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 was a little less creative work than normal last week as I got the latest collection ready for release, but this week will see me back onto the thesis novella and some other rewrites that have stacked up over the last few months. I’ve reworked the plan for the final act considerably over the last two weeks, figuring out how to play with various metaphors and call-backs, and I’ve got a much better handle on how to make the protagonist a series character rather than a one-off dramatic character. The trick now is making that work in the text…
What’s inspiring me this week?
I’m still working my way through Game of Thrones–I’m ending this week about 70% of the way through the combined edition of A Storm of Swords (aka the 1000+ page third book). Reading this and the various books in The Expanse over the last year have got me thinking about how they set up the feeling of epic scale and deep world building that’s present in both series, and there do seem to be a number of techniques in common: multiple POVs whose status/physical locals are very separate, but gradually intersect; POV characters who are close to sources of power and decision making, but have to influence rather than make big decisions themselves; deep lore that filters in through the story, tying into the character’s lives.
What action do I need to take?
I need to set up the formal announcements and social posts for the new collection, scheduling them for the next week or two. Also, do some Conan posts for Twitter – last weekend was such a muddle that my usual routine got disrupted and my buffer ran out around Wednesday.
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
4 Responses
Interesting thoughts on the epic-qualities! I’ll definitely be keeping those in mind.
What am I working on this week?
The last few weeks have been totally unpredictable–writing wise–with unannounced houseguests, Bug’s b-day party prep, and–oh yes–Bug busting our TV (literally hit it with a small (surprisingly padded, but still hard) hockey stick), so my usual hour of writing in the AM has gone by the wayside for the next few weeks (after that, he’ll be allowed to stream on my phone for that period, but we felt for obvious reasons that a month away from his beloved cartoons was probably appropriate to start learning that “causes-effects” thing about life). So writing time has been a bit undependable lately. That said, I’m still trying to get a little something done at least sporadically as I re-assess what time is available to commandeer. So this week, I’m going to review the beginning of Chapter 2 of a new book rough draft, and maybe add a bit to it, and then start ramping up the energy needed to tackle Chapter 1 of the novel rewrite for last year’s rough draft. Don’t know if I’ll actually get to putting down words on it, but starting to think about a day I could set aside in the evening or on a weekend to write for a big chunk of time.
What’s inspiring me this week?
It’s been all robot and toddler-entertainment round these parts, but we built a fantastic cardboard box maze that took up one whole room and part of another (which Bug lived in for a few days) and all sorts of felt-works (small robots for the kids to take home, and robot costumes with interchangeable buttons). I’m also reading One Breath about free-diving records and am learning a ton I did not know about the sport. (For example, the current depth record for free diving (without tanks, single breath-hold) is 702ft (214m)!Most recreational scuba diving doesn’t tend to go deeper than 130ft (One guy did get to 1000 feet with scuba, but decompression going back up took 15 hours, apparently).) It’s fascinating to look at the extremes of human endurance (and insanity, in some cases).
What action do I need to take?
I need, need, NEED to motivate myself to read more. I’ve been reading to Bug at night (we’ve gotten through The Magician’s Nephew, 21 Balloons, and we’re almost done with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and he seems to really be enjoying it, but I need to get back into reading my own current-reading list, too, because I haven’t finished anything in a while. Without the TV, it should be easier, but somehow it’s not, so I need to make a bit more effort, or find other times than late evening to get some pages in.
I’m intrigued by One Breath — is it specific research for a project, or just one of those books that you stumble across and figure they’ll be interesting?
A bit of both: I’ve had an idea bouncing around in my head that would require me to know a lot about depth-diving and human limitations, but it’s still fairly unformed. But I’ve been on a big extreme-sport kick reading-wise this year, just enjoying living vicariously through braver people than I. Shadow Divers is a great book about deeper scuba, too, regarding the diving of a U-Boat wreck off the US East Coast–it kind of got me started in this genre of memoir/biography/extreme-sports fixation.
Hi Maggie, On Longreads this week I read a wonderful essay about saturation divers that you may find interesting.