Farewell, Blogger

It occurs to me that I never let anyone know that I have another vehicle for blogging which replaces this one.  I've had some complaints about its usability, and really, I've been using this more for lots of different things rather than just Turning Springs news, so I wanted to incorporate more than just that. 

(Okay, I'll admit it, this hasn't exactly been a banner year for Turning Springs news so far, anyway.  It's like someone handed whichever god of mischief you prefer to name a list of my goals.  I can hear him/her now:  "Oooh, let's make his teeth rot!  Let's make his grass grow during a drought!  Summer colds!  Let's turn his dog pink!  That tree in the back yard looks rickety!  I know, let's put the loss of his day job on the horizon.  That should be an interesting six months.  Stick that in your goals and smoke it, you shmuck!"  For Pete's sake, I don't mind if John Lennon was right about life and other plans, I mind that he was so absolutely right.  Showoff.)

So, rather than tinkering with a system that people don't like to use, I decided to move the whole shootin' match to WordPress.  In addition, since it's more about what's in my head than just Turning Springs (quotes and comments and other writings), I sprang for the custom web address, too.  The new address is http://johnchristianhager.com/ Right now, the blog is a little clunky and awkward, because I'm still new to it, but I'll get my head around that, too.  I'm not sure I like the theme.  Comments on the new blog, please?

One of the things I'd like to do is put a Random Page on the new blog with something recent I've written.  Just a couple of hundred words changed every couple of weeks.  Could even be a poem.  Anybody interested?  I've also been besieged by a steampunk serial and a zombie serial, of all things.  That's along with my novel in progress, marketing materials in progress for Turning Springs (still available here) and a new short project I'm going to shop around.

Sheesh, that's a lot to do.  Better get busy.  Thanks, and don't forget to bookmark the new blog!

Hiya, folks.  Haven't dropped off the earth, just getting ready to change some things around.  Will let you know when I pull the trigger.  Thanks for reading!

Update for Thursday, March 1, 2012

"Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work. " -- Gustave Flaubert

Regular and orderly is fine, but this ruthless dispatching of long-held goals (some much too long) is fun, too.  Check out The Update for the story on that and...AND...something special.  And sometimes less is more, and The Helper describes how that might be applied to the share buttons in your blog.  And in honor of some courtroom work being done tomorrow, a little legal lunacy in The Wind-Up.

The Update

A very productive week here overall.  I managed to block Chapter 8 of MGC and it turned out very well.  On to Chapter 9 on Sunday.  The really cool thing about the week is that I finished a long-awaited re-release of my e-book Turning Springs on Smashwords dot com.  No editorial changes, but just some format things that I wished I'd done to begin with.  They changed a few things in their publishing process which made some nice new features available (like a Table of Contents).  I'm so pleased about this that I'm offering a coupon for $1 off the price of the book through March 9th.  The non-case-sensitive code for that coupon is:  BL67B.  If you haven't read it, now's a good time to jump in.  Or at least download the first half of the book for free.  Go get it here, and enjoy the read!

The Helper

We've all seen it.  A nicely done, intriguing blog post that makes you want to maintain contact with the writer.  And you get to the share button line and it's a regular conga line of possibilities.  Pinterest?  Facebook? Google+? Twitter?  How do you choose?  Don't let your social networking riches embarrass you.  Check out this post from Pushing Social about being choosy about your buttons.

The Wind-Up

From Fark comes this story about an unfortunate fellow who wasn't there.  Memories of the TV show "Soap".  Don't miss:  his previous record.

Thanks for reading.  Back next week. 

Update for Thursday, February 23, 2012

 
“A classic is a book that doesn’t have to be written again.” – W.E.B. DuBois

But writing again is what we so often do in this business, whether it is a classic or not.  And there must be an end to it, which I cover in The Update.  For those of you who find a certain amount of trepidation is helpful in your writing process, The Helper is for you.  Finally, if you did it wrong, well, there is no one to apologize to but yourself.  And, as covered in The Wind-up, whoever is making political hay by demanding your apology.

The Update

I finished up the revisions to the short work and have sent them off to my best friend and editor, someone I’ll call for now El Editoreador (he pokes my bull with sharp comments until it gives up and goes away).  Very pleased with what he found and with the changes I made in response to his remarks.  And after this set, I'm done, and it's off to the Library of Congress.  I'm sure it won't be perfect, but I'll have gotten as close as I can, which is fine by me. 

Nothing done on MGC this week (or anything else), but that will change next week.  I'm coming to the conclusion that my goals for that project are well short of reality.  I was hoping to have the first 25 chapters (relax, they're short) blocked by March 31, and I might get there yet, but it's looking less and less likely.  I'm on Chapter 8 now.  I haven't given up on the goals yet, though.  I'll keep working the schedule I've got, not rushing through anything (proper prior planning prevents...well, you know the rest), and see where I am at the end of March.  I've got a task set for the third week of March to input the second quarter intermediate goals, which will be a great time to assess my progress.  And my reality.  Yay.  I think.

The Helper

Impressed by my calm in the face of impending deadlines and below-goal performance?  You should be. I may be alone in my security.  Check out some of the comments from this panel of Writers' Guild of America Awards nominees, talking about their work.  Hint:  there seems to be a lot more terror involved than I'm used to.  Hmm.  Maybe I should be more worried.


The Wind-Up

Ever feel like half of the news is one big unrealistic, advantage-seeking demand for an apology from the other half of the news?  You don't?  Well, I'm sorry.  No, I'm not.  And neither is Dana Milbank from last Sunday's Washington Post.  Caution:  read the fifth paragraph with food.  If you say I didn't warn you, I'll just demand an apology for your demand for an apology.  Sorry, but that's the way it is.  Or isn't.

Thanks for checking in and for reading.  Until next week.

Update for Thursday, February 16, 2012

 
“…Writing is, in the end, that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger." – Pico Iyer

Which I thought was apt for a post-Valentine's Day edition of The Update, which deals with both love and loss, appropriately enough.  Because I'm fond of my readers, I included two (count 'em, two) items for The Helper.  And in The Wind-Up, a case of "malicious recycling" from the art world.

The Update

It took me much longer to complete the blocking on Chapter Seven of MGC than I first suspected it would.  I was so caught up with the idea of what it would become that I almost completely ignored the nuts and bolts of how to get it there.  I call that What Happens Between Syndrome.  It's all good now, but there were a few tense moments. 

I also received some comments on OSV, which I am busy revising.  Never fails...when I think that a passage is iffy, that's the one everyone wants to change.

And I put Knews Not News out of its misery.  Great fun, but really, not enough time to do it justice.  The Wind-Up is coming out of that, and I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out.  Comments on that or anything else are always welcome.

The Helper

I'm a sucker for Best Of lists, like this one from Time magazine, which lists the magazine's best web site choices for last year.  Like all such lists, some I use already, some I'm not interested in, but some I just said "Oooo."  Used immediately?  DuckDuckGo, a search engine that doesn't link your identity with your searches.  Slapped that sucker into Firefox as soon as I saw it and I am using it already.  Also, I'm putting together a track list for 8tracks on behalf of Turning Springs.  Lots of springpunk-y music.  Looking forward to that.

One thing that wasn't on Time's list and should have been?  The blog Brain Pickings.  Go there.  Again, "Oooo."

The Wind-Up

Remember the last time you wanted to clean something that you thought really needed it, and it ended up as something completely different than what you thought it was?  Click here for the Grand Bull Moose of mixed blessings.  Kind of like the plot of the first "Mr. Bean" movie (oh yes, I saw that and liked it), but with more competence and a much different disaster. 

Thanks for reading.  Talk to you next week.

Update for Thursday, February 9, 2012

 
"I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it." –- Jonathan Winters

As does anyone who makes it up as they go along.  But success can be defined in many ways, and in The Update, it's reaching a landmark.  In The Helper, a post from Jane Friedman about what your blog should be and what your book shouldn't be and vice versa.  And after a couple of announcements, The Wind-Up reminds us that, as far as death and taxes are concerned, being afflicted by the former might not prevent prosecution for the latter.

The Update

Let's see...oh, yeah...OSV (the short project) is at the end of its revision cycle!  Okay, it's only just over 9000 words and should really have been done this time last year, but, hey, a landmark is a landmark.  I'm pleased with it and it's going through some readings now (if you'd like to participate by reading and commenting, please contact me through my profile.  No pay except gratitude, but there'll be lots of that, and, of course, readings in kind...).  I hope to have it out soon, but I'm tying this in with some other things that will require a little steeper learning curve than I'm comfortable with, but I'm expecting it to go out sometime in the third quarter as part of some other changes. 

On the longer front, MGC is still fighting its way through the new Chapter Seven, but it's a good fight.  My schedule will be a little messed up next week because of personal committments, but the work will still get done.

The Helper

Check out the short post from Jane Friedman at her blog.  She gives some very good advice and conditions under which it's okay to turn your blog into a book.  It all boils down to knowing what you have written and whether it can jump to paper or has to stay as little piles of electrons. 

No danger here.  I can barely get the electrons in the right piles much less on paper.

Announcement #1

The SteamPunk Magazine is back and it looks like they've been saving up material.  Find it, download it, and read it here.

Announcement #2

This blog's sister blog, Knews Not News, is about to be given the Last Rites because of time support and popularity issues.  Head over to the blog to check out some of the previous posts and give your thumbs up or down by February 15th. 

The Wind-Up

My first reaction when I read the sad and peculiar tale of Sergei Magnitsky was "Wait, what?"  A man dies in police custody, but is tried post-mortem for income tax evasion, to cover up and possibly exonerate not just the officials responsible for his death but also the officials responsible for the real tax evasion, whose involvement the dead man originally reported to the police who killed him.  I know, right?

Thanks for reading.  Talk to you next week!

Update for Thursday, February 2, 2012

 
"I guess I'm just an old mad scientist at bottom. Give me an underground laboratory, half a dozen atom-smashers, and a beautiful girl in a diaphanous veil waiting to be turned into a chimpanzee, and I care not who writes the nation's laws." -- S.J. Perelman

I actually do care who runs things.  I'm just so pleased that I get to do an update post on the day for which it's actually planned that I feel a touch giddy.  And mad-scientist like.  Along with The Update on matters in the springpunk world of Turning Springs, in The Helper, I have a link to a little steampunk blog advice (well, not advice for a steampunk blog, but...you'll see) and in The Wind-Up, Why the NY Public Library believes less books is more...something.

The Update

I actually had a little time yesterday to work on the new Chapter Seven in the long project MGC.  It involves developing several minor characters both for Seven and later chapters.  I'm looking forward to the challenge for Sunday.  I get the feeling from this, as I've felt in other works, that I'm building tools that will be useful for other purposes later on.  Very positive.  Very encouraging.  If I can finish up Seven, I get to move on to Eight and the two characters I'm most familiar with.  I also finished the 1st Revision on the short project OSV, and on schedule, no less.  I'm pleased with the work so far, and very pleased that I'm keeping to the schedule.  The 2nd Revision starts Wednesday.  Looking forward to it all.

The Helper

A successful blog inevitably ends up being not just this, but this with that and a little of that whatsis over there and some of that other doohickey.  There's no better example for opening your mind to new and different combinations of factors, themes and subjects than steampunk.  Throw on your goggles and your scarf and get aboard the airship here.


The Wind-Up

You know the saddest thing about this op-ed story from the New York Post?  It's not a joke.  The New York Public Library wants to believe (and they want us to believe it too) that fewer books make a better library.  3 million fewer to be exact.  Read it and weep here.

It's only 13 days until I make the decision about putting Knews Not News to the sword or not.  The sidebar has a link.  Let me know what you think!

That's all for this week.  Drop me a line...I'm happy to help if I can, with writing or whatever.

Update for Monday, January 30th, 2012

"Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it." -- Collette

In this post, we have an update, in which I give Chapter Seven the bum's rush out of my new book; my new favorite steampunk joke; and a link to something cool I saw on the news this morning.

So, the week went fairly well, though I seem to be suffering from what I can only call Whack-a-Mole management:  beat one problem into submission and another pops up either too close for comfort or directly in the way.

I spent some of Monday doing the last update to the Turning Springs blog, and finished working with MGC, specifically Chapter Seven.  All done and finished.  Whack!

Pop! Thought about it all day Tuesday and realized the direction it was taking MGC was completely wrong.  So, say hello to my lil' friend, and away it went.  2.5 hours down the drain, but a minor victory; I now know which way MGC won't be heading.  Whack!

Pop! Wednesday, I set MGC aside long enough to do the 1st Revision on OSV.  That's good news and all, but there is this sobering point:  it's been so long since I seriously revised something (about two years since the Turning Springs revisions) that I've completely forgotten the process I set up to do that.  I know what it is, but I'm writing it down this time.  As I do it.  Whack!

I think I need bigger hammers or smaller moles. 

Moving on...to my new favorite steampunk joke:  Steampunk is what happens when Goths discover brown.  (from someone in a Goth society in southern California). 

And the cool link to a CBS story about a newly repaired automaton that can beautifully write poems in two different languages.  Find it here. 


Back to the grindstone.  Check this space Sunday.  Or maybe...Monday.

Update for Monday, January 23, 2012

Well, it's been two months.  What's new?  Glad I asked.

I got very little done in the last two months of 2011, with Christmas and New Year's and the preparation for those days and relatives over and, well, you name it and it got done.  Except for the writing. 

One thing that did get done is a review of my accomplishments for 2011.  Were there any?  Mmm, yeah, a few.  Enough to be satisfied?  Nnnnnope.  So I went ahead and set some goals, reachable goals when both of my time clock jobs, an active family life, and snow shoveling (really?  after two months with barely a hint of snow, it starts now?) are considered. 

How'm I doing?  Great.  (Okay, not so good on the update post on Thursdays, but still...) I'm about 3 hours ahead now (okay, 2 after the missed post on Thursday), but I think I'll need that cushion toward the end of the quarter. 

Details?  The rough of the short project, abbreviated to OSV, is done.  It's currently sitting until this Wednesday when I start the first revision.  Looking forward to that.  I like revisions.  Hoist the black flag and start cutting.

I've blocked the first six scenes of the long project, MGC, on the way to blocking the first half of the work by February 19th.  It's going very well.  Got me a rhythm going.  Always better with rhythm. 

I have another blog called Knews Not News that I'm considering killing off to save some time.  However, one of my few readers would like me to continue.  So far, she's the only one who's responded to a call on the KNN blog itself.  How about you?  Think I should keep it going?  Review a few of the old posts and let me know in the comments here or at KNN or via email.  Before February 15th, please.

I'm also reformatting Turning Springs to take advantage of some improvements that Smashwords has made to their submission software.  Should make for a much nicer presentation of the e-book.  I'm also going to set up a paper copy through print-on-demand site WordClay.  I'm expecting that will be done by the end of the quarter, if not sooner.  I'm almost done with the e-book work. 

So, not strides forward, but grown-up steps.  I'm pleased so far. 

Let me know what you think and thanks for reading!  I'll be back Thursday with another post.

An Update

Toiling along, fighting the good fight. 

I've decided to re-release Turning Springs between now and the end of the year.  The technology has gotten better and allows for bookmarked chapter headings.  It will allow for a few marketing changes as well.  Start over.  Almost clean slate.  I'm planning on releasing it in tandem with a hard copy (print on demand) through WordClay.  (Buy one, get the other free, maybe?  Haven't decided.) I'll need some time to stir up the marketing plan, but I hope to have all that done in the 1st quarter of 2012.

The short project is going well.  I'm writing the second to last chapter on Wednesday.  I'll probably serialize it a chapter at a time in this blog, but I'll offer it as a full download for a price on Smashwords.  That's the plan, anyway.  I don't have a timeline, but it should be through revisions and test readings in 2012 as well.

The long project is going especially well.  I've got my crazy-as-an-outhouse-rat antagonist, so now I'm set.  It'll take a while, but I'm hoping things ease up so I can finish it mid-2012.

Busy, busy, busy.  Thanks for reading!

Steampunk Link

Grabbing my goggles and the keys to the airship and away we go!  Check out the Steampunk and Victorian art display at the Muzeo in Anaheim, CA!

Re: "Can Steampunk Look Toward the Future?"

Information about a new documentary about the steampunk "subculture" (or "not") and a New York Comic Con panel discussion at this Tor Publishing blog page.

My answer?  It will have to look toward the future, just like all the rest of genre fiction, and non-genre fiction, too, for that matter.  Relevance requires that the elements of all fiction, including genre fiction, speak to the current consumers of those works and their lives, needs and desires at the current time.  That doesn't change no matter whether you're talking about Tolkien-esque fiction, the latest Terminator movie, or The Brady Bunch (see my Knews Not News post on why that works).  You have to reach your customers with the things that matter to them or they won't buy what you're selling.  But is that really about the future?

Sure it is, especially for adherents of the steampunk movement.  These are folks who take great interest in modding current technology to a visual standard that doesn't exist in most current design elements of consumer goods.  See, if product designers tap into that DIY/make-it-yours-alone element and allow for ready modification of their products, that's the Holy Grail of design:  the personally designed and adapted tool that practically guarantees satisfaction.  You don't have to dig goggles and airships to want that, do you?

Relating this to a work of fiction involves the same design considerations.  A book has to end at some point in order to be printed (electronically or physically), so the content is fixed.  The design, however, really doesn't have to be.  Offering the consumer a choice of differing elements that they can mix and match (fonts? cover art? page colors?) to "create" something more pleasing is an interesting possibility.  But how does the author/designer know what their consumers want?

Sounds like a job for social networking.  Ask your market.  Offer samples.  Pick your favorite, and release it, but be sure give your customers what they want.  That always makes for an interesting future, don't you think?

The Update for October 24, 2011

Okay, so far it's been an autumn of tremendous personal upheaval.  And back again.  And more upheaval.  On a personal level, I'll be glad to see the back end of this year heading away from us all.

Professionally, I've been in a sort of stasis for the past seven weeks (!).  I've done a little work on all four projects, but nothing you'd really call advancement and nothing too earth-shaking. 

That changes this week.  I'm planning to work a double shift on writing today, just as a way of getting back into the swing of things.  Maybe a double on Wednesday, too, but I won't know that for sure until tonight.  Today's work starts with a post to Knews Not News, the location for which you can find in the sidebar to the left of this post.

I have a couple of steampunk links to add, but I'll do those either after the KNN post today or later in the week.  Pretty nifty stuff.

It's very calming, the unspent day rolling out before me like rails leading home over grassy plains.  I think this is what I like most of all about writing:  heading in a direction I've planned and knowing that I'll get where I want to be.

I'll get going now.  Thanks for stopping in.

The Update for August 24, 2011

After a tumultuous ten days (whoo, boy, was it!), I'm back to report some real progress on a number of fronts.

I rediscovered in the Long Project work that beginnings are not always hard.  I expected problems visualizing the scene, as I really hadn't "seen" it in my head (scenes of my work tend to go though my head like movie trailers; it's how I roll, especially early in the process). The notes I had taken were enough to manage and I blocked the first scene of the work at surprising speed and dexterity, complete with OS and OHS moments.  Now I see it all right, including lighting and costumes and I can hardly get it out of my head.  I'll be filling in some of the supporting notework next time (useful in the rest of the work, so I don't have to watch for detail slip-ups in editing) and it's on to the next scene.  I'm especially pleased about this as it's a sort-of rescue of a work that has been manifesting itself in fits and starts since November of 2009.  I knew the project was important (both to myself and the Turning Springs world) and kept hacking away at it until it became what I wanted it to be.  Don't give up; change it until it becomes what you wanted.  Here endeth the lesson.

The Short Project progresses apace, and I'll be working now in the last part of scene five.  I can see the end of the tunnel there.  I'm having a lot of fun with this project.  Though I don't write in dialect for foreign English speakers, I try to portray the words and rhythm of the language that a foreign speaker might use.  Throwing in bits of the native language helps, too, which is why I took some time to research Swedish while writing.  When dealing with familiar accents, that works, but if I was to make up a nationality, I'm not sure how I'd proceed.  Probably the same way.  Solutions do present themselves to the things that require doing, it seems.  Hmm.  Guess the lesson wasn't quite over.  Eth.

I'll close this update with the Marketing that I've been doing for Turning Springs.  I've enlisted help from my wife for ad placement (thankyouthankyouthankyou), which will help a lot.  Primarily, I've been working on a re-release/re-edit of the book to be issued at the beginning of September.  How close to the beginning is anyone's guess, but that's what I'm shooting for.  I don't plan any sweeping changes, just a few word choices, closing a hole or two, and adding a bookmarked table of contents (a feature not available at Smashwords dot com for the first release).  I'll then use that version to issue a print copy (!) through WordClay.  That will take me a bit of time, so, in the meantime, I've got a few ideas for a coupon-for-review program.  Do a review, get a discount on the next book.  Don't know how I'll work that, but I'll make it work somehow.

In the process of re-editing Turning Springs, I have to re-read it, of course, something I haven't done since I finished it over a year ago.  It's been a surprisingly positive experience, a reminder that the reason why I'm selling this is because it's a good story with captivating characters and exciting situations.  Not just worth buying but worth the work to sell it.  Don't forget to re-read your finished work every so often; it restores your faith in your abilities during periods of flagging sales and indifferent response.

Okay, now I'm done.  Eth.

The Update

The system seems to be working very well.  And I'm making tangible progress.

Long project hit an important milestone.  I've finished all the notes.  Next session starts blocking and filling reference docs.  This is going to be fun!

I finished another scene in the short project (finished 4 of 8), but I'm really feeling the absence of some of the reference docs I didn't fill out ("it's a short project, I can muddle through without them").  Muddle is right.  I'm having to update them as I go, which is a PITN.  Slows me down a little, but still plugging away.

Still working on marketing, too, press release nightmares notwithstanding.  Got some help, though, so I'm wading through that.  Just waiting until I have enough time to get the cards done.  I'll post the design to my Public Access site once those are finished.

Gotta mosey.  This other stuff isn't going to do itself.  Thanks for watching!

Not Springpunk, but I Still Want the Kamaro

Steampunk car mods.  Lots of geeky numminess here.  Thanks, Wifey!

http://walyou.com/steampunk-antique-cars/

How's the New Process Working Out?

Thanks for asking.  I LOVE it.  It is, as you might remember, working on a single project each day I have time to write, instead of working on a specific thing on a specific day.  I was trying to get too much done at once and not getting enough done of anything.  What I was missing was the sense of accomplishment.  I didn't have enough time to accomplish anything.  I'm happy with this; I'm getting more done and I feel like I'm getting more done, which may be more important.  I know it takes two weeks to make a habit, but I'm liking this a lot.  Specifics?

The long project has a little tweaking left on the notes before it's ready for blocking, but by little, I mean little.  The basic structure is there, I'm just tweaking a few details.  I'm anticipating that should be done by the end of the month if not sooner.  Best of all:  I figured out the OS moment and it's a goody.  Can't wait to write it!

I finished section 3 and just started section 4 in the short project.  The planning is holding up pretty well and, when I finish section 4, I'll be half-done.  The length is looking pretty good, too, but I tend to not look seriously at that until revisions.  I want it to go faster (of course), but I'm happy with what I've done so far (before revisions).

Marketing is proving more of a challenge.  I need to do a little more research on what press releases sound like (and end like) before I can pronounce that done.  I have a lot of ideas, so many that I could do this full time.  Wednesday will be my next session and I'm going to price out find-it cards (where to find the book for those who ask me directly) at a couple of box stores and a local print shop.  I also have some ideas for ancillary advertising/promotional artwork for T-shirts and the like.  I'm sure those will end up in the Public Access file, or at least the sketches will.  I plan on selling these things eventually, so I'm not giving away the golden goose.  And then there's the paper copy to be set up in WordClay and all the other stuff I've got planned, including coupons and specific campaigns aimed at maybe schools?  We'll see.

So now I'm off to work on a KNN blog post.  What's it going to say?  What, you can't go here and find out for yourself?  :)

Thanks and TTFN!

Where I am thus far

I get points for persistence, right?  Checking in every six weeks or so (!) is good, right?  Better than not at all, rather.  This summer has been rough on my writing time, but I'm looking forward to a calm week.  Yes, I wrote that aloud and have surely damned myself to complication.  Just like the last...six weeks?  Well, I lived through that, so no harm in optimism.  At least it's too hot and dry to mow.

Little progress on any of the four parts of my projects, except for little dribs and drabs here and there. 

The long project is still sticky with the details, but it hasn't left my consciousness completely.  I keep having thunderbolt revelations about one or the other of the characters, so it's still building in the musty recesses of my brain.  It's just big and without a lot of attention, things are going to happen this way.  Remember, the ideal for me right now is to spend just one and a half hours on each project per week.  Tough to get a lot done that way, but I'm happy with something.  With my schedule, I pretty much have to be.

The short project is just the same way, although the dribs and drabs are producing more wandering from the plan than I like.  My last writing session involved scrapping much of what I'd done the session before and getting back on the plan.  Perhaps for the actual writing of a project, I need to set aside a full day's 1.5 hours rather than split it up, in order to maintain focus. 

And since I tend to focus on the writing before marketing Turning Springs or posting to the blogs (ahem), nothing whatsoever has been done on those, except some half-hearted work on a press release.  I'm not really comfortable with projects, so I tend to push those to the bottom of the pile.  Both of those items could benefit from a big chunk of time once a week rather than a couple of small chunks twice a week. 

Seeing a pattern here?  I am.  All of my projects could potentially be better served by working on them once per week for the full hour and a half allotted.  It's not like I'd lose track of what I did last, since I do keep a journal of what I do in each session.  And here I am at the start of a new week.  No better time to start to make things better than today.

Since I've nominated today as Blog Post Day, I'd better get cracking on Knews Not News, too.  Thanks for listening as I dissect my work habits to uncover the obvious.

The writer is in. Blog posts and long project today. Stay tuned!

Dropping In

May (and the first few days of June) kind of got away from me with the writing, but I'm working my way back into it.  Good thing I keep careful track of what I was doing when last I wrote.  That makes it easier to drop out and drop back in, though no better.  I'm hoping to do a lot more than just 1.5 hours today. 

Long Project:  Not moving fast enough.  I seem to be more concerned with getting all the notes I have in than I am concerned with using the ones that matter.  Time to do a little "focus pocus" and (as I'm fond of saying about the automobile drivers locally) find a lane and get in it.  Time to get this moving.  It's been a year.

Short Project:  Again, not moving fast enough, but at least it's all blocked.  This week should provide a fair amount of time to work on it.

Marketing Turning Springs:  I have a number of new initiatives in the works which I'm particularly excited about.  One is business cards that list how to find the book.  I try to mention the book in passing and I end up scrambling for paper to write down the information. 

I did get an intriguing offer from someone I know locally about Turning Springs.  It has the potential to be very exciting.  More info as it is available.

That's all for now!