2018 – Welcome to Bridgetown

4: On Keeping Busy

December 21, 2018December 19, 2018 Jon ChaissonLeave a comment

Four more entries to go in 2018, so I thought I’d do a bit of an overview of things I’ve been doing or thinking about over the course of the year, building up to my new writing plans for 2019.

It’s been a hell of a busy year. I did that by design, to be honest, and I’m glad I went through with it. It proved a lot of different things:

–I can multitask. I wrote two novels in tandem this year, using two different sign-ons at 750Words. One during work breaks and one in the evening. Both are roughly 75k words, which is actually quite economic for me, and I think a better word count goal. Out of this I learned to be more concise with my writing.

–I self-published a completely new novel that had nothing to do with any years-long project, proving that I can reach a quick deadline and turnaround.

–Writing four blog entries a week, with only the occasional fly-by or short hiatus. Some days it was hard to come up with a subject to write about, but I think I pulled it off for the most part.

–Writing some new(ish) melodies on my guitar and recording demos for them for future Drunken Owl projects. Continuing to expand my guitar playing by learning new styles and reaching for different moods.

–Taking better care of myself healthwise. I’ve lost a bit of weight, especially over the last few months since I’ve started doing morning exercises, and being or proactive about heading to the gym a few days a week, or going for walks in the neighborhood. Eating healthier, cutting down on the snacking and the junk food.

…and all of this while still holding down a Day Job. There’s been a bit of temporary shake-up there as well as a ridiculously long stretch of time dealing with unnaturally heavy volume of work, which only recently has started to decrease.

I don’t feel exhausted, far from it. I’ll have my days where I just want to say hell with it, log off and take a nap, sure, but for the most part, I’m impressed that I got through it all with only one or two sick days the entire time. I actually like to keep busy with multiple things going on, as it keeps me occupied, preoccupied, and creative. (It’s only when it’s too busy that I start getting cranky and sloppy.)

Which is partly why I’ve decided to take 2019 a little bit easier, at least for the first six months. Cut back on the multiple projects, finish off the ones I’m working on, and give myself some time to enjoy nonwriting endeavors like art and music. I’ll go into a bit more on those future plans for the last post of the year, but for now I’m just glad to say I’m proud of all the work I did this year, and I’m definitely looking forward to giving myself a break from it!

5: On Older Ideas

December 17, 2018December 16, 2018 Jon ChaissonLeave a comment

Five more entries to go in 2018, so I thought I’d do a bit of an overview of things I’ve been doing or thinking about over the course of the year, building up to my new writing plans for 2019.

I’ve trunked a lot of my ideas over the years. It’s no big surprise…it’s par for the course for pretty much every writer. I still think about them every now and again, maybe even wondering if they could ever be revived now that I’m a better writer (albeit jokingly — I don’t plan on doing this IRL at all). Depending on when I started them, I pretty much have them collecting dust on a bookshelf or getting forgotten in some folder on my external drive.

When I think of trunked ideas, I think of one of the plot points in Jack London’s Martin Eden, one of the few books assigned to me in school that I truly enjoyed. He’s a writer who can’t seem to get an even break, but once he does, it snowballs to the point where he’s digging out his older work, revising it, and his readers keep eating it up. Thing is, he’s not doing all this for himself; he’s trying to impress a girl. Interestingly, London pulls this idea off by not blaming her disinterest for his downfall, but by having Martin realize he alone is at fault, thinking ‘wow…I really wasted a lot of my life trying to impress everyone and making myself miserable.’

I don’t think I’ve wasted my years with all those failed writing projects. I knew well enough to give up on them when the time came. I realized the most common sign is when the writing feels more like a chore than a project. [Not to be confused with that feeling of failure we writers often get during the revision process — you know, the oh god this sucks why am I still working on it phase. Truth: I’m going through this with In My Blue World as we speak. And yet I still have faith in it, and will see it through to its conclusion.]

Sometimes the ideas are little more than moods or images; they won’t or can’t be expanded into novels, or even short stories. Sometimes the story is a little too uncomfortable to write. Sometimes I get through the main planning stage, or even the first draft, and realize how much of an unsavable mess it is. Regardless of what level I get to it, I’ll have to make a decision: keep moving along with it, or file it away and try something else.

I did a lot of this in 2018. While I released Meet the Lidwells and started work on In My Blue World and the Apartment Complex stories, I had so many other project ideas kicking around that I realized I no longer had any interest in. I decided it was probably time for me to trunk nearly everything else that was still up in the air; I just did not feel connected to them anymore. I’d still feel a “hey this might be fun” wave of interest, but that’s all. And I can’t base an entire project on that.

I think part of it was also completing the Apartment Complex story. That novel is…different. Very different from a lot of what I’ve written in the past. Even the current past. It resonated with me in a way that none of my previous novels ever did, even the trilogy. It felt like a gigantic step forward, and a step away from the work I’ve done in the past. It felt that this was the direction I needed to go in next, and almost none of my backburner projects fit that mold.

In short, I felt I was closing down one part of my life and writing career, and moving on to a newer, better one. I had to leave the old stories behind.

I’m looking forward to 2019 being part of that newer, better life and career. And I’m definitely looking forward to the newer stories, whatever they may be.

Year In Review, Year Ahead

December 7, 2018 Jon ChaissonLeave a comment

This has been quite a long year, hasn’t it? So many things going on in the world. Half the time I’m trying to keep a sane distance so I can process it all clearly and intelligently, and half the time I realize I’m doing all I can to keep my head above water.

But I’ve been trying to stay positive. Even when we have people in “charge” (I say this lightly) doing all they can to obliterate the rules and exclude a portion of their constituents out of legal existence, I’ve been trying to be a positive anchor, even if it’s just for myself. Someone’s got to be.

BUT! It’s been an interesting and quite creative year here in Spare Oom. I had quite the productive 2018, which was unexpected but pleasing. I made good on my plan of releasing one e-book a year, with Meet the Lidwells! dropping in early March. I wrote and completed not one but TWO books this year (In My Blue World and the Apartment Complex project) that will be dropping in 2019. I recorded at least twenty partial demos of songs for my Drunken Owl project, and hope to work on more next year. And I made more of an effort to write more lyrics and poetry again. And I’ve been quite verbose in the personal journal this year. I stayed pretty consistent with my daily words over at 750Words. Lastly, I had quite a consistent run both here at Welcome to Bridgetown and over at Walk in Silence. So yeah, a hell of a lot of writing this year. I’m stupidly proud of myself for that.

So what’s on tap for 2019? I’ve hinted here multiple times that I’m going to make some big changes across the board, both personally and creatively. After years of having Best Laid Plans that I couldn’t always follow through with, I find that I’m now in a good place to make a lot of them finally happen. A few personal events helped force me to look at them in a different, more serious and better planned light. Will they fall through or will they come to fruition? Who knows, but I can only hope it’s the latter. I’m already taking steps to ensure they work. Let’s just say that when they come to fruition, I will update accordingly, heh.

Overall, 2018 has been one hell of a roller coaster and I’m glad it’s winding down (sort of). Here’s to hoping 2019 provides a little more sanity!

Source: World Order, “Singularity” video

Day One, 2018

January 1, 2018January 1, 2018 Jon ChaissonLeave a comment

As expected, I’ve spent the morning switching things over. Calendars to put up (Hokusai prints), whiteboard schedule to lay out (see above), plans to put into motion (ditto). I said I was going to have a busy 2018, and I wasn’t planning on spending Day One being a lazy ass. Wouldn’t make a good precedent.

There’s not too much different on the whiteboard, as you can see. The blog update schedule will remain as is. I decided to put the Dreamwidth blog (DW) up there on Sundays and Wednesdays, as I consider that my personal (non-writing or music) site and I really should be a bit more social there. It’s also time to reinstate the daily words (750) to get me back up to creative speed. Lastly, I reinstated the Art, Poetry and Music beats to the schedule, more as a ‘get back into the habit’ than an assignment prompt or deadline. The only two things I don’t have listed are my personal longhand journal — which I always write during my morning break on weekdays anyway — and whatever Main Project(s) I happen to be working on, which don’t need reminding.

[Out of shot to the left, which you may have seen from my Christmas picture, is the clipboard that has a more detailed, long-term To-Do list that I will be working on over the course of the year. And yes, it takes up a few pages.]

I’ve also decided this morning that I’m going to change up my morning routine as well. I’m not entirely sure what this will entail, but we’ll see where it goes. My normal routine at present isn’t anything I have to do right then — email, Twitter, webcomics, usually in that order — and it’s not as if I’m really wasting time, but I’m curious to see if I can utilize that time better with other things. Maybe a bit of longhand work? Or stretches/exercise? This is less about me being economical with my time and more about mixing it up to keep from getting bored or stuck in a rut. This sort of thing tends to change every couple of years for me, and it’s about that time now.

This isn’t to say 2018 is going to be All Creativity All the Time. I’ll take nights off to watch movies and anime with A. I want to expand my reading list, and maybe check out more audio books and podcasts. I’d really like to get back into shape so a few days a week at the Y will do me good, as will cutting down on snacks and junk food. And just getting out more, being more social, getting some air and sun. I spent a lot of 2017 in self-imposed hiding for one reason or another, and I’d like to change that.

Bring it on, 2018. I’m ready to go!

Looking Forward to 2018

December 29, 2017December 27, 2017 Jon ChaissonLeave a comment

I’ve got a busy 2018 ahead of me, that’s for sure.

A good busy, though. I’ve given myself a lot of goals to hit, and I’m sure I can hit most if not all of them. A few will be harder than others. Some will most likely roll into 2019. A majority of them will take most of the year. And I’ll be juggling it all with the Day Job, of course. But I think I can pull it off.

The trick here is to have a long-term schedule going, which I’ve been playing around with over the last few days. It’s a little like how I write novels: multiple threads going at the same time, fully aware of how to orchestrate them, put them in order, and make them flow. It’s only taken me how long to figure out that I can (and should) do this with the non-writing part of my writing career? Sheesh.

Anyway…I’ve got a novel to prep for self-publishing (Meet the Lidwells!), a new novel to start writing (untitled Apartment Complex story) and one, maybe two others to outline when I have the time. I’ll be going to three conventions, with the plan of being on a few panels and possibly a few readings. I’ll be resuming my photography for book cover and image library purposes. I desperately need to do restart the document scanning (it’s something I’ve put off for far too long). I’d like to record some more mp3 demos, maybe pull them together into full completed tracks. And most importantly, I need to move forward with the Mendaihu Press entity, using it as an umbrella for both my self-published novels and cover artwork.

This is going to be a very complex symphony to orchestrate, and I’m quite sure I’ll hit all the typical obstacles along the way, but I’m in it for the long haul and I’m too stubborn to quit easily.

This coming year is going to be one hell of a challenge for me, but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.