The Sunday Circle is the weekly check-in where I ask the creative-types who follow this blog to weigh in about their goals, inspirations, and challenges for the coming week. The logic behind it can be found here. Want to be involved? It’s easy – just answer three questions in the comments or on your own blog (with a link in the comments here, so that everyone can find them).
After that, throw some thoughts around about other people’s projects, ask questions if you’re so inclined. Be supportive above all.
Then show up again next Sunday when the circle updates next, letting us know how you did on your weekly project and what you’ve got coming down the pipe in the coming week (if you’d like to part of the circle, without subscribing to the rest of the blog, you can sign-up for reminders via email here).
MY CHECK-IN
What am I working on this week?
There’s a final major scene to redraft on the space mummy story and I’d like to get a new scene rewritten in the novella.
What’s inspiring me this week?
Delilah Dawson’s post on the topic of Why I Love Reading Smut. It’s short, but it captures a whole bunch of thoughts I’d been trying to articulate on the subject of reading erotica and romance novels, and why it’s important not to refer to such books as “guilty pleasures.”
Weirdly, I’d been reading the author referenced at the beginning, Lauren Dane, a whole bunch over the last few weeks. The Brown family books and the series that spin off from there are pretty damn incredible.
What part of my project an I avoiding?
Rapidly coming to the conclusion that my old writing timetables are not actually useful at the moment, and I need to sit down and think through the best way to fit writing into a week where my time needs to be more flexible.
I’ve ended up taking a short, unscheduled break from writing newsletters over the last fourteen days. Regular GenrePunk Ninja transmissions will resume
Like many of you, I have good weeks and bad weeks on the writing front. This week has been rocky, and if
Welcome to GenrePunk Ninja supplemental, where I occasionally post foundational essays written before I launched the GenrePunk Ninja newsletter, especially if they’re
16 Responses
All the best with sorting out flexible work habits!
What I am working on:
Choosing which of several half-planned long projects to start on next (I know which it will be, but need to brood over them all a bit first); the novella; a CD cover.
What’s inspiring me:
I’ve been spending a lot of time with my dad, rereading and rewatching old favourites, and beginning to think about what makes the stories we keep coming back to. The Boscombe Valley Mystery and Pride and Prejudice, What’s Up Doc and Hornblower, Gettysburg and Anne of Green Gables… On my own, I’m nearing the end of Lewis, and starting Fargo (the series). Fargo has these beautifully contained/small characters, like watching miniature people moving on a perfectly crafted stage, and I get that from eg Heyer as well.
Also deadlines and due dates, which concentrate the mind wonderfully.
And I’m looking forward to catching up with people for work days again, so many things have been getting in the way.
What I’m avoiding:
My time’s been fractured lately, with going back and forth to help my parents out – we just spent the whole morning on food and care and emergency chemist trips to Gatton – and I realise I’ve been avoiding work unless I can have a large chunk of time. Realising that, I know I need to get back to thinking of it as something I love that I’ll sneak away into a corner to spend 5 minutes with.
As always, I’m impressed by how much everyone seems to do in a week…. I’m sure I used to do more. Must be all this country living.
But I do think there’s a limit to how far you can take flexible timetables. From my own experience, you have to have at least one or two key items “scheduled” in per day or week as “must do this at this time” amidst other goals/activities.
Anyway….
<bWhat I am working on:
OMG, I am so excited about this! I am heading off to Mayo (the county, not the condiment) on Tuesday for nearly 3 whole DAYS of writing/me time. There I shall be working on my Fun Flimsy because (and this is just as exciting) I’ve an editor who wants to read the whole thing.
What’s inspiring me:
Last night’s BBC special on Shakespeare was all kinds of awesome. Sir Ian’s monologue from Sir Thomas More on the plight of refugees had me in tears. I thought the Horrible Histories lads played the whole “I’m an actor but I wanna be a writer…” setup in just the right way. And, of course, the Hamlet “There’s no skull here” routine addressed the elephant in the room about who gets to play Hamlet all the while mocking how you’re supposed to play Hamlet.
Also, Medieval Baebes. Their ‘Best of’ album is a long-time household favourite. Latin chants at the dinner table after a sunny day out in the local Georgian town, including a lesson in foraging.
Oh and I’m really getting a lot out of The Weekend Novelist. The plan is to not write the next linear chapter, but the Climax (which I have imagined twice and gets me teary just thinking about it).
What I’m avoiding:
Now the last couple of days have been good, but earlier this week was pants. All mojo lost. Could not bring myself to write. Miserable all round. The reason seemed to be that I was trying to move on and write more scenes without going and fixing up the bits a CP had noted as not really working. (Especially as I’d known there were flaws but had hoped these were big only in my mind, not objectively.) Curiously, once I went ‘sod it’ and reworked those chapters, the fire was lit and I was away. Then I got my good editorial news and I’ve been all jiggy with the good vibes ever since.
Oh wow – it sounds like you’re blessed with a riches when it comes to inspiration at the moment – that’s fantastic space to be in when you’re just about to head away for some time writing on your own project.
Karina, I’m so glad everything seems to be full steam ahead at the moment! Have a wonderful time in County Mayo!
Congrats congrats on the editorial news! How exciting! 😀 (And sounds like the climax is going to be fantastic, so definitely dive into it while you’re on fire over it! ^_^)
As frustrating as a fractured schedule must be, that time you’re spending with your father sounds like something to be treasured. And I’d been wondering about Fargo myself, so it’s great to hear that has real riches to be found.
Curious question: is the brooding thing doing background planning on the projects, or ruminating, or not sure? (and I had this recommended by a FB friend during the week, which should totally validate where your head is at right now in terms of ruminating first: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/original-thinkers/7323022)
Thanks for that, Kevin! I will listen. The brooding is ruminating/angsting/percolating. I’m gradually remembering to factor it in to new projects now, since I’ll do it anyway and then get stressed. Sometimes it’s difficult to make a decision on a piece or move forward, then I just let it simmer and the answer becomes obvious or at least less fraught.
So with you on the fractured time and utilizing the small moments. I definitely crave the longer chunks, but like you say, there’s a lot that can be done even in a few stolen moments. 🙂 Good luck with it!
I’m trying to manage my writing timetables too as I suddenly have a lot more writing time in theory, but a lot less in practice, particularly with the writer’s attachment I’m doing.
My Sunday Circle is here
Thank you for the recommendation on Lore – I’ve added that to my podcatcher!
Would love to hear more about your screenplay when you can talk about it!
Damn, I never get all those HTML tags in…
Only one coffee this morning. Clearly that’s the issue.
Peter: what’s changed in your circumstances to trigger the need for more flexibility? Or is it that the timetable hasn’t been working for a while, and this is a change to accommodate that now?
No, definitely changes in circumstances. Just….not something I’m talking about on the blog at this point.
What am I working on?
More video game voice acting. Writing for tentpole projects. Othello monologue.
What’s inspiring me?
While fishing for recommendations for a friend’s radio show playlists, I’ve fallen hard down an INXS-cum-80s-in-general nostalgia rabbit hole. I mean, how freaking delicious is this film clip? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c7fElWw2oA Don’t you wish you had an 18-wheeler lit up like a Shinjuku back street?
I’m not normally given to nostalgia, but having recently hit a milestone birthday, and with the daughter about to hit two, and with Prince passing away this week, who was most definitely an icon of my childhood, it’s gotten me thinking about time. And it might sound pretentious, but I’m finding going back over this stuff, there’s texture there I missed first time around. And a chunk of this music is an extension of the whole cyberpunk fascination, depending on where I dig. I think I’m definitely going to end up setting up a YouTube playlist for the iPad to loop over.
What am I avoiding?
This has actually been a bit of a banner week. I spent a chunk of time during a sick day earlier this week fixing some things that were weighing me down (INCLUDING THE AUDIO INTERFACE ISSUE!) and the change it’s made to the rest of the week has been amazing. Some changes I needed to make for voice acting just slotted into place, and while I haven’t gotten as much product or auditions out the door as I’d like, I’ve spent time working on important core stuff.
So for this week, no avoidance. Let’s see how next week does.
Great news about days for just getting things done (even if you have to be sick for them!). I’ve been setting admin days to deal with those things without feeling guilty about not doing art on those days (or not doing admin at other times) which has helped (although I’ve missed a few lately).
Congrats on working out the audio interface issue! That must feel great! 😀 Sometimes a sick day can be useful for slowing the normal pace of life down enough to focus on a few key things. Sounds like you used the time well.
And my kiddo is almost two, too! It’s a fun, frantic, hilarious, challenging, crazy age, isn’t it? ^_^