May 2020 be kinder and better to us all.
Happy New Year and Decade!
[Nanowrimo 2019] Week 2
Remember how I said last week that the new Nanowrimo website is great for catching up? Yup, as you can see from the gif above, I’ve almost hit the daily word count goal so far over the last 10 days or so.
That isn’t to say that the writing process itself has been great. Rather, there’s been quite a fair amount of slog. I estimate that I can possibly use perhaps only 25% of what I’ve written so far. Writing time has been extremely finicky – there’s been a lot of experimenting with what I can or cannot do thanks to the surgery, and there was also that day when just hitting the bare minimum was harsh.
After reaching a point in which writing about the story my character was reading was more interesting than the actual writing itself, I decided to just restart the entire thing. And this turned out to be much more interesting and easier to write. Things I learnt:
- My character has a very specific personality
I know the kind of things I want my MC to go through, and I already have a glimpse of the people she keeps around her. The surprising part of it is that she has just told me her father is still alive, and we are still debating on whether he’s really the nice guy she remembered or if the time spent away from family has dehumanised him. There’s a lot to explore, and this isn’t even covering the reason why she ran away in the first place. - The place where we began has a personality
Turns out old buildings that have been bewitched and bespelled have a sort of sentient personality. Writing the openings and the way she interacted with the building was fun, and I look forward to her going back there again, though because I am a consequential style of writer, this may take some time. - Establishing things based on previous knowledge
Despite the fact that I kinda hated the way the previous story went about, I’m actually very happy with the trivia and nuggets we dropped earlier. As they say, you can’t revise a blank page, and even though I will be throwing away a lot of words, the knowledge I gained writing those is very useful. - What is routine?
I thought I had already settled on a routine but that turned out to be false. Instead I try to write whenever I can, using sprints to get started. Yesterday’s long word count was due to me sitting down and just writing out a scene that played out in slow motion before my afternoon nap – I didn’t expect to write that quickly to the point that after I’d hit word count, it was only 3pm in the afternoon. I had fully intended on leaving it as is, but it turned out I had a bit of fuel left after dinner, so I kicked out another 1k words to almost make that day’s actual wordcount. - Music makes a whole lot of difference
At the office I use to listen to those “chill lofi beats” as they’re great for just zoning out and relaxing. However when it comes to creative writing I’ve since learnt that they’re good for getting me relaxed, but not that great when it comes to writing. So far I’ve been jumping between Assassin’s Creed’s and since they announced, the entire Aquarion OST. There’s something really different about writing to an anime soundtrack instead of a generic cafe style.
And then I took a much needed break yesterday while writing this and broke my streak whoops. Turned out to be a good thing – while I’m still not happy with parts of today’s writing, I’m pretty happy with where the novel is going.
[Nanowrimo 2019] Week 1 progress check
It’s 8 November where I am now, and that means Nanowrimo Week 1 is officially over. I make it a point to try to participate yearly, if for nothing else than it gives me an excuse to write silly things, and this year’s no different.
The circumstances are a little different for me this year though. For one, I’m recovering from myomectomy, a fibroid removal surgery. For another, I am writing this not from my home/work place, but from my mother-in-law’s, so the atmosphere is noticeably different. I also started pretty late this year – usually I try to get some words in on November 1 itself, but I haven’t been able to muster the energy and strength to actually start writing until the 4th.
Which actually turned out to be a good thing. Some things I’ve learnt this week:
- Learning to let go
Despite being a pantser, I tend to have a very specific idea of how words should appear on a page. At an unconscious level, this was me judging myself. I like to be able to turn in clean first drafts, with the idea being that my writing would only need tweaks or that the idea has already been made apparent, with just minimal editing required. There was also the idea that what I wrote is a reflection of who I am as a human being (I know, please laugh with me).
This year’s Nano has taught me otherwise. In its 4,500+ words I’ve written so far, I’ve come to acknowledge my silly biases and honesty to myself. What is coherence? What is linear thought? While I am still a in-sequence writer, I’ve learnt to not question the time skips and jumps and the stereotypical-ness of my writing.
Plus I didn’t expect the idea of whiteness to appear so strongly, so that was a nice surprise. - A little bit at a time
Thanks to the surgery, it isn’t recommended that I sit for too long periods of time unsupported. The chair where I write has no back, and my stitches do hurt from time to time, so I make it a point to stop and take a break. I also seem to have superficial thrombophlebitis, so the back of my right hand is swollen and hurts when I flex my hands a bit too much.
These enforced breaks, combined with regular eating times, means that when I am at the laptop writing, it is focused writing.
A sprint helps me get started or end the day’s writing session, while the rest of the time is spent percolating over what comes next in the story. It’s already moving at a clip I didn’t expect. - The new Nanowrimo website is extremely great at catching up
It actually shows the word count you need to achieve that day in order to hit 50,000 words by the end of the month, so I no longer need to do the rough maths myself – I can just write according to the amount of words required. Plus I admit, it’s nice to see the chart climb. - Word counts don’t matter
Ironically, while I am writing to a word count, this year’s more relaxed goals for myself means it’s a nice signpost, but it’s not a must to hit 50,000 words for me. I will admit I’d like to achieve it, but being behind this year and feeling like I missed the boat makes me feel more free compared to before and allows me to do things with my story like inserting descriptions where I want to, and not because I thought it would plump the word count. - Fingernails
I need to cut them and soon, they’re way too long for typing lol.
Hello Productivity Alchemy people!
Hello! If you’re here from Productivity Alchemy, welcome!
I don’t know what else to say except that in the space between talking with Kevin and the episode going live, there’s a few things I feel I need to update (hahaha).
I have stepped into the world of fountain pen inks. Right now my primaries are both Japanese inks – specifically the Kyo-Iro series. I am in love with the Flaming Red of Fushimi and the Soft Snow of Ohara. Will probably do a more in-depth review of the inks when I am writing more.
I have also added the Pilot Juice Up pens to my arsenal, though these are mainly the Metallics and the Pastel range, both of which show up wonderfully on black paper. These are some of the things I picked up at a recent Bookfair (book fairs tend to be a mix of stationery and other things being sold, it’s wild).
Thanks for dropping by!
Uploading gifs to Facebook natively
Uploading gifs to Facebook natively has finally arrived for business pages! No third party linking required. All you need is to create your usual organic posts using the normal Facebook page status updates (tested only on desktop). Here’s how:
- Click and drag your gif as you would an image or regular video into your regular post update box. Alternately, click on the Camera/Photo upload icon and select your gif file.
- Add some text to accompany your gif. Treat it like a regular update.
- Click on Publish or if you’re a bit nervous, “Save as Draft.”
- Facebook will show you that your video is being processed. Refresh the page or check in your drafts, depending on where you save.
- Watch your GIF come to life natively.
A few things to note:
- There is no preview for your gif before you press “Publish” or “Save as draft”. You’ll see just the film icon that indicates a video file is there.
- If you upload it via the “Select File from PC” option instead of drag and drop, Facebook treats it like a video. You can actually title your gif and give it a description to make it searchable
- Yes, this means Facebook now supports uploading gif natively and you will no longer need to upload it to a third party site like Giphy anymore.
Yes, this is very unintuitive, I know.
[Quick tip] Changing fonts on Outlook 365 and Web
Updated as of 1 March 2018:
To change your fonts, signature and other settings in Outlook 365/Outlook.com email, follow these steps:
- Click the Gear icon and type Options into the search box.
Select Message Options from the results.
In Office 365, you’ll find your messaging options on the left. Click on Layout. Change fonts from the Email signature and Message format sections.
In regular Outlook.com (aka if you are not under a company account), Email Signatures are under the Personalization tab and the Compose tab.
Yes, it’s ridiculous that there’s no real way to access the settings except by going through Search. The even more ridiculous part is that these settings were so hidden in the first place. For goodness sake, Microsoft, I should not need to write a post just so I can remember how to change my signature!
Alternatives to 750words
750words is a website dedicated to morning pages. These pages were first mentioned in Julia Cameron’s the Artist’s Way, as a simple writing exercise. You basically freewrite for 3 pages (I think it’s A4 or US letter) in the morning, which comes up to 750 words, more or less. In true Internet fashion, 750words.com is a minimal writing site that encourages and gamifies morning pages, helping you get started.
Now, first thing to note, I like 750words. I do agree that morning pages are better than meditation in a few ways. It acts as a confessional of sorts, focusing on stream of consciousness. Some people get emotional experiences. Some become more creative, and so forth. Me I find it useful when I wake early enough to type them, but this is not always going to be the case.
750words has a hidden subscription price which, while cheap, is not something I want to pay for right now. Especially not when there are plenty of alternatives, such as:
WriteaDay (Android only)
WriteADay is a wonderful and colourful tool to keep you writing.
It’s colour-coded by day, so the more you write, the more gradients you get. If all you need is just a quick app that motivates you to jot down thoughts throughout the day and you’d like to gamify yourself, this is an excellent tool. When you’ve written a few entries, you get a lovely streak of colour.
Bonus? You get free backup to Google Drive AND a Night or Day mode – the latter is excellent if you don’t like the blinding white background. You can also change the font to something a little more readable (2 options). Did I mention that these are all in the free mode?
Paying for the app gets you extra font options, password protection (PIN+Fingerprint) and one more viewing mode (Dusk). There’s also a pretty damn good range of affordable subscriptions: monthly is the cheapest at USD2 (cheaper than a cup of coffee!), yearly will cost you USD10 (one month discount) but I think the Lifetime is the best bang for buck at just a measly USD25.
Journey (Cross-platform)
Journey is a more feature-packed journal writing software compared to most others on the market.
In some cases you can think of Journey as the replacement to when Google Docs took out the option to publish HTML and other networks. It tags your entries by location, date and time. A snapshot of the weather is also attached.
There’s also the option to add photos (videos are a premium/cloud feature), your own tags and write from all devices. PC, Mac, phone… these are all enabled by default. Prices start at Rm7.99 per device but the Cloud price unlocks everything across all devices at Rm18.99 (currently on sale with a 20% discount).
Google Docs
Free, online, and easy to use. Just make sure you close all other tabs to prevent distractions.
Q10
Despite the fact that this software is more or less orphaned, I still love Baara’s Q10. I would not have written as much nor focus if it were not for this minimalist app.
You can still install it from the website, and here are instructions in case Windows10 or Win7 gives you issues. And yes, I’ve tried a few others but I love Q10 the most.
Putting it here because if you are the kind that likes an offline app this is most likely to fit your needs. Set the timer, and just write.
So what will you pick?
So many writing tools, so little focus to write, no?
[Review] Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher
Author: T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon)
Price: USD 4.99 e-book, USD 24.95 hardcover
ISBN10: 1614504067
ISBN13: 9781614504061
TL;DR: A quick escape from the mundanity of life with a dose of laughter and fantasy made unusual.
Disclaimer: I may get a small commission from the Book Depository links.
A ninja accountant, a smoking assassin, a paladin with a dead demon, and a misogynistic, impressionable genius teen scholar set out on a suicide mission. They stand a higher likelihood of killing each other before the mission gets them, and that’s before they leave the city.
Clockwork Boys is a delightful read. It is also my first Ursula Vernon (writing as T. Kingfisher) story, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. According to most reviews, this book is a little darker than her regular stuff, but to me after reading so many doomsday books and articles in 2017, her words are a refreshing breath in 2018.
The characters are really what make Clockwork Boys come alive. Slate, the main character is a resigned 30-year old forger who, according to her own description, is nondescript. She has an inconvenient magical gift tied to her nose, and a gift for staying alive. Also I have not seen anyone do nose-related magic well and Ursula nails it here.
Caliban is great as the paladin with a hole in his soul and a demon on his mind. He’s a very pretty paladin (as is noted by other readers) and I like that in addition to his brooding, he can be rather dumb yet smart. His struggle with his faith was something I did not expect to resonate with me, but his resolution was certainly… interesting.
Brenner, whom I will call the transactional assassin, is really good at killing and very practical. For a practical assassin though, I am surprised to find that he smokes; I didn’t think an assassin would give themselves away with that habit but maybe it works a little differently in that world, who knows?
Rounding up the group is nineteen year old Learned Edmund, who is the healer and kid who thinks women will jump on him the moment they get the chance to. Also hello misogyny. It’s a very good take on specialisation and incredible nitpicking.
I love the chemistry and I love what happens in this story, and I cannot wait for the sequel. That said, I have a lot of questions after reading this book.
The worldbuilding feels somewhat haphazard. We’re given glimpses but it feels a bit like what I’d expect to read in a summary of a dungeonmaster’s setting. Some things happen in the book that make me go “bwuh?” particularly where geography is concerned but I’m hoping that the Wonder Machine will fill in the blanks.
Summary? This book makes a great reward for completing small but unpleasant tasks. It is also very hard to put down, so don’t make my mistake and read it before bed. Do it after dinner instead.
We survived 2017!
This post should be published on January 1, 2018, and with that I’d like to say…
YOU SURVIVED 2017 WELL DONE!
2017 was a shit year for many of us. It was a great year for many of us too. But if you work in the creative lines, it can feel a bit depressing because there’s just a lot of bad and worse news.
However, we made it this far. We are still alive this day in 2018, and though things may feel the same, they also feel a little different (I hope).
That said, 2017 was a detox year for me. I left a toxic environment behind, started at a new place, began buying books again (though admittedly I have yet to start reading again), wrote fiction for myself, wrote fiction as an experiment again, and ended my beef with ~Samseng~ Samsung phones (hello Note FE).
I’m writing this as a reminder of the things I experienced in 2017. You can consider this a bragging list and so if you want, you can stop reading right here.
So, my year went something like this:
- January – took my first official business trip down to Singapore. Didn’t quite work out, I left the job a month later but it was a fun trip.
- February – I found a new job and began the resignation process. It was a long time coming and not a few people were unsurprised.
- March – My first speaking arrangement! I was invited to be a speaker at the All-In Young Writers Festival in Singapore. It was my first time moderating a panel AND meeting most of the Singaporean Pulp Toast team.
- April – started at new job. Working hours were killer but it seemed my boss liked most of what I was doing. The slightly slower pace seemed really weird after doing multiple tasks for many different brands.
- June – I lent a friend of an acquaintance my two typewriters. They were exhibited and it was glorious.
- July – I went to CAFKL and gotloot. Quite a few of them are on display, but most are in storage for when I actually move to a new place. Also did the whole Bullet Journal thing. It turned out much more productive and efficient at clarifying my thoughts. This was also a hectic time at work cause my boss used it as a test run for another event in November.
- August – Company trip to Bali! It was fun but I didn’t have as much time as I wanted for introspection. Also towards the end of the month I had a horrible viral fever that ended with rashes for a week.
- September – took my car on her first multi-hour road trip out of state. She handled it far better than I expected and bonus? Mom liked driving her too.
- October – Celebrated friend getting registered for marriage and had awesome food. Also wrote a long rant on the personal blog for a game I play. xD This was also the month I bought a new phone.
- November – Completed Nanowrimo yay! It’s just 50,116 words, probably about 80% of which I will discard, but the process was essential to reassuring myself that I can still write and imagine fiction if I want to. Now to continue it for the upcoming year. Achievement as well: I consistently was able to write at least 400-600 words per session with the stylus if I wanted. The only drawback were sore hands. xD
- December – Ho gods the final stretch. We’re this close to saying goodbye to the year. Friends got married, social links were re-established, I went on a 3-night trip with mom and we didn’t kill each other, and work is DONE for the year. Wow.
Compared to the last few years, this is the first time in a long time I’ve felt that the year change will be less of just another day and more of time is taking its breath in a long time. Is it a change of eras? Who knows?
I hope your 2018 will be kind and wonderful. For now though, let’s celebrate that WE SURVIVED 2017!
_Inspiration for this post came from Ursula Vernon aka the Wombat Test Subject. PS: Frozen penguin pic from Flickr here.
Using the Bullet Journal System for ideas
Wanna try the bullet journal system but not a person who needs a To-Do list? Here’s how I modified the system to store ideas written on paper!
How it began
Not too long ago, I bought a second-hand Hobonichi Techno from Rin. This purchasing decision was based on two factors, namely I wanted a nice, different books for writing story/blog/etc ideas in, and it needed to be functional for me to want to use it regularly. Rin was selling only the cover and did not include a planner; this suited me just fine.
To complement the cover and because I have itchy fingers, I made some additional purchases from Taobao. This was an excuse to complete my pen collection and try out the new Ezbuy service (affiliate link).
I ended up getting this notebook because it had a few features that I wanted.
- Day of the week, so I could at a glance figure out when I was writing in this notebook
- Weather of the day which was a nice touch that ended up with me tracking whether the weather influenced me
- Thick-looking paper, which was essential as I tend to write with gel pens, so it had to be bleed-resistant at the very least
- Cheap enough that I wouldn’t feel too bad for not writing in it as often as I should
It took about one month to arrive as I had selected the option to buy straight from the page instead of getting ezbuy to assign an agent. On one hand, this automated the process so it was literally click and buy, on the other hand it took the longest route to get here. A fuller review of ezbuy will come later (I have it in my drafts somewhere).
Modifying the bullet journal system
While waiting for the notebook to arrive, I did some research on bullet journaling (because it came up as a cult joke on Productivity Alchemy) and realised I didn’t have to follow the To-Do format that’s so popular. I also didn’t need to follow the monthly and weekly planning. It’s an idea book, for goodness sake, I’m not going to need a daily/weekly/monthly agenda!
With that in mind, I was now free to focus on what I wanted the book to do. In the end, I kept the following components from the original Bullet Journal idea:
- Page numbering
- Index framework
Then I modified this to suit my needs. As such, I proceeded to add:
- A tags page aka what the entry is about
- A financial goals aka a reminder of things I want to do and how much approximately it will cost
- A habit tracker page, which quickly became obsolete because I was adding/removing habits
I allocated a lot of pages for the index because I knew how much I would use these kinds of books once I got into the habit. 4 pages were also allocated for the tags page. The rest received 2 pages a piece.
The most tedious part was actually numbering the pages. I may consider getting numbered pages for the next book, but I just number as I go along now. This makes it easier to ensure I don’t misnumber a page too.
Then it was time to start writing in the book. Because I was organising according to project and platform, I needed to be clear from the start where the idea was going to sit.
Here’s how the book is organised so far. The Techno comes with 2 bookmarks, and the book itself comes with another. Techno’s bookmarks are placed on the index page and the tags pages which make it easy to flip. The one for the notebook is on the last written page. Small touches matter.
I haven’t made full use of the inside pockets of the Techno but I inserted a nice decorative piece bought from CAFKL into the Cover on Cover pocket. It also informs me when I should clean the cover since it’s a white card. :p
The other thing I love about the Hobonichi is the pen holder that also keeps the book closed. It’s a simple and ingenious solution, but I only wish my pens would actually stay inside – the holder is kinda snug but not fitting, and the pens don’t seem to stay unless they have a have a sturdy clip – which my Muji pen doesn’t seem to have. So I replaced it with a Pilot WINGEL.
So far the system is working the way I was hoping it did. I find writing with paper and ink forces me to be more aware of what I write and the kind of paths it can go down.
It also gives me a good way to focus on the sound of the story; otherwise I would have written down the first idea I thought of and its expansions but completely miss the nuances the idea may have.
Backing up the bullet journal
This is also probably the right time to talk about managing backups and archives. I actually have in the habit tracker a reminder to back up the notes in this book weekly.
Currently, I am backing them up in one of two ways: either by transcribing them into a Google Doc for easier search or simply taking a photo and uploading that into Google Photos. This makes backups somewhat hassle-free and simple.
Final thoughts
As I mentioned earlier, I am still struggling to get into the habit of writing ideas down. No, I mean I should actually get back into regularly thinking of writing in the first place. And writing based on said ideas.
This bullet journal does actually work for me… when I actually use it. That’s been the biggest issue I have with it, which is probably a story for another day.
So, what do you think about my system? Any thoughts on how to improve, or do you have one of your own? Sound off in the comments or let me know on Facebook.