Where have I been?
Well, I was in Utah for a couple of day. I've just barely recovered from the 11 hour drive there and 11 hours back.
So the question is have I been working on the book or the writer's block project. The answer is no. Have I been watching too much Netflix? Is their too much Netflix. I've been binging on horror flix, most of which were quite terrible, but a few decent ones. If you're curious I can recommend a few. The interesting and unexpected result... well not to unexpected be I'm often inspired by crappy writing-- anyway the result was a couple of ideas for some short stories. Hopefully I can get to them all before I forget them. I don't tend to post stories in blogs but if you ask nice I'll put it on my figment.com account.
Speaking of accounts. I just went through my fineartamerica.com account and lowered all the prices of my paintings by 60%. I have too many and I can't take them with me so I have to get rid of them, fairly quickly. Some can go to the right home for a discount, not counting shipping.
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/hero-sin.html
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Resignation
Project Typist
I still haven't gotten around to trying out the exercise and writing experiment. Mostly because I'd prefer to be alone when I did it. I have this crazy image in my head what I would look like; sitting in front of my computer furiously typing for 15 minutes then suddenly I get up and start doing jumping jacks. After after 50 repetitions I stop and go back to my computer. This happens 8 times all the while I'm focused on my own little world not saying a thing to anyone.
Sounds a little like something out of a David Lynch film. Which reminds me I need to work on my backwards speaking.
Meanwhile, like I had ranted about before, I feel as though this project is limiting my ability write. If I can't find the time and situation to run these experiment I don't write. In my head I'm thinking, why waste valuable writing if you're not using for the experiment? On that note I'm on a bit of a kick to just say, screw it. Or to paraphrase (and tagline) myself from a comment I posted on some gal's blog (see operation blog post coming soon), write irresponsibly.
Sometimes I start to take writing too... seriously. That's not what I mean, but the point is that I stress out about it, as if it's a job and I have a boss and a deadline and if it's all not done right then I'm going to get chewed out and fire and then no one will want to hire me again. That's something the plebs do (no offense). I'm good at what I do, damn good and I don't have to try to be good. I'm not sitting in the corner with the other struggling writers making out character sheets and worrying about plot points. I don't spend three years writing a single book (I spend 2 months then don't do anything with it for 3 years). So what I'm I doing wringing my hands hand and creating drama where there is none. I am not a high-school kid writing poetry in their journal and being sad because no one will understand why I'm so sad.
I'm good at what I do and the only reason I'm not just writing with reckless abandon is my boss. And my boss is me. Like every other boss I'm an idiot, giving ridiculous deadlines, asking for top of the line work and demanding it be efficient and economically viable.
It's time to quit working for myself and start screwing around and having fun.
I still haven't gotten around to trying out the exercise and writing experiment. Mostly because I'd prefer to be alone when I did it. I have this crazy image in my head what I would look like; sitting in front of my computer furiously typing for 15 minutes then suddenly I get up and start doing jumping jacks. After after 50 repetitions I stop and go back to my computer. This happens 8 times all the while I'm focused on my own little world not saying a thing to anyone.
Sounds a little like something out of a David Lynch film. Which reminds me I need to work on my backwards speaking.
Meanwhile, like I had ranted about before, I feel as though this project is limiting my ability write. If I can't find the time and situation to run these experiment I don't write. In my head I'm thinking, why waste valuable writing if you're not using for the experiment? On that note I'm on a bit of a kick to just say, screw it. Or to paraphrase (and tagline) myself from a comment I posted on some gal's blog (see operation blog post coming soon), write irresponsibly.
Sometimes I start to take writing too... seriously. That's not what I mean, but the point is that I stress out about it, as if it's a job and I have a boss and a deadline and if it's all not done right then I'm going to get chewed out and fire and then no one will want to hire me again. That's something the plebs do (no offense). I'm good at what I do, damn good and I don't have to try to be good. I'm not sitting in the corner with the other struggling writers making out character sheets and worrying about plot points. I don't spend three years writing a single book (I spend 2 months then don't do anything with it for 3 years). So what I'm I doing wringing my hands hand and creating drama where there is none. I am not a high-school kid writing poetry in their journal and being sad because no one will understand why I'm so sad.
I'm good at what I do and the only reason I'm not just writing with reckless abandon is my boss. And my boss is me. Like every other boss I'm an idiot, giving ridiculous deadlines, asking for top of the line work and demanding it be efficient and economically viable.
It's time to quit working for myself and start screwing around and having fun.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
8 usable blocks
Project Typist
The other day I was having a conversation with my wife about scheduling. More specifically about how I'm always trying to make or get on a schedule and then consequently getting frustrated. Which in retrospect is true, though I can never quite figure out what went wrong. I usually just blame the situation and people for being so unpredictable. Not to say that I'm not right but I could possibly be semi-wrong. My wife suggested that the crux of the issue lays in the fact that I function on a cycle that is just under 2 hours.
The theory is that I can't a lot time for activities in anything but increments of 1 hour and 40 minutes. So when something takes 2+ hours it means that two blocks of my 8 usable blocks are consumed. Meaning that if I have six things to do that I have a narrow margin of time to get them in to my schedule. But if something comes up that slows one of these tasks down or an extra task comes up it can potentially use up the last 2 remaining blocks. Suddenly I have absolutely not time at all and my schedule is fully booked. That's not even the real problem. The problem is that I tend to actually schedule things in 2 hour increments, so my calendar is saying one thing but my mind wants another. In my perception I'm double booking activities and rushing to get things done before my time is up.
It's stressful and a little disheartening. Sitting down and writing has become this delicate balance of time and ideas. No matter how hard I try I can't find the time to sit down and write and it seems to be my fault. I'm not quite through with project typist, it's still a good experiment with some valid ideas. I don't know how I can actually work it into my functional life.
At this point its been about 2 weeks since I've work on any fictional writing. As well, I haven't painted or done any creative work. I put it down to stress, distraction and poor habits. The thing about that is I say screw it, just have to punch the wall and walk on through so I took these pictures of my cats.
The other day I was having a conversation with my wife about scheduling. More specifically about how I'm always trying to make or get on a schedule and then consequently getting frustrated. Which in retrospect is true, though I can never quite figure out what went wrong. I usually just blame the situation and people for being so unpredictable. Not to say that I'm not right but I could possibly be semi-wrong. My wife suggested that the crux of the issue lays in the fact that I function on a cycle that is just under 2 hours.
The theory is that I can't a lot time for activities in anything but increments of 1 hour and 40 minutes. So when something takes 2+ hours it means that two blocks of my 8 usable blocks are consumed. Meaning that if I have six things to do that I have a narrow margin of time to get them in to my schedule. But if something comes up that slows one of these tasks down or an extra task comes up it can potentially use up the last 2 remaining blocks. Suddenly I have absolutely not time at all and my schedule is fully booked. That's not even the real problem. The problem is that I tend to actually schedule things in 2 hour increments, so my calendar is saying one thing but my mind wants another. In my perception I'm double booking activities and rushing to get things done before my time is up.
It's stressful and a little disheartening. Sitting down and writing has become this delicate balance of time and ideas. No matter how hard I try I can't find the time to sit down and write and it seems to be my fault. I'm not quite through with project typist, it's still a good experiment with some valid ideas. I don't know how I can actually work it into my functional life.
At this point its been about 2 weeks since I've work on any fictional writing. As well, I haven't painted or done any creative work. I put it down to stress, distraction and poor habits. The thing about that is I say screw it, just have to punch the wall and walk on through so I took these pictures of my cats.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Ain't got the time
Project Typist
I've begun to believe that my current lifestyle is not cohesive with a regular schedule. This makes it nearly impossible to set a consistent work time thus making it this section of the experiment impractical. With that said, For me, schedule writing is a bad system to counter act writers block.
Even if I pretended that I had a normal day, coming home from work, having dinner then sitting at a desk to write, I still don't think its a good system. The time that life interrupts this schedule I'd become angry and resentful of the who or why. The time that I might be distract I'd feel like I wasted my time. And just because you sit at a desk at the same time everyday doesn't mean you'll know what to type or have any ideas. At the very best it's a good psychological way to trick your brain into thinking. The thing for me is that I never have a problem thinking about new things, theorizing and coming up with project. I have ideas that I'll never see done because I have too many ideas.
But fear not, this project goes on. I'm skipping to the next one on the list: Exercise. This system is based on the theory that increased blood flow to the brain will get you thinking. Hopefully you've caught the fault (see above). I was just saying that I have no shortage of thought. Despite that I think this one might have some credibility. It doesn't, however, have anything to do with blood flow. I think that a brief exercise will help shut off the brain allowing you subconscious to go to work. A large problem with writing and writer's block is over thinking. Worrying about and focusing too much on something that is not a big deal and can be fixed later.
For this experiment I will do 50 jumping jacks ever 15 minutes. I should note now that I have to reduce the experiment time to 2 hours due to lack of time in the day. Since in the control I hadn't exceeded that 2 hour mark the numbers should be okay. Though, you might argue that psychologically 3 hours might have made a difference. So I'll repeat the control at the end.
P.s. If you're wondering why theirs a delays between these project post it's because I have writer's block!
P.P.S In case you didn't do the math that's 400 jumping jacks.
I've begun to believe that my current lifestyle is not cohesive with a regular schedule. This makes it nearly impossible to set a consistent work time thus making it this section of the experiment impractical. With that said, For me, schedule writing is a bad system to counter act writers block.
Even if I pretended that I had a normal day, coming home from work, having dinner then sitting at a desk to write, I still don't think its a good system. The time that life interrupts this schedule I'd become angry and resentful of the who or why. The time that I might be distract I'd feel like I wasted my time. And just because you sit at a desk at the same time everyday doesn't mean you'll know what to type or have any ideas. At the very best it's a good psychological way to trick your brain into thinking. The thing for me is that I never have a problem thinking about new things, theorizing and coming up with project. I have ideas that I'll never see done because I have too many ideas.
But fear not, this project goes on. I'm skipping to the next one on the list: Exercise. This system is based on the theory that increased blood flow to the brain will get you thinking. Hopefully you've caught the fault (see above). I was just saying that I have no shortage of thought. Despite that I think this one might have some credibility. It doesn't, however, have anything to do with blood flow. I think that a brief exercise will help shut off the brain allowing you subconscious to go to work. A large problem with writing and writer's block is over thinking. Worrying about and focusing too much on something that is not a big deal and can be fixed later.
For this experiment I will do 50 jumping jacks ever 15 minutes. I should note now that I have to reduce the experiment time to 2 hours due to lack of time in the day. Since in the control I hadn't exceeded that 2 hour mark the numbers should be okay. Though, you might argue that psychologically 3 hours might have made a difference. So I'll repeat the control at the end.
P.s. If you're wondering why theirs a delays between these project post it's because I have writer's block!
P.P.S In case you didn't do the math that's 400 jumping jacks.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sometimes
Project Typist
Sometimes nothing works out.
After a long time, a few interruptions and a lot of thought the system of scheduled writing needs to be more complex. At least for this experiment. The reality of life is that I can't say that every day I will be free from this time to this time. Perhaps it's just my life but I think that isn't very likely. I think that there is no guarantee for any artist that they can control the world.
Well... Other than ignoring it. And that works mighty fine. I've written 2 books and created a dozen paintings by ignoring the world. The trouble is that when you come back you find you've only pissed off your friends and family.
So the question is, how do you balance, control, flexibility, reality and disassociation?
Until then I'll be skipping the scheduled writing.
Sometimes nothing works out.
After a long time, a few interruptions and a lot of thought the system of scheduled writing needs to be more complex. At least for this experiment. The reality of life is that I can't say that every day I will be free from this time to this time. Perhaps it's just my life but I think that isn't very likely. I think that there is no guarantee for any artist that they can control the world.
Well... Other than ignoring it. And that works mighty fine. I've written 2 books and created a dozen paintings by ignoring the world. The trouble is that when you come back you find you've only pissed off your friends and family.
So the question is, how do you balance, control, flexibility, reality and disassociation?
Until then I'll be skipping the scheduled writing.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Redo
Project Typist
Day 2.0 – Scheduling - The best laid plans... This is one of the major reasons I don' believe creating a schedule for writing is a functional system. Things come up; little things, important things and things that need to get done. While writing is important, and to a certain extent I consider it my job, there are tasks that must be completed in order to live. So today I didn't write. It isn't the first time and it won't be the last time I planned to work and something came up. In fact quite often something changes and things happen. It could be worse, there were previous situation when I had a writing schedule and people ignored it. Or at the very least didn't understand how disruptive it was to have a conversation as I'm trying to work.
But beyond every day life and circumstance interfering with mice and men, there is practicality. Yes, a regular writing time will help train my brain to start up on queue. It does in a sense impose an unwritten rule that you aren't allowed to write at any other time. Will writing off schedule ruin the mental training? Will all the good words and ideas get used before the designated time? Will writing too often burn me out? Will forcing myself to write when I have nothing to say degrade the quality of my work?
0 words typed.
Day 2.0 – Scheduling - The best laid plans... This is one of the major reasons I don' believe creating a schedule for writing is a functional system. Things come up; little things, important things and things that need to get done. While writing is important, and to a certain extent I consider it my job, there are tasks that must be completed in order to live. So today I didn't write. It isn't the first time and it won't be the last time I planned to work and something came up. In fact quite often something changes and things happen. It could be worse, there were previous situation when I had a writing schedule and people ignored it. Or at the very least didn't understand how disruptive it was to have a conversation as I'm trying to work.
But beyond every day life and circumstance interfering with mice and men, there is practicality. Yes, a regular writing time will help train my brain to start up on queue. It does in a sense impose an unwritten rule that you aren't allowed to write at any other time. Will writing off schedule ruin the mental training? Will all the good words and ideas get used before the designated time? Will writing too often burn me out? Will forcing myself to write when I have nothing to say degrade the quality of my work?
0 words typed.
Monday, February 28, 2011
1 PM
Project Typist
Day 1 – Scheduling – Today I'm am working on scheduled writing. I began writing at 1pm, like I planned to do over the next couple of days. Just prior to getting to work I fall asleep for an hour long nap. I almost didn't wake up. Despite feeling exhausted I got to work. Since I watch TV during the control I decided to watch TV during this session. I wrote for nearly an hour, a lot of dialog, then I hit a plot point I hadn't thought through. Trying to figure out what happens next stressed me out so I stopped.
606 words typed.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Doing it Hemingway
Project Typist
Day 3 – Control – Drinking and writing just like the masters. I’ve read several theories that drinking doesn’t help the artistic mind and may actually hinder it. I may not have written as much as day 2 but I felt like I was on a roll. I was still watching Robotech while working. I Wrote for an hour but was distracted for nearly 30 minutes.
484 words typed.
Day 3 – Control – Drinking and writing just like the masters. I’ve read several theories that drinking doesn’t help the artistic mind and may actually hinder it. I may not have written as much as day 2 but I felt like I was on a roll. I was still watching Robotech while working. I Wrote for an hour but was distracted for nearly 30 minutes.
484 words typed.
A Page
Project Typist
Day 2 – Control – Still working on Rhodes still watching Robotech. Listened to music while working. Worked for an hour and a half then got bored and worried that the plot line was getting confused. Spent a good while re-reading the end of Rendered Fat to remember what was going on. Also it felt like there was too much dialog. I’m also hungry, the cat wants attention and I want to cut my hair. 730 words typed.
For anyone who doesn’t know the average words per page is about 500.
Day 2 – Control – Still working on Rhodes still watching Robotech. Listened to music while working. Worked for an hour and a half then got bored and worried that the plot line was getting confused. Spent a good while re-reading the end of Rendered Fat to remember what was going on. Also it felt like there was too much dialog. I’m also hungry, the cat wants attention and I want to cut my hair. 730 words typed.
For anyone who doesn’t know the average words per page is about 500.
Control
Day 1 – Control
I’ working on the sequel to Rendered Fat which is currently called Rhodes. Before I set to work there were 7,113 words. I sat on the couch watch TV as I typed. It had been a while since I last wrote so I didn’t expect it to go well.
I lasted 30 minutes. Brought down by distractions and sleep. After browsing the internet briefly I decided to nap.
It’s debatable whether or not my distraction and sleepiness could be a psychological or scheduling reaction. Either way I typed 397. Who knows if they were good or bad.
I’ working on the sequel to Rendered Fat which is currently called Rhodes. Before I set to work there were 7,113 words. I sat on the couch watch TV as I typed. It had been a while since I last wrote so I didn’t expect it to go well.
I lasted 30 minutes. Brought down by distractions and sleep. After browsing the internet briefly I decided to nap.
It’s debatable whether or not my distraction and sleepiness could be a psychological or scheduling reaction. Either way I typed 397. Who knows if they were good or bad.
Project Typist
“Writers block” is defined as a writers inability to form words into sentences and sentences into information, either fictional or non-fictional. This experiment does not intend to discover the cause of this issue, whether biological or physiologic. The purpose of the experiment is to find realistic and efficient solutions to writers block. There will be 3 section in this experiment. Section 1st will be the control, writing unaided by any systems. The 2nd will contain theories proposed by online sources. The 3rd will be theories developed by myself (some based of section 2 results) and adjusted over time to increase performance. Each theory will be measured based on the number of words typed over 3 hours.
Section 1 - Control
Creating a true control is a challenge. The control should be written at a non-specific time and a non-specific location. It should attempt to not incidentally engage any of the theories above. Thus the control should be the same writing project every time. There should be no breaks and it should be up to standard. I however cannot deduce a solution to the idea that if writing in the middle, or working on other sections of the project is a solution, then continual writing will change the area of the project that is being worked on. I think that the best solution is to write as close to my normal habits.
Section 2 – Outside Theories
1. Implement a writing schedule – Choose a time a write every day at the same time. An addition suggestion is to write only a limited amount of words at the same time, ie 500 words.
2. Exercise – Based on the theory that increasing blood flow will help the brain function at a better efficiency.
3. Start in the middle – Move to a section of the work that interests you more.
4. Multiple projects – Work on multiple projects at the same time. Theorizing that the problem may be the project.
5. Write bad – A theory that the problem is a result of too high a standard.
6. Listen to music -
7. Take a break – Theorizing that a brief rest will help the mind focus. Shower, walk, drive, nap or read.
Section 3 – My Extrapolations
Still have to come up with them.
Section 1 - Control
Creating a true control is a challenge. The control should be written at a non-specific time and a non-specific location. It should attempt to not incidentally engage any of the theories above. Thus the control should be the same writing project every time. There should be no breaks and it should be up to standard. I however cannot deduce a solution to the idea that if writing in the middle, or working on other sections of the project is a solution, then continual writing will change the area of the project that is being worked on. I think that the best solution is to write as close to my normal habits.
Section 2 – Outside Theories
1. Implement a writing schedule – Choose a time a write every day at the same time. An addition suggestion is to write only a limited amount of words at the same time, ie 500 words.
2. Exercise – Based on the theory that increasing blood flow will help the brain function at a better efficiency.
3. Start in the middle – Move to a section of the work that interests you more.
4. Multiple projects – Work on multiple projects at the same time. Theorizing that the problem may be the project.
5. Write bad – A theory that the problem is a result of too high a standard.
6. Listen to music -
7. Take a break – Theorizing that a brief rest will help the mind focus. Shower, walk, drive, nap or read.
Section 3 – My Extrapolations
Still have to come up with them.
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