In the Works

So much to do, so little time.

We all know the adage, but it has taken on a new meaning for me after the move. The new job is great, the schedule, not so much. Not only did I go from three and four day weekends down to two, but I loose half of the first day off to much needed sleep.

How does this affect you, dear friends? Other than a bit more irritable host, I hope it doesn't. I just have to become, forgive me a disgusted shutter, organized. Not that organized is a naughty word, but come on, we are all creative types here. Schedules and structure are the devil. They are also a necessary evil, now.

The first step in selling my soul is squaring away my work spaces. The goal is a spot for the forge, and a separate home for wood working tools. The writing space, the precious few times it has been utilized, is anywhere I can hunker down with my tablet and keyboard.

So far the lathe has a new locale.

It isn`t much, a vintage Craftsman pipe lathe. Not super precise, it gets the job done. It is mostly for turning tool handles and the occasional magic wand. Yes, magic wands. I would like to get back into tobacco pipe turning at some point. There is already enough on my plate for the time being, though. 

The forge is now nestled in a cozy little spot in the back stall of a little barn.

There was an addition to the family just before the move. She ain`t the prettiest thing in the world, but when I saw her rotting in a back alley I had to make the owner an offer. Thirty bucks later and she is happily back to work.

Still a bit of cleaning up to do, but no real complaints.

I have been tinkering here and there, lately. Made a couple of knives, and a few tools. Production has yet to really ramp up though. I have a decent stockpile of steel, and a ton of ideas, time is the only issue. Story of my life, what else is new.

Once the dreaded physical space organization process is done I need to lay down the law with myself. That means schedules and deadlines.

I now have three long form writing projects that are languishing in the half to three quarter finished stage of first draft. Each time I had a legitimate reason for starting something new, but now it is time to choose one and stay the course. I also have two short stories nearing completion that I am, quite frankly, scared to finish. 

It is an odd feeling. One that I only get about writing. The fear of actually finishing something, maybe simply because I will have to put it out there to be judged? That doesn't make much sense. I don't feel that way about any other form of art. I usually just dive in, do the work, and throw it out of the nest the second it can survive on it's own, off to make it's way in the world. But writing is cerebral, intellectual mixed with creative. The logical mind gets invited to the party, and he is a real downer. Sure he provides tons of facts, and establishes plausibility, but damn. He is always calculating risks, predicting disasters. The hardest part of writing is getting him to provide needed ballast without sinking the ship.

Deadlines should help with this. If I put a proverbial gun to his head, the logical mind is usually too preoccupied with the goal to nay say. Another way to distract him is task focus. Break the job into digestible pieces, and his ADHD becomes less of a problem. The final tine in my three prong approach is incentives. I have resorted to dangling my more physical pursuits in front of my own nose to keep me moving. No forging until you get your writing done young man.

No idea how this will pan out, but we shall see.

So the agenda is:

1. Make an agenda... 

2. Plot out specific goals, tasks, and projects.

3. Fit projects into the schedule.

4. Actually follow said schedule.

Goals:

Long Term

Angel'sKin - Urban Fantasy Novel - 3/4 completed

Oxmaer - Young Adult Fantasy Novel - 1/2 completed

Dark Man - Horror Novella - Nowhere near completed

Medium Term

Flight 666 (working title) - Short Story - 9/10 completed

Hear That Devil Sing - Short Story - 3/4 completed

Forge needed tools - froe, draw knife, tongs, etc...

Short Term

Finish organizing and arranging work spaces

Dig out any tools still packed away

Finish Chapter 1 of joint writing venture

I'm sure there is more, but for now the tally is;

Universe: one bajillion

Me: one 

At least I'm gaining ground, right. Stick around, kiddies. I'm either going to soar, or crash and burn. Either way, it should be a great show. Until next time, go create something.

New Year Update, Kindle/Keyboard Review

Happy Belated New Year.

So much has been going on in the virtual eternity since last we met here. Quick recap, November NaNoWriMo was a huge soul crushing failure. I wrote fewer words in that month than any since I decided to throw myself into this novel writing thing. Writing by the seat of the pants is apparently not my method. December was almost as bad. Here in North Texas we were hit by a good size ice storm that resulted in a lot of broken trees. I lost a few days to the clean up only to be hit by the flu followed by an ear infection over Christmas. Stir in A quick trip home for the holidays, and yeah, not much was done in December. The silver lining, I have enough project wood to last a decade.

My lovely wife ordered me a Kindle Fire HD ($99 Black Friday special). Anyone who slums Facebook in my neck of the woods probably knows I intend to use it for writing on the go. I finally got my bluetooth keyboard in, and gang, super excited. Currently having my first go at getting some words bashed into this poor little sub-tablet. I have been reserving judgment on the practicality of doing real writing on this set up until now. I am impressed so far, but there are some concerns.

Room for Improvement

The default dictionary is a joke. Turn autocorrect off. Not a big deal during rough draft. In fact it helps. It does present the challenge of learning to spell, though. Not my strong point.

Selecting/highlighting text is difficult on the touch screen. Single words are no problem, but this thing ain't doing edits. The keyboard didn't help on this. Some of the editing shortcuts are available, but not all of them.

Cursor placement could be easier. Nevermind the fact that my huge calloused hands are more suited to holding a hammer than fine electronic manipulation. Seriously, it is like trying to play operation with a lead pipe. The arrow keys on the new keyboard are a massive improvement.

On the Positive Side

There are quite a few serviceable note taking apps out there. Evernote has impressed me with the cross platform integration. Every device I touch now has a copy. Outlining, research, inspiration, and even whole scenes are fed into notes where they are sorted, tagged, and released into the cloud.

For. Free.

I'm playing around with a few other programs that are closer to a traditional word processor, but so far I'm happy with Evernote. Most of the programs require you to transfer or email yourself each note individually. As each scene gets it's own note, they have to be compiled in your word processor before layout can be done.

I chose the cheapest micro keyboard available, because as you may have ascertained, I don't like spending money. I prefer to barter whenever possible (as I have an aversion to over quantify, classify, deify, and objectify "stuff"). I ended up going with the Fintie 7" mini keyboard off Amazon. Currently $15.99, and it does the job. Again my hobby scared meat hooks present a problem with the compact layout of the keyboard, but I haven't bothered with the home keys since my 6th grade typing class. It has not slowed me down, if such a thing were even possible. I drop a keystroke here and there, but that seems to be user error. If you're interested in one you can check it out here.

Overall the combination I'm going with is working. I can't complain about the speed or responsiveness. The whole package is super portable. One of my favorite places to catch a few words is while stuck in the line to pick the kids up from school. It was quite a feat with the laptop, but now I toss the Kindle on the dashboard and all I have to wrestle with is the tiny little keyboard. I can even hold it up and text type using my thumbs, which is rather handy.

As a bonus it also pairs with my computers. With the word processor open on the desk monitor, I can pace around and thumb type in those ADHD fueled moments when "butt in chair" is much less likely than "hands on keyboard".

Where I Stand

This is a solid option for another way to get words on the page. I don't consider it to be a stand alone option, though. For the author on the go, you can't beat the packability. I'll likely do the majority of my composing with this set up, but it still requires an umbilical cord to the mother ship.

One last note, The Kindle Fire HD  is wifi only. Fine with me, Evernote saves my place and syncs itself whenever connected. I don't foresee any situation where I stand to loose large amounts of data do to lack of connection. Plus, who really needs another data plan in there life?

As always any questions are welcomed, as is any advice. Have a favorite app or alternate set up, the rest of the class would be happy to hear about it. With new these new toys... I mean tools, I have no good excuse for not getting back on track in 2014. There are a few carving/smithing/bushcraft projects in progress, so expect updates soon. In the meantime, go make something.

-CrescentSon

Post-CampNaNo

What a month. I have to admit it was literally the most eye opening thirty-one days my creative side has ever experienced. Being perpetually naive, I plunged into July thinking that 50,000 words were going to explode out of my head and litter the page with little need for the application of will power.

I am an idiot.

Less than a week in and I decided to cut my goal in half, 25,000 words. Much more doable with the stack of other issues looming, one of which was the second month of the crazy workout aptly named Insanity (I cannot recommend this enough for anyone who can handle the high impact). The month was also capped off by a vacation to Sea World with the family (just as highly recommended). Any excuses aside, the main hang up was "the plan". I dove in with the intent to put 50,000 words into a work in progress which is evolving along a certain structure, one that I had copious amounts of trouble diverging from. I couldn't find a steady balance between the pre-planned and thoroughly outlined novel that's been brewing since February, and the spontaneous seat of the pants writing required for NaNo. This story hinges on the structure. The seed idea for the story is inherently a numerology based model of the universe, so yeah, the outline proved critical.

When the dust settled I scraped in under the line with just over 25,500 words added to the pile. I feel triumphant. The novel is moving in the right direction. I also made contact with a collection of amazing and creative people that simply understand. I am excited to consider them allies in the creative struggle. You know who you are, and you all rock on an epic scale. Truly. Epic.

So what was learned?

1. Writing is hard work. As with anything creative, a knack for it only goes so far. Pick your creative idol from any field. The masterpiece they are known for was not a product of raw talent alone. Hard work and practice, people.

2. Get the hell out of the way. All that hard work and practice means exactly jack and squat if you don't step aside and let the art happen. Stop second guessing, worrying, and editing, and go with the friggin' flow a bit. That masterpiece we were on about, it would still be a half formed idea if someone hadn't decided to stop planning and create it.

3. There is only one of me. Once you realize your limitations, you gain perspective. One man can move a mountain, it just takes a pant load of time and effort. You have to break it down to one project, one day at a time. I tend to dilute myself, and am constantly spread too thin. Most likely a product of attention deficit, I jump from task to task, and never feel like anything is accomplished. By putting my other interest away for a month I was able to see what I was actually capable of, and the world didn't end because I didn't carve a single spoon in July.

4. I am not alone. And neither are you. I'm now tied into a network of people that get it. There are those in the universe that have done what you most want to do. There are other humans attempting the same feats (or thoroughly comparable to those) you are undertaking. Join the good fight. Make mistakes. Ask questions. Grow together.

5. Forget the fear. This is easier when you apply the first four lessons. Before this month I only had the vaguest understanding of the sheer terror I had at the thought of putting my work out there. What I thought was an internal perfectionist was actually a scared little kid. He was, and still is to a lesser degree is, afraid of creating anything because it might suck. Not being sucks more than being imperfect. Build it, make it, create it, learn from it, love it for it's faults, and then make the next attempt better. Better yet, fix it in post!

There is a lot more to be learned from the process, but it is a process. I can try to explain in exacting detail the lessons and growth this kind of endeavor offers, but that won't do anyone any good. Whatever it is you have penned up inside you waiting to be expressed, it ain't getting refined being repressed. We create as a means of understanding ourselves, and everything that surrounds us. It is woven into our nature. Get out your tools, grab a pen, dig out those paint brushes. Go devise something amazing. Make something awesome. Build something epic. Craft something useful. Just go create.

******

Personally, I have a lot more to do. I jumped on a couple of wood crafts that have been dying for July to end, so hang tight. That is up next, as promised. The current novel needs to be put to bed by November, because the full on NaNoWriMo is getting a book started from scratch so I can take another whack at 50,000 words. I also have a ton of projects waiting in the wings, but one day at a time folks (see above). In the mean time I'm curious to know what you guys are working on, or planning to work on. What torques your fancies, and sets you to creative motion? Don't be afraid to share with the class. It might just be the first step toward your masterpiece.