Goldbug decided to nap for a smidge longer than expected today, so I’m going to toss up a quick update post while I have a chance. ^_- I’m going to go back to the Sunday Circle structure for this one, because I really enjoyed including things that were inspiring me this week, but I may edit this format for future weeks. We’ll see what works, and what folks even want to know about!
What did I work on this week?: Managed to punch out about 3,800 words this week, which isn’t terrible, given how hard it was to write anything. My brain just was not functioning earlier in the week, but a few decent nights of sleep seem to have helped, and I (may?) have had a breakthrough on the short story I’m trying to write for the upcoming Jules Verne story anthology. It’s convenient that I literally just finished reading Journey to the Center of the Earth with B-Bug, though apparently the version we have is the deeply flawed garbage-translation version? YAY. So I’ve been going back over the free Project Gutenberg version online, which has clarified a LOT. Our translation definitely removed a ton of great stuff, so it’s interesting to go back over it.
Also, writing about fictional mountaineering is SO FLIPPING HARD. I’ve read tons of books on mountaineering, but not being an actual mountaineer does make some of the details tricky, particularly because I’m so research-phobic. I’ll just have to suck it up, though, won’t I? Especially with so many mountain-climbing stories trapped in my skull…
What’s inspiring me currently?: I just wrapped up reading Late Bloomers by Rich Karlgaard, creator of Forbes, and it was an inspiring and soothing book. For so many years, I panicked about the fact that I wasn’t going to be on one of those wretched 30 under 30 lists of authors that always seem to crop up, and that somehow that meant I was doomed to total failure. Late Bloomers is an interesting read if only due to the research Karlgaard has done on our current obsession with early blooming, and how that model just doesn’t work for everyone. It’s a worthwhile read, and I learned a good bit about Karlgaard himself, a self-identified “late bloomer,” and it’s a nice tonic to the sense of panic that arises sometimes at the turn of a new year.
I’ve also been, on a completely different tack, playing around with Courtney Carver’s Project 333, which is a book and a challenge to choose and wear only 33 items of clothing for a three month period, with the intention of discovering one’s own style and reducing closet paralysis. In recent months, I’d restocked my closet as I got rid of my old maternity clothes, but I was totally overwhelmed by trying to figure out what works for me, stylistically, and what didn’t. I’m no fashionista, and I’m afraid my creativity does NOT run towards thoughtful dressing and styling, and I’m also super lazy when it comes to clothes and general put-togetherness. There’s always so much to do, why waste time worrying about that stuff, I always thought. But as I get older, I do find I’d like to generally look a bit more put-together, so I’ve been starting to explore that arena more. Luckily, I basically already only wear about 33 items, so it was a pretty easy pare-down, and I’ll get a chance in a few months to revisit my warmer-season clothing with fresh eyes.
Also have been junking out on The Great British Bake Off, Holiday edition. OH MAN. I literally cannot stand stollen (German-heritage means stollen at X-mas every year), but HOW DOES IT LOOK SO GOOD? XD Maybe it’s an acquired taste, and I’ll start liking it once my tastebuds mature… In the meantime, um, I am kind of obsessed with the idea of making snow eggs…
What am I working on next week? This coming week is holiday week, so I’m counting on NOTHING. However, I will be maintaining the expectation of writing, as I put it in my day planner, “a little something” everyday. That might only be a sentence. Might be more. I’ve got the Jules Verne story to get to rough draft by the end of the year, and I’d like to have another thousand words of the FROSTHAVEN rewrite done so that I’ll have 6k ready for the start of the Novel Writing Essentials course from AWC, starting in January. (Technically, I probably need the first turning point scripted out, so maybe I’ll jump ahead and hammer on that…) I’ll probably be putting up a post on goals/metrics in the next week or two, but I have to crunch some numbers first.
Otherwise, happy holidays, folks! Eat good things, find the joy in the darkness, and embrace the potential of a new year. Here’s hoping 2021 is a bit kinder to everybody!