Gillian Polack's Blog, page 141
November 6, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-11-06T19:16:00
I had so much fun today that I'm just a tad defiant I haven't done much work. I did two hours. I shall do two hours more. It will suffice.
This morning we danced many dances from many countries, including four horse dances, of which my favourite was one from Kurdistan. It was much harder for me this week and I worried until ten minutes ago, when I looked at the weather. We'd been dancing in 28 degree heat with high humidity. Not hot in the scheme of things, but definitely harder work than dancing in 20 degrees.
Folk Dance Canberra had a light lunch for Cup Day and laid our bets (meaning, we piled chocolate coins on the counter and ran a sweep with them). We used the guide to the Cup kindly supplied in Sunday's Age which turned out to be an error. The Age had the horses wrong... *
Our president decided that the best way out of this was to use the horse's numbers and so we won by the number, since most of our horses didn't exist. I won a first place, which means I am now the proud owner of 200g of chocolate coins, which I will save for Chanukah. Also, I drank a mere glass and a half of champers and a glass of cherry brandy. I spoiled my virtue by eating much icecream just now, when I tidied my freezer.
Speaking of Jewish festivals and Australian sports, Mum commented on the phone to me that Yom Kippur is on a Saturday next year. This is step one of the preconditions that caused St Kilda to win a Premier in the 1960s, she pointed out. Now all St Kilda needs is the Grand Final to be on that day, to reach that Grand Final, and for there to be a Jewish player who's willing to play regardless. It would be only the second time it has happened in her lifetime, if it happens at all. Evidence, she suggests, of possible divine intervention for Important Sports Fixtures. Also, more reason for divinely bad jokes...Watch this space.
Now that the first race of the day is over, and Green Moon has won, I might watch the second race and find out how the US handles elections in difficult conditions.
*ETA: It turned out that their website wasn't clear which year's Cup was involved. I suspect time travel.
This morning we danced many dances from many countries, including four horse dances, of which my favourite was one from Kurdistan. It was much harder for me this week and I worried until ten minutes ago, when I looked at the weather. We'd been dancing in 28 degree heat with high humidity. Not hot in the scheme of things, but definitely harder work than dancing in 20 degrees.
Folk Dance Canberra had a light lunch for Cup Day and laid our bets (meaning, we piled chocolate coins on the counter and ran a sweep with them). We used the guide to the Cup kindly supplied in Sunday's Age which turned out to be an error. The Age had the horses wrong... *
Our president decided that the best way out of this was to use the horse's numbers and so we won by the number, since most of our horses didn't exist. I won a first place, which means I am now the proud owner of 200g of chocolate coins, which I will save for Chanukah. Also, I drank a mere glass and a half of champers and a glass of cherry brandy. I spoiled my virtue by eating much icecream just now, when I tidied my freezer.
Speaking of Jewish festivals and Australian sports, Mum commented on the phone to me that Yom Kippur is on a Saturday next year. This is step one of the preconditions that caused St Kilda to win a Premier in the 1960s, she pointed out. Now all St Kilda needs is the Grand Final to be on that day, to reach that Grand Final, and for there to be a Jewish player who's willing to play regardless. It would be only the second time it has happened in her lifetime, if it happens at all. Evidence, she suggests, of possible divine intervention for Important Sports Fixtures. Also, more reason for divinely bad jokes...Watch this space.
Now that the first race of the day is over, and Green Moon has won, I might watch the second race and find out how the US handles elections in difficult conditions.
*ETA: It turned out that their website wasn't clear which year's Cup was involved. I suspect time travel.
November 5, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-11-06T08:42:00
I did almost everything on my list yesterday. I wish I could have finished items, but I made progress on some of the big ones. I'm three books closer to having finished my Aurealis reading, for instance, and only have to write three more articles for BiblioBuffet in the next 7 weeks. I only have to read two more books for my other article. When all this is done, I'll be able to line up my next row of urgent tasks and then things will look as if they're happening.
Right now, I'm so busy and have nothing to show for it. By the end of December I will have heaps done and will be able to afford some smugness.
And in the meantime, today is the Melbourne Cup. Since I am a Melbourne girl, I must do Melbourne Cup things today. The music for the Black Nag is already singing in my mind and my dancing shoes are all ready. My post-Cup work is all planned so that it will not suffer if I imbibe just a little. And my hat is purple and very smart.
Right now, I'm so busy and have nothing to show for it. By the end of December I will have heaps done and will be able to afford some smugness.
And in the meantime, today is the Melbourne Cup. Since I am a Melbourne girl, I must do Melbourne Cup things today. The music for the Black Nag is already singing in my mind and my dancing shoes are all ready. My post-Cup work is all planned so that it will not suffer if I imbibe just a little. And my hat is purple and very smart.
November 4, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-11-05T17:50:00
I've finished with three books today and one essay. One meeting, one more book and some more useful words and I'll be where I need to be. One of the books was an "I want to talk about this" novel. It left me feeling all kinds of amazed. It was technically near perfect and emotionally packed a punch and...I can't tell you what it is because it's an Aurealis book. If it's not shortlisted then I'll be more than a bit surprised, so wait a few months and then read it, maybe.
It caused me to rearrange my potential finalists pile, for it caused other books to fall into shadow. This was a good feeling. We should have more writing that's so good it makes you see what's missing elsewhere. Gives writers something to work towards and readers something to passionately defend.
I really don't want to read that fourth book today. I want to savour the flavour of the last one. Maybe I'll take an early dinner.
It caused me to rearrange my potential finalists pile, for it caused other books to fall into shadow. This was a good feeling. We should have more writing that's so good it makes you see what's missing elsewhere. Gives writers something to work towards and readers something to passionately defend.
I really don't want to read that fourth book today. I want to savour the flavour of the last one. Maybe I'll take an early dinner.
On reading and reading choices - another rant
I don't know why I so feel the need to rant right now. Maybe it's work avoidance? Anyhow, one of the books I'm writing up today contained an alluring phrase "making new readers." It was a passing comment, referring to the by changes in the printing industry and especially by changes in newspapers and journals.
We're going through another period of change in reading. We are, in fact, making new readers. It's not a single particular writer or a single particular blog or ezine. It's a big and complex phenomenon. The new readers created by the way we use the web and the new researchers created by e-research need to be added to the way people read ebooks. I suspect they're creating more new readers.
These readers are not necessarily governed by canon. They're not necessarily trained to pay extra attention to the groups of writers we learn about in formal education. Most of these readers have been through formal education, but I suspect they see those writers as something apart and something that they may tackle or they may simply ignore.
These readers are more likely to write, whether it be books, ebooks, fanzines, blogs, fanfic or a thousand other things.
These readers are some of them old readers, who have simply moved to a wider variety of reading platforms that contain more reading choices. Most of them are, however, new and unquantified. Not sufficiently described.
We don’t know who is buying our books and why. Publishers are after knowledge-security and so the same fashionable style of books appear time after time in their catalogues, promoted more than the others, but that's because most publishers perceive new readers as a simple variant on old readers. They assume, I think, that previous cultural choices will simply transfer into the new media. There is overlap, as I just said, and so promotion of new books works. Right now, though most work will produce results, those who can get information out there about the program they want backers for or the novel they just self-published are in a good position to get at least some results.
Quite soon, just as in the 19th century, reading choices and preferences will start to emerge. The mess will settle down into patterns. Predictability will be less of a task and readers will associate with like readers and find paths through them and through like critics to works they love. The long-time dedicated readers and the new literati will emerge. That's when publishing will settle down and when we will be able to see its future.
What I'm excited about, however, is that the new readers are making different choices to the old. There's potentially a revolution in reading choices and in the societies that produce these readers. We don't know the shape of the changes yet. Most of the commentary I've seen has focused on a few obvious elements and not looked at the sheer size and complexity and the overwhelmingly participative nature of new reading.
We're going through another period of change in reading. We are, in fact, making new readers. It's not a single particular writer or a single particular blog or ezine. It's a big and complex phenomenon. The new readers created by the way we use the web and the new researchers created by e-research need to be added to the way people read ebooks. I suspect they're creating more new readers.
These readers are not necessarily governed by canon. They're not necessarily trained to pay extra attention to the groups of writers we learn about in formal education. Most of these readers have been through formal education, but I suspect they see those writers as something apart and something that they may tackle or they may simply ignore.
These readers are more likely to write, whether it be books, ebooks, fanzines, blogs, fanfic or a thousand other things.
These readers are some of them old readers, who have simply moved to a wider variety of reading platforms that contain more reading choices. Most of them are, however, new and unquantified. Not sufficiently described.
We don’t know who is buying our books and why. Publishers are after knowledge-security and so the same fashionable style of books appear time after time in their catalogues, promoted more than the others, but that's because most publishers perceive new readers as a simple variant on old readers. They assume, I think, that previous cultural choices will simply transfer into the new media. There is overlap, as I just said, and so promotion of new books works. Right now, though most work will produce results, those who can get information out there about the program they want backers for or the novel they just self-published are in a good position to get at least some results.
Quite soon, just as in the 19th century, reading choices and preferences will start to emerge. The mess will settle down into patterns. Predictability will be less of a task and readers will associate with like readers and find paths through them and through like critics to works they love. The long-time dedicated readers and the new literati will emerge. That's when publishing will settle down and when we will be able to see its future.
What I'm excited about, however, is that the new readers are making different choices to the old. There's potentially a revolution in reading choices and in the societies that produce these readers. We don't know the shape of the changes yet. Most of the commentary I've seen has focused on a few obvious elements and not looked at the sheer size and complexity and the overwhelmingly participative nature of new reading.
November 3, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-11-04T11:27:00
Bad night last night. I did a lot of reading for Aurealis, for it was the sort of pain that meant I had to be out of bed if I didn't want breathing problems. Lots of muscle spasming. Anyhow, it went until dawn and then I got a couple of hours sleep, and in the meantime I read an extra 300 pages. Only 300 pages, for reading was slow.
I shall run my messages this afternoon, for now that I know what sort of pain it is, I know that putting the messages off again isn't going to help. Much gentle exercise and many warm fluids will sort out the muscle problem. I can't do advanced intellectual stuff through it, but I can do other work and get through my various lists and not fall behind.
My dream job has been advertised, BTW. I don't know how many other people also think this their dream job (I'm assuming a lot, for it's gorgeous) but I'm going to put in an application. It has the potential for me to teach and research near the centre of my expertise *and* all the things I went into this doctorate wanting to teach, including grammar for writers. And it's in a place I've always, always wanted to live. I visited it once as a little kid and fell in love. All I can do is apply...
I shall run my messages this afternoon, for now that I know what sort of pain it is, I know that putting the messages off again isn't going to help. Much gentle exercise and many warm fluids will sort out the muscle problem. I can't do advanced intellectual stuff through it, but I can do other work and get through my various lists and not fall behind.
My dream job has been advertised, BTW. I don't know how many other people also think this their dream job (I'm assuming a lot, for it's gorgeous) but I'm going to put in an application. It has the potential for me to teach and research near the centre of my expertise *and* all the things I went into this doctorate wanting to teach, including grammar for writers. And it's in a place I've always, always wanted to live. I visited it once as a little kid and fell in love. All I can do is apply...
November 2, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-11-03T17:48:00
It's that time of year when the Aurealis reading grows, even when it ought to be nearly over. Publishers are realising they haven't done their submissions. This means that it's actually very hard to track how many books I have to read. My early count is wrong, simply because more books are about to arrive. On the website, it looks as if there should be nearly 50 Young Adult novels submitted this year, and since nominations haven't quite closed yet (and some books I know are out there haven't materialised), it might get over that number.
I have absolutely no objections to reading an extra dozen or so books, especially if the late ones are as good as the early ones. It does mean that any numbers I give on this blog, however, are purely imaginary.
I don't get dinner until I've read half a book (since today has been more about other work), so I'd better find half a book to read. I have two piles to choose from. One I cleverly call "This pile" and the other I even more cleverly call "That pile." That pile it is.
I have absolutely no objections to reading an extra dozen or so books, especially if the late ones are as good as the early ones. It does mean that any numbers I give on this blog, however, are purely imaginary.
I don't get dinner until I've read half a book (since today has been more about other work), so I'd better find half a book to read. I have two piles to choose from. One I cleverly call "This pile" and the other I even more cleverly call "That pile." That pile it is.
Migration to Australia - where Gillian rants
I'm still viral and easily distracted from work. Yesterday the distraction was mainly sleep - I was just a bit less well than I thought. Today, however, I was impelled to confront some issues I need to deal with. This was prompted by government policies I disapprove of (very, very, very much do I disapprove of them) and also by the book I'm reading for a BiblioBuffet essay, which clarified those policies for me. There are so many things I can't talk about in a single essay without turning that essay into a book, but I'm wondering that, if I pare issues back to their human component and set them in one of my other worlds for writing, if I can't address some of the issues fictionally. My first step is always to look for a deeper understanding and, in this case, to sort out my own ambivalent background (am I sinned against or sinning? it turns out I'm probably both).
My issue of the day is the perceived shape of British Empire. It's also Australian bigotry. Let me talk about the latter, first.
Something rather evil happened in Parliament this week - our government decided that refugees weren't refugees at all and were not in need of help. At least, not in need of help by us, on our soil. This is despite the fact that we really don't get many refugees compared with many countries and that most of the people who get here are in need of help somewhat direly.
We're nice people, Australians, but we have this blind spot. There's a growing public unhappiness with the government attitude, but this unhappiness doesn't change things. Why? Why do we have this blind spot? Why can't we change things easily? How can we hurt when people hurt and still not reach out and help them?
This is why. (ignore the highlights, please - I was looking to see what the ANA historically thought of refugees in the hopes that I was wrong).
Our history of not wanting people because they're in need rather than because they're from the right background goes back far further than this, but this snippet of text shows how very entrenched it is. These people who were 'taking ship berths' and so forth were survivors of attempted genocide. They had no home and no safety. Some of them were in refugee camps for years after they survived the Shoah. And Australia put its nose up and was rude. The then-government even put quotas on the % of Jewish passengers on ships docking in Australian ports**. This is a bit more of the general background, for those who are curious: http://www.ijs.org.au/Jewish-Immigration-after-the-Second-World-War/default.aspx
Australia has a history of preferring people of a particular ancestry and origin. This history was partly produced, in its turn, by our place in the Empire and our perception of what the British Empire was. We were one of the "White" regions. Those quotation marks are terribly important and more than somewhat ironic, since South Africa was another - the remaining are usually given as NZ and Canada. We thought we sent more of our people to war for Britain (I'd like to see the actual numbers - I know Australian and NZ sent more per capita of our rather small populations, but I suspect that India actually sent more) and we felt a strong bond to the place many of us still called Home, even in the 1960s and 1970s. We had a complex sense of duty and responsibility and the sense of cultural background and race and all the issues of colonisation mixed in with the duty and responsibility and made something that could be awesome, but that could also be awesomely bigoted.
Race and culture and their intersection with bigotry are thus quite complex and not well understood here. When an issue becomes too complex, Australia has been known to define it out of existence or pretend it will go away (both having applied to Indigenous Australians at various times) - it's easier than dealing with our past, I suspect.
This means that we make judgements about who we prefer to live with based very much on a bunch of stereotypes and prejudices we inherited and developed alongside our strange colonialism. It wasn't Jews only who benefited from hysteria when they* tried to migrate, but the post-Holocaust hysteria is particularly notable because if a country can't be warm and welcoming to fellow-Europeans after they've suffered such terror, then it's not going to be warm and welcoming to anyone who doesn't quite fit expectations.
The stereotypes were not based on skin colour, although that was certainly an element: the world was ranked in tiers. My suspicion as to how we once-British folks often order our Earth is that England (and preferably Southern England) was the centre of humanity (very Whiggish!) and then the rest of the UK and then the select few countries I listed. The rest of the Empire was more important than non-Empire places, with the USA being a key exception. India was lauded as the jewel in the crown, but its people were not among the favoured few. They were, however, probably the top echelon of the next rank. Jews (as we've seen) didn't fit anywhere. This underlying order-of-humankind lasted for well over a century and still influences the way Australians see the world.
It influences us, but it's not as important. We're changing far too slowly, but we are changing. Now we need to persuade our government to catch up.
*I say "they" because my family came out earlier and thus missed the hysteria although not the "ick, you're Jewish".
**More details of government policy are here: http://www.api-network.com/main/pdf/scholars/jas77_rutland.pdf
My issue of the day is the perceived shape of British Empire. It's also Australian bigotry. Let me talk about the latter, first.
Something rather evil happened in Parliament this week - our government decided that refugees weren't refugees at all and were not in need of help. At least, not in need of help by us, on our soil. This is despite the fact that we really don't get many refugees compared with many countries and that most of the people who get here are in need of help somewhat direly.
We're nice people, Australians, but we have this blind spot. There's a growing public unhappiness with the government attitude, but this unhappiness doesn't change things. Why? Why do we have this blind spot? Why can't we change things easily? How can we hurt when people hurt and still not reach out and help them?
This is why. (ignore the highlights, please - I was looking to see what the ANA historically thought of refugees in the hopes that I was wrong).
Our history of not wanting people because they're in need rather than because they're from the right background goes back far further than this, but this snippet of text shows how very entrenched it is. These people who were 'taking ship berths' and so forth were survivors of attempted genocide. They had no home and no safety. Some of them were in refugee camps for years after they survived the Shoah. And Australia put its nose up and was rude. The then-government even put quotas on the % of Jewish passengers on ships docking in Australian ports**. This is a bit more of the general background, for those who are curious: http://www.ijs.org.au/Jewish-Immigration-after-the-Second-World-War/default.aspx
Australia has a history of preferring people of a particular ancestry and origin. This history was partly produced, in its turn, by our place in the Empire and our perception of what the British Empire was. We were one of the "White" regions. Those quotation marks are terribly important and more than somewhat ironic, since South Africa was another - the remaining are usually given as NZ and Canada. We thought we sent more of our people to war for Britain (I'd like to see the actual numbers - I know Australian and NZ sent more per capita of our rather small populations, but I suspect that India actually sent more) and we felt a strong bond to the place many of us still called Home, even in the 1960s and 1970s. We had a complex sense of duty and responsibility and the sense of cultural background and race and all the issues of colonisation mixed in with the duty and responsibility and made something that could be awesome, but that could also be awesomely bigoted.
Race and culture and their intersection with bigotry are thus quite complex and not well understood here. When an issue becomes too complex, Australia has been known to define it out of existence or pretend it will go away (both having applied to Indigenous Australians at various times) - it's easier than dealing with our past, I suspect.
This means that we make judgements about who we prefer to live with based very much on a bunch of stereotypes and prejudices we inherited and developed alongside our strange colonialism. It wasn't Jews only who benefited from hysteria when they* tried to migrate, but the post-Holocaust hysteria is particularly notable because if a country can't be warm and welcoming to fellow-Europeans after they've suffered such terror, then it's not going to be warm and welcoming to anyone who doesn't quite fit expectations.
The stereotypes were not based on skin colour, although that was certainly an element: the world was ranked in tiers. My suspicion as to how we once-British folks often order our Earth is that England (and preferably Southern England) was the centre of humanity (very Whiggish!) and then the rest of the UK and then the select few countries I listed. The rest of the Empire was more important than non-Empire places, with the USA being a key exception. India was lauded as the jewel in the crown, but its people were not among the favoured few. They were, however, probably the top echelon of the next rank. Jews (as we've seen) didn't fit anywhere. This underlying order-of-humankind lasted for well over a century and still influences the way Australians see the world.
It influences us, but it's not as important. We're changing far too slowly, but we are changing. Now we need to persuade our government to catch up.
*I say "they" because my family came out earlier and thus missed the hysteria although not the "ick, you're Jewish".
**More details of government policy are here: http://www.api-network.com/main/pdf/scholars/jas77_rutland.pdf
gillpolack @ 2012-11-02T18:58:00
Final update on the ACT elections. We have government. It's Labor. The Greens (or rather, Shane Rattenbury) decided not to support Zed. Poor Zed. At least he got his "Aren't we wonderful" speech on election day.
I think this may well have been the result a lot of people wanted. The same party in power, but with a big warning that they need to up their game.
Next Tuesday is Melbourne Cup Day. Also the US elections. Should be an interesting day.
I think this may well have been the result a lot of people wanted. The same party in power, but with a big warning that they need to up their game.
Next Tuesday is Melbourne Cup Day. Also the US elections. Should be an interesting day.
November 1, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-11-02T12:02:00
I have a nice cold. I was expecting something after I submitted the PhD, but I guess a cold was surprising for it's so very normal. It's also possible to take medications to let me teach and to stop sneezing. And I got to snuggle up in bed for a bit of extra time and to tell myself "I have a cold and can do my work a bit later." It restores my faith in the human body, does this batch of sniffles.
In real news, there was a wild strip-tearing noise this week and all the papers on the back of my front door descended to the floor. They outlined the work I had to do during the doctorate, for the most part, including all my main deadlines from most things during that time. I don't know how they knew that their time was done, but they did, and so I scrunched them up and confined them to the recycling box*.
I now have a brand new piece of butcher's paper on the back of that door and it contains the tasks I need to finish by my father's birthday (late December). There are twenty-one items up there, ranging from a half-written BiblioBuffet article to 5,000 scholarly words that are not yet researched. There will probably be more in the next few weeks.
Putting it all down on paper makes it so much less overwhelming. Take the two Aurealis items (I have separated novels from short stories), for instance. I haven't started the short stories yet, but there are only twelve novels left to read**. The ten thousand word article is written and waiting for the mail, which next week will contain two very recent books I need to read to check my ideas and, if possible extend them fully. This means that the list says 10,000 words, but it really means "Two books and a careful revision and maybe 500 words." Three days work, in all.
This means that, yes, post-PhD I'm very busy (And I thought I was imagining things), but it's not impossible as long as I actually do the work and as long as I do it intelligently and don't faff around. and if it's what I need to do to get a job in my field, then it's what I need to do. It adds up to around 50,000 words (not counting blogging and other unseriousness, or job applications), but, as I said a minute ago, some of it is already written. About a third of it is already written and just needs finishing, in fact. Also, if I look at the list, it's all things I want to do.
There was a reason for me writing this today. Oh yes, NaNoWriMo. Some people are saying "Why don't you do NaNoWriMo?" and this would be why. Some other people are saying to each other "Why do NaNo at all?" While I don't do NaNo myself (it's never been convenient), I can see that it would be a very good indicator of physical capacity if one is able to keep up the steady research and writing that one actually needs in order to write, longterm.
It's not a foolproof test, for longterm a writer (of fiction, of nonfiction of anything in between) has to be able to maintain quality, otherwise they become a burden to their editors and ultimately to their readers (and three of the books I read yesterday were precisely that - fortunately the fourth was a total gem and redeemed the others) but it can help someone understand what they need to do if they want to write professionally, what working habits will help them and what ideas they need to sort out before they write.
*When I get a big box of books, the empty box takes recycling. It's now a very heavy and overflowing recycling box and I have a second recycling pile and I might have to do a bin run just as soon as this cold is finished. The cold may be just an excuse, but it's a very good excuse.
**Unless more get delivered, of course. I got a new one today, along with a new review book. I do like parcels!
In real news, there was a wild strip-tearing noise this week and all the papers on the back of my front door descended to the floor. They outlined the work I had to do during the doctorate, for the most part, including all my main deadlines from most things during that time. I don't know how they knew that their time was done, but they did, and so I scrunched them up and confined them to the recycling box*.
I now have a brand new piece of butcher's paper on the back of that door and it contains the tasks I need to finish by my father's birthday (late December). There are twenty-one items up there, ranging from a half-written BiblioBuffet article to 5,000 scholarly words that are not yet researched. There will probably be more in the next few weeks.
Putting it all down on paper makes it so much less overwhelming. Take the two Aurealis items (I have separated novels from short stories), for instance. I haven't started the short stories yet, but there are only twelve novels left to read**. The ten thousand word article is written and waiting for the mail, which next week will contain two very recent books I need to read to check my ideas and, if possible extend them fully. This means that the list says 10,000 words, but it really means "Two books and a careful revision and maybe 500 words." Three days work, in all.
This means that, yes, post-PhD I'm very busy (And I thought I was imagining things), but it's not impossible as long as I actually do the work and as long as I do it intelligently and don't faff around. and if it's what I need to do to get a job in my field, then it's what I need to do. It adds up to around 50,000 words (not counting blogging and other unseriousness, or job applications), but, as I said a minute ago, some of it is already written. About a third of it is already written and just needs finishing, in fact. Also, if I look at the list, it's all things I want to do.
There was a reason for me writing this today. Oh yes, NaNoWriMo. Some people are saying "Why don't you do NaNoWriMo?" and this would be why. Some other people are saying to each other "Why do NaNo at all?" While I don't do NaNo myself (it's never been convenient), I can see that it would be a very good indicator of physical capacity if one is able to keep up the steady research and writing that one actually needs in order to write, longterm.
It's not a foolproof test, for longterm a writer (of fiction, of nonfiction of anything in between) has to be able to maintain quality, otherwise they become a burden to their editors and ultimately to their readers (and three of the books I read yesterday were precisely that - fortunately the fourth was a total gem and redeemed the others) but it can help someone understand what they need to do if they want to write professionally, what working habits will help them and what ideas they need to sort out before they write.
*When I get a big box of books, the empty box takes recycling. It's now a very heavy and overflowing recycling box and I have a second recycling pile and I might have to do a bin run just as soon as this cold is finished. The cold may be just an excuse, but it's a very good excuse.
**Unless more get delivered, of course. I got a new one today, along with a new review book. I do like parcels!
October 31, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-11-01T11:18:00
We have random thunderstorms today and I have some sort of cold and I feel like spending the day in bed. I've heard back from most of my friends and family on the east coast of the US, and, although there's been a lot of flood damage and a pondsworth of goldfish that were washed out to see and trees falling on houses and cars, everyone's in good health. It's bad, but my friends and family have so far been lucky (although at least one friend has a brother whose house is completely done in my Sandy) and it could have been much worse. It *is* worse, in fact, for many people in all the places Sandy hit. The thunder here is, I think, largely in sympathy.
I'm teaching tonight, but I'm still not certain if I can get to the bus stop to get myself home. This is because they're changing the road around the university and have forgotten that people have to get safely to the bus stop after dark. It won't be quite as dark as a month ago, at least, and thus it won't be quite as unsafe, so I doubt I'll be asking for lifts this time. Still, I'll be happier when they finish the roadwork and I don't have to worry. (Getting into university is fine - in fact, it's more than fine, because they've added a whole new bus stop and I walk about a hundred years less.) This is my week for small frets for me and big worries for my friends.
I have three hours to drink coffee and zap my to-do list stupid before my afternoon's meeting and my library visit and my photocopying and my teaching.
I'm teaching tonight, but I'm still not certain if I can get to the bus stop to get myself home. This is because they're changing the road around the university and have forgotten that people have to get safely to the bus stop after dark. It won't be quite as dark as a month ago, at least, and thus it won't be quite as unsafe, so I doubt I'll be asking for lifts this time. Still, I'll be happier when they finish the roadwork and I don't have to worry. (Getting into university is fine - in fact, it's more than fine, because they've added a whole new bus stop and I walk about a hundred years less.) This is my week for small frets for me and big worries for my friends.
I have three hours to drink coffee and zap my to-do list stupid before my afternoon's meeting and my library visit and my photocopying and my teaching.
