrack and go over it again. It still feels a bit rough. Plus my usual Sunday afternoon poetry over at Dreamwidth.

Hope everyone has a nice Sunday!

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