Personal

Lots of fantasy, a lovely book of poetry, a beautifully written nonfiction book. All this, on July’s list of books :) July Love Looks Pretty on You, Lang Leav (must read. in my imagination, leav is a talented younger sister, who has been through a lot more and writes her advice just for me, in her poems) Working, Robert Caro (if you haven’t read the Power Broker, you should if you haven’t read the Lyndon volumes, you should this book is Caro’s account of the work, that went into those works. the ceaseless toil, the thankless years, the people and their stories Caro is Caro, master of the craft. There are only a few explicit lessons here. but plenty if you care enough to read between the lines plenty if you make this an annual read, like i will) ...

Last weeks post seemed to have hit a nerve. Most of you seem to have opened it rather quickly. And then a few of you, complained! Rather quickly. “All this is well and good, but I want to say No, to other people! ” Well, I can help you with that too! Eric Barker, of Barking Up the Wrong Tree fame, has an excellent post on how to do just that! This is how we do it. ...

— via Neil Gaiman o0moxxie0o asked: Hi I just finished outlining a novel and now I’m worried it’s bonkers. Did you ever worry that something you wrote was too much, or just have second thoughts about what you’re planning? I’m going crazy over this thing. I assume that unless it’s bonkers I’m not doing the work.

I’ve, seen things, you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire, off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams, glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those, moments, will be lost, in time, like, tears, in rain. Time, to die. Blade Runner was the first movie I saw, that had a morally ambigous ‘hero’. And the villain is not bad? And he saves the hero? This was the first movie that made me look at the world in shades of grey, in shades of acceptance. ...

Another James Clear pick today. How do you make it easier on yourself to say no? To stick to that diet? To stop goofing off and buckle down and study or work? Because, The ability to overcome temptation and effectively say no is critical not only to your physical health, but also to maintaining a sense of well–being and control in your mental health. We do this, by assertion rather than denying ourselves day in and day out. Not that I can’t do this. Just that I don’t. I am a person who eats good food. So I don’t eat junk food. I am a person who wants to be a programmer. So I don’t browse the web aimlessly all day. I am a person who wants his mind in his control all the time. So I don’t drink. ...

Or how do you actually go do anything else you committed to do for yourself? I always got confused on what to do when the going got tough and life happened and my goals then got waylaid. Other than feeling lost and giving up on projects and promising to do better tomorrow, or next time? (which took a looooooong time to come) What could I do? James Clear offers a lovely heuristic, that I have been applying to my writing since the year began. (along with Seth’s advice to queue things up) ...