These are the continuing voyages of the Ninja Captain, AJC. His mission, to explore all new writing venues, to seek out new authors and new blogs.
To boldly go where no blogateer has gone before.
On the farm. Holy Talking Cats. When will it stop raining? There
are parts of the yard that haven’t dried out since April. The fields and hay
ground are the same. Corn and soybeans love hot, humid weather with a judicious
amount of rain at appropriate times. It should be dark, dark green. Instead,
with the rain coming every two to three days, the crops are a sick yellow.
Coming together on the first Wednesday of every month for a virtual pat on the back.
Vacations and How to Recover From Them.
I wrote not one word on any wip for three weeks. Talk about Writer,
Interrupted.
The assailant that muted me? Call it Family Vacation.
No composing during:
- The Planning (where, when, the attractions, itinerary, Google maps)
- The Get-Ready (clean house, mow yard, gas vehicle, pack, bake cookies)
- The Travel
- The Actual Vacation
- Recovery (mountains of laundry, mow the yard...again)
With all that, how does an author find the chance/time to
write?
So now, back to the schedule. And where did I leave my
ambition? *patting pockets*
On the farm. Holy Talking Cats. When will it stop raining? There
are parts of the yard that haven’t dried out since April. The fields and hay
ground are the same. Corn and soybeans love hot, humid weather with a judicious
amount of rain at appropriate times. It should be dark, dark green. Instead,
with the rain coming every two to three days, the crops are a sick yellow.
Movies and TV. With the most excellent luck I’ve had finding
great new TV to watch (Mr. Robot, Dominion, Humans), I had high hopes for Dark
Matter and Killjoys.
*crash burn*
Those shows are turning out to be what I call the domino format.
Set a line of dominoes up then knock the first one over. It is the hook and both shows pulled me in...at first.
But the next set of dominoes were like a an executive's formula: “In order to have a successful show, we must have a belligerent outcast who is lovable or broken, a
wishy-washy individual, a strong female with a soft side.”
Plink, plink, plink.
At that point, I yawned and quit watching. The only thing
worse is the obligatory teenage angst rebelling against authority or the precocious
youngster who stuns everyone with their insight.
Some TV shows start out with the formula but branch out. The
Walking Dead royally ticked me off with its stereotypical portrayal of a
redneck. But it moved. It shifted and jumped off the Been-There, Done-That
train.
Book World. I read Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Review is coming with a
helping of Controversy.
That's funny, because vacations tend to do the opposite for me. We took a day off last week to go to the zoo, and I was sending myself emails all day long with character notes. :)
ReplyDeleteSorry your crops are yellow.
ReplyDeleteI always need a vacation after my vacation.
I was disappointed with those two shows as well. They started decent and then just fizzled into routine.
Vacations can be exhausting That's why I like staycations more. :)
ReplyDeleteWait - it's raining talking cats? I'd pay money to see that! lol I stopped writing/revising for 2 weeks in July with no family vacation as a good excuse. It was just burnout. But I did other things, eventually re-charged my batteries, and now I'm finally starting up again. And that's so true about tropes being overused in many movies and TV series. Good luck with your WIP!! :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a vacation in a long while. It might be nice to escape from work and family for a time, but then I'd feel guilty.
ReplyDeleteI hope you figure out a good way to get back on schedule. :)
Here in Philadelphia we have had much, much more rain (actually bad storms even a tornado) than usual but it has finally dried out the last few days.
ReplyDeleteI am a summer slacker for sure. I am in catch up mode now but I really want to go back to the beach.
I hope the sun comes out for you and stays out for awhile.
I've never gone on a vacation so I can't contribute anything to how I cope after a vaca. I constantly wish I could go on a vacation, though. Does that count? :P
ReplyDeleteI've never gone on a vacation so I can't contribute anything to how I cope after a vaca. I constantly wish I could go on a vacation, though. Does that count? :P
ReplyDeleteHow does baking cookies constitute getting ready? I did not know that was a requirement. I guess I've been doing it wrong.
ReplyDeleteA vacation from writing is sometimes necessary. It refreshens. And about that rain... Wanna send it my way. We in Cali could really use it.
We've had a couple thunderstorms this past week. Now it's just cloudy. I think Fall is sneaking in early. When I'm on vacation, if I'm not sick of the people I'm with by Day 3, I don't mind not writing for a little bit. It's when I'm home that's the problem. lol
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Mr. Robot and Humans.