Finding Value, Finding Fun / Happenings In The Outhouse 25-Dec-2020

Merry Christmas!

I didn't purposefully intend for this blog post to drop on this blessed day.  Some blogs I plan out a week or more in advance.  Others are more spur of the moment, something that sparked a thought in my mind.  This one was planned.

In fact, I had another one in mind, one that has been generating a bit of news throughout the publishing and financial community, but decided to put that one off for a bit.

If you've been reading this blog for quite some time, you know that once every year or so, I go on what I call a "podcast fast."  This is where I completely distance myself from podcasts--or dramatically cut down on the number of them.  My goal is to be able to listen to all of the episodes that drop in a single week.  But there are only a handful of weeks where I'm able to do this.

Hence, I question on what I find value in.

Finding value is the barometer in which I select not only my podcasts, but even podcast episodes and other content.  Some of a more Christian nature I will listen to the majority of them.  But given how people have become in 2020, especially since late May 2020 and even leading up to the U.S. Election, I have cut out a number of podcasts.  I even tried to listen to a podcast that had a political view much different than mine, just so I could diversify my knowledge.  But when I found their facts as grounded as wet sand, I didn't find any value in it and unsubscribed.

I have two measurements in which I consume content.  Does it have value?  Or is it fun?  Or both?

If it's something I find value in, I will latch onto it.  If there's no value, I question whether or not to consume it.  Chances are, I dismiss it and move on.  There is too much going on for me to waste with mindless drones--can anyone say mainstream media?  Yup.  No value there.

Taking the Mystery out of Creativity / Happenings In The Outhouse 18-Dec-2020

If you would have asked me a month ago if I had ever heard of Jeff Tweedy, I would've furrowed my brows and asked, "Jeff Foxworthy?  Of course.  He's hilarious."

No, not Foxworthy.  Jeff Tweedy.

"Oh.  Conway Twitty?  Is Jeff his real first name?"

No, that's still not right, but in reality we're closer to who Jeff Tweedy is.  Jeff Tweedy is a prolific songwriter and has recently released a book called How To Write One Song.  I'm only halfway through reading it and I can already tell that I'm going to read it again.  And possibly even a third time.

"But, Mark, you don't write songs.  You write stories."

Of course!  But in a nutshell Jeff is talking about creativity.  For him, he focuses on writing one song and the habits that go along with writing it.  For writers, focus on writing one story, no matter the length.  Create a deadline.  Once it's done, you're done.  Write another one.  There's nothing mysterious about creativity.  All of us have wanted to create something.  Whether it's something physical, like a painting or a wooden figurine, or something not physical like a song or a story.

All of us have the tools to create something.  Although he talks about writing songs, one at a time, there are parallels to writing stories or other pieces of art.  Make writing a habit.

Make your art a habit.

Don't have time?  Why did you just spend thirty to forty-five minutes playing a game on your phone?  Use that time, even part of it, to create something.

Don't know what to write?  Try freewriting.  Brainstorm and throw ideas down on the page.  It doesn't matter what it looks like.  You're the only one who's going to see it.

Creativity isn't this mysterious power that only a few possess.  All of us have it in one form or another.  Mine happens to be in the form of a story.

One final note: in full disclosure, when I was sixteen, I dreamed of being a rock star.  Even back then, I knew I had to write my own songs in order to make it big.  So I did--write songs, not make it big.  I have at least a dozen or so songs that I wrote back then.  So it's funny that I now discover this book.  Believe me, it's well worth its weight in gold and then some.

Baby steps / Happenings In The Outhouse 11-Dec-2020

Looking back on the past two years, my writing output has been minimal.  I started a fantasy epic in early 2019, only to set it off to the side to work on a YA novel.  About a dozen chapters into that one, I also set it off to the side.

Needless to say, I had things on my mind.  I can usually separate my work life and personal life, and even separate it all from my writing life, but with the end of my late wife's life coming to an evitable end, I can look back now--gives it a whole new meaning to hindsight is 20/20, huh?--and say it all was wearing on me.

These past six months or so, I've been slowly getting back on the horse.  Baby steps.  I have a small set of weekly goals, and it has given me the courage to go forth and conquer.  Albeit on a small scale.  Baby steps.

How does one eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.

How does one write a novel?  One page at a time.  One sentence at a time.  One word at a time.

If you find yourself overwhelmed, take a step back and do some small tasks.  One at a time.  Baby steps.

In the end, you'll get there.  Trust me: been there, got the T-shirt.

Goals achieved and not achieved / Happenings In The Outhouse 04-Dec-2020

Although it is my ultimate goal to finish the latest thriller, that goal may not be achieved before the end of 2020.  I am currently around the 34,000 word mark--and your average thriller is around 65,000 to 75,000 words, but that is not a firm rule--and I have a lot yet to write.  It is coming along nicely.  By January or February 2021, I should be able to hit the PUBLISH button.

I do not consider my goal a bust.  I did complete two short stories this year.  And although they were not winners of the contest I had submitted them too, which is fine considering the high number of submissions, I am submitting them to various short story publications.  If that doesn't pan out, I'll publish them on my own anyway.

Looking back over the last few years, my publishing output has been diminished due to personal reasons with my late wife's health.  I only published two shorter stories in 2019, and the last novel I published was under a pseudonym in mid-2018.

Don't beat yourself up over goals you didn't achieve.  I'm sure there are smaller goals you did accomplish, and that's a good thing.  Give yourself some credit and then move on.  Keep moving forward.