Recently, someone asked a question on social media that made me think about my answer. The exact phrasing of the question is unimportant, but it went something like this: Given that I am not making enough money at all, let alone enough to support myself, from self-publishing should I seriously think about quitting?’ And a lot of people chimed in with encouraging statements, like ‘Just keep going!’ ‘You never know […]
The Importance of ‘WHY?’ Read More »
Whenever you try to live a life where you are producing creative work, there is a trap you can fall into. At least I do, all the time. I look at my rate of productivity, do some math by determining the available hours I have, and make goals for myself. This is not, in itself, a bad thing. I am a planner, and nothing would get done otherwise. However, just
Personal Work/Life Balance Read More »
It would be nice sometimes if life worked according to video game rules. You could overcome the challenge, level up, and be able to use that new skill in subsequent levels. And to a certain extent, it kind of does work like that. You usually only have to learn how to ride a bike once, for example (as long as it takes you). Driving also tends to get better as
The Unbearable Beauty of Circular Progress Read More »
I’m on record talking about what a shit year this was for me. Not going to review that here. But it was also a year of incredible growth and learning, so as the year ends, I want to review the important things that I learned. I learned that I could survive and accomplish things when everything is falling apart, but only up to a certain point. Yes, I can
Well, THAT happened. That’s my response when looking back at 2024. The badness really started around last Thanksgiving, when I left my job at the library and things got messy. Literally, this was a volunteer job, and I wanted my weekends free so I could go back to school. The rest of the year didn’t get any better. My efforts to save my house came to nothing, and I had
2024 and Other Disasters Read More »
I wouldn’t be a writer if I didn’t think stories were important. Stories have, in the past, saved my life. When I was a suicidal teenager, one of the reasons I held on was because I wanted to find out what happened next in Chris Claremont’s X-Men comics. That sounds like a joke, and maybe it is, a little bit, but not entirely. The right story at the right
The Stories We Tell Ourselves Read More »
I’ve refined my writing process over the years to something that works pretty well for me. I have a list of plot points and scenes because it’s important that I have some idea of where a story is going. In years past, when I did not have this, I would write myself off a cliff and never finish the project. At least four books died that way and
The Map is not the Mountain Read More »
It’s been a rough couple of months. Sometimes, I have a real ‘my eyes are bigger than my stomach’ thing going on when it comes to things I want to do and accomplish. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, but it does lead me into situations where I am stressed and overwhelmed and wondering why. I read something lately, I think it was in Ali Abdal’s ‘Stress-Free Productivity,’
The Art of Winnowing Read More »
Look, I get it. The world is a shitshow right now. Or at least it feels that way to those of us who are paying attention. And there are some legit things to worry about. I don’t know what to do about any of it. I don’t know what the right choices are. I don’t know how to solve our various problems. I don’t think anyone does. All we have
Living in Interesting Times Read More »
I know, I know. You hate rules. I hate rules too. Rules are stupid, can often be reductive, and are not to be trusted. But I have stumbled upon a set of rules that really helps focus me on how I want to show up in the world, how I behave and interact with people. So, maybe we shouldn’t think of these as rules, so much as principles we can