So here we are at the end of AWP.
The first panel of the day - I actually got up early for this one! - was on publishing without agents. If you think this panel lays out the road work for getting published without an agent, you're wrong. There's no real path to publication anyways, with or without an agent. It doesn't just happen out of the blue, but it's not as established as the career path of a physician either. Sort of how the lit crawl panel a couple of days earlier was a series of fond recollections, this was four authors telling you how they did it and leaving the takeaway up to you. It also included a very in-depth look at a writer's relationship with the agent and encourages a breakup if it's not working out. It's a business partnership, not a marriage. All the panelists were great, including Wendy Ortiz who I've known since I was a grad student at Antioch. You guys should read her work. It's got the smooth rhythmic hum of a Depeche Mode concert, and reaches out and touches you like Personal Jesus.
The next panel I attended was on the influence of Los Angeles in writing. This was the only craft-y panel I attended at AWP. Everything else was on sustaining work, giving it momentum, and nourishing your community. I grew up in LA, and as much as I hate the heat, the traffic, and the hundred thousand doe-eyed wannabes who are all going to make it (seriously, guy, ALL of them), it's home and I can't imagine growing up in San Francisco, Houston, or Denmark. I also grew up in a fairly sheltered suburb of the city and always try finding a way of giving my stories a sense of small-town intimacy, not easy considering this is the second most populous city in the country. But the interesting thing about LA is that there are so many culturally distinct neighborhoods that you can life totally separate lives in Venice versus Pasadena versus Los Feliz versus Beverly Hills.
The last panel I went to was on alternative careers for creative writers. Of all the panels, I wanted to go to this one the most because despite all the work and revisions and submissions (with occasional acceptance), I still struggle to make ends meet off of a skill that I love and am good at. Teaching has been the default option, but there are only a handful of colleges you can apply to in LA, and you need special certification to teach high school. This panel exposed a variety of avenues demanding the skill of a creative writer: slush pile reader, proposal writer, ghostwriter, copyeditor. Most of the panelists agreed that tenure-track teaching positions aren't just wrong, they're immoral. Jesse Waters was one of the panelists. I'm not going to say you should read his work (because I haven't read it either), but you should just sit down and chat with the guy. He had a terrific no-bullshit attitude, and if you have to write lyrics for commercials or children's poetry about how the US Forest Service works, he'll probably be the first one to encourage you on it.
That was virtually it for my final day. I spent a little time in the book fair between the panels, but after the last one, pretty much everyone at the fair was dismantling and getting set to go home. There was a run for the Red Hen Press table when their books were all marked down to a dollar. I helped a couple of friends pack up at the Zoetic Press table, got dinner with an Antioch alum who came out here from Tennessee. Then I went home, looked forward to my one day off this week, and passed out.
About Mario
- Mario Piumetti
- Born and raised in Los Angeles, Mario Piumetti is a freelance writer of science fiction, horror, screenplays, and nonfiction. He has a bachelor's degree in English from California Lutheran University and an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University. An avid music lover, his work is heavily influenced by rock, punk, and metal. You can contact him at mario.piumetti.writer@gmail.com.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
AWP 2016: Day 3
Day 3 dawned.
I was way too tired from the evening before to attend Antioch University's alumni breakfast near the convention center. Growing up in LA, you know it goes against the laws of physics to get from Glendale to Downtown in fifteen minutes. I'm sure it was a wonderful breakfast with delicious conversation and great food, but sometimes you have to obey your brain first, and my brain said, "Minion! I require a goblet of coffee!"
I went to two panels today.
The first was on managing the writing life. It was a bit of a pep talk encouraging writers to seek out tangible opportunities for their work and celebrate each publication, no matter how small. It also reminded me not to give in to despair and envy, which is an easy thing to feel when it seems like all your other writer friends are announcing a new teaching gig, publishing a new novel, or participating in a new panel, and you're looking at your work wondering, What the hell have I been doing lately? Eating pumpkin pie? In fact, going back to the networking for introverts panel I mentioned in the Day 1 post, celebrating the accomplishments of others was one of the themes I kept seeing in AWP for a few reasons: 1) it's good for the soul to give praise without calling attention to yourself, 2) you don't look like some a-hole trying to get a buck out of the audience, and 3) when it comes time to celebrate your achievements, those friends are going to want to pay back the karma. I admit that celebrating the accomplishments of others is something I have to work on primarily because I've been so busy lately that even retweeting can feel time consuming.
The second was on building your writing business. This was a good panel in terms of breaking down the nuts and bolts of publication. I remember my first lecture in grad school was on the publication process. It still takes about a year and a half between selling a work and seeing it hit bookshelves, and the panelists mentioned a few more PR steps that writers take on before the release date. It covered a little bit on copyrights and the key relationships a writer has to maintain - with readers, booksellers, and editors and publicists. Representatives of the Author's Guild were there as well with a lot of helpful information on the guild and what it can do for members and nonmembers alike.
There were snack meet-ups and lunch with friends, including a return to Tom's Urban because I required some fresh-baked pop tarts. In the evening, I went to a reading presented by The Rumpus and Rare Bird Lit that hosted by Antonia Crane and featuring J. Ryan Stradal and Rich Ferguson. You should read Antonia, Stradal, and Ferguson's work. Antonia's work is as beautiful as purple smoke you try catching with your hands. Stradal's will make you laugh and hungry at the same time. And Ferguson's reading was part-rock concert, part-poetry slam, and all-awesome!
And to top off the entire day, I actually managed to get a night of sleep! Apparently, that's not supposed to happen at AWP, but when have I ever done what I was told?
I was way too tired from the evening before to attend Antioch University's alumni breakfast near the convention center. Growing up in LA, you know it goes against the laws of physics to get from Glendale to Downtown in fifteen minutes. I'm sure it was a wonderful breakfast with delicious conversation and great food, but sometimes you have to obey your brain first, and my brain said, "Minion! I require a goblet of coffee!"
I went to two panels today.
The first was on managing the writing life. It was a bit of a pep talk encouraging writers to seek out tangible opportunities for their work and celebrate each publication, no matter how small. It also reminded me not to give in to despair and envy, which is an easy thing to feel when it seems like all your other writer friends are announcing a new teaching gig, publishing a new novel, or participating in a new panel, and you're looking at your work wondering, What the hell have I been doing lately? Eating pumpkin pie? In fact, going back to the networking for introverts panel I mentioned in the Day 1 post, celebrating the accomplishments of others was one of the themes I kept seeing in AWP for a few reasons: 1) it's good for the soul to give praise without calling attention to yourself, 2) you don't look like some a-hole trying to get a buck out of the audience, and 3) when it comes time to celebrate your achievements, those friends are going to want to pay back the karma. I admit that celebrating the accomplishments of others is something I have to work on primarily because I've been so busy lately that even retweeting can feel time consuming.
The second was on building your writing business. This was a good panel in terms of breaking down the nuts and bolts of publication. I remember my first lecture in grad school was on the publication process. It still takes about a year and a half between selling a work and seeing it hit bookshelves, and the panelists mentioned a few more PR steps that writers take on before the release date. It covered a little bit on copyrights and the key relationships a writer has to maintain - with readers, booksellers, and editors and publicists. Representatives of the Author's Guild were there as well with a lot of helpful information on the guild and what it can do for members and nonmembers alike.
There were snack meet-ups and lunch with friends, including a return to Tom's Urban because I required some fresh-baked pop tarts. In the evening, I went to a reading presented by The Rumpus and Rare Bird Lit that hosted by Antonia Crane and featuring J. Ryan Stradal and Rich Ferguson. You should read Antonia, Stradal, and Ferguson's work. Antonia's work is as beautiful as purple smoke you try catching with your hands. Stradal's will make you laugh and hungry at the same time. And Ferguson's reading was part-rock concert, part-poetry slam, and all-awesome!
And to top off the entire day, I actually managed to get a night of sleep! Apparently, that's not supposed to happen at AWP, but when have I ever done what I was told?
AWP 2016: Day 2
Day 2 of AWP (as well as the rest of the conference) was the exact opposite of Day 1. I had five panels lined up back-to-back that I planned on attending. By the end of the day, part of me thought, "Aw, you had a plan? That's cute."
I got to the convention center just before 9 AM. There was a panel at the Marriott on overcoming writer's block that interested me, but my coffee hadn't kicked in, so I said to hell with it and went to the book fair. There's really no way to properly describe the fair. It's packed with about a thousand tables and booths featuring publishers and MFA programs. I'd been warned that you can't check it all out and that I should have gone through an aisle or two each day. I went through half of the whole thing. It can be done, and I circled back to a lot of the tables that kept grabbing my interest, including one for my MFA program at Antioch University.
There were two panels I actually went to. The first was on networking for introverts. It got me rethinking how I use social media and better present myself in public - especially when giving readings. 'Cause here's the fact: as confident as I might seem, it all stems from me being terrified, sucking it up, and getting on with it.
The second panel was on lit crawls, which are like pub crawls but with words. This panel left me feeling just a little disappointed because I went in expecting to learn more about the finer points of getting a lit crawl off the ground. I live near North Hollywood where the annual lit crawl means this lecture doesn't really apply to me, but I was interested in learning how the whole things gets started. Instead, the panelists told us fun stories about past lit crawl events.
There was more of the book fair, and a conference party at the Monty Bar in downtown. This was perhaps the one event in the entire conference I regretted going to. I don't drink nearly as much as I did at Antioch. I've become a total lightweight for it, and being surrounded by a hundred, hundred-fifty drunken writers just wasn't my kind of scene anymore. I really should have gone to a reading where a friend of mine, Patrick O'Neil, presented a section of his memoir Gun, Needle, Spoon. You should read Patrick's work. The man's seen some shit, and expressed himself with poignant humor.
I got home fairly late in the evening. I had a slight buzz earlier in the evening from the one drink I had at Monty, but it wore off hours earlier, and the only thing I was good for at that point was crashing on my bed. And trying to sleep before the next day's arrival.
I got to the convention center just before 9 AM. There was a panel at the Marriott on overcoming writer's block that interested me, but my coffee hadn't kicked in, so I said to hell with it and went to the book fair. There's really no way to properly describe the fair. It's packed with about a thousand tables and booths featuring publishers and MFA programs. I'd been warned that you can't check it all out and that I should have gone through an aisle or two each day. I went through half of the whole thing. It can be done, and I circled back to a lot of the tables that kept grabbing my interest, including one for my MFA program at Antioch University.
There were two panels I actually went to. The first was on networking for introverts. It got me rethinking how I use social media and better present myself in public - especially when giving readings. 'Cause here's the fact: as confident as I might seem, it all stems from me being terrified, sucking it up, and getting on with it.
The second panel was on lit crawls, which are like pub crawls but with words. This panel left me feeling just a little disappointed because I went in expecting to learn more about the finer points of getting a lit crawl off the ground. I live near North Hollywood where the annual lit crawl means this lecture doesn't really apply to me, but I was interested in learning how the whole things gets started. Instead, the panelists told us fun stories about past lit crawl events.
There was more of the book fair, and a conference party at the Monty Bar in downtown. This was perhaps the one event in the entire conference I regretted going to. I don't drink nearly as much as I did at Antioch. I've become a total lightweight for it, and being surrounded by a hundred, hundred-fifty drunken writers just wasn't my kind of scene anymore. I really should have gone to a reading where a friend of mine, Patrick O'Neil, presented a section of his memoir Gun, Needle, Spoon. You should read Patrick's work. The man's seen some shit, and expressed himself with poignant humor.
I got home fairly late in the evening. I had a slight buzz earlier in the evening from the one drink I had at Monty, but it wore off hours earlier, and the only thing I was good for at that point was crashing on my bed. And trying to sleep before the next day's arrival.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
AWP 2016: Day 1
AWP began yesterday. It's the first time I've gone to the convention, and I've been planning to go to this one in Los Angeles, specifically, for the last five years. I don't really have the money to spend on traveling throughout the country each year, so when we found out the 2016 conference was here in LA, my friends from grad school kept telling me there's no excuse for me not to go.
This first day started off feeling underwhelming. I got to the LA Convention Center around noon for registration, which was scheduled to go until 7 PM, and had my badge in the first half-hour. Apparently, AWP is using a new computerized kiosk system this year to cut the processing time down by a whole lot. Well, congrats, AWP. Mission accomplished.
I ended up lunching at Tom's Urban, a sports restaurant just a stone's throw away from the convention center. The food was good, the atmosphere was chill, and during the quiet period when I got there, the bartender and I had such great conversation that I dropped a 90% tip. Lunch was basically three hours of eating, watching old school music videos, and chatting. There was another fellow named Max in town for AWP and we got to talking about everything from how overpriced MFA programs are to writing methods to whether or not you can consciously write comedy versus letting it come out spontaneously.
The evening events were where the action was at yesterday. The AWP kickoff party at Barcito was so loud, crowded, and overflowing with a terrific vibe that you couldn't hear the hosts even when they were on microphones. In fact, you couldn't hear them even if you were standing right in front of them. It was that jam-packed. Afterwards, there was a reading closer to my neck of the woods at Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park. A friend of mine, Seth Fisher, was one of the featured readers. You should read Seth's work. Man's got the writing chops that make more household names look like a pack of illiterates.
But now I'm tired and need to hit the hay before AWP really kicks off tomorrow.
This first day started off feeling underwhelming. I got to the LA Convention Center around noon for registration, which was scheduled to go until 7 PM, and had my badge in the first half-hour. Apparently, AWP is using a new computerized kiosk system this year to cut the processing time down by a whole lot. Well, congrats, AWP. Mission accomplished.
I ended up lunching at Tom's Urban, a sports restaurant just a stone's throw away from the convention center. The food was good, the atmosphere was chill, and during the quiet period when I got there, the bartender and I had such great conversation that I dropped a 90% tip. Lunch was basically three hours of eating, watching old school music videos, and chatting. There was another fellow named Max in town for AWP and we got to talking about everything from how overpriced MFA programs are to writing methods to whether or not you can consciously write comedy versus letting it come out spontaneously.
The evening events were where the action was at yesterday. The AWP kickoff party at Barcito was so loud, crowded, and overflowing with a terrific vibe that you couldn't hear the hosts even when they were on microphones. In fact, you couldn't hear them even if you were standing right in front of them. It was that jam-packed. Afterwards, there was a reading closer to my neck of the woods at Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park. A friend of mine, Seth Fisher, was one of the featured readers. You should read Seth's work. Man's got the writing chops that make more household names look like a pack of illiterates.
But now I'm tired and need to hit the hay before AWP really kicks off tomorrow.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
When You Miss Your Writing Time
For the last month and a half, I've written fresh material every day. It feels good doing that and knowing that I'm making a little progress at a time. It feels good when I'm looking up at my calendar above my desk and have a visual reminder too. I estimate I've got at least 200 pages that weren't around last December.
Until the dreaded 18th came along. I was so busy with my day job that the only thing I was looking forward to was Skyping with an old college friend. It had been a while since we talked. Her family was going through a rough ordeal, and I wanted to see how she was doing. By the end of the call, it was about 11 PM and I was ready to wind down for the night. I thought if I got out at least a page, I'd be okay. That's happened before where even a hundred words is all I can muster in a day.
I stared at my laptop screen for half an hour. Nothing came to mind, of if it did, I was too beat to recognize it. In the end, I threw in the towel and went to sleep.
I woke up the next day feeling a little frustrated with myself. I felt like the day before was a complete waste. Then I decided to adjust my whole perspective on it.
You know those signs reading X number of days without an accident? You don't need to beat yourself for missing one day of writing when you've worked nonstop for the last 48. Think of it as setting new records for yourself. 48 straight days is a personal best for me. Now I'm going to see if I can make it to 49, to 70, to 100. Yeah, it kind of sucks that you missed that one day. But then you might as well beat yourself for getting sick and missing a day of flipping burgers.
If you can make up for those missed writing sessions and keep those breaks as few as possible, you should be okay.
Until the dreaded 18th came along. I was so busy with my day job that the only thing I was looking forward to was Skyping with an old college friend. It had been a while since we talked. Her family was going through a rough ordeal, and I wanted to see how she was doing. By the end of the call, it was about 11 PM and I was ready to wind down for the night. I thought if I got out at least a page, I'd be okay. That's happened before where even a hundred words is all I can muster in a day.
I stared at my laptop screen for half an hour. Nothing came to mind, of if it did, I was too beat to recognize it. In the end, I threw in the towel and went to sleep.
I woke up the next day feeling a little frustrated with myself. I felt like the day before was a complete waste. Then I decided to adjust my whole perspective on it.
You know those signs reading X number of days without an accident? You don't need to beat yourself for missing one day of writing when you've worked nonstop for the last 48. Think of it as setting new records for yourself. 48 straight days is a personal best for me. Now I'm going to see if I can make it to 49, to 70, to 100. Yeah, it kind of sucks that you missed that one day. But then you might as well beat yourself for getting sick and missing a day of flipping burgers.
If you can make up for those missed writing sessions and keep those breaks as few as possible, you should be okay.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
The Happenings of January 2016
I had a few clear New Years resolutions for 2016, and I realized that I need to hold myself accountable to achieve them. When I looked back on them, some of those goals were one-time deals like the upcoming AWP conference (by the way, I'm registered to attend and will definitely be spilling all the details for you guys when it arrives). Others, like having greater resolve and managing my time better, were more means to an end. The others - getting in shape, finding a writing group, and writing consistently - are the real goals. There's an additional goal I might as well 'fess up on, and it's finding a better day job. And I'd like to read more because I felt a little illiterate last year; I didn't read much because I was too busy worrying about everything else.
I actually stole this from Wil Wheaton, but doing a monthly recap really is a great way to stay motivated. Even if no one else is reading this, I will read it, and it'll give me a good bit of self-reflection on what's gone when and what needs improvement. And if you are interested in all this, dear reader...well, I hope my suffering is chuckle-worthy.
So to distill it all nicely and put a pretty little bow on it, this year, I want to:
I actually stole this from Wil Wheaton, but doing a monthly recap really is a great way to stay motivated. Even if no one else is reading this, I will read it, and it'll give me a good bit of self-reflection on what's gone when and what needs improvement. And if you are interested in all this, dear reader...well, I hope my suffering is chuckle-worthy.
So to distill it all nicely and put a pretty little bow on it, this year, I want to:
- Get in shape
- Join a writing group
- Write consistently
- Read more
- Find a better day job
Get in shape
I've been floating around the upper-190's this month. I'd like to get down to 175 lbs. I did join the local YMCA, and filled out a cancellation form the day I got my ID. I found that the Y wasn't really for me. I didn't like having to fight for parking, and I hated the thought of dishing out $60 for membership. I did pretty well last year keeping my weight in check without a gym.
First of all, I threw away the last of my holiday cookies. They were stale anyways. Second, there are a number of apps I installed on my phone that I've noticed are quite helpful. MyFitnessPal is a great one to track your weight and set a caloric goal whether you're looking to gain, lose, or maintain your weight. If you enjoy running, walking, or cycling, Strava is the way to go, and SWORKIT is a great workout app that requires no gym with great workouts for cardio, strength, yoga, and stretching. I like Strava and SWORKIT because they give calorie counts from exercise that I can then input to MyFitnessPal and be a little more mindful when it comes to meal time.
And then there's Sleep Cycle, which is a real "holy shit" app that I love. It monitors my sleep pattern and wakes me up as close to my set alarm time as possible when I'm in my lightest phase. It also comes with a number of sounds from white noise to crashing waves that help me relax. I've experimented with this app, using it some nights and avoiding it others, and I do sleep more soundly with it.
Join a writing group
I joined two writing groups through Meetup. One is a workshop and critiquing group. The other is a content generation group, the kind where you sit down with the goal of writing new material. I've been to two workshop sessions, and it's a great group; local, easily fitting into my schedule, and with a wonderful sense of structure that includes deadlines and submission formats.
The other group was not so wonderful. We met at a Fuddruckers in Burbank. I had my laptop. They had pens and papers, and the group organizer said they usually frowned upon laptops. I got a pass being the newbie. We had a writing prompt game. The ideas I gave included Nikki Sixx and a a tiger on cocaine. One of them didn't know who Nikki Sixx was, and that rubbed me the wrong way. I got even worse when everyone kept calling me Marco. In the middle of the session, I brought up the app on my phone and left the group.
I'm still looking around for a content generation group because, frankly, I'd really like to be around other writers and be reminded that I'm not the only one doing this.
Write consistently
Jerry Seinfeld's wall calendar idea really does work! I've been tracking my daily word count, and been motivated enough that I've written 130 new pages this month. That fact that my critique group has a manuscript review session coming up has been an added motivator, but Seinfeld was right. I look up at the calendar on my wall and seeing an unbroken change of X's marking the days when new material was written has become a welcomed sight. There have been days where I've fallen short, but then there are other days when I go on a writing binge and catch up. I wasn't nearly this productive last year with the release of just one short story. This trick has reminded me that if you stick to a certain routine and progress even a little bit at a time, it'll accumulate quite rewardingly.
Read more
Goodreads has an annual reading challenge where users set a number of books they want to read in a given year. For 2016, I challenged myself to read 24 books, at least two a month. I've read Patrick O'Neil's Gun, Needle, Spoon as well as Glen Duncan's I, Lucifer. Both were fantastic, and I'm on my third book: Arthur Clarke's Childhood's End. I picked up Clarke's book because it's quite short for a novel (just a couple of hundred pages). I'm about 50 pages to the end, and I'm going to try binge reading it tonight.
Find a better day job
I work in a gardening center. I'll admit that because it's the truth, but reluctantly so because it was never a job that I wanted. And it is just a job, accepted purely because I needed to pay off bills and debts. It's a job that makes me feel underutilized. I began working there in September of last year, and the greatest use of my skills was alphabetizing an inventory list. I did send out my resume to other companies, but only a couple of dozen; some days, I come home from work so tired that I've got just enough energy to get in my writing quota before passing out. This will not do. I have reached out to a couple of people at the staffing company Apple One and will sit down with them to go over my career goals for 2016, and I might - might - have an interview for a teaching job with East Los Angeles College. I know I need to step up my game next month, but January has helped me find holes that I've simply been ignoring.
Final verdict
So on a scale of 1 to 5, how did I do?
- Get in shape: 3
- Join a writing group: 4
- Write consistently: 5
- Read more: 5
- Find a better day job: 2
So this month rated about 76%. I know I can do better. January seemed to be the month where I find problems to be sorted out. Now that I can, it's time to do as the Scoutmaster on The Simpsons commands: "Got get 'em, scouts!"
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Get Your Ass to Mars
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a terrific holiday. Winter actually came in Los Angeles. We've had rain, cold, and even ice! It's the closest we've had to Hoth in a long, long time.
Now that the celebrations are over and Ryan Seacrest has returned to his dark cave of gloom, we're all looking to put into action our New Years resolutions, am I right? We've gained some weight over the last month thanks to baked goods. Our resolutions in the past always collapsed, but this time it'll be different! But then the doubts creep in, because if we've had such a good track record at not achieving our goals, what's going to make this year any different?
Well, to hell with that.
We always say, "This year, I'm going to do X, Y, and Z." I suggest changing that language to, "This year, I am doing X, Y, and Z." Here's what I am doing, and maybe you'll walk away from this with a little more guidance.
Actually have resolve.
You can't have resolutions without resolve, which is defined as "deciding firmly on a course of action." This is perhaps the most Dr. Phil-esque resolution I have, but a very necessary one. This doesn't pertain to the "I need to recognize that stuff needs to get done" camp. I recognize that I'm hungry, but that doesn't put dinner on the table. Knowing you've got goals ahead, the point of this resolution is to follow through on your threat to get shit done. And might I suggest you don't pick massive Earth-shattering goals that'll overwhelm you like the kraken? If you stumble on them, you're more likely to give up on everything else. Capisce?
Manage your time better.
Here on Earth, everyone has the same 24-hour day. We also live in an age where there are tons of calendar programs. Google Calendar, iCal, Outlook are just a few of many. Even before then when pen-and-paper day planners were the norm, there were so many different styles that it boggles the mind when I look back on it. I literally block out every single waking hour from 6 AM to 11:30 PM. Everything falls under one of three categories - personal events, stuff related to my day job, or writing - and I make sure none of it overlaps. I have a set morning routine that ensures I eat a real breakfast, and an evening routine that ensures I get a some reading into my day. I have recurring blocks of time for writing a bare minimum of two hours a night and optional mornings. And most of all, I restrict how much time I schedule for work and writing. It's usually around 12 hours a day, but no more than 15. Any remaining black spots are blocked off as "personal time."
Your body's not an amusement park.
Ah, the classic "I want to lose weight" resolution. Let's face it, if you didn't want to make this resolution, you shouldn't have fallen off the wagon over the holidays. I'm guilty of this too; I just had a few cookies that I probably shouldn't have. I've struggled with my weight since childhood, but got serious about it in college when my doctor had me one the scale at 252 pounds. Right now, I'm 199 pounds. *Pauses to munch on a cookie* 200 pounds. But I'd like to be around 175, and I've gotten as low as 180. So I know it's possible. My walking of habit is great, but my body's gotten used to it; I barely sweat anymore when I'm out walking. The fact is I've got to get my ass into a gym. I went to the YMCA around the corner of my house (they gave me a guest pass yesterday). It felt good, great even. Sweating it out was more enjoyable than I thought, and I realized that I really do want to stick to it. And an hour a day a few times a week is not a massive demand on my time.
Get out of your Bat-Cave.
Now we're getting to the part that pertains to writers. Writing is a very lonely craft, even with quite a few writer friends. Enter Meetup, the best tool for the introvert looking to get out of the house. I joined two writing groups recently. I went to the first one yesterday, and the second one is coming up in a few days. One is the traditional "we will sit and write" groups, a jam session, which is great because you always have to be generating content. The other one might be even more vital. It's a workshop group with deadlines and submission guidelines. I haven't had that kind of structure since grad school. I miss that discipline, and I hope these groups will help me stay focused.
Put on your chains.
I don't know if he still does this, but in a Lifehacker article, I found out that Jerry Seinfeld has this great productivity hack. I'll sum it up for you here: "get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. 'After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.' 'Don't break the chain," he said again for emphasis." I don't have the wall calendar, but a every month of 2016 is tacked above my desk beside each other. I tried this for a couple of weeks in November. It felt good. I tried it again for a week last month. It felt good again. Now I'm keeping on it for this entire year with a goal of a thousand new words each, but at least 500-600. If you keep that up, you've got a short story in a week, a novella in a month, and a novel in three.
Go to a conference.
I've never been to a writing conference. I guess you could say UCLA's Writers Faire qualifies, but it feels like such a hiccup to me. I think every writer needs to attend at least one conference in their life. Meet other writers, form friendships, and pick their brains. What works? What doesn't? I've bitched about this since 2011, but this year, I'm definitely going to the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference. This is a big deal. If you're a gamer, you go to E3. If you're a film maker, you go to the American Film Market. If you're into porn, you go to the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. That's what AWP is for writers. The location changes throughout the country from year to year, but this year it's in Los Angeles, so I really have no excuse not to go. Plus, it'll be a chance to see friends I haven't since grad school.
Now that the celebrations are over and Ryan Seacrest has returned to his dark cave of gloom, we're all looking to put into action our New Years resolutions, am I right? We've gained some weight over the last month thanks to baked goods. Our resolutions in the past always collapsed, but this time it'll be different! But then the doubts creep in, because if we've had such a good track record at not achieving our goals, what's going to make this year any different?
Well, to hell with that.
We always say, "This year, I'm going to do X, Y, and Z." I suggest changing that language to, "This year, I am doing X, Y, and Z." Here's what I am doing, and maybe you'll walk away from this with a little more guidance.
Actually have resolve.
You can't have resolutions without resolve, which is defined as "deciding firmly on a course of action." This is perhaps the most Dr. Phil-esque resolution I have, but a very necessary one. This doesn't pertain to the "I need to recognize that stuff needs to get done" camp. I recognize that I'm hungry, but that doesn't put dinner on the table. Knowing you've got goals ahead, the point of this resolution is to follow through on your threat to get shit done. And might I suggest you don't pick massive Earth-shattering goals that'll overwhelm you like the kraken? If you stumble on them, you're more likely to give up on everything else. Capisce?
Manage your time better.
Here on Earth, everyone has the same 24-hour day. We also live in an age where there are tons of calendar programs. Google Calendar, iCal, Outlook are just a few of many. Even before then when pen-and-paper day planners were the norm, there were so many different styles that it boggles the mind when I look back on it. I literally block out every single waking hour from 6 AM to 11:30 PM. Everything falls under one of three categories - personal events, stuff related to my day job, or writing - and I make sure none of it overlaps. I have a set morning routine that ensures I eat a real breakfast, and an evening routine that ensures I get a some reading into my day. I have recurring blocks of time for writing a bare minimum of two hours a night and optional mornings. And most of all, I restrict how much time I schedule for work and writing. It's usually around 12 hours a day, but no more than 15. Any remaining black spots are blocked off as "personal time."
Your body's not an amusement park.
Ah, the classic "I want to lose weight" resolution. Let's face it, if you didn't want to make this resolution, you shouldn't have fallen off the wagon over the holidays. I'm guilty of this too; I just had a few cookies that I probably shouldn't have. I've struggled with my weight since childhood, but got serious about it in college when my doctor had me one the scale at 252 pounds. Right now, I'm 199 pounds. *Pauses to munch on a cookie* 200 pounds. But I'd like to be around 175, and I've gotten as low as 180. So I know it's possible. My walking of habit is great, but my body's gotten used to it; I barely sweat anymore when I'm out walking. The fact is I've got to get my ass into a gym. I went to the YMCA around the corner of my house (they gave me a guest pass yesterday). It felt good, great even. Sweating it out was more enjoyable than I thought, and I realized that I really do want to stick to it. And an hour a day a few times a week is not a massive demand on my time.
Get out of your Bat-Cave.
Now we're getting to the part that pertains to writers. Writing is a very lonely craft, even with quite a few writer friends. Enter Meetup, the best tool for the introvert looking to get out of the house. I joined two writing groups recently. I went to the first one yesterday, and the second one is coming up in a few days. One is the traditional "we will sit and write" groups, a jam session, which is great because you always have to be generating content. The other one might be even more vital. It's a workshop group with deadlines and submission guidelines. I haven't had that kind of structure since grad school. I miss that discipline, and I hope these groups will help me stay focused.
Put on your chains.
I don't know if he still does this, but in a Lifehacker article, I found out that Jerry Seinfeld has this great productivity hack. I'll sum it up for you here: "get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. 'After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.' 'Don't break the chain," he said again for emphasis." I don't have the wall calendar, but a every month of 2016 is tacked above my desk beside each other. I tried this for a couple of weeks in November. It felt good. I tried it again for a week last month. It felt good again. Now I'm keeping on it for this entire year with a goal of a thousand new words each, but at least 500-600. If you keep that up, you've got a short story in a week, a novella in a month, and a novel in three.
Go to a conference.
I've never been to a writing conference. I guess you could say UCLA's Writers Faire qualifies, but it feels like such a hiccup to me. I think every writer needs to attend at least one conference in their life. Meet other writers, form friendships, and pick their brains. What works? What doesn't? I've bitched about this since 2011, but this year, I'm definitely going to the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference. This is a big deal. If you're a gamer, you go to E3. If you're a film maker, you go to the American Film Market. If you're into porn, you go to the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. That's what AWP is for writers. The location changes throughout the country from year to year, but this year it's in Los Angeles, so I really have no excuse not to go. Plus, it'll be a chance to see friends I haven't since grad school.
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