L.R. Lam's Blog, page 18
February 15, 2016
Why Don’t You See We’re Here: On Visibility in Genre
I’m not the first to comment on a list of cutting edge sci fi that has only white, male authors. I’m not going to link, but you can find it easily on SF Signal, a site I enjoy and read frequently. Here’s Juliet McKenna’s post, which is how I found out about the latest one.
Let’s start with an anecdote. I get friend requests on Goodreads. I’ll go over and look at their profile briefly. I accept most people who friend request me, though I’m not all that active on there aside from logging the books I read. But pretty regularly, I’ll get a friend request by a (almost always) man, and all the favourite authors listed on the profile are men, and almost all the books read on their profile (sometimes hundreds of books) are by men. Sometimes every single book. I don’t accept the friend request. I don’t know why they bothered adding me in the first place: they are very unlikely to ever pick up my book. Do they even consider me an author?
You can’t be cutting edge if you’re relegated to the edge.
Barnes and Noble put up a list of their bestselling SFF books in January. I scroll past a list of male after male authors. Again, almost entirely white, probably almost entirely straight and probably able-bodied. I see Mary Robinette Kowal’s breakdown of SFF books in airports across the US. Same thing again. The Locus Recommended Reading list breakdown. Thing like Sad/Rabid Puppies appearing year after year come the Hugos. They’ll show up and start peeing on the floor again any day now. I write in YA as well as SFF, so it’s a double dose. Someone will ask on Twitter: do we really need diverse authors if white people can write PoC really well? Here’s yet another thinkpiece asking if a woman can really write a convincing male protagonist. Here’s another white man who writes YA deriding the entire genre, saying he writes books that aren’t like other YA. My books, he’ll say again, are serious and worthy of attention, not like the histrionic romcom love triangle drama all those female YA authors he’s never actually read write.
Over and over and over again.
It’s hard not to let it get to you. It’s hard not to feel disheartened. I went on sub with my sci fi and felt I had to put my initials on it instead of Laura (this had a happy ending, though: my publisher encouraged me to keep my own name). I’m a white, female writer. The publishing industry still looks like me, most of the time. These unthinking articles are, I’m sure, even more disheartening for PoC and disabled writers. I exist in my bubble of progressive people who read widely and rec widely. These articles where we’re all summarily ignored pop that bubble and leave us cold. It’s hard not to feel angry, and then when we’re upset told we’re overreacting and taking it personally. Yeah, we’ve never heard that one before.
Genre, both YA and SFF, has never been and never will be only white, straight, male authors. That everyman character found in so many novels is not actually an everyman to a significant percentage of the people who support this genre. The rest of us have been writing and reading these books since the very beginning, we have appeared in and written those cutting-edge futures, even if you haven’t read them. Stop trying so hard not to see we’re already here and we’re not going anywhere, either here in the present, or on those spaceships in the stars.
February 12, 2016
Friday Photo: February 12th, 2016
Every week I post a photo that sums up the week. More are on my instagram.
I had fun playing around with editing functions on my not-so-great phone camera. False Hearts is up on Netgalley this week! Go forth and request if you’re a librarian, book blogger, or bookseller. I hope you enjoy it!
Approvals might be location-dependent, so if you’re outside the UK and not successful, I think it’ll be going up through Tor US too, so you’ll be able to try again.
Have a good weekend!
February 10, 2016
No, You Don’t Have to Write Every Day
It’s writing advice that crops up time and time again: “To be a writer, you must write every day.” I was chatting about it on Twitter with fellow Mushens authors Ali Land and Stephen Aryan the other day, and I’m still mulling it over.
That piece of advice stressed me out so much when I was first starting out. Sometimes, I couldn’t write every day. I was juggling a full time job and life. Sometimes I was too anxious to write, too afraid of failure. Sometimes I was too tired. Sometimes I was ill. That was true then, and it’s still true now, six years later, when I am a full-time writer. I knew they didn’t often literally mean someone has to write every day even if they have the stomach flu, but it weaseled its way into my subconscious anyway. Every time I didn’t write, there it was: you’re not a real writer.
I still don’t write every day.
I write almost every day. My word counts are rarely super high, though they tend to be higher now than was when I had more to balance. I prefer the steady approach. I’ve tried to do the NaNoWriMo pace. It doesn’t work for me. I tried doing marathon sessions just a few times a week. That doesn’t work either. Little and often is my jam.
If I have a set, hard deadline, it does wonders for me writing more and quickly. If there’s not a contract yet and it’s something on spec? Much slower. Part of that is still confidence. Will anyone want this? Am I wasting my time? Sorry to say that, for me at least, that fear has never gone away. Imposter Syndrome is annoying, but all you can really do is try to push through and write anyway. Easier said than done.
Sometimes, opening the word document and staring at the screen, or staring at social media when I should be looking at the manuscript, is too much. A lot of the time, after a few minutes of puttering, I settle down and get going, and it’s fine. Othertimes, I just can’t. The words are ugly, or I don’t know what to write next, or I’m tired and worn out. Bashing my head against the keyboard because I feel I have to write every day is going to do more harm than good. I had a day like that a few weeks ago. I stared at the words, and they stared back and judged me, and I threw up my hands in disgust and walked away from the screen.
A mental health day can do wonders. Giving yourself permission to have that day or week off and get out of the house, away from the screen. To see friends, to go to the cinema, to go out for a meal. To sit on the sofa and read and drink tea. To go for a run or do a puzzle. Step back from the tricky bit of the manuscript. I find that, almost every time, if I allow myself a short break, I’ll solve that plot point when I’m washing dishes or something. Then I can go back fresh and actually fix it, rather than just wearing myself down further.
It’s good to write regularly, but it really doesn’t have to be every day. Find out what pace works for you so that you’re producing work at a rate that you’re happy with and able to hit. I set myself low writing goals of 500-1000 words a day at least 5 days a week. I often write a little more than that, but mentally smashing that lower threshold feels better for me, so that’s what I do. Find your habits and stick with them, but if you’re ill or unwell or really damn tired, take that step back. Just try to make sure it doesn’t turn from a break into a hiatus. Objects in motion stay in motion, and all that.
I’m nowhere near the first person to say that no, you don’t have to write every day. It still irritates me whenever something to that effect pops up in my feed. It erases the very real pressures of life, which have a way of stopping writing: stress that hampers creativity, having many roles to juggle, being a carer to someone else, needing to work overtime, chronic illness or a disability that might make writing every day impossible, financial woes, an injury. You’re pretty privileged if you can actually sit down to write every day, since not everyone can, even if they really want to. With all writing and writing advice, there is nothing approaching a one-size-fits-all approach.
I’m writing this for whoever wants to read this, but also for myself. I’ve been trying to give myself Sundays off without even trying to write, without feeling guilty. And it’s hard. I still feel that annoying little tendril of doubt and guilt. I’m about to have to ramp up my output in a rewrite, and I’m planning how to do it in a way that I still have breaks.
It’s okay to take time off, to recharge. For you, for me.
February 8, 2016
Obligatory Awards Eligibility Post: The Lioness
I wasn’t going to make a post, as I only have one short story eligible for awards in 2015. Then I thought, eh, why not, I’ll showcase it.
So the only new work that was released by me last year was “The Lioness” in Fablecroft’s anthology Cranky Ladies of History. It’s a story about Jeanne de Clisson, a 13th century French pirate. I wrote a little bit more about her in this post. Short version: she became a pirate to have revenge on the people who killed her husband, and liked beheading people with an axe.
I gave the historical facts a little fantasy twist–Jeanne is doing her usual pirate thing, and unexpectedly comes across a would-be assassin sent by her sworn enemy. It doesn’t go quite to plan, and your assassin is not anywhere near as badass as Jeanne. In fact, he’s a pretty scared young man.
Here’s a short excerpt:
The English Channel, 1349
The lioness and her pride closed in on their prey.
Jeanne de Clisson, known to many as the Lioness of Brittany, pirate queen and sworn enemy of King Philip VI The Fortunate, bared her teeth. “Attack!” she screamed, holding her axe aloft.
Jeanne’s son, Guillame, turned the wheel, and the cog swung in the dark waters, heading towards the fat-bellied merchant ship, La Gracedieux, which attempted desperately to escape. The three ships of the Lioness’s Black Fleet, painted dark and with crimson sails, were far quicker than the smaller craft.
One soul on board would be particularly sweet for Jeanne de Clisson to hunt. Elyas de Blois was a minor noble but cousin and former foster son to her sworn enemy, Charles de Blois, Duke of Brittany. When she killed the boy, word would reach that son of a pig even he rotted as an English prisoner of war. Her smile grew wider.
“Arrows!” she called, and the archers at the forecastle of the cog began the attack, the slim arrows flying through the air to burrow in the wood of the merchant ship or to pierce flesh. Above them, the sky that had threatened rain all morning released its promise, drenching the decks. Jeanne pushed the wet ropes of hair from her face, moving to the railing.
“Javelins!” she called, and the crew switched weapons, the thicker shafts able to do more damage. She scowled at the rain. She wished she could attack with pots of unslaked lime, but in weather like this, it was far too dangerous, as like to burn her men as her enemy.
La Gracedieux fired arrows back at the Black Fleet, but many missed the ship entirely and were lost to the ocean. The wind was against her prey, who were not as practiced in warfare as the Lioness and her sailors.
“Board!” she cried. Her men were already swinging the grappling hooks over their heads, letting them sail to skid along the other ship’s deck before catching in the railing. They were close enough now that Jeanne could see the fear on the sailors’ faces on the other ship. She thrummed with the anticipation of blood.
Her sailors pulled the grappling hooks closer, until they could jump onto La Gracedieux with ease. Jeanne hoped the crew would not surrender. If they did, there would be no thrill of a fight, and only silent slaughter.
Her crew made quick work of most of the merchant sailors. Blood mixed with the rain to stain the decks. She waited until the situation was in hand before she jumped across the gap to the other ship. The smell of iron, salt, and wet wood filled the air. Her axe at the ready, she made her way to the captain, whose arms were pinned by two of her crew.
“Captain,” she said, giving him a courtly bow. “I thank you for your ship and your cargo.”
He spat at her. His aim was good—the spittle hit her cheek and slid down her neck, the rain already rinsing it clean. She raised her eyebrow at him. Around her the melee continued, men screaming as they were cut down.
She raised her axe and, without ceremony, hit him in the gut with its blade. The captain was not brave in the face of his death. He screamed, high-pitched and terrified, and then bowed forward, gasping with the pain. Red bloomed on his jacket. Jeanne slit his throat with the knife from her belt and he fell to the deck, crimson pooling on the planks.
At her nod, the men dragged the captain’s corpse to the side and threw him over.
The anthology also has an illustration of Jeanne, looking angry and fierce.
BRB need to behead someone
So, if you fancy reading it and nominating it for something, feel free. Or nominate something else in the collection. If the end result is that one or two more people pick up the anthology about cranky badass ladies, that’s cool too.
February 5, 2016
Friday Photo: February 5th, 2016
Every week I post a photo that sums up the week in certain respects. More are on my instagram.
I’ve started an art class since I actually have time for hobbies again. This is an exercise I first did 13 years ago from Drawing on the Right Side of my brain, which my dad gave me. You draw it upside down so you draw the shapes and what you actually see, rather than what you think you see.
February 3, 2016
Monthly Roundup: January 2016
I’ve split my roundups into two posts: a post about the books I read, and another about writing, updates, and life in general.
So, the first month of the year is already gone. That was fast.
Writing:
I kept up my writing spreadsheet, so this month I wrote 27,600 words of prose and 4,700 words of various nonfic like this blog, for a total of 32,300 words. Some of the prose was planning, but I count that as I’d rather write 3,000 words of good plot points than 6,000 words of meandering fluff I have to cut in the next draft. I wrote a tiny bit of Betwixt Book and the start of a novella before I switched back to Memory Book. I’ve passed 10k on that, but I tend to start a little slower and then speed up.
I’ve also done a little freelance editing this month for an art magazine, which I enjoyed.
False Hearts is out in 133 days, or around 4.5 months, so things for that are starting to gear up! ARCs have been printed and a few have gone out so far, mostly to booksellers. That’ll change this month and it’ll start going wider. US ARCs should arrive this month too. I found out at the end of the month that Macmillan have hired ED PR and Emma Draude and her assistant, Hayley, will be working on the book.
False Hearts appeared on some anticipated lists, which is heartening:
Scottish Book Trust: 27 Scottish Novels to Look Forward to in 2016
SF Signal: MIND MELD: This Is What We Want To Read In 2016 (Thanks, Sunil!)
SF Book Reviews: Books to Look Out For in 2016
Best Science Fiction has it listed as a “noteworthy release” on its front page
I think that’s all of them. So…that’s a lot more than my other books were ever listed, this far out from publication. It means the hook, blurbs, and covers seem to be doing their job. 
False Hearts can be added on Goodreads and pre-order information is here.
Non False Hearts-wise, I had an interview on MuggleNet about the Micah Grey series
Travel & Life:
I went nowhere in January. Stayed in my house, on my sofa, under my duvet, with a warm drink. January tends to be one of my least favourite months. It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s dreary. The excitement of Christmas is over but there’s usually anything exciting on the horizon. Last year I went on holiday in January, and I wish I could do that again some time in the next few years. I hibernated for the most part, but now that we’re moving at least a little closer into spring, I’m waking up a little.
I started an art class that I go to on Fridays for the next few months, and I’m really enjoying it so far, even if I’m bad at it.
Goals for Next Month:
I think edits will be arriving soon for either Masquerade, Shattered Minds, or both, so I’ll probably be switching gears from Memory Book back to those. I have at least one school visit booked. Planning events and things for release will probably happen this month or next. I’ll be keeping busy.
What are your goals for February?
February 1, 2016
Books Read in January
1. The Grownup – Gillian Flynn
A canny young woman is struggling to survive by perpetrating various levels of mostly harmless fraud. On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in. A keen observer of human behavior, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life a drama injection. However, when the “psychic” visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan’s terror and grief, she realizes she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore. Miles, Susan’s teenage stepson, doesn’t help matters with his disturbing manner and grisly imagination. The three are soon locked in a chilling battle to discover where the evil truly lurks and what, if anything, can be done to escape it.
2. Wildthorn – Jane Eagland
Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove longs to break free from her respectable life as a Victorian doctor’s daughter. But her dreams become a nightmare when Louisa is sent to Wildthorn Hall: labeled a lunatic, deprived of her liberty and even her real name. As she unravels the betrayals that led to her incarceration, she realizes there are many kinds of prison. She must be honest with herself – and others – in order to be set free. And love may be the key…
3. Wonder – R.J. Palacio
You can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.
My name is August. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.
August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary – inside.
But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don’t get stared at wherever they go.
Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he’s being sent to a real school – and he’s dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted – but can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, underneath it all?
Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.
4. Slade House – David Mitchell
Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley, if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. Every nine years, the house’s residents—an odd brother and sister—extend a unique invitation to someone who’s different or lonely: a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it’s already too late. . . .
Spanning five decades, from the last days of the 1970s to the present, leaping genres, and barreling toward an astonishing conclusion, this intricately woven novel will pull you into a reality-warping new vision of the haunted house story—as only David Mitchell could imagine it.
5. The Blue Fairy Book – Andrew Lang
The Blue Fairy Book was the first volume in the series and so it contains some of the best known tales, taken from a variety of sources: not only from Grimm, but exciting adventures by Charles Perrault and Madame D’Aulnoy, the Arabian Nights, and other stories from popular traditions. Here in one attractive paperbound volume – with enlarged print – are Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltzkin, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel, Puss in Boots, Trusty John, Jack and the Giantkiller, Goldilocks, and many other favorites that have become an indispensable part of our culture heritage.
All in all, this collection contains 37 stories, all arranged in the clear, lively prose for which Lang was famous. Not only are Lang’s generally conceded to be the best English versions of standard stories, his collections are the richest and widest in range. His position as one of England’s foremost folklorists as well as his first-rate literary abilities makes his collection invaluable in the English language.
6. Binti – Nnedi Okorafor
Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.
Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself – but first she has to make it there, alive.
7. Fairest – Marissa Meyer
In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?
Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.
Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.
8. Afterworlds – Scott Westerfeld
Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she’s made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings…
Told in alternating chapters is Darcy’s novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the ‘Afterworld’ to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved – and terrifying – stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.
9. The Supernatural Highlands – Francis G. Thompson
This examination of Scottish Gaelic folklore asks what the Otherworld meant to the Highlander. This is an authoritative exploration of Highland belief systems, with insights into the evil eye, witchcraft, ghosts, fairies and other supernatural beings — all previously overlooked as superstition.
Character Diversity (basically: non-white, non-straight, or otherwise marginalised groups that don’t appear in fiction as often):
The Grownup stars a sex worker. Wildthorn stars a lesbian character and there is f/f romance. Slade House has a fairly diverse cast (a character I read as neuroatypical, a lesbian, a fat woman, a black woman who is a reincarnated Chinese man). Wonder stars a character with Treacher Collins syndrome and a cleft palate, and a secondary character who is biracial and another with Tourette’s. Binti stars a black woman from the Himba tribe, where her people have their own desert planet. Fairest had some non-white characters. Afterworlds has a f/f romance and a Desi lead character.
#Ownvoices Books:
Only Binti, as far as I know.
It feels a little awkward to list the above, but I am trying to read more diversely and it’s good to reflect back. A few years ago, I realised I was reading way more men than women, and I aimed to correct it. Now, I think I read around 60% female-identifying writers without trying.
My general goals are to try and stick to the following:
(At least) one QUILTBAG book
(At least) one book by a POC, queer, or disabled writer (will aim for more than one)
(At least) one book by someone I know (the list of my author friends’ books I haven’t had a chance to read yet is very long)
(At least) one nonfiction book
(At least) one book on my bookshelf I’ve own but have not read, or something that’s been on my TBR list for absolutely ages
We’ll see how I do. Many books will overlap a few goals. In total, I’m hoping to reach 100 books this year. I’m 9% there! A couple of the books listed are novellas, but as I’ve read a few hefty 500-600 page tomes, too, I figure it balances out.
January 29, 2016
Friday Photo: January 29th, 2016
In an effort to be a little more active on the blog, I’ll post a photo once a week. Usually, this photo will also appear on my Instagram. I got the idea for this from Sarah Jae-Jones. I’m not a professional photographer and most photos will be on my cheapo smart phone.
I took this photo to celebrate being able to work at my desk again for the first time in the New Year. On January 3rd, my husband accidentally spilled an entire glass of water on my laptop. It sort of survived, but the keyboard didn’t. Craig bought accidental coverage because he figured I might break it (understandable–I’ve killed a few phones in my time), but in a twist of fate, it was him! For nearly two weeks, I had to work at his computer during the day.
Things around my desk are: old books that were the centerpieces for my wedding, a popup card from our trip to Hong Kong last year and a little 3D pagoda model Craig made. On the mantelpiece (our flat is so small my desk is pressed against the fireplace): colouring pencils, a former cookie tin of bits and bobs, copies of my book, one of my dad’s favourite records I took from his place, a Love sign my dad made, candles, matches. On the desk I have my magic & circus books, which were research for Pantomime & Shadowplay but now keep my 2nd screen at eye level, pens, and, of course, coffee. I love my desk, but I dream of one day putting it in its own study and having my own wee writing cave.
Friday Photo: 29th January, 2016
In an effort to be a little more active on the blog, I’ll post a photo once a week. Usually, this photo will also appear on my Instagram. I got the idea for this from Sarah Jae-Jones. I’m not a professional photographer and most photos will be on my cheapo smart phone.
I took this photo to celebrate being able to work at my desk again for the first time in the New Year. On January 3rd, my husband accidentally spilled an entire glass of water on my laptop. It sort of survived, but the keyboard didn’t. Craig bought accidental coverage because he figured I might break it (understandable–I’ve killed a few phones in my time), but in a twist of fate, it was him! For nearly two weeks, I had to work at his computer during the day.
Things around my desk are: old books that were the centerpieces for my wedding, a popup card from our trip to Hong Kong last year and a little 3D pagoda model Craig made. On the mantelpiece (our flat is so small my desk is pressed against the fireplace): colouring pencils, a former cookie tin of bits and bobs, copies of my book, one of my dad’s favourite records I took from his place, a Love sign my dad made, candles, matches. On the desk I have my magic & circus books, which were research for Pantomime & Shadowplay but now keep my 2nd screen at eye level, pens, and, of course, coffee. I love my desk, but I dream of one day putting it in its own study and having my own wee writing cave.
January 26, 2016
The Things We Do When We Don’t Write
I can’t just write all the time. I don’t think anyone can.
I do not si
t at my desk and write prose nonstop for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Some people are very regular machines, some people are not. I have aspects of a schedule I stick to, and after a year of being a full-time writer, I’ve mostly found out what works for me and what pace I am comfortable with.
Part of that is doing stuff that is not writing. That is not faffing around on Twitter when I should be writing, which isn’t actually relaxing, most of the time. That is not discussing writing with other writers and sometimes comparing yourself and feeling lacking. That is not worrying about sales, and if i’m promoting enough, or too much, or if there’s something else I should be doing. That is not worrying about if I’m not writing fast enough, or if I’m writing too fast and therefore my quality is suffering.
Being in that constant thought spiral is exhausting. For me at least, it can result in panic attacks or being absolutely worn out and burned out. That’s no good for anyone.
So these are the things I like to do that are not writing. I find that they help me step back, reset myself, feel like myself again. Then, it’s easier to get back to writing words and not feeling (as) overwhelmed. In fact, resetting helps me find writing as fun as any hobby again. It’s just one I’m paid for, now.
Learning Languages
I try to do a little bit on Duolingo each day. I’m about halfway through the French course, which is a bit easier for me as I studied French for 6 years through high school and college. I like the rote memorization of new terms, puzzling out the grammar, eventually being able to say more complex thoughts. I can actually carry on a conversation now, albeit not of particularly deep philosophical points. After French, I plan to go through German, since I studied it for two years, and then I’ll try Spanish and Italian. After that, who knows? The courses are long, so this should keep me going for a few years.
Art
When I was a teenager and into college, I used to draw all the time. I could see myself getting better each year. Once I started working and writing on the side, there wasn’t time for extra hobbies, so I’ve barely drawn since I moved to Scotland in 2009. I keep trying for a few weeks and then getting discouraged by how much I’ve forgotten. This year, I signed up for a life drawing class every Friday for 10 weeks, so it’s encouraging me to stick with it and try new things. I’m allowing myself to suck at it, too, and not hold myself to impossible standards. This is for fun–no one ever needs to see my work if I don’t want to share it.
Exercise
It’s so vital to get out of the house and away from the screen. Exercise helps my anxiety a lot, especially as in winter, I get my vitamin D content if I run in the park or walk to and from the gym. It helps combat my chronic back problems from sitting in front of a computer and typing away. It helps with food, too–I’m in recovery for an eating disorder and have been for years, but regular exercise still makes it a lot easier for me to eat adequate amounts of food without guilt. I like to do yoga, run, and do some minor weight lifting. I have little goals I work towards: shaving a few more seconds off a 5k, finally stretching out those hamstrings, lifting x amount of weight for x reps. Endorphins are great. It’s also so physical my mind sometimes drifts, and without trying to, I’ll fix a niggling plot point.
Cooking and Baking
This comes in fits and starts. I get really into making new things for awhile, then I slip back into old standard recipes or something I can heat up in a few minutes. Cooking and baking can be a good mode of procrastination, but it feels more productive than just endlessly clicking through Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, and I get to eat something tasty at the end of it. I’m vegetarian and now cook more than when I wasn’t, as working with raw meet squicked me out (probably a sign I should have gone veggie earlier). I try and eat mostly healthy food, again for my mood and general health. Between the exercise, the better food, and the fact I don’t leave my house as much, I haven’t had a cold in over a year and a half.
Traveling
Getting out of usual places can be wonderful for creativity. I love going to museums when I travel as they’re usually free or cheap and things within can sometimes kickstart other ideas. I love going to restaurants and trying new food, hearing other languages, seeing new things and different ways people live. I love getting a little lost in a city and wandering through the streets. I’m trying to not feel guilty for not writing as much when I’m on holiday, since getting out and actually living will eventually feed back into fiction. Obviously, this is dependent on how much money is in the travel fund to get away.
There are other things, like watching TV and reading, though I don’t consider them hobbies as much. I love reading and it’s really interwoven into my daily life, but aspects of it are always going to be tied into my job, now, and TV is more for unwinding but doesn’t often require me to expend too much effort. And of course, there’s seeing friends and interacting with people, as quite often I’m on my own now, and it can get a little lonely.
What do you do to ease away from the words, to unwind and quiet the noise? Are there any hobbies you’ve been wanting to pick up and try?
