Tag Archives: (I Should Be) Writing

Me, Myself & iPhone

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Is your smartphone usage stifling your creativity?

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll admit right here that I’m a reluctant import into the world of Web 2.0 – not exactly a Luddite, but no early adopter either, not since Gmail first launched and you needed to be invited by an existing user to join.

I’m not on Facebook, I’m terrible at texting, the predominant activity I perform with my phone is talking on it, and I don’t own a smartphone (or rather, don’t own the corresponding data plan required to boost my phone’s intelligence quotient) because

a)  I don’t want to pay for it, and

b)  I couldn’t conceivably fit any more computing time into my day

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The Gift of Boredom

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The Fourth Rule of Engagement

We’ve all been there.

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing an essay for school, a “Dear John” letter to your soon-to-be ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/roommate from Hell, a letter of resignation, a last will and testament, or a manuscript that will someday outsell Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Grey, and the Bible combined.

At some point in the writing process, you find yourself a little bit stuck and unsure of what to write next.  You find that you need a bit of a break – just a short one – to give your brain a chance to catch its breath from all the mental calisthenics it’s been performing.  And so you click open your web browser, intent on just a quick peek at what’s been happening on the Web while you were busy spinning words into gold.

And then…

And then….

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On the Edge of Something Wonderful

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I make a point of recording certain milestones while at work on my novel-in-progress.

I do so to track when I reach certain parts of the novel, both to measure the consistency of my output and for reminiscence.  I also do it to encourage further progress and the achievement of additional milestones.

The specific milestones I’ve chosen to observe are as follows:

  • Page 50 of the novel
  • Page 100 of the novel
  • Every page that is a multiple of 100
  • The approximate midpoint of the novel
  • The end of every chapter

Currently in my novel, I’m about five words away from rolling over onto page 100.  I’m also about half a page away from the end of a chapter.  One might suppose I’m feverishly working away on achieving two milestones within such a short space of each other.

But I’m not.

Instead, I’m rather preoccupied with another pursuit.

Once I finish with this one, I’ll gladly return to writing.  In the meantime, though, I find myself on the edge of something else that’s wonderful.

——————–

Related post: No Better Place (for Writing)

The Answer to an Even Bigger Question

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Rule of Engagement 3.2

I love numbers.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not some sort of mathematician.  I’m not even all that adept at numerical manipulation: in restaurants, like many, I struggle to calculate my portion of a group bill, and to also figure out an appropriate gratuity, and somewhat typical of my generation, I generally can’t perform long division in my head unlike the many people of my parents’ generation who can.

Still, though, numbers hold a place in my heart, or at least, the idea of numbers does, as does what they represent.  For in numbers, I see a concrete means of comparing two or more different states of being: how something is to how it could or should be; how something is to how it was previously; where something started and where it ends.

In short, numbers can be used to monitor change and – more importantly – progress.

And what writer isn’t interested in that?

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The Answer to the Big Question

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Rule of Engagement 3.1

Back in 2002, I decided to take a much more serious approach to my writing and the pursuit of publication than I had to date.  I then began searching for a way to convey this change of status to others in a manner that was both concise and wouldn’t misrepresent the true extent of my skills and achievements.

In short, I wanted to know if it was okay to start calling myself a “writer”.

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