A New Friend
The Patient Patriot

ROW80-2 -04/21 -Magic

I missed last Wednesday's check-in, what with a dying phone, busy train trip, forgotten medications, and a lost taxi driver.  But I've moved on.

Let's talk about magic. It seems a good time, what with the various religious events going on this time of year, as well as the almost magical explosion of life in Spring. The magic I was thinking of, is the ability of us, as writers, to take the same ideas and observations and words that everyone has access to, and create a story  - Abra-ca-da-bra poof!- that will entertain and move people. Yes, sometimes we fumble a bit, but it usually works quite well, to the amazement of others.

 

Objectives (writerly and an 'other' section):

  • Write - Because I do enjoy it. I'll set a new and very modest target of 1h/day, early in the day. 
    • Write new material - one draft Flash Fiction a week. Story done and posted here.  Titled A New Friend
    • Edit existing material - to send in for publication - see below. 
  • Write better - Read about how to write, and get constructive feedback.
    • My main source of writing info is a series of writerly blogs. Objective  -stay current.  Yup, still  current.
    • Continue with setting Flash Fiction prompts. Good for challenge, practice, and feedback. Objective - set a challenge a week.  Prompt is set, based on a photo my little sister took.
    • MasterClass on Storytelling, by Neil Gaiman. Completed watching #9 Dialogue and Character, #10 Character Case Study "October Tale", and #11 World-building. I read the notes on each episode too, but have not done the exercises yet. 
  • Publish/market  - We publish partially for the glory and bags of money, but also for the feedback and increased marketability. 
    • I have many FF written already, here. I'll re-examine them, and send off one a week to some publishers. Sent a recent story, Taken for a Ride, to Bards and Sages Quarterly, as well as Tales from a Moonlit Path. 
    • Facebook ads - none. 
    • Amazon Marketing Services Campaigns on KDP -Some sales, but not a big profit on this yet.
    • Sold a print copy of each of my two books, suitably inscribed. Also sold one online 
  • Read with purpose
    • Objective - read and review a book a week. I read Mark of the Plague, second in a series. Light reading, but good. 
  • Better health
    • It's spring now. Set Fitbit target to 3500 steps a day. Objective - 7 day average 3500. 7 day average 3600.
    • Set sleep target to 7.5 hours, starting at midnight. Objective - 5 times a week.  7h, hit 6/7 days, and bedtime better. 
  • Stay social - That's a given, what with walking about, visits to local cafes and bars, and all my grandkids being in Ottawa. My Ottawa local and then some here in Toronto. I found a nice coffee shop to work in here too, with snacks and interesting people too. Visiting my girlfriend too, and Easter dinner company.
  • Have fun - Gaming, Netflix - both indoors. Outdoors?
    • Some Netflix, some gaming, but not much in Toronto. Watching hockey and women's 7 rugby instead. 
  • Chores - I added this to capture bigger jobs.  

Comments

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Shannon Yseult

Glad to see you back! Looks like lots of reading and writing while having fun with the holiday.

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