Systems Update

Fall is always busier than I ever anticipate due to my day job being in colleges and universities. (I only work for one College, but that’s the industry.) So I’m way overdue for an update here. Hi, I’m Jason and I write things that I hope you will like and tell your friends about. Strap in, there’s more than a bit to cover.

ENDLESS CONSTRUCTION

NaNoWriMo is coming up in a couple of days. I”m a NaNoWriMo veteran but haven’t participated in several years. I ‘won’ every year I did it, and got one great story from it which I’ve rewritten from page one twice now and will have to do again if it’s going to be released into the wild someday. The lessons I learned each year were invaluable to how I approach my writing now. Your mileage may vary, but here’s what I got out of it:

NaNo Lesson 1: Approach my writing as if it were a job. That meant getting to the manuscript every day and making progress. The stated daily goal is the MINIMUM to get to the 50K words. If I went over, then great but I had to hit the minimum the next day, at least, in order to stay on track. This was good training for me.

NaNo Lesson 2: During November it’s all about word count. Don’t worry about quality, don’t bog yourself down in “is this a clever turn of phrase” type critique, and don’t get too crazed about if the story is making any sense. (It likely won’t unless you’ve done a lot of pre-writing/plotting ahead of November 1.)

NaNo Lesson 3: Take advantage of write-ins with your local group. I was part of a TERRIFIC group for several years that continued throughout the year as a writing group. (Eventually we started a website to feature a bunch of us. It was a lot of fun.) Participating helped me feel a part of a community that that enabled me to channel that energy into my work. After a couple of years, I got that REALLY good story. (After a few years, I drifted away from that group but get misty about it sometimes…)

Finally, NaNoWriMo taught me that it was okay to blast out that initial draft and then get to the real work of writing in revision. Having a complete draft is an accomplishment that can’t be taken from you but it’s not the end and neither is NaNo. 

If you manage your expectations it can be valuable to writing in the future. If you think you’re going to write a complete novel, and it’s going to be publishable with only a little work, you’ll probably be disappointed.

IMPLANT

I’ve worn glasses since I was 5. My optometrist has done all she can to correct my vision but I’m saddled with much, much more astigmatism than the average bear. So much that I’ve never seen 20/20 in my life. When my cataracts got bad enough this year, we saw an opportunity to fix the problem.

So, I upgraded from the standard lens implant (that insurance pays for) to Toric lens implants that we hoped would correct a significant chunk of that astigmatism. Boy, were we surprised.

After both eyes were done, my vision has improved about 90% and I no longer need to wear glasses to walk around or drive. I need readers to do computer work and reading, but that’s part-time, specific task stuff. To say that this is life-changing is not an understatement. 

I’m happy to share the whole story with you in person some time. Hope you all have as good a weekend as I’m going to.

AUTONOMOUS ZONE

Happily, I write for myself in the hope that my stories will eventually find readers. I publish my work myself (through Amazon) rather than pursue a traditional publishing contract because I think there’s value in putting the work out and moving on to the next piece rather than sitting on it and wondering if I know the password to get by the gatekeepers. It’s like being in a band and booking an open mic night in order to play in front of people and gauge how the songs you’ve written are working.

There’s been some static regarding an author of note punching down at those of us who are writing independently of a publisher this week, seemingly extolling the virtues of gatekeeping. Well, you know how that goes. My thoughts on such things are that writers of all stripes supporting each other is a good thing. Unless, that is, a big name writer decides to say something reprehensible or just plain wrong. Then they’re a big enough name to be on their own. I will leave it at that.

I’ll be doing a local meet and greet in support of THE ENVOY in the next couple of weeks and still put the word out about it on various social media including my pretty active account on Threads (@ajasont if you want to follow along there). Since that book is the first of a tetralogy, you might be wondering what’s next. If so, fear not. I’ve completed a draft of MASQUE, the Second of All the Devils Are Here, and am beginning revisions this week. I’m hopeful it will be out in late February. 

TIME TO RECLINE

That’s all for this update, don’t you think? If you’ve read this far, thank you. If you’ve read any of my books, THANK YOU. I’m so grateful for everyone who leaves a rating or review and they really do help get the books in front of more potential readers. That’s the kind of support every single indie writer needs and it cost only a little bit of time.

Until we meet again, take care of yourself. Do something fun, take a nap, watch a mindless show, listen to music, drink lots of water. If you’re pondering a major decision, talk to someone who has no investment whatsoever about it and think on their thoughts before deciding. Naps are really good for this.

I’ll see you when I see you.