Kate Larking's Blog: Anxiety Ink, page 15

Ink Links Roundup

Until I saw this article and the collected archive, I didn’t realize how invisible writers of color are when it comes to discussions of craft. Representation matters. Period. And I learn much more when knowledge comes from people whose lived experiences are so different from my own. Even were that not true, this archive is pure gold.

Social media for authors: good…or evil? Kate loved the perspectives in this piece on LitHub. http://lithub.com/how-to-be-a-writer-on-social-media-advice-from-roxane-gay-alexander-chee-celeste-ng-and-adam-m-grant

Did you know these famous authors painted? https://www.abebooks.com/art/authors-who-painted/index.shtml?cm_mmc=nl-_-nl-_-C170704-MRC-athartAMTRADE-_-b2cta&abersp=1

Elisa is always inspired by great quotes! Here are a few women writer specific ones. http://www.dictionary.com/slideshows/women-writers?param=quoteemail#winterson

 

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Failing Upward; or, Don’t Give Up

Anytime you take a chance, you run the risk of failing. Otherwise, where are the stakes? The adventure?

I had to cancel my workshop over the weekend because life happened to everyone who’d given me definites. Funny how that happens.

Maybe the problem lies in reaching out only to friends and family. They know I’ll forgive them if plans change. Maybe the problems lies in the time of year (summer is ridiculously busy for most everyone I know) or not charging at least a nominal reservation fee.

Whatever the problem, the workshop didn’t happen.

But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up. The same day, I started talking to someone about setting up a private workshop with her and her daughter. I’m hoping she might invite one or two others to join us.

And if I don’t procrastinate too long, I might be able to squeeze in a workshop through a local Adult Ed program before the little one arrives.

My husband and I have recording equipment and decent editing technology. He has been encouraging me to work with it because he knows I’d love to tell short stories with it and just need something small to start getting used to the equipment.

I could break each workshop into a few five- or ten-minute videos for Youtube or a site like Skillshare.

Know anyone who might have an interest in that?

Failing can become an opportunity. I would not have seriously considered other approaches to getting these workshops out there, if the weekend had held even a small success. I would still be racking my brain for video practice projects to work up to storytelling projects.

So while, yes, it sucks that the weekend didn’t go according to plan, it’s awesome that I have even more avenues to explore than I’d seen before.

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An Old Irritation

Once again I find myself narrowing my eyes—at myself—and wondering why I am the way I am. What way is that? Able to focus, produce, and excel as long as I’m hitting someone else’s deadlines and expectations.

Returning to the world of school has brought a few things back into focus, some good and some bad. The issue mentioned above isn’t inherently bad; it just irritates me to no end. I have a number of writing projects on the go and goals I want to accomplish, and I’m just sitting here basically treading water wondering how all the time flies by.

I cannot seem to structure myself to be productive for long periods of time the way an academic course can motivate me.

I am the issue. I hate being aimless and I know I am a person who needs structure, but then I get nervous about making deadlines and rushing/stressing myself out. Because doing nothing isn’t stressful at all (there’s a heavy dose of sarcasm here).

In a different post I mentioned that I’m pulling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People off my shelf and starting it once I’m finished my current non-fiction read. I’m also drafting up my second edition of the 6 Month Plan and adding deadlines. I have made a table with a breakdown of my day, hour by hour, to see just how much time I could be using to write and/or blog instead of doing both last minute, or when the mood strikes. I am researching developing a proper writing habit.

I am determined to break myself of this habit of letting myself down. I can be disciplined. Usually, my ability to focus is awesome—I must re-hone that. Perhaps a cycle of work then rest is needed. Perhaps a system of rewards. I’m realizing that getting nothing tangible out of my writing is a factor because then it feels pointless. Or that’s an excuse. I don’t know. I have to try something because the waiting game is obviously not working.

This is an old story, an old issue, and an old irritation. I’m sorry you’ve had to hear about it again, but if you have any tips to help me get into better creating shape I am all ears.

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Shifting Schedules

Right now, my life is completely shifting schedules.

For two months, I worked 7am to 1pm, taking vacation for the rest of the day in order to balance things at home. It was hard waking up at oh-hell-no o’clock, getting ready in less than half the time so that I could avoid waking the wife and baby, and being the first one into the office.

Right now, I’m in a transitory time. I am working 15 more workdays at full-time before I go on parental leave. I totally didn’t mean to count the days, but, now that I have, I am freaking out. I have about two months worth of day-job work to do in those 15 business days–which will cover my job for three and a half months.

O.o

This is the first day that I’ve really allowed myself to think about what those 3 months off will mean for me and my writing. We have daycare secured for the baby (when the desired daycare offers when their waitlist is 1-3 years, you don’t say no to a July start date). Which means my parental leave will be softening those daycare days so they aren’t totally full time…and writing. It’s like a writing sabbatical.

I am desperate to write. I have the stories in my ready to well up and get onto the page. I have loose plans to spend lunch hours scribbling away on outlines to see if I can get novels and comic scripts out faster than plotting in those months as well. And I have a little challenge coming up that Elisa and I are doing, which I will announce more about later this month!

I’m so close to that writing time, I can taste it. But I still have so much work to do between now and then, AND ridiculous summer heat to contend with (35C?! Seriously?!)

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Ink Links Roundup

The first essay I ever felt proud of, I wrote my second year of high school. We were reading Beowulf and had to write an essay on what is a monster. That question and its near relation – what is human? – fascinate me, so of course I have to share this article by Theodora Goss: Five Monsters that Explore Gender, Sexuality, and Race.

Elisa is doing her best to internalize a lot of what this post says, especially this line:

Selfishly treat your writing as your most important work. Everything else is just paying the bills and making ends meet.

http://www.authorspublish.com/its-okay-to-be-selfish-with-your-writing/

Elisa’s inner anarchist loves a good dystopian novel about taking down regimes. http://rivetedlit.com/2017/06/22/bringing-down-an-oppressive-society-10-tales-of-infiltrating-the-enemy/?cp_type=enpm&rmid=Riveted_Weekly&rrid=6512055

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When Productivity Becomes a Toxic Push

You try to make the most of every spare minute – make it the most productive. But sometimes the greatest boost to productivity you can give is just to do nothing productive at all.

Seriously. The ability to be productive in any spare second of breathing room requires a very particular personality. That type is – thankfully for the rest of us – rare, but somehow we still hold up that image as the epitome of all we should be and what we should be doing.

I hate ‘should’s.

I have a tiny human growing in my belly, which distracts me constantly. Perhaps I’m not actively doing anything, but the sheer fact of it requires a ridiculous amount of brainpower. Adjusting to this fact has proved a challenge over and over

Why is my post so late this week? Because my sister who had so many intentions for 4th of July celebrations asked me over the weekend what we’re doing for the holiday. Cue panic and scrambling and an exercise of my ability to make executive decisions.

She’s also insisting on planning my baby shower. Baby showers don’t usually pull together overnight, I’m due in just over three months, and she hasn’t started. Guess who’s planning contingencies?

None of this feels creatively productive. If I’m not writing, revising, or working on workshop planning, I get frustrated because of this ridiculous idea that every spare minute goes to productivity. And “spare minute” in my world tends to be any time outside of the day job.

But that’s not healthy. I can’t leave my family to fend for themselves, however much I wish I could, and I want to be the healthiest person I can be for myself and my little one. This means I need downtime and self-care. Sometimes the only way I can cross things off the endless to-do list is to first sit down and stare blankly at a screen.

Sometimes I sit down to write and fall asleep before I write a word. This isn’t a lack of productivity, much as it might feel that way. This is my body telling me I’ve done too much or spread myself too thin. This is my body saying, “No more.”

But I didn’t have this mechanism pre-pregnancy. Then, I spread myself thinner and thinner until something gave – most often in the form of a breakdown.

And your limits are a moving target. They vary depending on an endless number of factors. Try to be mindful of them and respect them. You can occasionally disregard them,  but they will catch up to you, so make sure that whatever you’re doing is worth the tradeoff.

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2017 Goals: Second Check-In

This month’s check-in is going to be a bit different for me after all the momentum with my first check-in. When I wrote out my goals in January I had no idea that I’d be enrolling in online courses. When I did my first update in March, I hadn’t yet completed an actual course, just a quick introductory one aimed at student preparation.

I finished my first course early this month and it was much more time-consuming than I thought it would be. However, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned, I was very disorganized heading into it, and by week 10 that meant I was stretched horribly thin and a lot of things in my life were neglected, willfully and out of sheer forgetfulness.

Overall, thinking about April, May, and June, I didn’t do too badly all things considered:

Write at least 3 days a week –This goal was nearly annihilated in May because I lost track of time working on assignments and wasn’t tracking my writing properly. I missed 3 weeks, 2 by only one day and 1 by 2 days. I’m just moving past it and working towards not repeating the mistake.
Submit each short story at least three times over the year –I haven’t submitted another story. This is a time management issue.
Read a minimum of 68 books over the year –I have good reading weeks and I have bad reading weeks. I need to make more time for reading. That’s one of my summer goals.
Write a new short story –In my first goal check in I wrote about how I’d overcome a major hurdle in my story. Well, I hit another one and have temporarily abandoned that story. I do have a new WIP I’m working on that’s kind of random but it’s shaping up.
Learn how to meditate –I am doing surprisingly well with this one and I am feeling a lot better for it. I tried a bunch of different apps but I ended up sticking with the first one I tried, Calm. I don’t have a paid membership but their free meditations work well for me. I definitely notice a difference in my mental capabilities and anxiety when I don’t get at least 5 minutes of meditation a day.
Keep up the good exercise trend! –The last few weeks of my course hurt my upward trend with exercise but I’m getting back to where I was and strategizing for my next course so it doesn’t happen again.
Cook –I’m still cooking for myself before yoga…though heating frozen meals is hardly cooking. I’m turning to Pinterest to increase my interest in cooking because I need motivation. Though I did suggest to my mom yesterday that we try our burrito recipe with cauliflower and it was delicious.
Try something new –This goal has been ignored. Oops. I did get a weight bench from my neighbour since she was getting rid of it and have been sporadically weightlifting. That’s about it. I will redeem myself in the next three months!
Look on the bright side and lose the frustration –This is always a work in progress.
Participate in NaNoWriMo 2017 and exceed 2015’s word count –TBD, especially now!
Finish writing RA2 –I’m annoyed I haven’t done this yet. I want to report completion by the end of September when I am due to check-in again.
Turn RA1 into a readable manuscript –See above. Though this I need to set a timetable for too.
Read outside my comfort zone: add plays and poetry –I’m blaming school for this one. See my comments about reading above.
Change one habit each month to be greener –I don’t think I went backwards with this one, though I didn’t go forward much. In April I made a commitment to using reusable cleaning products (cloths and mop heads) accompanied by greener cleaners. I put a lot of research into that. As for May, I don’t recall doing anything. In June, I did make a mental note about food waste and I stopped using a cleanser with microbeads in it (yes, I know, FAR too late). This is another goal I will redeem myself with in the next three months.
Leave the day job at the day job –I’m doing pretty well with this goal.
Make time for hobbies –I have neglected this goal, but I was sorely lacking time. I did draw a bit a few weeks ago and realized I need to draw a lot more often. Oy. Plus, I need to read more!
Learn how to make a t-shirt quilt –This is more of a winter activity, but I should plan when I want to get it accomplished.
Be more social –I have been really social lately!
Explore different writing communities –I let this one fall off my radar.
Be accountable to the 6 month plan –The last few weeks have seen this goal neglected. It’s time to make my second one and I have a few things I want to change, but I am committed to it.

Considering the amount I am juggling, for me anyway, I have done well with my goals the past three months. There’s room for improvement but I still feel pretty positive, which is excellent for this time of year. I’m staying on top of things for my next check-in and am maintaining my balance!

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Second 2017 Goals Check-in – Halfway Point!

I, once again, don’t totally remember my goals. I know that I have the goal of creating more this year but I have been checked out and over-working for the last two months. So let’s see what we have!

2017 Goals

Writing
Crash and Burn

Goal for 2017: Write at least 6 chapters of Crash and Burn.

How’s it going? I’m on my way for this. I have done 2 chapters this year so far, so only over half a chapter this quarter. But I also had to do a lot of administrative work for the volume and we are in convention season. I look forward to writing more in July–I hope to catch up and/or get ahead once I’m on parental leave.

Short story for Sirens

Goal for 2017: Participate in the anthology with a story. Submission window is February 1- April 30, 2017.

How’s it going? One story was scrapped, and one was written. I dedicated a lot of time toward the new one and I actually really enjoy it. The characters weren’t overly likeable at first, but they really took on a story of their own. I have a snotty brat princess in need of growing up, a jaded and murderous magician, and a bastard princess who is looking for her match.

Personal Writing

Goal for 2017:

Develop a consistent writing schedule. It doesn’t have to be every day, but I do need something more than, “My deadline is in two days. Better get those words out now.”
Plot, write, and edit the first instalment of my spacepunk story and plot the next two.
Draft and write a version of my cyberpunk story I might potentially shop to agents/publishers.
Draft and write some of my original story idea rework that hasn’t left me alone lately.

How’s it going? Well, the writing schedule is rough. However, I have a plan to fix that when I am on parental leave. Things are in too much flux right now. I’m working 7am to 1pm, rushing around for baby, and providing her with ALLLLL the eye contact she needs (and she needs a lot so that makes writing hard XD!).

Draft and write two NOVELS, huh? Well, that is still in the works. I do want to do them. I want to finish stories and get them out in the world. I’m desperate to do that now. But I haven’t practiced finishing something in a long time. This is my year to change that.

Conversations

Goal for 2017:

Get that KateLarking.com redesign done!
Continue my New Mom Writer series here at Anxiety Ink.
Start out my Confessions of a Book Buyer series at KateLarking.com

How’s it going? Still behind. I’m actually questioning whether I want to continue personal blogging. I’m really really really sick of social media right now. I want to read more books and consume more material instead of refreshing facebook all the time. So I think I will take the summer off and get back into this in fall. (It goes without saying beyond this that redesigns aren’t done XD)

Learning

Goal for 2017:

Read 5 cyberpunk/RPGLit/VR/space adventure books
Read book on comic writing (I own it and have been looking at it…)
Read text on interactive storytelling creation (a joint project in the future with Crash and Burn artist Finn Lucullan is in the cards)
Stretch goal: complete the Sirens 2017 reading challenge.

How’s it going? I’ve been reading fiction! Or at least trying to. I keep getting swamped with ARCs I want to read, such is the life of a book buyer. And I

Balance

Goal for 2017:

Attend 2 conferences this year
Sell at 4 markets/expos/festivals
Make time for writing sessions

How’s it going? Two markets done by me, one market done by Finn. Solid plans for two conferences. Been making time for writing sessions. YESSS!

How’s it going for you?

I’m so excited for all of us here at Anxiety Ink. Melissa is doing amazing, especially in the face of being pregnant. After being a witness to my wife’s pregnancy, I know productivity is hard to come by and it is not a 100% pleasant experience (or, sometimes, even 20% pleasant). I’m excited to see Elisa’s update but I know she’s killin’ it!

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Ink Link Roundup -rejection & inspiration

I hope you find this week’s links as inspiring as I did!

Yes, the life of a writer is chock full of rejection. Here are some authors who faced tons of it, which may make yours easier to swallow.

This line from this post about what inspired the Octavia Butler to start writing should have us all running to our keyboards:

“Somebody got paid for writing that awful story.”

 

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Details: The Power to Make or Break Worlds

I’m feeling a need to expand on last week’s post about worldbuilding. Specifically, I mentioned how my worldbuilding lies in details.

But details have a double edge. On one hand, they make the world real, visceral, believable. On the other hand, they can break that believability.

How details can break your world:

Inconsistency. In a series, I’ve seen character names change from one book to the next with no explanation or acknowledgment. I want to throw something when a static element – say, the properties of a plant – change in the same way. (Sure, these things can change, but not without some acknowledgment of the shift in established status quo.)
Too much. Some people can read pages upon pages of battle strategies, or gardening minutiae, or the inner workings of complex machinery. These people are rare and I am not one of them. I have put books down because of this and never returned.
Incorrect. If you are telling readers something specific – like that complex machinery, or the science of magic – make sure you get it right. Explaining the mechanics of a thing offers many dangers, and sometimes a lack of explanation becomes less distracting.
Too little. Don’t just dump your characters on a blank stage and expect the readers to fill in the blanks. Without touchstones, you’ll lose us. Besides which, things that differ from our own reality require some level of explanation.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I’d love your input! Please share the worldbuilding elements that break you out of a story!

Despite this list, I still stand by what I said last week: details make the world for me. I love the mundane details that show me how the story-world differs from my reality, that makes the world on the page a multi-dimensional experience.

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