by Charlene Teglia | Jan 26, 2009 | Uncategorized
Because nothing shames you into blogging like having “I don’t know what to blog about” shot down as an excuse.
What keeps you going?
Pure caffeine.
Describe each member of your family.
The Hello Kitty fanfic writer, the negotiator (I want a 1 minute time out. I want to take it on the couch, not in my room.), the man who can do anything and who thinks I’m hot no matter what my hair is doing, and three feline usurpers.
Did it snow much when you were a child?
Yep. Loved sledding all winter. And making snowmen. And snow forts. I didn’t have to drive in it then so it was fun.
Write a letter to someone you appreciate.
Dear husband, thank you for thinking my ideas are genius and my jokes are funny and for never questioning why I need to have a donut Right Now.
Do you believe that today can be the ‘first day of the rest of your life?’
Since one of the things I heard today included, “Mom, Morgan put a grape in her nose,” I don’t know that I’d want this to be representative of the whole rest of my life.
I remember . . .
Going arrowhead hunting when I was a kid.
Look at your hands. Why are you grateful for them?
They can type almost fast enough to keep up with my brain!
If I could trade in my adulthood for a second childhood, I’d…
I play make-believe for a living. I’m already having a second childhood.
Name five things laying around your computer.
An afghan, cat hair, a coffee cup, a notepad and pen.
How would you rate your self image?
Rated? What, like tires? Okay, I suppose I rate my self-image good for more miles and bad weather.
by Charlene Teglia | Jan 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
Today’s walk had crunchy new-fallen snow underfoot. I love that sound, especially when there’s just enough of it to make footprints but not so deep it’s work to keep moving. We walked along the river, and listened to the sound of rushing water and the world felt alive and still at the same time. Winter is deceptive. It doesn’t look like much is happening on the surface, but deep under the ground, roots are ready to send up new growth as the days lengthen. We are just about to turn the corner towards spring.
Creative work is very much like this. There are incubation periods where it doesn’t look like anything is happening, but under the stillness is the living thing getting ready to shoot up and out. It’s good to remember that when it feels like progress is so slow it’s nonexistant.
Book d’jour: Now reading The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. My husband picked this book up a couple of years ago, and I glanced at it but didn’t really read it. I had a pile of reading of my own plus the never-ending work. I’m glad I’m reading it now, though. I’m at a point where I need to dramatically change my work habits because with the changes in my life (like adding home schooling) I have to approach things differently and maximize my results. So far, very good reading.
by Charlene Teglia | Jan 24, 2009 | Uncategorized
We’re very in between right now. There’ll be a new blog going up (okay, it’s actually up but we’re not putting content into it) about new doings, and transition is ahead, but right now I’m all in between in both life and art. There are new projects I want to tackle, but I’m waiting to wrap up some old stuff and hear word on another thing.
Even the kid is in between; while waiting for her next level math books to arrive, we’re finishing off the old stuff. Her schedule shows the change. She’s “advanced” on paper, but in transition in reality.
Transitional space feels interesting, creatively. One thing is not quite behind, another thing not fully here. It’s like you can look forwards and backwards at the same time. Ever work in transitional space?
by Charlene Teglia | Jan 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
I read something recently about how authors like DRM and wanted to froth at the mouth but that’s unattractive so I just backed away from the internet. I can’t speak for all authors, but I can speak for myself. I myself loathe DRM. I loathe it to the height and depth and breadth my soul can reach. Because DRM does not stop hackers or thieves, but it does frustrate and irritate and even punish the honest purchaser.
I pretty much only download something with DRM if there is no other way to get it. I bought Lawrence Block’s Write For Your Life because it’s long out of print and you can’t get it any other way. But at this point I wish I’d paid the $100 for the hard to find original print volume because at least I could read that. I had to create an account with Microsoft and go through a whole evening’s worth of contortions to get it activated on my laptop and desktop and Palm. 2 of the three are now dead, which means I’m down to one, and when that dies, am I going to spend another hour of my life trying to activate a new account? Oh, hell no. I’d have printed it out to read in hardcopy, but the DRM only allows me to print a few pages a day.
I bought another must-have with DRM, and it took a little less than an hour to install the software I had to have to read it (only available in Mobi) and figure out why I could not read it, despite it having been “activated”; it downloads as read only, and unless the read only attribute is removed, the activation doesn’t register and you can’t open and read the book you just bought, downloaded, installed the right software for, and properly verified to have activated. (My husband solved the read-only issue; I was ready to just put the laptop away before I had an aneurism at that point.)
Bottom line: I am an author. I am even an ebook author. And I’m telling you, DRM punishes the legal end user. I’m against it and it is such an enormous hassle that after putting myself through this twice, I would rather go without whatever book I desperately want to read if DRM is the only way I can get it. Because it’s not worth the time-sink and the frustration.
Publishers: Make it easy for readers to read the books they went to the trouble of buying, please.
by Charlene Teglia | Jan 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
I’m rereading The War of Art, specifically the last section which deals with the fact that yes, writing has a woo woo factor. I read a review of this book which said that basically up until this point it was a good book; I’m guessing that writer has not yet been slammed up against the woo woo wall.
You can call it the muse, angels, the shadow, the collective unconscious, any term that works for you, but the bottom line is, writing has a side that tells us it is not ours. It is there for us to use, but it doesn’t belong to us, it isn’t there to make us rich or satisfy our egos, and we forget that at our peril. Forget it, and prepare to be slammed up against the woo woo wall.
I’m also working on a story I love madly and spent yesterday working out the math on the pacing and structure. Just because I believe in woo woo doesn’t mean I don’t believe in structure. The three act structure makes all the pieces fall into place. More writing ahead today.
Recent Comments