Daily Update: It feels good.
It feels good to know that My Favorite Daughter is done with volleyball for a little while. This means I’ll have a few more hours of my week back which I will be dedicating to taking her out running each day, push-ups and sit-ups to work on her core strength, and jumping rope to work on her leg strength. I will be doing these things with her so we’ll both be getting in shape. Obviously she’s in far better shape than I am. We just need to work on getting her mile down below 8 minutes for the varsity tryouts. It’s going to be a long summer, but it’ll be fun and worth it.
Yesterday I had intended to sit and actually write some words. That didn’t happen. I sat at the keyboard and typed five words and fell asleep at the keyboard. Rather than fight it, I was to bed very early (around 8) and got up at 5:30. Been doing some work related items even though I’m off today. Now that I’ve got those done, the wife and I are going to get ready to do some errands that need doing. Tonight I will get in my writing time and work on getting caught up for JuNoWriMo. Even though I’m not officially participating, I’m still going to write as many words as possible in Of Gnomes and Dwarves during the month. I have a vacation planned for the end of the month that will shave off 7 days, but I’ll still do my best.
I’m still tired from this weekend. I’m sure that’ll wear off as the day goes on and I get the old blood flowing through the veins. There is much to do today and I have a day off to get it done. I may even get some more pictures of ducks and get that duck post written. We’ll have to see how it goes.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: …and boy are my arms tired
This was a very long weekend. Today was the last day for club volleyball. The girls did awesome! It was a long, tiring weekend and they did outstanding. It was frustrating in the end, but I’m sure they were all exhausted and quite ready to go home. Yesterday was the qualifier for regionals and they made it to the 1st/2nd place qualifiers. They made it again to the 1st/2nd place qualifiers for that group. They got to the finals, but didn’t make it to the final game. So close. But like I said, they played so well I’m not at all disappointed with how well they performed.
So this weekend (starting Friday) saw a lot of driving, a lot of games, an evening at the beach, more driving, and now I am just plumb wore out. Tomorrow won’t be quite as busy.
I’m going to spend a little time writing and then I’m going to veg out in front of the TV. Something I haven’t done in a while. I think I have a few episodes of Mythbusters and That Metal Show to watch. Probably a couple other shows as well.
I’ll post a longer post tomorrow.
I didn’t get a picture of a duck this weekend, but I have a grainy picture of two baby owls in a palm tree. I showed them to my favorite daughter and the wife last night when we got home fro mthe beach (and stopped for gas). It was so cute to see them up there in their nest. I’ve seen baby owls before, but not in a palm tree.
I’m tired. I need to write and go to bed.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update:a Beach and Volleyball
Just not at the same time.
Today we got up super early to get my favorite daughter to her volleyball tournament. We states up in Huntington Beach where the tournament was. The team did great. They were the 4th seed and beat the 2nd and 3rd seeds in two games and pushed the number 1 seed in both games but lost to them. They got second place and it is more volleyball tomorrow. It will be closer to home though so we’ll not have to drive as far.
On the way home we got word that the family was at the beach so after a quick pit stop at home we headed to the beach. We are currently making smores and enjoying the fire on the beach.
It’ll be time to head home soon and get to bed. I took Monday off and I will need it. This weekend is going to wipe me out.
I’m going to go back to enjoying the fire. I got pictures of seagulls but didn’t see any ducks.
Until tomorrow!
Woo Woo!
Unorthodox Writing Tips 31 – Bite the Bullet
I almost didn’t write this post. No, seriously. I almost didn’t I’ve got so much going on right now that I thought that it would be easy to just let it slip by. No one would notice, right? It’s not like I get that much traffic and I think I’ve had one or two comments on these posts. Who would miss it if I skipped a week? Would you notice?
Odds are, no one would notice if I didn’t sit here and type up this post. This isn’t even what I had intended to write about this week.
This has nothing to do with confidence in my ability to type up a post. It has nothing to do with being afraid what others will think. This has everything to do with what I planned for this year. I had planned to treat my writing as a part-time job. That means doing it even when I don’t feel like doing it. I’m good at putting things off. I really am.
I’m sure you’re good at putting things off as well. It’s so easy to justify in my mind why I don’t need to do something. There’s always later. There’ll be more time tomorrow. I really want to watch this TV show. There’s this book I’ve been meaning to read. I’m behind on my podcast listening. The grass needs cutting, the bushes need trimming, the kid has this thing I need to go to.
Some things I got done this week that I didn’t want to get done because they interfered with MY time:
Mounted a surfboard for the Middle School to use in the advancement ceremony (Thank you Millican for helping!)
Recorded lines for J. Daniel Sawyer.
Wrote words in Of Gnomes and Dwarves every day
Wrote my daily blog post
Recorded and edited Episode 4 of Golden West
Went to my favorite daughter’s volleyball practices (every day)
Dealt with a personal issue that should be completely resolved in the coming weeks
Made hotel reservations for my favorite daughter’s last away game
I walked at least two miles four days this week.
I lifted weights almost every day this week.
There’s a lot of things that take up my time and take me away from doing the things I want to do and I didn’t want to do any of these (well, except writing on Of Gnomes and Dwarves) but the point is these things needed to be done. I have new toys to play with. I have more stories I want to write. I have books I’ve bought that I want to read. I have places to go to and people to go see.
I’ll get to them. I’ll have my down time. But I made commitments to other people, friends, family, schools. I need to uphold those commitments. I still need to get my day job done as well. There are only so many hours in the day and if I put something off, it’ll eat into my time just like it’ll eat into my brain. I can’t just let something slide. Just like this post. I can’t just let it slide. I’ve made a commitment to myself and to my readers. For all I know two people are reading this on a weekly basis, but that’s not the point.
The point is, in order to be a professional I need to first act like a professional. If I can’t hold up a schedule that I myself set with my own deadlines, then how would I ever be able to do it for someone that wants to pay me money to do this? I didn’t step into this lightly and I must take full responsibility to my fans and my readers. That means that even if I don’t want to write this post and I might complain about it taking away from my time, the point is, I need to do it.
I need to suck it up. I need to bite the bullet. I need to put on my big boy pants and get the job done.
It’s not always easy. No one ever said this would be easy. It would be so much easier to quit and give up. Nothing worth having is easy to obtain. If you want to be able to succeed as a writer, you need a schedule. I’ve said this many times before, but you need to lay down a schedule, write daily, track your progress, get encouragement from others if you need it. But by all means you need to start and you need to stick with it. You need to write when you’re not feeling it you need to write more when you are. You need to write when you’re sick, when you’re depressed, when you’re happy, when you feel like there’s no point in putting down any more words. You need to keep going.
I’m a writer. I don’t do this for the people who read this. Yes, that’s a great plus when I get feedback from someone. In the end I’m doing this for me. If I didn’t write this post, the only person that would notice, is me. I would let myself down. Sure I might hear from someone, but I would be the first to notice.
If you’re reading this, you mean the world to me. I hope you enjoy what I’m doing here. I hope you get something out of it. Just know that this is more for me than it is for you. If you want to be a writer, you need to write. I cannot express that enough. And speaking of writing…
Until Next Time!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: I have new toys!
I hit my 225,000 word goal ahead of schedule. Not just ahead of schedule, but a whole month ahead of schedule. I’m super excited about that. Of Gnomes and Dwarves is coming along so nicely. I’m very happy with not only how fast I’m getting it written, but how well I feel I’m writing it. I’m sure I’ve got errors and mistakes, and probably a continuity error or two, but using Scrivener I know it’ll be easy editing. If I need to move something around, it’ll be a piece of cake.
So having hit my goal yesterday, I allowed myself to open up the package that arrived and dig into its contents. When I say it took all my willpower not to open them, I’m not kidding. I wasn’t even going to open the amazon box until I had hit my word count. I couldn’t hold back and I had to tear into the box just to see them. I left them sitting there, taunting me, challenging me to hit my word count.
To compound my frustration I had to work, go to my favorite daughter’s volleyball practice after school, do some house work, take my favorite daughter to her regularly scheduled volleyball practice, book a hotel for tonight (she has her last away game this weekend) and still get my writing done.
I hit my word goal, plugged in the devices, and I’ve been happy ever since. OMFG! How did I live without these before? I spent an hour this morning programming the mouse buttons. Now all the tasks that I normally do with multiple keystrokes of key combinations I can do with a movement of my thumb or a click of a button. I made a macro that opens up all the applications that I need open at the start of the day. One click. I have a button that will auto fill forms for me with specific information. Programming either of these is a breeze! The only complaint I have so far is once I set up a macro, I cannot add something in the middle or reorder the items in the list. I must delete and rerecord. But hey, that’s a minor thing.
So you’ve looked at the picture, here’s what I got as my half-way goal prizes!
1) The Cyborg M.M.O. 7 gaming mouse
3) The Steelseries 4D mouse surface.
I could not be happier at this point with my purchases. I’ve only scratched the surface with what these tools can do for me. I know as time goes on I’ll be doing more and more with them. I just need to give me hands time to adjust to them. But seriously, I could NOT be happier with my purchases. That was the main reason for getting them. To give me a moment of happiness. Heck, this moment will last a LONG time.
I bought these to use mainly with work. Obviously when I’m writing, I’m doing just that; writing. I don’t need anything else other than the keyboard and (now) Scrivener. I don’t know how I got by with Scrivener before either. But when it comes to work, I’m a programmer. I use my mouse all day every day. I wanted something that did more than just point and click and I found that mouse. This one is larger than I’m used to, but I’m quickly adapting. The gamepad, on the other hand (literally) is currently being used for multi-key commands that I used infrequently. I’m sure as I get used to having it, I’ll discover more and more that I can do with it. I can attach ‘run’ command and execute .BAT files to execute really complex commands, open programs, launch web pages, heck, basically anything I need to do. I’ll keep you posted as to how I set these up.
Am I excited about my new toys? You betcha. Will I get full use out of them? Time will tell but I’m guessing not because I’m not a gamer. At some point in my life I might pick up gaming again and I’ll be happy I have these devices.
Welcome to June! I hope you have an awesome day. Some ducks flapped by my window this morning, but I didn’t get a picture of them. Perhaps tomorrow!
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: New Toys
Today I will be getting a package in the mail. It will contain a couple of toys. I will not allow myself to touch those toys until my word count is at 225,000 or above. I’m presently at 224,000 (give or take a hundred words). I will make that happen in short order. I know I will. Not because the toys are showing up (though they are great motivation) but because I’ve been writing daily for five months now without fail. I’ve not missed a day. Sure I’ve had a couple days that were extremely light, but I’ve written daily and will continue to do so with or without the toys.
At they start they will be toys. Why? Because I’ll be playing with them to get them set up and discovering new uses for them. At present I’m not a gamer, but the two toys I’ve ordered (I’ll post about them tomorrow) will be used more for productivity with both my work and my writing. I know I won’t be utilizing them to their fullest, but they’re cool, I wanted them, I had a couple ideas what I’d be using them for. That and I felt that for sticking to my goal and getting way ahead of schedule, I deserved to spoil myself a little.
I know I ask this a lot, but if you’re a writer, what’s stopping you from writing daily? You can come here daily, see that I’m getting words out and those words add up quickly. Very quickly.
I won’t push and pry. Well, probably not until tomorrow’s Unorthodox Writing Tip anyway.
Of Gnomes and Dwarves is just as much fun to write as I remember. The original text only had one viewpoint with some head hopping. That was pretty much from Maus and Willie’s Point of View. I’ve changed that slightly. I’m now in Maus’s head a majority of the time and I’ve added scenes for Reeg and Semal. Semal is the main villain and we’ll get to see his mental breakdown in glorious detail throughout the book just as well see Maus come to grips with his own fears and preconceived notions about others. Willie, well, he’s Willie and always will be.
I asked my favorite daughter about Slick and Dorg. If you recall I was going to change the sex of these characters. I explained to her how they played in the book and she didn’t like the change. Based on her input and my own thinkings on the topic, they will not be changing. I don’t think the story will suffer for it. It will still be a fun story. I’m almost at the first scene with Slick
One thing I’ve noticed in the original writing. It was very fast-paced to the point where a lot of details were either glossed over very briefly or completely left out. I am, of course, filling in the blanks that I left behind in the original writing without even thinking about it. Things like descriptions, character’s feelings and inner monologue, background history, introspection, and better narration. And lots more dialog. I didn’t realize just how much the story was lacking. From what I can tell the story will probably come in around the 90,000 word mark without even trying hard.
Currently I’m 9 chapters in and already at 17,000 words. Compared to the original at the same point in the story where I was at roughly 6500 words. Granted there are new scenes, but the ones I’ve re-written are much richer and fuller than the previous writing. I don’t feel I’ve lost the original feel of the story, only improved upon it. I would think it difficult at this point to write the story worse. As I’ve said, I think I’m finally at the point as a writer where I can tell the story I want to tell.
This isn’t a bad thing, but I had many friends and family read the original. I got a lot of “This is really good”, “I liked it”, etc. I did get a couple “It’s missing something, but I’m not sure what” responses that I took to heart when I kept writing on this story over and over and over for many years. It wasn’t until I stopped working on it and started writing more words and more works that I realized what it had been missing. For some reason I was afraid to basically throw away the story again and start over. I’d done that a dozen times before and starting over seemed like work. Now, I look at it as needed and a fun trip back to where it all began.
I’ve got a lot to do today, so I’d better get at it. Sorry I didn’t post a duck picture today.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: Who is the Jay person anyway?
I ask myself strange questions all the time. One of the biggest is why do people stop by here and listen to me ramble. Then I figure they might have discovered me from something I’ve done and perhaps want to know more about me. Let me give you a quick run down.
Author and podcaster of V&A Shipping, Billy Barbarian, and Murdockian Tales.
Author of Astel (available in ebook and print formats)
Author of a few eshorts available on smashwords.
I’ve written a lot of books. Six are currently with a publisher for review. I’m anxiously waiting to hear word back. I have several more than are in progress at some stage and I’m currently in the re-writing phase on my first books in the Of Gnomes and Dwarves series.
To date I’ve written over 100 short stories and 13 novels. I have 4 that are started and I’m aiming to get those done one day. I’ve been writing in some form or another since 1985. I was serious for brief periods over those years and completed a lot of words during all that time.
It wasn’t until this year (2012 if you’re reading this from the future) that I got serious enough to track my progress and write on a daily basis. I came to the determination that I’ll never succeed as a writer if I don’t take it as seriously as any other job. In this year I have planned to write 450,000 words. So far I’m at 225,000 words. I will meet my goal and most likely surpass it. I’ve written more than ever before and I’m much happier about my writing than I ever have been.
I was always in love with the dream of being a writer, but now I’m seeing that dream become a realization as I get more and more works completed and sent out to be reviewed and hopefully one day soon, accepted. I have gotten my momentum down and I have no plans of letting up now. 2012 is the year I get the ball rolling and keep it rolling.
That’s who I am as a writer. I’m also a father of my favorite daughter and married to the wife. Both complete me in ways I cannot explain and I enjoy spoiling my babies. I live in Southern California which is as close to paradise as I can get. I grew up in Minnesota and Colorado so I have enough of the woods and snow for a lifetime. We have two poodles (both white) and they also keep me busy.
Now is your turn. Who are you? Let me know. I’d love to hear from you.
Tomorrow I’ll talk about ducks.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: Back to the grind
Today after a long weekend I’ve got the nose to the old grindstone.
I say that, but I do love my job. Obviously my dream job would be to sit around all day writing the words I want to write instead of the ones that make me money, but I still love my job. Writing code is still a creative outlet. Writing documentation and requirements, well, I can do it even if it’s dull work. At least I’m sitting inside on the computer and I can get up and grab something from the fridge when I want it.
Do you want to know what my favorite part of this weekend was? I’m sure you do. It was taking a picture of couple of ducks.
NO! Wait.It was my favorite daughter learning to ride a bike. Mostly riding a bike.
When I was a kid and I wanted to go somewhere, I didn’t ask Mom or Dad “Hey, can you take me over there?” They had their own things to do and as a boy I was left to my own devices if I wanted to go somewhere. If I walked it could take a painfully long time to get from point A to point B. So if I didn’t want to walk somewhere, I had to learn how to ride a bike. It was a powerful motivator for me. Living in the sticks like I did meant everything was a good distance away and to get there took a good deal of time on foot. So I learned how to ride a bike.
My favorite daughter never had that motivation because we drove her to school, drove her to her friend’s parties or she got picked up. We live in the city and even though it’d be a short bike ride, it’s in the city. I’m not a fan of my favorite daughter out there on the road where some driver not paying attention could run her down. Call me over protective, but I’ve seen too many bad drivers.
It wasn’t from lack of trying. We used to spend a lot more time camping and she did have a bike with training wheels, but where we camped it was just as easy to bike as it was to walk. Again, not a lot of motivation.
This weekend was different. We’d bought her the bike some time ago and she’d been on it a couple of times, but never for very long and she never really got the hang of it. So I took her out bike riding and had her run with her legs down and balance. Then put one foot on the pedals. Then two feet. Just coasting, not pedaling. She knew she had to pedal so she started doing that on her own. Sure it took the better part of a day and we started and stopped many times, but she got the hang of it enough that the next time her friends said “Hey! Let’s go ride bikes” She was able to go with.
It was a proud dad moment, that’s for sure.
In other news, I’ll be writing like a madman again this week.
In even more news, I interviewed Mike Plested about his book, Mik Murdoch. Check out the interview here.
I’m off to go find more pictures of ducks.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: Thank you to Servicemen and Veterans
I spent my four years in the military. As I’ve said here before, it wasn’t a lifestyle for me. Having spent some time in the military I can appreciate the sacrifice the men and women are given and have given. It’s not easy being in. At least it wasn’t for me. For men like my brother, it was a difficult 20 years, but he finished out his time. I’m thankful for what he did for his country and for me. He spent more time overseas and in the Gulf Wars than he did back home. Though he got to see so many different countries, he spent a greater amount of time looking at nothing but water for days and weeks on end.
If you ever have a chance, thank a military man or woman. One who has given up a piece of his or her life to do something that most people can’t do, won’t do, or wouldn’t even think of doing. It is because of them that you actually have a choice. It is because of them that I can spend a majority of my time sitting in from of a computer writing code, writing books, surfing the web, and having a better life for myself. I was once part of their ranks, but chose a different path when the time came.
If you are in the U.S. Military, any branch, I say “Thank you.” For everything you do or have done or will do. Putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation and often life threatening you ensure that I can live the life that I choose to live. There are no words that can express how grateful that I am for all you do. If you were here, I would not shake your hand, I’d give you a hug. It means that much to me. I know a little of what you’re doing and what you’re going through. Because of you, I got to go camping this weekend and eat too much, get too much sun, and need more rest now than when the weekend began. I can play silly games on my phone (Temple run is addicting. #justsaying). I can read a book. Listen to a band, take pictures of ducks, and enjoy my family and friends.
Thank you.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Unorthodox Writing Tips 31 – Confidence
It’s easy to say that you’re not going to let things get to you. I like to think that when I’m sitting and writing that nothing else matters except for getting the words down on that page. I just need to keep plugging ahead and get them out. Eventually someone will read them. Even if they’re awful someone will read them.
Wait, what if I’m writing really badly. What if what I’m doing is so bad no one will ever read this garbage? Do my characters have realistic motivation? Am I describing this bologna sandwich the way I want the reader to see it? Have I put in too much description and back story about that old car that had three bald tires and needs an oil change like my kid needs braces?
I’m a writer. I understand. I’ve been there. I’ve written something that I thought was great, submitted it to the market I had intended it for and got a form letter rejecting it. Well what does THAT mean? Did they even look at it? Did anyone look at it? Then I do some re-writing and send it off to another market. They reject it telling me just where it all went wrong for them. Oh GOD! Now I feel worse. I wrote it, I tried to make it better and the story still doesn’t work. Now what am I supposed to do? Will anyone ever like anything I write?
The best answer I can give you? Probably.
There’s no guarantees when it comes to writing. That’s right, you may spend years writing and never get anything in print. That’s a risk you take when it comes to writing. You know when you’ll get published? Yeah, I don’t either. Why? It’s different for everyone. I had thought for sure by the time I was 40 I’d have a multi-book deal and I’d be writing everything from novels to comics to those little puzzles you see on the back of a cereal boxes. I was going to do it all and write everything I could possibly write and be able to support myself with my writing.
Guess what? Reality sucks. I’m going to be (Jay does some quick math in his head) 43 this year. I’m no closer to publication than I was in 2000. Yes, I’ve gotten a couple short stories published. It took me years to get that to happen. It’s a very long, slow process. It might be another ten years before I see my name on a book (that I didn’t publish on my own). I’ve had to accept that and deal with it. It’s the reality of the publishing world. It moves slowly now, it’ll move slowly next year, and it’ll move at the same slow speed 10 years from now.
It’s something that you need to look past. The only thing that matters right now at this very moment is are you putting words down. Are you writing? Are you banging away on the keyboard and typing words? It doesn’t matter what those words are. Writing is one think you can’t get worse at as you go. It’s a very long learning process and if you’re not spending time every single day you’re not going to get better. At best you’ll stagnate. But in order to get better at your craft and have a better chance of success is to get words out every single day without fail.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I’m writing daily. I’ve written over 200,000 words so far this year (as of this writing I’m at 213,560). I’m keeping track of my words and putting out more words than ever before. I’ve started blogging daily just to get something out. I might ramble from time to time. I most likely am being ignored by everyone who’s come by my blog. But the point is I’m typing daily and getting words out. If you want to be a writer that’s what you need to do. Write! No one is going to force you to do it and no one will be sad if you don’t. The only person who should be mad or sad is you. If you don’t write, you need to be mad at yourself. You should also be sad because if you’ve got a story to tell and you’re not, you’re letting a litttle part of yourself die.
The only person that can give you confidence to actually write is you. Give yourself the confidence to write. Give yourself permission to work through the tough times and get those bad words out of the way. Odds are most of what you write at the start will be awful, but get past them. Get something written. Read a lot and keep notes on what you like and what you don’t like. Try re-writing a paragraph (or a page) from a book you’re reading (because you’re reading every day, right?) Pick something up and copy a paragraph word for word. Then try to re-write it from memory. Do this a few times. Now put your own character into the paragraph. Change it around so it’s yours. Do little exercises like this to help you build up those writing chops.
You might say something like “Writing the same thing over and over is stupid”. Sure, it might feel stupid and a bothersome chore, but I know a lot of musicians that still sit done every day and do scales. If you’ve ever had a guitar in your hands, scales are tough. Writing is tough as well. You need to train yourself and work hard in order to get better, but in the end it’s up to you to do it for yourself to help build up the confidence you have in yourself to just sit and let the words fall out of your head and onto the page.
It all begins and ends with you. Begin today. What are you waiting for?
Until Next Time!
WOO WOO!
J.R. Murdock 