Hi there everyone!
I'm sorry I have not been as on top of posting of late as I truly would like to have been. Illness has made this difficult and so has some problems getting everything organized enough. I kinda feel like I bit off more than I could chew on this business of getting life into order. I am making progress but no where near as fast as I thought I was going to. (Being sick with a head cold and having kids home from school sick one week and then on winter break for another also throws a wrench into the works as well.)
This said, I am trying very hard to get back to posting in here more frequently. I feel poorly that I have not posted anything creative recently. I apologize for this lapse.
In other news, I am beginning to think I should buy stock in cold medicine or something. This makes round 2 of head colds for me in the last month. Schools are germ factories, I am sure of it. I may start dousing things in Lysol if this keeps up.
♥
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Monday, February 20, 2017
Flora et Fauna: Climate & Weather systems influence.
Now, it is fantasy or some other variant of fiction that you are writing and this gives you a significant amount of leeway as to how much you can bend the rules of what is 'real' and how far you can depart from what is commonly understood to be normal. I, however, find that realistic fiction elements will need to take in to consideration the very environment of the setting in the sense of what sort of weather and such there is.
Weather systems are a big driving factor in real world events. Storms of historic size and ferocity are more than proverbial plot devices. They can effect permanent changes to the landscape, the sociopolitical situation, and the most basic elements of the necessities for life. Just look at the difference of Louisiana before and after Hurricane Katrina. The differences are staggering (and, honestly, rather horrifying). It may be nice to say that the lovers take a romantic walk in the rain, but if you are at a place where rain is a frequent happening, this will change how the rain is viewed by even the characters themselves. Rain everyday for a two weeks means that you may have problems with flooding. And there is a good chance that the characters don't see that drizzly weather as something romantic but rather as another damned inconvenience.
Climates are interesting because when they shift they can make massive changes to an entire region. As a result, stresses between different groups become larger in some cases and smaller in others. Looking at Medieval Europe during the period of the Little Ice Age, we find that the great famine happened during this era. We find that there was a stark increase in problems that resulted in things like the loss of the Norse settlements in Greenland during the 15th century because they were unable to sustain enough crops of livestock to remain present.
It is no small coincidence that this period was one that saw a great deal more of conflict in communities and on the international scale. This, after all, was the period of the Hundred Year's War, the Black Death, and the Inquisition. When sufficient stresses pile up on a community, they become fractured and tend to ... well, eat themselves. Climate change can cause an enormous amount of stress to drive the conflicts within your works. The questions as to why a place is suffering bad droughts may be because of something shifting the weather patterns. The problems with droughts would lead to famine, problems in the economy, and loads of social problems. Conversely, a place suddenly blessed with good growing conditions and abundant resources would develop an entirely different set of challenges. Perhaps a case of the people who live in the areas of more depleted resources coming to acquire the resources of the others by way of sword and axe?
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Craft of Writing: Organize it ALL (Part 3)
First off, I want to apologize for the fact that I haven't been posting as much as I thought I would be right now. I am elbows deep into this organize everything and schedule everything business right now. I am beginning to think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. Still, I have reached a point where I can share some of what I am doing here with you. There are going to be several pictures here. Some pertain to this blog and some pertain to others that I am working on. This is not a big deal because I am using the same methods for virtually everything.
So, in part one of this mess, I mentioned that I stumbled onto the BulletJournal concept. I have been working on adapting it to my needs and adjusting everything so that it can work across multiple platforms. I do a lot of work on paper and in digital format. It has been somewhat challenging to reconcile the differences between the two methods. Throw in my starting to return to doing artwork and there is a need to basically make everything make sense.
In part two of this mess, I shared how I was dividing things up in general terms. I am literally still in the process of putting together my notebooks by topics. It is something that is both challenging and oddly relaxing. I really don't claim to understand it. But, the process of making everything more orderly and collating material so that it easier to access has been helping lower my stress and anxiety as much as the medication adjustments that have happened recently.
What I have to share with you this week is what I am doing just in the blog format right now. I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. I am not very good at using the camera on the laptop for photos. I'll get there eventually. In the meantime, I am going to do my best to walk you through what I am working on to organize and get the most out of my blogs. I am debating if I should make something like a few spreadsheets. Let me know in the comments on this post if you want me to. If I make them, they will be Google documents that are for public consumption. As per always, please credit me for my work.
This really was the seed at the beginning of the whole organization process. It was initially a little text document sitting on my desk top. Then I copied it over to this slip of recycled paper. If you look you may recognize the topic headings that I try to stick with for weekly posts.
The daily posts schedule started out working pretty well for me. Then I started to realize that I was producing so much content that I needed to organize that. Cue my beginning to search for something that was more effective and did a better job of helping me not make critical errors in my posts.
After reviewing several bullet journals that I saw others sharing on Pinterest and various blogs, I thought about what I needed. This lead to my developing something of a rough outline of what I figured my version of a bullet journal for writing would look like.
My outline is nothing pretty. Like all the bullet journals I had seen, there were sections divided up by monthly and weekly details. So, I took that idea and ran with it. I decided that I needed something to track statistics or some sort of tangible metric I could use to gauge my progress. So, I decided I was going to monitor my blog traffic on the basis of nation of origin (because I'm a wee bit nosy and curious where you come from - Privet to my readers from Russia. Please forgive me if I misspelled that. I hope that all two of you forgive my use of Google Translate to figure out how to say hello. ♥) and I decided to monitor my blog traffic on the basis of keyword searches. While I know that there are a lot of blogs out there by authors talking about their genre, the craft of writing, and the ups and downs of being published in any format, I wanted to know what about my blog was catching people's attention.
I also decided that I really needed to keep track of the days I was posting and the number of subscribers I have. This is to help me stay accountable to you, gentle Reader. I don't want to just be frittering my time away blathering about something that you don't find interesting most of the time. I know that I have some die hard readers who have been with me from the beginning that may even be happy to read my grocery list. (Spoiler: nothing interesting has been on it in a little while because I have been trying to use up stuff sitting in the pantry right now. Most exotic ingredient on my list last week was fresh tomatoes from somewhere sunny right now - I think it said Mexico or Argentina.) The rest of you, however, are probably looking for something better than a running report about how annoying it is to listen to my kids make train noises at the top of their lungs standing right beside me. (If you are interested in that more personal side of my life, I have yet another blog that I update with blatherings about that. Link > HERE <. I will apologize right now for the fact that I will be far less professional there. But you may find some stupid humor to make up for it.)
So, back to my outline for this monstrosity that is loosely based upon a bullet journal like how
Frankenstein's monster was loosely based upon Prometheus. I then set up weekly pages. For each day, I track my post count goals, my word count goals, and (ideally) viewership goals. Right now, I don't really have any data to go with this but that is because I have been excavating my desk from a mountain of papers. And, as with any project, a blood sacrifice has been made unto the gods for success. In this case by way of paper cuts under my nails. I honestly have no idea how I accomplished that. It has made doing housework interesting. Does this count as suffering for my art?
My weekly pages have daily outlines with some research notes and sources. I also am noting the tags I am using for my posts. I was somewhat haphazard with my tagging posts in the past. Now, I want to make this into a tool that helps me stay organized and helps you to navigate this blog. I also have set myself a goal of a minimum of two photo posts per week. You may notice that on the posting chart, I have a key for tags and then color coding to note the post's word count. I think this will be something that will prove super useful. Between the notation on the posting chart and the running numbers of viewership (which I will be taking in the evening before I log off the computer for the night), it is my hope that I can build a reasonable picture of what is working well for my posting schedule and what you are most interested in. This way I can tailor my work to what my audience (that's you dear Reader!) prefers.
My outline for blog organization does not stop at weekly planning pages. You may have noticed, actually, that I have been slowly implementing changes that I have noted here. I am developing topic pages and making master lists of the posts under each topic. I have also taken my serial stories and added another (hopefully, better) layer of organization. This additional layer of structure is something that I am aiming to use to help me keep these large projects in order. I've realized that I am beginning to hit the point where I can't just write stuff off the cuff and expect it to work out well.
My passion for organization has also reached into actually sitting down and putting on paper the outlines for where I want these serial stories to go. I am separating them by region. And, in the case of a few shorts that I am going to be putting up here soon, by their point in the history of the world. I am also going to make a point of finding ways to tie these serial stories back to the novels. Because, honestly, this blog really is a platform to discuss these novels I am writing. Everything circles back to that, as it should.
In addition to organizing material for serial stories, I am in the process of developing some posts that are going to have multiple parts to them. Some are going to be discussing techniques and skills that I have found useful as an author. Others will be discussing details about the world I am writing in and there is going to be material that just goes off in tangents that may seem a bit strange until taken as a whole. (I confess, my brain works a little bit differently than your average person's. Strange tangents that seem to have no logical connection happens pretty regularly here.)
I am planning on becoming more vocal about social and community issues. This may cost me some readers. I'm sorry if this is something that is going to upset you. I feel, however, I can not simply sit here and deny that there are some very large and very pervasive issues that need to be addressed in the world. Thus, I am going to use this platform to attempt to address what I can in the hope that I can help effect a positive change in the world.
Finally, I have a section that is for what I'm doing regarding books and merchandise. This may sound a little silly, but I didn't realize that I needed to plan out how I was going to promote my material until after I finished The Dragon's Daughter and I had the final proof copy sitting on my shelf. After a little bit of panic, I sat down and started doing what I could to learn about just how this whole marketing concept works. (I still have no idea what I am doing. I have a feeling things are going to get weird before I figure it out.)
And, like anyone who is attempting to run their own business, there is the ubiquitous part for budgeting. I rather dislike budgeting because it is boring and stressful. That said, it really would be irresponsible for me to just leave that very important detail out flapping in the breeze like laundry on the line. So, I have things roughly out on paper for how to organize it. Now, it is a matter of filling in the details and making the posts.
Except I am drawing up all of my organizational stuff by hand. This is not a case of artistic expression. It is actually a measure of my feeling that I must have absolute control over all the things and (really the ONLY reason, to be honest) the fact that my printer is no compatible with this laptop. It was a very upsetting day when I realized that my printer was still perfectly functional but no drivers were available to make the stupid thing work with Windows 8. So, I am getting writer's cramp drawing up spreadsheets with a pen, a ruler, and a lot of vulgarity. (In other news, did you realize that the word 'fuck' is probably one of the most versatile in the English language? I had forgotten this fact until my pencil sharpener broke, my cup of coffee spilled over a stack of about eight written up sheets and into my lap. Fortunately, the coffee was cold. The pages were a loss and I had to replace the table cloth, though.)
But all of this mess is why I have been so quiet of late. I look forward to getting back to actually writing stuff here. I am almost starting to have nightmares of drawing diagrams. This didn't happen when I was taking Calculus in college, but it did when I was taking Geometry in high school.
(Dudebro's always have a problem with getting loans. They're tan and don't have a sign. So they can't get a cosign.)
So, in part one of this mess, I mentioned that I stumbled onto the BulletJournal concept. I have been working on adapting it to my needs and adjusting everything so that it can work across multiple platforms. I do a lot of work on paper and in digital format. It has been somewhat challenging to reconcile the differences between the two methods. Throw in my starting to return to doing artwork and there is a need to basically make everything make sense.
In part two of this mess, I shared how I was dividing things up in general terms. I am literally still in the process of putting together my notebooks by topics. It is something that is both challenging and oddly relaxing. I really don't claim to understand it. But, the process of making everything more orderly and collating material so that it easier to access has been helping lower my stress and anxiety as much as the medication adjustments that have happened recently.
What I have to share with you this week is what I am doing just in the blog format right now. I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. I am not very good at using the camera on the laptop for photos. I'll get there eventually. In the meantime, I am going to do my best to walk you through what I am working on to organize and get the most out of my blogs. I am debating if I should make something like a few spreadsheets. Let me know in the comments on this post if you want me to. If I make them, they will be Google documents that are for public consumption. As per always, please credit me for my work.
The daily posts schedule started out working pretty well for me. Then I started to realize that I was producing so much content that I needed to organize that. Cue my beginning to search for something that was more effective and did a better job of helping me not make critical errors in my posts.After reviewing several bullet journals that I saw others sharing on Pinterest and various blogs, I thought about what I needed. This lead to my developing something of a rough outline of what I figured my version of a bullet journal for writing would look like.
 |
| Monthly Stat Tracker: Readership Nos. & Posting |
I also decided that I really needed to keep track of the days I was posting and the number of subscribers I have. This is to help me stay accountable to you, gentle Reader. I don't want to just be frittering my time away blathering about something that you don't find interesting most of the time. I know that I have some die hard readers who have been with me from the beginning that may even be happy to read my grocery list. (Spoiler: nothing interesting has been on it in a little while because I have been trying to use up stuff sitting in the pantry right now. Most exotic ingredient on my list last week was fresh tomatoes from somewhere sunny right now - I think it said Mexico or Argentina.) The rest of you, however, are probably looking for something better than a running report about how annoying it is to listen to my kids make train noises at the top of their lungs standing right beside me. (If you are interested in that more personal side of my life, I have yet another blog that I update with blatherings about that. Link > HERE <. I will apologize right now for the fact that I will be far less professional there. But you may find some stupid humor to make up for it.)
 |
| Weekly Planning Sheet |
Frankenstein's monster was loosely based upon Prometheus. I then set up weekly pages. For each day, I track my post count goals, my word count goals, and (ideally) viewership goals. Right now, I don't really have any data to go with this but that is because I have been excavating my desk from a mountain of papers. And, as with any project, a blood sacrifice has been made unto the gods for success. In this case by way of paper cuts under my nails. I honestly have no idea how I accomplished that. It has made doing housework interesting. Does this count as suffering for my art?
My weekly pages have daily outlines with some research notes and sources. I also am noting the tags I am using for my posts. I was somewhat haphazard with my tagging posts in the past. Now, I want to make this into a tool that helps me stay organized and helps you to navigate this blog. I also have set myself a goal of a minimum of two photo posts per week. You may notice that on the posting chart, I have a key for tags and then color coding to note the post's word count. I think this will be something that will prove super useful. Between the notation on the posting chart and the running numbers of viewership (which I will be taking in the evening before I log off the computer for the night), it is my hope that I can build a reasonable picture of what is working well for my posting schedule and what you are most interested in. This way I can tailor my work to what my audience (that's you dear Reader!) prefers.
 |
| Outline Parts 3 & 4: Content Focus & Budgeting |
My passion for organization has also reached into actually sitting down and putting on paper the outlines for where I want these serial stories to go. I am separating them by region. And, in the case of a few shorts that I am going to be putting up here soon, by their point in the history of the world. I am also going to make a point of finding ways to tie these serial stories back to the novels. Because, honestly, this blog really is a platform to discuss these novels I am writing. Everything circles back to that, as it should.
In addition to organizing material for serial stories, I am in the process of developing some posts that are going to have multiple parts to them. Some are going to be discussing techniques and skills that I have found useful as an author. Others will be discussing details about the world I am writing in and there is going to be material that just goes off in tangents that may seem a bit strange until taken as a whole. (I confess, my brain works a little bit differently than your average person's. Strange tangents that seem to have no logical connection happens pretty regularly here.)
I am planning on becoming more vocal about social and community issues. This may cost me some readers. I'm sorry if this is something that is going to upset you. I feel, however, I can not simply sit here and deny that there are some very large and very pervasive issues that need to be addressed in the world. Thus, I am going to use this platform to attempt to address what I can in the hope that I can help effect a positive change in the world.
Finally, I have a section that is for what I'm doing regarding books and merchandise. This may sound a little silly, but I didn't realize that I needed to plan out how I was going to promote my material until after I finished The Dragon's Daughter and I had the final proof copy sitting on my shelf. After a little bit of panic, I sat down and started doing what I could to learn about just how this whole marketing concept works. (I still have no idea what I am doing. I have a feeling things are going to get weird before I figure it out.)
And, like anyone who is attempting to run their own business, there is the ubiquitous part for budgeting. I rather dislike budgeting because it is boring and stressful. That said, it really would be irresponsible for me to just leave that very important detail out flapping in the breeze like laundry on the line. So, I have things roughly out on paper for how to organize it. Now, it is a matter of filling in the details and making the posts.
Except I am drawing up all of my organizational stuff by hand. This is not a case of artistic expression. It is actually a measure of my feeling that I must have absolute control over all the things and (really the ONLY reason, to be honest) the fact that my printer is no compatible with this laptop. It was a very upsetting day when I realized that my printer was still perfectly functional but no drivers were available to make the stupid thing work with Windows 8. So, I am getting writer's cramp drawing up spreadsheets with a pen, a ruler, and a lot of vulgarity. (In other news, did you realize that the word 'fuck' is probably one of the most versatile in the English language? I had forgotten this fact until my pencil sharpener broke, my cup of coffee spilled over a stack of about eight written up sheets and into my lap. Fortunately, the coffee was cold. The pages were a loss and I had to replace the table cloth, though.)
But all of this mess is why I have been so quiet of late. I look forward to getting back to actually writing stuff here. I am almost starting to have nightmares of drawing diagrams. This didn't happen when I was taking Calculus in college, but it did when I was taking Geometry in high school.
(Dudebro's always have a problem with getting loans. They're tan and don't have a sign. So they can't get a cosign.)
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Craft of Writing: Organize it ALL! (Part 2)
Hi there, everybody!
I said that I was going to share with you some pages that I have put together for my own bullet journal like notebook. I do not have those pages ready to share yet. The reason is because I am having a rather difficult time winnowing down just what I am going to put on these pages. Having a creative mind is awesome, because you can come up with tons of great ideas. Having a creative mind is difficult, because you can come up with tons of great ideas. It is hard to pick what to focus on.
All of that said, I have decided on a few things. First is that I am going to keep my editing work separate from my organization work. This may sound a little silly considering how other people have organized their stuff. I, however, recognize that I need to keep my editing such that it is more portable than my organizing work. I have a nifty little red steno pad that I use. Each manuscript gets its own tab divider and then I go through and write down all my line edits with page and line number. As I make the changes, I check them off. It is a terribly dull system, but it works well for me.
Secondly, I am going to have all of my language developing notes in their own notebook. That one is something I'm still in the process of dividing up into sections. The wild idea that I should develop languages is something that came to me back when I wrote the very first rough draft of book one. (That would be way back in 6th grade. It was two pages. I still have it. It looks nothing like the final version. I still take it out and look at it from time to time though. Just to remind myself how far I have come.) Scattered through my various notebooks are bits and pieces of this language development stuff I have done. This new notebook is going to be divided up by languages. It is also going to be where I do things like develop the different scripts for the written version of the languages. It is one of those notebooks with grid style pages in it. (If I had realized I could have gotten a composition notebook in this style, I suspect I would have had an easier time learning linear algebra.) This is something that I will be doing on my 'downtime' from other writing projects. It is a long term thing that I am not going to pressure myself to do all right now.
I am going to be setting up pages for plotting out blog posts separate from my novel writing work. This is for two different reasons. First, I have different things I am trying to do with this blog and what I am trying to do with my novels. I need these things separate so that I don't confuse the details. It is less a concern that I will be confusing you, gentle Reader, and more an attempt to keep myself from getting confused. Life is complicated enough with what I have going on right now. All of this organization effort is an attempt to make things less complicated.
It is my hope that next week, I will have the pages for novel development put together. And I think I am going to have my pages for blog post development taken care of by sometime Friday evening, barring any unpleasant surprises. (It is stuff that would have been done last week, except I had a child home sick with a norovirus. These things are horrid and I sincerely hope that you or your loved ones don't have to suffer them. Gastrointestinal misery is not anyone's idea of a good time.)
I said that I was going to share with you some pages that I have put together for my own bullet journal like notebook. I do not have those pages ready to share yet. The reason is because I am having a rather difficult time winnowing down just what I am going to put on these pages. Having a creative mind is awesome, because you can come up with tons of great ideas. Having a creative mind is difficult, because you can come up with tons of great ideas. It is hard to pick what to focus on.
All of that said, I have decided on a few things. First is that I am going to keep my editing work separate from my organization work. This may sound a little silly considering how other people have organized their stuff. I, however, recognize that I need to keep my editing such that it is more portable than my organizing work. I have a nifty little red steno pad that I use. Each manuscript gets its own tab divider and then I go through and write down all my line edits with page and line number. As I make the changes, I check them off. It is a terribly dull system, but it works well for me.
Secondly, I am going to have all of my language developing notes in their own notebook. That one is something I'm still in the process of dividing up into sections. The wild idea that I should develop languages is something that came to me back when I wrote the very first rough draft of book one. (That would be way back in 6th grade. It was two pages. I still have it. It looks nothing like the final version. I still take it out and look at it from time to time though. Just to remind myself how far I have come.) Scattered through my various notebooks are bits and pieces of this language development stuff I have done. This new notebook is going to be divided up by languages. It is also going to be where I do things like develop the different scripts for the written version of the languages. It is one of those notebooks with grid style pages in it. (If I had realized I could have gotten a composition notebook in this style, I suspect I would have had an easier time learning linear algebra.) This is something that I will be doing on my 'downtime' from other writing projects. It is a long term thing that I am not going to pressure myself to do all right now.
I am going to be setting up pages for plotting out blog posts separate from my novel writing work. This is for two different reasons. First, I have different things I am trying to do with this blog and what I am trying to do with my novels. I need these things separate so that I don't confuse the details. It is less a concern that I will be confusing you, gentle Reader, and more an attempt to keep myself from getting confused. Life is complicated enough with what I have going on right now. All of this organization effort is an attempt to make things less complicated.
It is my hope that next week, I will have the pages for novel development put together. And I think I am going to have my pages for blog post development taken care of by sometime Friday evening, barring any unpleasant surprises. (It is stuff that would have been done last week, except I had a child home sick with a norovirus. These things are horrid and I sincerely hope that you or your loved ones don't have to suffer them. Gastrointestinal misery is not anyone's idea of a good time.)
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Craft of Writing: Organize IT ALL!!! (Part 1)
A wise person once told me that to be successful with a large project, it is best to organize it like the storming of Normandy. I have to say, my Grandfather was right when he made that suggestion as I look at just how disorganized I have been over the last year with this blog and my other writing projects. As a result, I am spending the month of January organizing and planning how I am going to approach the rest of the year.
I am a bit late to the party with bullet journaling. That said, I am finding a modified version of this is helping me organize the rest of my life, so I am working out how to implement it in my writing. There is a staggering array of ways to do it and it is pretty easy to get overwhelmed with just all the different facets that you can customize. Just a quick search yielded over one million results. There is some schisms within the bullet journaling community on what the best type of notebooks to use are, how pretty you must make it, and what type of pens are best (among many, many other details).
I narrowed down my search to looking at how others were just dividing up tasks and such for their writing. That also netted me over one million results. (Google, you have a tremendous ability to find ALL THE THINGS. Don't stop being your glorious self!) I looked at the following and have developed something of a working understanding of how the process works.
Bullet Journal for Freelancers & Writers - Belle Cooper (Boho Berry)
Ms. Cooper set up some very nice examples of how she uses her bullet journal for her writing work. I was particularly impressed with how she kept track of all of her deadlines, invoices, and the publication status of her freelance work. It made a lot more sense than my pile of post-it notes and little scraps of paper taped to strategic points on the desk. She also mentioned something called 'sketch notes' which I thought was somewhat interesting. It is basically a combination of written text notes with small sketches associated with them. I like how it engages both aspects of the creative mind: visual and literary.
Bullet Journal: The (Writer's) Answer to Getting Thing Done - Jenni Myburgh (Jenni Myburgh)
Ms. Myburgh's post on bullet journals is fantastic. It is fantastic for two reasons. First, she gives very clear and concise descriptions of the concept and provides beautiful photos to illustrate them. Second, her examples show how they are truly very flexible tools and can be used for more than just staying on task with a single writing project.
Bullet Journal DOs and DON'Ts - Susanna (Zealous Mom)
Where the other two ladies gave very good advice on how to set up one's bullet journal, Ms. Susanna shares with us just what the experience of using one is like. It really was refreshing to see her very homey take on the topic and I also highly enjoyed how she was not shy about sharing what worked for her and what did not. It was good to see that people do have some difficulty starting out with this and that perfection is not the same thing as progress. And that your bullet journal needs not be Pinterest worthy to be effective.
I am still in the process of developing my lay outs and such for my own bullet journal-esque efforts. I will share more about that next week. I can tell you two things, however, about what I am doing. My first focus is on functionality and what is going to help me be most effective. I am saving artwork and other fun stuff for after I manage to get the whole process I am going to be using figured out. Secondly, I have a binder/folio/soft briefcase that I am using for my blogs and a separate one I am using for my novels. I am not going to limit myself to a tiny notebook that I can stash with my knitting. This is not because I need portability as much as I need something to keep track of everything and I have a whole lot of moving parts to keep track of. More space to work with is better for me. I have enough smaller notebooks I can dedicate to individual elements of things.
I may still be in a position where I must consider if buying stock in 3M and Mead (the people who make Post-It notes, notebooks, and filler paper for binders) is going to be something I should do or possibly get some sort of bulk rate on these things in a few months. But, I may have something more organized and easier to work with than the four inches of paper stacked up on and around the desk right now.
I am a bit late to the party with bullet journaling. That said, I am finding a modified version of this is helping me organize the rest of my life, so I am working out how to implement it in my writing. There is a staggering array of ways to do it and it is pretty easy to get overwhelmed with just all the different facets that you can customize. Just a quick search yielded over one million results. There is some schisms within the bullet journaling community on what the best type of notebooks to use are, how pretty you must make it, and what type of pens are best (among many, many other details).
I narrowed down my search to looking at how others were just dividing up tasks and such for their writing. That also netted me over one million results. (Google, you have a tremendous ability to find ALL THE THINGS. Don't stop being your glorious self!) I looked at the following and have developed something of a working understanding of how the process works.
Bullet Journal for Freelancers & Writers - Belle Cooper (Boho Berry)
Ms. Cooper set up some very nice examples of how she uses her bullet journal for her writing work. I was particularly impressed with how she kept track of all of her deadlines, invoices, and the publication status of her freelance work. It made a lot more sense than my pile of post-it notes and little scraps of paper taped to strategic points on the desk. She also mentioned something called 'sketch notes' which I thought was somewhat interesting. It is basically a combination of written text notes with small sketches associated with them. I like how it engages both aspects of the creative mind: visual and literary.
Bullet Journal: The (Writer's) Answer to Getting Thing Done - Jenni Myburgh (Jenni Myburgh)
Ms. Myburgh's post on bullet journals is fantastic. It is fantastic for two reasons. First, she gives very clear and concise descriptions of the concept and provides beautiful photos to illustrate them. Second, her examples show how they are truly very flexible tools and can be used for more than just staying on task with a single writing project.
Bullet Journal DOs and DON'Ts - Susanna (Zealous Mom)
Where the other two ladies gave very good advice on how to set up one's bullet journal, Ms. Susanna shares with us just what the experience of using one is like. It really was refreshing to see her very homey take on the topic and I also highly enjoyed how she was not shy about sharing what worked for her and what did not. It was good to see that people do have some difficulty starting out with this and that perfection is not the same thing as progress. And that your bullet journal needs not be Pinterest worthy to be effective.
I am still in the process of developing my lay outs and such for my own bullet journal-esque efforts. I will share more about that next week. I can tell you two things, however, about what I am doing. My first focus is on functionality and what is going to help me be most effective. I am saving artwork and other fun stuff for after I manage to get the whole process I am going to be using figured out. Secondly, I have a binder/folio/soft briefcase that I am using for my blogs and a separate one I am using for my novels. I am not going to limit myself to a tiny notebook that I can stash with my knitting. This is not because I need portability as much as I need something to keep track of everything and I have a whole lot of moving parts to keep track of. More space to work with is better for me. I have enough smaller notebooks I can dedicate to individual elements of things.
I may still be in a position where I must consider if buying stock in 3M and Mead (the people who make Post-It notes, notebooks, and filler paper for binders) is going to be something I should do or possibly get some sort of bulk rate on these things in a few months. But, I may have something more organized and easier to work with than the four inches of paper stacked up on and around the desk right now.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
UPDATE
A visual pun, if you will.
Construction
This Website!
I am in the process of making changes to format and a number of other things here. My plan is to have everything completed by the end of the month. I will be moving some material around to make things make more sense. Don't worry, the serial stories and the various themed content is not going anywhere. I am just going to try to reshuffle it so that it is easier for me to work and and for you to navigate.
Please, drop me a note if you have any suggestions or questions.
Thank you for taking the time and being so patient to come along with me on this journey as I muddle through 2017.
Happy New Year everyone. Let's make it a great year despite what ever gets thrown at us, eh?
Construction
This Website!
I am in the process of making changes to format and a number of other things here. My plan is to have everything completed by the end of the month. I will be moving some material around to make things make more sense. Don't worry, the serial stories and the various themed content is not going anywhere. I am just going to try to reshuffle it so that it is easier for me to work and and for you to navigate.
Please, drop me a note if you have any suggestions or questions.
Thank you for taking the time and being so patient to come along with me on this journey as I muddle through 2017.
Happy New Year everyone. Let's make it a great year despite what ever gets thrown at us, eh?
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Lady of the North Ascends (Part XX V)
Serenity
was the meaning of her name in the language of the people of the
desert, she was anything but serene. Al-Uzza came before Mina with
anger in her heart. The high priestess was many years her junior. The
milk skinned woman with eyes the color of grass was not of the old
people as Al-Uzza was. She was born of the northern reaches and
lacked the robust build that Al-Uzza felt was proper to a woman. Even
after bearing a child, the high priestess remained of diminuitive
stature next to Al-Uzza. The son born to the high priestess of Julara
took after his mother, indeed his face was as fair as a girls and
lacked the beginnings of manhood even though the lad was entering
into his eleventh year.
Al-Uzza was envious, but few around her dared to name that viper wound around her heart. For the woman with the white touched hair and heavy build was one to lash out at the people who challenged her and questioned her, if they were not of higher standing. Al-Uzza was skilled at flattery, however, and did shockingly well by plying her crafty tongue to move from some village witch at the outskirts of the western empire to within the hallowed halls of the main temple of Julara. Al-Uzza somehow maneuvered her way into serving as one of Mina's secretaries.
Mina could never quite recall how Al-Uzza came to be there with her stoney expression of dour disapproval. Still, the older woman was useful in keeping things in order, as she had been for the high priestess before her and perhaps the one before that. Now, Al-Uzza stood in the throne room, her large hands folded into the sleeves of her robes and her perpetual look of malcontent. Mina regarded the older woman thoughtfully. Mina had no illusions that Al-Uzza sought to reach higher than where she stood and would have gladly poisoned Mina to claim her crown if it weren't for the fact that Al-Uzza was unsure what the results of that would have been. It was not how things were when she was a small child. Julara moved through the world with greater force and Al-Uzza did not want to risk the anger of the goddess.
"Al-Uzza," Mina said, "governor Bastizia's lady has been murdered." The lines of Al-Uzza's frown deepened. "I am sending you north. They have need of your pragmatic mind and guidance. The maidens of the villages have need of a mother to give them direction." The old priestess's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. Mina turned her attention back to the letter in her left hand. "In addition to strengthening Bastizia's household against the influence of outsiders, I expect you to learn who it was that killed Lady Zia and why. The resources of the Silent Sisters in the shadows are naturally going to be available to you. Bastizia's letter suggests there is some sort of unrest against the daughters of Our Lady and they who have pledged themselves to her outside of our orders."
Al-Uzza's expression slowly moved from suspicion to grim realization that she truly was being sent away to the edge of the empire. "I expect a missive answering these questions, Lady Al-Uzza," Mina continued and Al-Uzza looked surprised. Mina looked up from Bastizia's letter. "You are surprised?" Mina said dryly, "A secretary is not needed in the north. Of all who have been in my service, you have been the most efficient. When I lay ill, it was you that directed the water priestesses to come to me. You are deserving of elevation. And your steady hand is needed there. Thus, do I send you, Lady Al-Uzza. Governor Bastizia may not choose to wed you immediately but to observe a time of mourning for your sister. Do not let him forget his duty."
Al-Uzza shifted, uncomfortable with the idea of being yoked to a man. In all her time in service to Julara, she aptly avoided contact with men and what she felt were their filthy mannerisms. "Your celibcy is not at risk," Mina said, somehow knowing what the woman who was nearly her birth mother's age was thinking, "Governor Bastizia is a man of some age. He is near to your own, actually, and more interested in the running of his territory than anything equating a love match. Zia bore him his heir. After this, he had little more to do with her beyond official capacity." Al-Uzza let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding.>
"Your Imperial Majesty," Al-Uzza said, restraining the urge to spit with disgust at stating the words, "Is it possible that the child was involved in the mother's demise?" Mina tipped her head slightly to the left. She looked at Al-Uzza thoughtfully. It was a question that came to Mina's mind as well, but not knowing what the dynamic between mother and child was, she had no way to speculate upon it. "It is possible, Majesty, that the child has grown rebellious or perhaps succumbed to the influence of the barbarians," Al-Uzza said when the silence had grown uncomfortable.
"This is a question, Lady Al-Uzza, that you must divine the answer to," Mina said. The priestess opened her mouth to give an appropriately obsequious response when the Empress continued. "Do not call the people of the north barbarians. Name them outsiders. Name them interlopers or malcontents. Name them enemies. They are a civilized people," Mina added in a tone of stern warning, "Their gods may be different from ours but they are devout in their own way." Al-Uzza straightened and her look of sour disapproval returned. "Their ways are not our own but they are not beasts," Mina warned Al-Uzza, "Many of them live with us in the north. Their distant kinsmen offer them insult even as it is offered to us. I will not have these people dishonored because of their great-cousin's foolishness."
Al-Uzza bowed to Mina in a silent gesture of repentance. "Go and prepare yourself, Lady Al-Uzza. Your caravan leaves in three days. I shall assign one to serve at your right hand. With you shall be traveling a son of Ashur of the brothers militant. Keep him as your confidant as you move through the north. He shall have a sand mirror to speak with his brothers here in the imperial city. I expect a party of soldiers will ride with you as well for the safety of yourself," Mina said, silently questioning of the intuitive choice of Al-Uzza was wise.
"Blessings of Our Lady be upon you, your Imperial Majesty," Al-Uzza murmured before she moved to depart, inwardly wishing that Julara strike down Mina before her eyes. As the newly appointed Lady Al-Uzza left her presence, Mina watched her with a feeling of discomfort in her bones. One of the water priestesses stood off to the side with a small tray in her hands. As Al-Uzza walked past the priestess in blue, the younger priestess bobbed a small bow. Al-Uzza seemed to preen as she disappeared through the doors into the antechamber. The healer walked through the throne room and approached Mina with her tray.
With a sigh, Mina motioned the healer forward. She took the tiny glass vial off of the tray and unstoppered it. As she quaffed the tincture, Mina restrained an urge to grimace at the bitter taste. The sense of heaviness that slowly blossomed in her chased away the throbbing pain behind her eyes. Mina closed her eyes with a sigh. "Most Serene Lady," the healer murmured, "You must rest. Shall I summon someone to help you to your chambers?" Mina opened her eyes and looked at the concerned expression on the woman who couldn't have been a day older than herself.
"Yes," Mina sighed, deciding that her discomfort earlier had to be due to the ache that seemed to grow stronger the longer she was up and moving. The healer bobbed a bow and scurried off to fetch a strong servant. Mina leaned her head against the back of her throne. "Mother, why must I hurt so?" she sighed. Something of a cool, damp breath of air blew through the chamber, smelling of sweet water, and brused against Mina's face. The sensation of cool hands settling on her shoulders came with it and the distinct feeling that her recovery would be finished soon came over her. "I am so tired," Mina sighed.
"Then I shall bear you to your rest," Sorenan said as he walked through the throne room. Mina opened her eyes and looked at him. He approached her. Where others bowed before her, Sorenan simply walked forward. Mina gave him a wan smile for his boldness. Unable to find the focus to voice her question why he was back so soon from the discussion with the high council, she closed her eyes. Sorenan stooped and picked his lover up. Mina set her head against his shoulder and was fast asleep long before they had reached her chamber.
Al-Uzza was envious, but few around her dared to name that viper wound around her heart. For the woman with the white touched hair and heavy build was one to lash out at the people who challenged her and questioned her, if they were not of higher standing. Al-Uzza was skilled at flattery, however, and did shockingly well by plying her crafty tongue to move from some village witch at the outskirts of the western empire to within the hallowed halls of the main temple of Julara. Al-Uzza somehow maneuvered her way into serving as one of Mina's secretaries.
Mina could never quite recall how Al-Uzza came to be there with her stoney expression of dour disapproval. Still, the older woman was useful in keeping things in order, as she had been for the high priestess before her and perhaps the one before that. Now, Al-Uzza stood in the throne room, her large hands folded into the sleeves of her robes and her perpetual look of malcontent. Mina regarded the older woman thoughtfully. Mina had no illusions that Al-Uzza sought to reach higher than where she stood and would have gladly poisoned Mina to claim her crown if it weren't for the fact that Al-Uzza was unsure what the results of that would have been. It was not how things were when she was a small child. Julara moved through the world with greater force and Al-Uzza did not want to risk the anger of the goddess.
"Al-Uzza," Mina said, "governor Bastizia's lady has been murdered." The lines of Al-Uzza's frown deepened. "I am sending you north. They have need of your pragmatic mind and guidance. The maidens of the villages have need of a mother to give them direction." The old priestess's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. Mina turned her attention back to the letter in her left hand. "In addition to strengthening Bastizia's household against the influence of outsiders, I expect you to learn who it was that killed Lady Zia and why. The resources of the Silent Sisters in the shadows are naturally going to be available to you. Bastizia's letter suggests there is some sort of unrest against the daughters of Our Lady and they who have pledged themselves to her outside of our orders."
Al-Uzza's expression slowly moved from suspicion to grim realization that she truly was being sent away to the edge of the empire. "I expect a missive answering these questions, Lady Al-Uzza," Mina continued and Al-Uzza looked surprised. Mina looked up from Bastizia's letter. "You are surprised?" Mina said dryly, "A secretary is not needed in the north. Of all who have been in my service, you have been the most efficient. When I lay ill, it was you that directed the water priestesses to come to me. You are deserving of elevation. And your steady hand is needed there. Thus, do I send you, Lady Al-Uzza. Governor Bastizia may not choose to wed you immediately but to observe a time of mourning for your sister. Do not let him forget his duty."
Al-Uzza shifted, uncomfortable with the idea of being yoked to a man. In all her time in service to Julara, she aptly avoided contact with men and what she felt were their filthy mannerisms. "Your celibcy is not at risk," Mina said, somehow knowing what the woman who was nearly her birth mother's age was thinking, "Governor Bastizia is a man of some age. He is near to your own, actually, and more interested in the running of his territory than anything equating a love match. Zia bore him his heir. After this, he had little more to do with her beyond official capacity." Al-Uzza let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding.>
"Your Imperial Majesty," Al-Uzza said, restraining the urge to spit with disgust at stating the words, "Is it possible that the child was involved in the mother's demise?" Mina tipped her head slightly to the left. She looked at Al-Uzza thoughtfully. It was a question that came to Mina's mind as well, but not knowing what the dynamic between mother and child was, she had no way to speculate upon it. "It is possible, Majesty, that the child has grown rebellious or perhaps succumbed to the influence of the barbarians," Al-Uzza said when the silence had grown uncomfortable.
"This is a question, Lady Al-Uzza, that you must divine the answer to," Mina said. The priestess opened her mouth to give an appropriately obsequious response when the Empress continued. "Do not call the people of the north barbarians. Name them outsiders. Name them interlopers or malcontents. Name them enemies. They are a civilized people," Mina added in a tone of stern warning, "Their gods may be different from ours but they are devout in their own way." Al-Uzza straightened and her look of sour disapproval returned. "Their ways are not our own but they are not beasts," Mina warned Al-Uzza, "Many of them live with us in the north. Their distant kinsmen offer them insult even as it is offered to us. I will not have these people dishonored because of their great-cousin's foolishness."
Al-Uzza bowed to Mina in a silent gesture of repentance. "Go and prepare yourself, Lady Al-Uzza. Your caravan leaves in three days. I shall assign one to serve at your right hand. With you shall be traveling a son of Ashur of the brothers militant. Keep him as your confidant as you move through the north. He shall have a sand mirror to speak with his brothers here in the imperial city. I expect a party of soldiers will ride with you as well for the safety of yourself," Mina said, silently questioning of the intuitive choice of Al-Uzza was wise.
"Blessings of Our Lady be upon you, your Imperial Majesty," Al-Uzza murmured before she moved to depart, inwardly wishing that Julara strike down Mina before her eyes. As the newly appointed Lady Al-Uzza left her presence, Mina watched her with a feeling of discomfort in her bones. One of the water priestesses stood off to the side with a small tray in her hands. As Al-Uzza walked past the priestess in blue, the younger priestess bobbed a small bow. Al-Uzza seemed to preen as she disappeared through the doors into the antechamber. The healer walked through the throne room and approached Mina with her tray.
With a sigh, Mina motioned the healer forward. She took the tiny glass vial off of the tray and unstoppered it. As she quaffed the tincture, Mina restrained an urge to grimace at the bitter taste. The sense of heaviness that slowly blossomed in her chased away the throbbing pain behind her eyes. Mina closed her eyes with a sigh. "Most Serene Lady," the healer murmured, "You must rest. Shall I summon someone to help you to your chambers?" Mina opened her eyes and looked at the concerned expression on the woman who couldn't have been a day older than herself.
"Yes," Mina sighed, deciding that her discomfort earlier had to be due to the ache that seemed to grow stronger the longer she was up and moving. The healer bobbed a bow and scurried off to fetch a strong servant. Mina leaned her head against the back of her throne. "Mother, why must I hurt so?" she sighed. Something of a cool, damp breath of air blew through the chamber, smelling of sweet water, and brused against Mina's face. The sensation of cool hands settling on her shoulders came with it and the distinct feeling that her recovery would be finished soon came over her. "I am so tired," Mina sighed.
"Then I shall bear you to your rest," Sorenan said as he walked through the throne room. Mina opened her eyes and looked at him. He approached her. Where others bowed before her, Sorenan simply walked forward. Mina gave him a wan smile for his boldness. Unable to find the focus to voice her question why he was back so soon from the discussion with the high council, she closed her eyes. Sorenan stooped and picked his lover up. Mina set her head against his shoulder and was fast asleep long before they had reached her chamber.
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