Ransom Noble's Blog, page 22

Organization, Continued

I'm still struggling with my plan to organize the tasks that need to be done around here. Everyone struggles with the part where there are so many things to do and yet only 24 hours in a day.

Anyone else want to sign the petition for the 30-hour day? I'm dedicating my extra six to sleep or something else equally fulfilling.

On my path to organization, this week I cleaned my office. It's not done yet, but I have more uncluttered floorspace than I might have ever had in this room since I moved in. The books are on the shelves, though I still have a list of things I'd like to accomplish for that, too.

I dream big. It's how I accomplish as much as I do – I keep failing to achieve all I want to do, so I try harder. Determination is good in this sense because failure doesn't mean you stop trying. Just mark it down like the great inventors – you found one more way that doesn't work.

My brain isn't big enough to carry a list of everything I want and need to do around with me, but a paper and pen list (scratched off as I complete it) is enough to focus me for what I need to do. Most of the time the list only covers what I need for the day, but I've started making notes for items farther out so I know what's coming.

Most of you who've met me or heard about my collection of digital gadgets might wonder why I don't use one of those or even something on my computer. The computer doesn't travel with me, and I really like having the list on me to mark off what I finished and see what's next. The iPad often travels with me, but I just haven't found an app that works for me that way.

Plus there is definitely something satisfying about crossing something off. It's finished and it shows progress. at the end of the day, I can see half my list completed, though I generally have to add items I did that I don't think about at the beginning of the day. It also makes it easier to see that, yes, I did complete something today.

What methods do you use to keep yourself on track?

Daily Organization

Some people are really great at simply staying organized. Wait, did I say simply? There is nothing simple about organization. It's a personality trait you have or you don't. You might be able to learn it. I know I struggle with it.

One thing I learned from taking a personality test (Big Five, not Myers Briggs), was that conscientiousness was the trait that had to do with being organized. Somehow that finally made things click in my head that when some of us look at a pile of stuff and label it junk and others will look at the same pile as treasured belongings – we see the same pile, but we treat our stuff differently. Does it mean the cluttered people respect it less? I guess the personality test might think so.

But there are other kinds of organization that fit right in, and maybe that will strike a chord, too. What about how we organize our time? Just as there's a spectrum from the organized binder with color-coded tabs for each category to the lost stack of papers in the bottom of the locker, there are people that manage their time to get enough things done that make others look like they simply played video games all day.

Wait, some of them were just playing video games all day! Was that you?

I'm the type who sometimes looks at the piles and feels compelled to clear it out, pick it up, organize it to inches. When I say it's done, a room is beautiful. [I swear it's happened once or twice.] I am the one to put books on the shelves alphabetically by author then title with different sections for genre, but I have trouble keeping it that way. In six months there will be books piled sideways on top where I ran out of shelf space and ran into another magazine that looked so interesting I had to read it.

My days go similarly, but with a better track record of efficiency. Well, I think it's better. My blog record isn't the best indicator of this in the past six months. However, my two year old gets most of my time and attention since we stay home together all day. Example: we're currently working on colors. Red = red. Orange = Apple. Yellow = Lellow, rarely yellow. Green doesn't exist in her vocabulary, but she doesn't mind drawing with it. Blue = Boo. Purple = Pohple. Brown = Bown. Black = B[w]ack. Gray is confusing. Pink = Pink! White = WHITE!

I'm focusing during her naps to get my writing projects going in a forwardly progressive direction. Somehow when she's down for the night it's more difficult for me to manage the energy required to delve deeply into the rewriting and editing needed for the book I'm working on. Not impossible – and I'm starting to get a plan to get what I need and still socialize with my husband in the evening when I'm done working.

Planning is one thing – implementation is another. So many things look good on paper, but fail in the workings. The only thing for certain is that I will continue working toward my goals, even though they keep changing. Changing goals are not an issue. Never working to meet those goals, never having goals to work toward, that would make it difficult to get anything accomplished.

So this coming week, I'll have my plan written out and be working on the implementation. I'm not sure you should wish me luck – but definitely wish me determination!

750 Words

I heard of 750words.com some time ago, but I didn't sign up right away. Isn't that how it often goes? You think it looks like a good idea, but you wait to read more about it and completely forget until someone reminds you.

Well, someone reminded me at DemiCon. I know I've needed some motivation lately, and this might be the right tool to help me with that. I haven't figured all of it out yet, since I've been on the site about five days. Yes, if you didn't know that about me, I really like starting new projects on the first of the month. Somehow that resonates as a good day to begin and stick with something.

The point of the site is 750 words is 3 pages. Three pages every day adds up to something pretty fast. I suppose that means you're writing something toward a project, and not interspersing random thoughts the way I have been the last few days, but part of that is focusing on what I'm doing.

The site gives you points for every day you write. One point to write at all, two points if you complete the 750 words, and three points if you complete your word count with no distractions. A distraction is counted as a three minute period or more where no words are added to the word count.

I'll admit my first day I didn't read all of that about points, so I put my daughter to bed in the middle of my writing. I should have started after she went to bed, but I had an idea. Then I saw that huge gap in my productivity (they graph it for you!) and I'm managing my time better since. The points might not mean anything off-site, but they can be a motivator if you let them. Can you get a turkey? A penguin? An owl? I just finished writing for my 5th day, so I think I get a penguin. Very cool.

The stats given each day also help me learn about my writing. There are emotions associated with it, which I haven't decoded yet, but I will eventually. The part that excited me more was telling me how many words I typed and how many minutes it took me. If I focus, I can write at 60 words per minute! Yes, that's slower than my typing speed (approx 100 wpm) but when you have to think of each word as you go, that's not bad.

There are ways to follow writers, but I haven't checked that out, either. I don't really know anybody else at 750 words yet. Perhaps I ought to follow someone random just to see how it goes.

What methods do you use to keep your writing on track? Do you need someone or something to hold you accountable? Are the little badges and stats enough? What do you do for the rewriting stage?

DemiCon

The beauty of science fiction conventions are friends, new and old, participating in the geekiness we generally get sideways glances for from the rest of the population. Case in point: chatting with some costumed people in the hotel lobby Friday night, we saw several groups in town for the Drake Relays staring at us. We can tell them by their matching track outfits, several with school logos emblazoned on them.

I suppose they can tell us by our nontraditional attire. You don't see belly dancers, Klingons, steampunk, and other costumes mingling together on normal days, I suppose. Too bad!

My daughter went with me for a couple hours. She charmed everyone with her antics, but naptime came fast. Which was good for me, because I was getting tired of chasing her around.

I got to spend time with some authors, I'm sure I didn't remember all of them running around the Con, but here's a short list: Lettie Prell, Tom Ashwell, Sarah Prineas, Glen Cook, Karen Bovenmyer, and Mary Eagan. I know I'm missing a few, but I'm sure they'll forgive me.

Part of the programming was "Speed Dating for Authors" – and I got outed as an author just in time to participate. A lot of fun, but I think it needs a little better description. I think everyone who participated would do it again. Thought it makes me wonder what's the best way to give them something to remember me by – is it a flyer, a card, a bookmark, or something else I haven't considered? Space considerations also factor in. You can certainly put quite a bit of information on an 8×11 sheet of paper, but what's to stop someone from folding it and sticking it somewhere she won't find it again? A business card has the advantage of being easy to put in a pocket and not getting left somewhere accidentally. And a lot of Con-goers have nice badge holders that allow for the tucking in of business cards.

Such a nice weekend, but all good things must end. It's good to be reminded to come back to the blog. I got a lot of ideas at the Con and a few afterward, too. Can't say they're good yet, but at least something's percolating in there.

When was the last time you attended a Con? What did you take away from it?

Remember.

What are the words that stick in your mind, long after you've read or heard them? What is it that makes them so poignant, so potent, so apt to pop in the forefront when least expected?

Funerals bring back little phrases mentioned about my loved ones. They also tumble different ideas in my head like dice in a cup. One example: my eldest uncle lamenting his utter hopelessness at musical endeavors. It might seem funny to be the subject at a funeral of my grandmother, but music was central to the person she was. Sometimes those gifts don't pass to the kids, I suppose. Remind me of that when my daughter's old enough to actually play an instrument, and not simply plucking the guitar pick out of my hand and into my mouth for giggles.

I write stories, novels, sometimes poetry, and – even rarer – lyrics. It's not the first thing on my mind that I'm going to change someone's life by the words I put to [digital] paper, that'd be pretty cool. How amazing would it be to have people quote me years from now? To be remembered after I'm no longer here? To have my work assigned in a class?

Yeah, I know. When I dream, I dream big. That's not altogether a bad thing. It keeps me reaching for bigger and better things. Do you ever think about what drives you to do the things you do? Why is it that some things are simply what you do because you have to – like buying groceries or working for a boss you despise – and some things are what you do because you need to, in order to be the person you are? What if you never find that inner desire to do something, to be somebody, to make a difference?

Some people are fulfilled in small ways and others reach for larger ones. Does that make either one bad? No, it simply keeps us all from being the same. [Which, nobody asked me, but I think would be pretty boring.] Some of us can reach our goals and the rest of us will endlessly strive for something more.

The pursuit of happiness takes many of us outside our door in the morning and home again at night. Success isn't what will bring happiness, and neither will money. At least, not for most of us.

Remember the dreams of children. Sure, they want to be rich and famous, but they also want all that as part of something they love to do. Must be why one third the populace has dreamed of being a singer at some point – because it's fun.

I might be in the relentless pursuit of words that are worth remembering. It might also be true that I'm chasing down a feisty toddler who jumps off the furniture and generally has no fear. Keeps life interesting. Whatever the goal of the day, I hope to follow my heart and do my best to achieve it. I hope the same for you – and if we're not here tomorrow, that we can be fondly remembered.

Closing and Changing

The Borders bookstore near me is closing. It's across the street from Half Price Books and a block down from Barnes & Noble. The HPB moved down the street last year (maybe half a mile), but otherwise all of them had occupied close quarters for years.

It's sad to have it close. I love the coupons from Borders Rewards that kept me going in and out of the store more often than I would have. So what is it that's changed for the rest of the store that means it has to close? Is it just more of the "future" of the publishing industry where we're moving toward e-books and away from printed paper books? I know Borders isn't closing everywhere, but it's more than just here.

And what does this mean for those of us who still want to get those traditional publishing contracts – to be in the brick and mortar stores?

What about the libraries? Do you still go check out enough books for them to keep buying? Are we going to get to a place where you need to read everything online? How will we share that with the kids too small to care for the electronic devices? How will we keep the rich detail from the picture books on such small screens?

Do we expect the toddlers to not dismantle the devices? Just yesterday I found the keys my daughter ripped from my laptop at 6 months of age. Who needs home and control, right? I must admit the iPad is nice for her to play around with, except for the excess of fingerprints and other marks she leaves over the surface.

I suppose one thing to look forward to is the child-centered devices may begin reading the stories to kids. Then there will be studies upon studies about how it isn't the best way for them to absorb the language (without a native speaker to show how the words are formed with the mouth and to keep the child's attention focused) until at least the age of 3. We'll begin the debate of whether it's better to have the child with books rather than yet another animated movie and point fingers at each other for the digital babysitters. (Really, how else do you manage to shower when you're alone with a small, mobile, curious child?)

The change also hits the authors in their marketing. Marketing is a struggle no matter how you look. Word of mouth about your words, whether in the bookstore or online or any other manner, doesn't work the way you intend. Somehow a few of us have recognizable names and the rest of us languish in obscurity.

Do future writers still dream old ideas for success? I'm sure some of us do – just as I'm certain some of us are floundering among the changing landscape, searching for the best path to take. Self-publishing has never been easier, but it's difficult to stand out from the masses and their largely disappointing reputation.

P.S. I apologize for the extended absence. One of my part-time jobs takes more time than I like to admit. I'm enjoying my break and working on getting organized – which includes more time writing and blogging.

Facilitator for the Writing Group?

I've been a member of one writing group or another for about four years. I'll admit to having run one online, and while I like setting the rules – it's always another matter to enforce them without upsetting the group in question. Dynamics between any group of people are often fragile and must be tended with care.

In my writing group, I admit I've been gone awhile. I've attended twice in the last three months due to other commitments. I've been working on getting those rotated out of my Saturdays again, and there are a few uncertainties about the coming year that I hope will be resolved soon.

Last Saturday, I was the facilitator since the "real" leader was gone. It was bad weather. The other veteran of the group didn't mind if I took over, so I did. I attempted to keep everyone on track. All participants did get to read and comment. I only banged the table once for attention, and my meeting ADHD kicked in one other time when things seemed to get off track.

Then I got an email with some proposed new rules for the group, and it explained that I was the new facilitator for the next year. Uhm, wow?! I don't know how they decided that was a good idea, though I am capable of the position. I'm just not always the nicest to deal with and I will stick by the rules of the group. In my online group, sometimes that meant I had to have difficult conversations to get members to do what they were supposed to do.

It must seem like a lot of time when we have three hours to read and discuss writings, but really, it isn't. There are often at least eight or ten of us, which means only about 20 minutes each. When a person brings part of a novel, explains for a minute or three where the passage is, reads the passage, and the other members comment… it could easily be 45 minutes before we look up again. I know our group once spent half an hour discussing six words that one man presented to us. (Amazing discussion and I hope to see him again soon!)

So the new rules have three issues for me. One, that there is a somewhat arbitrary page count that isn't consistent. That's a little thing, and easily remedied by assessing word count. Two, that no one will ever be told to read first the next time. There are twenty-five people on our email list, and while most of them do not show up on a regular basis there is still the possibility of it happening. We'll never be able to listen to anywhere close to that many in a single session, and what other option is there except to have them go first the next time? That is how a different group I'm in handles it, but they routinely have twenty or more show up. Three, the new rules state no children may be present. It doesn't state exactly how old is old enough to attend the group, but this one really bothers me.

It's not an issue about a baby-sitter or the difficulty of getting one on a Saturday. My husband gets to hang out with our daughter every other Saturday. During football season the game is on. The rest of the time they find things to do. Twice I had to take her to the group with me, because something came up at the last minute. I prefer not to take her because she can be a distraction, but it's been my choice. A good friend of mine brings her six year old, who is much better behaved than my twenty month old toddler.

So if I rarely bring my daughter, why is it such a sticking point? I take her to my weekday group in Iowa City. We miss the gym that day to drive two hours each way to listen to some really wonderful women writers and get some feedback. They're amazed to see how much my little girl has changed and celebrate the little one. I love that my daughter gets to enjoy the atmosphere of that kind of group. It should be up to me. I like that she gets that kind of exposure to the written and spoken word. I like to have the choice. As she gets older and better able to sit through those meetings, I might take her with me more. It's not about a stray curse word in stories or content she may or may not understand. It's simply the experience.

I know this doesn't take into account that people may not be comfortable with what they're reading, and then might become self-conscious with young ears listening. Seriously, with their parents, how could they not have already heard these words? It could give a parent a teaching moment to explain why we talk about these things in books and stories when we wouldn't use them in everyday life. It might be a good time to talk about some of those situations in a less personal manner.

It also might not, but I always have good intentions. "The Road to Hell…" and all that.

So I'm waiting for an answer, to see if I'm really the new facilitator, and then to see how much these new rules are one person or the entire group wanting change. I suppose there's always the possibility of splintering the group. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I think the group has a lot of good qualities, but change is never easy – even when it's good.

Out of Practice

Writing is a skill like any other. If you stop writing, you begin to forget things.

The first day it might be a character's motivation for picking a fight with her best friend. Rewriting the scene to change the fight with something else to start it makes the scene where they make up (or part ways forever) a little different, too.

Then the notes jotted on the side of the climax scene start losing their clarity. Why did they need to climb that mountain, anyway?

Soon the entire project gets dusty sitting on the shelf with no idea left in the writer's head what was supposed to happen to it. That isn't always a bad thing – getting distance is important for some writers to be able to pick up the pen and edit or rewrite to get the best pieces of the story to the surface.

However, there's only so long a project can sit without gaining too much distance. It isn't always a good thing to pull something out of a drawer and say "did I write that?"

Even if a writer needs distance before digging into that first major edit, take that time to write something else. There are other stories to be told, and a writer continues to write.

I took too much time off, though I didn't mean to. Class took too much time from me – some weeks I spent about 20 hours preparing for Friday, where I spent about 6 hours at the college. On top of my other two part-time jobs. I do know that if I had it more together, I'd have eked out a story or something in that time anyway.

Some people don't know how I manage to do the things I do manage, but it doesn't feel like I'm accomplishing that much on a daily basis. Except for my daughter – she's coming along well. She's walking and talking and generally getting into everything as she explores her world.

So, I guess I've been working on my top priority. Everything else has been second place. Writing is coming back, slowly, but it's been a couple months. I barely know how to start a story anymore. I didn't think those skills would get rusty so fast.

I've finally caught up on the class; all that's left is to grade homework and give them a final next Friday. Unfortunately it sounds like another class is on the horizon with another new curriculum to sort out. I have got to get a story done between now and then.

Somehow. I mean, nobody looks back on their deathbed and wishes they spent more time cleaning the house, right?

In Remembrance

Be prepared. The following post probably isn't about what you think, since it's Veteran's Day. So, first, a thank you to the veterans who served our country and keep us free. Second, happy anniversary to my parents. Third, a random blog post that caught my eye on my way to blog this morning about being free.

When I started this blog, I was at home full time trying to be a writer. I succeeded at the writing bit, at least, and I have at least rough drafts of a couple novels to prove it. I enjoyed posting here and I tried to do it once a day.

One of the writers who strongly encouraged me was Jamie Eyberg, may he rest in peace. We'd attended the same small school in southwestern Iowa and he found me on Facebook when I joined. It was nice to have someone to talk to about that writing stuff, especially since my husband just doesn't get it. Jamie commented frequently, either directly here or sending me a message.

I think I've just been avoiding posting here since he died. Yes, a ton of other things get in the way, but they always do. Motherhood and part-time jobs keep me running in circles all day. One of them – teaching at a college – has usurped far too much time. I hear the first time teaching any class is like that.

Other people do read this blog, and maybe someone else won't be afraid to make comments and keep up the dialogue. I appreciate all of you who have commented and watch for my updates.

I'm not doing NaNo this year, due to my other commitments. However, I'm starting to get myself writing by bits and pieces again. I don't know how I let myself get so derailed from the process. I haven't been to a writer's group of any kind in over two months.

All of that is changeable. Saturday's another meeting in West Des Moines. I can keep scribbling out pieces when I get breaks, or rather make breaks to keep up my scribbling (or even random typing).

Admitting the part that's holding me back is just one step to getting back to where I need to be. So, I'm accepting that I've been shirking my blog. I promise to post more often, at least once a week. At least until I can get that daily vibe back.

Happy NaNo to everyone attempting it this year. A novel in a month is always a happy thing, even if it needs severe rewriting. Don't forget to keep going until it's finished and don't just stop at the 50,000 words!

Another Rainy Day

The sky darkens and the water pours down. It's lovely, except it steals the sunlight that seems to give energy to my daily ramblings. It's a nice change, though. I suppose every day can't be sunny and mild weather.

It's perfect to stay inside and get things done, like write or get ahead on homework. I'd hope to write, but we'll see how much the little girl will sleep.