And lo, we have made it to the end of 2018, navigating the wasteland between Christmas and New Years where time seems to lose all meaning due to the disruption in our routines. We aren’t sure which days are public holidays. We aren’t even sure what day it is today.
Rest assured, today is a Sunday, which means it’s time for….
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?
This week is going to be be nearly 100% thesis time, locking down the conference paper I’m going to be delivering on the 22nd of January. It’s a major source of stress in my life at the moment, so I’m throwing approximately 20 hours of work at it in the name of having a draft down with plenty of time for refinement.
There’s some light writing work going on around the edges–mostly blogging work–but I’m setting aside fiction projects until the paper is done.
What’s inspiring me this week?
Part of me is very tempted to say Aquaman here, since most of my reading this week has been non-fiction oriented, but in truth it wasn’t the film that really blew my mind. I loved it in all it’s glorious, over-the-top idiocy, certainly, but what really got me excited this week was discovering the concept of Maximalism while looking up a soundtrack song from another film entirely.
It turns out that Maximalism is a pretty good description of Aquaman’s appeal–something I’d previously been referring to “this film gives no fucks about subtlety”–and for the appeal of James Wan’s work in general. And, having given it a name, it becomes something that can be explored within the context of a particular aesthetic philosophy and applied to fiction.
What action do I need to take?
I blogged about my new time-tracking habit yesterday and the process continues to be going really well, but part of it involves sitting down and transferring the data into an ongoing archive where I can really take a close look at where my time is going.
I’ve been really good at the tracking of half-hours, but I’m yet to actually devote a few minutes to the task of transferring all the details into a spreadsheet (and fear that may be a point of resistance for me, based upon my current reluctance to actually do it).
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
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I made it to the last one of the year … https://wordpress.com/post/charlienash.net/311
I think I watched the first four seasons of The Vampire Diaries. Damon Salvatore was a big draw for me. The actor looked like he was having so much damned fun.
Congratulations on everything you’ve achieved with 2018, in spite of the interruptions and challenges, Charlotte!
If you’re digging Vampire Diaries, two recommendations in case you haven’t come across them yet – one old – True Blood, and one new – Riverdale – which you’ve probably heard Pete talk about here. Once you run out of Vampire Diaries, you might dig either of those as different tacks on heightened melodrama.
What am I working on this week?
New Years makes it a short week.
1) Continue editing Book 3. Almost worked through my list of repeated words/phrases.
2) Upload the novella to Amazon, now that I’ve trimmed out a few bits and pieces.
What’s inspiring me this week?
Reached the end of season 2 of Luke Cage, which should probably have been about 8-10 episodes. It ends where the last season of Angel began. I would love to take these fictional characters and teach them Breatrix Kiddo’s method of sticking to the plan from the Kill Bill movies. I find this a weirdly interesting idea.
What action do I need to take?
The time has come to figure out in detail what I want to do in detail for 2019. If I can’t make it happen this week, I’ll dedicate my writing/editing time to it next week.
I’m SO disappointed that we’re not going to see Luke Cage carry on from that moment – I loved where they were taking it.
Good hunting with the editing on Book 3, Sean, and the planning for 2019. In case it helps, I’ve been working through this this week: https://chrisguillebeau.com/how-to-conduct-your-own-annual-review/
Peter: regarding getting your time tracked into a spreadsheet, if you’re open to a digital option for gathering info up front, it might be possible to do something low impact with Do and Google Sheets – I’ve done this in the past with capturing audition metrics over a week.
What am I working on this week?
I’m dedicating this week to bookending the year. That means a few things, but CHIEFLY, it means going back over the mindset and productivity programs I’ve binged on towards the end of the year, and looking with a serious eye at how they can be rolled into a consistent structure for 2019. I’ve also put aside time to mainline both Off the Clock and Rest as solid investments in productivity without masochism to set the stage for 2019’s working practices. Also working slowly through Chris Guillebeau’s Annual Review process as part of that work. Not sure I’ll get to everything.
I’m also doing work this week to tune down my Gmail filters and get those good, high protein information feeds front and centre – Pop Culture Happy Hour, Warren Ellis’ Orbital Operations, and Netted by the Webbys in particular.
What’s inspiring me this week?
Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse was so, so good, and has me hankering for a rewatch. The link there goes to the full script available online legally, in case writer types are interested! Other than that, I’ve been put onto Emilíana Torrini’s music, and I’m listening through Fisherman’s Woman at the moment and it’s gorgeous, and 100% my bag.
What action do I need to take?
The two critical things I want to take out of the week coming are the key metrics for moving towards my goals for 2019, and the red line daily practices that feed into them. The rest can be tuned later.