Now I can get organised with my writing
3 Comments »3rd January, 2008; Category: The Writer's Life
I like to be organised.
One look at my office and desk would probably lead most visitors to the conclusion that this is just not so. Organised chaos is probably an apt description. I do try, but life sometimes gets in the way. At other times I just get too focussed on what I am doing, and before I know it, things gets worse.
No matter, because now I can get organised. Our Christmas present from son Sim’ and daughter-in-law Leanne arrived via snail mail yesterday. It was a Brother P-Touch label maker. Now we can go ahead and properly label all our folders, boxes, files and numerous other items I haven’t even dreamed of yet. Wonderful – thanks, oh thoughtful son.
Just one small hitch. This is the curse of so many Christmas presents:
“Batteries not included.”
Good writing.
Not much writing going on at present
No Comments »31st December, 2007; Category: The Writer's Life
I feel miserable.
A few days ago my daughter, who was home for Christmas, shared her head cold with my wife and then passed it on to me.
Thanks for sharing.
This is the first proper head cold I’ve had since retiring from teaching – over three and a half years ago. When I was still teaching I would come down with a sore throat or a cold every few weeks. I seemed to catch almost every bug getting around. The perils of working in a confined space with thirty little children. So I really shouldn’t complain – almost four cold free years is something not to be sneezed at, if you get my drift.
I should also be grateful that my infection was relatively mild compared with my wife and daughter. What has made it more uncomfortable this time round has been the extremely hot weather we have had recently. Christmas Day was lovely but ever since then the temperature has peaked at 40C or above every day. Yesterday it reached 44C ( that’s 111.2F for those that use that scale) under our front veranda. That’s hot. And the rest of the week is promising to be in the mid to high 30s.
With the heat and the head cold I haven’t felt like doing much writing, so I’ve given myself a few days off. I’ve watched plenty of television, including the Test Cricket from Melbourne (the Aussies won again – yeah). I’ve also started catching up on watching a few movies bought on DVD ages ago. I’ve also been trying to watch the many hours of television programmes stored on the hard drive recorder – before that gets out of hand.
Will get back to the writing soon.
Good writing.
My latest publication
It is always exciting to see one’s writing in print.
Last week I was an invited guest at the launch of my latest publication. This took the form of a brochure aimed at tourists in our district, specifically the town of Mannum which is about a half hour drive from home here in Murray Bridge, South Australia.
Earlier in the year I was approached by the members of the Friends of Mannum Walking Trails to produce a birding guide to be used by local people and visitors to the town. I readily agreed, thinking that the exposure of my writing to a totally new audience could lead to some interesting contacts. I didn’t realise how much work was involved in producing a double-sided A3 size brochure. Despite the work involved the final product is very pleasing (see the photo below). I took all the photos included on the brochure and wrote most of the text.
More details of the actual launch can be read on my blog called Trevor’s Birding.
The Mannum Bird Watching brochure I wrote
How a little ant taught me about writing
From time to time we have these annoying little black ants invading our house. Fortunately they are not in huge numbers (unless we accidentally leave some tasty food out on the bench for too long). It it also just as well that they rarely bite. They are just a nuisance really.
This morning we were having a leisurely breakfast with our visiting daughter. She made us all a cooked breakfast; bless her. It was yummy. Half way through our meal she exclaimed, “What is that ant doing?”
On the window sill next me in our sun room there was a single ant about 4mm long. It was hauling along a dead moth at least four times its size. Backwards.
What is more, two other ants were sitting on the moth trying to eat it. What power and persistent against great odds. That’s not all – this amazing little ant proceeded to pull that moth over the edge of the window sill, underneath the ledge and then down the wall. On checking a while later the single ant had been joined by another five or six and the moth had been hauled back up the wall to the window sill again. All were having a feast. I hope that the original ant had his fair share to make up for all that amazing effort.
The power of one
We often underestimate the power and influence of the individual. A person empowered by an enduring passion can achieve great things. We also underestimate what we can achieve. I read some years ago – I forget the source – that we usually overestimate what we can achieve in a week or a month or even a year, but vastly underestimate what we can achieve in five years. The message to me in this is twofold: set bold goals and then persevere until the goals are achieved.
Ants and the craft of Writing
Many people would love to write a book. Some even try to write a book. Few actually finish writing a book. The task seems too daunting, too big, impossible. So they give up. That little ant didn’t let the size of the task stop him. He just went ahead and carried off that seemingly impossible task through sheer persistence and application.
If the writing tasks facing you seem too hard and your goals seems so far off, learn from that little ant. Stick at it, persevere and the writing will come, the tasks will be achieved. Break down the tasks into smaller, achievable goals. The little ant tackled the task one step at a time. Write that novel one sentence at a time. Set a goal of say, 500 words a day. In that way a hundred thousand word book does not seem so imposing a task.
Further reading:
- Setting goals for your writing – where did the year go?
- Setting goals for your writing
- Are you one of the six percent?
Setting goals for your writing – where did the year go?
2007 Goals
Only two weeks left of this year. Where did that year go?
How are you doing with your goals for 2007? In fact, have you looked at your goals for this year recently? Did you actually write them down?
It is usually about now that people who are goal oriented sit down and start analyzing how they’ve travelled this year in the goal achieving department. With only a few days left it is still time to achieve a few minor goals, but as we near Christmas most people’s busy lives tend to take over. The demands of work, family, relaxation, shopping and many other things tends to dominate a little – or a lot if you let them.
Nothing magical
There is nothing magical about a new year. New Year’s day is just another day after all. On the other hand, a brand new year is a chance for all of us to have a new beginning, a new start with new projects, ideas and perhaps for some even a new job. It is a chance to evaluate our lives, looking back at the old year and assessing how we’ve been doing.
A personal reflection
In some of my goals I have been quite successful this year.
- I’ve managed to maintain the flow of posts reasonably regularly on my three blogs.
- I will fall just a little short of my target for the number of posts, but I am quite pleased with my output despite the many interruptions I have had.
- I will fall a little short of the number of hours of writing I set myself at the beginning of the year, but not by much. Again, I have achieved a lot in the light of the many enforced breaks in my writing time.
- Although I have written a large number of words this year, I am also a little short on the target I set myself.
- As for submitting to print publishers I must admit that my face is a very bright red. Lots of talk, great goals and good intentions but not much of a practical nature happening there. Time to get tough with myself and follow my own advice so freely dished out on this blog. It might also stop the family nagging me too.
How have you been going with your goal setting? Leave a comment in the comments section below.
Further reading:
- Reflections on my year of writing – from this time last year.
- My writing goals for 2007 – written on New Year’s Day
- Setting realistic goals for 2007