Progress Is Possible

PROGRESS IS POSSIBLE I don’t necessarily like to go back and revisit things, however right now I thought I’d take a look again at 4 earlier Fantasy Author’s Handbook posts and see if I’ve managed to take my own advice, appropriate my very own shortcomings, or hold my own promises. That isn’t always easy to do, however I’ve by no means been an enormous fan of “do what I say, not what I do”-style advice, so in the identical spirit of actually trying my own writing workout routines, let’s see how I’ve carried out on 4 factors, working my method back from the newest. On July 5, solely six weeks ago, I wrote about . . . MY 3.85-HOUR WORK DAY In that post I bemoaned my own lack of progress on a pair initiatives and also did some analysis on the origin of the eight-hour work day and what number of hours actual individuals really work. At the tip of that post, I set myself the goal of increasing my work day from that much less-than-four-hour low to 6 hours. So how did I do? It bears repeating that that is time spent actively working, not together with lunch, errands, speaking on the cellphone with pals, taking the canine out for a walk, yelling at my kids to take the canine out for a walk, and all the opposite things that intrude on the work hours of somebody who works from residence in the same way that conferences, “water cooler chat,” the day’s commute, and other distractions and time-wasters intrude on an workplace employee’s day. Since I submit these on Tuesday and needed to make a direct change after July 5, I added up my weekly hours as though a work week ran Wednesday-Tuesday. In the total 5 weeks of this mo dified work week since that preliminary submit I’ve averaged out to 4.75 hours per day, a median improve of .9 hours per day. So, haven’t fairly made it to 6 hours, but I’m headed in the right course. And more importantly, operating behind on nothing. This reveals that by gathering information, thinking about it, comparing it to the experiences of others, it is attainable even for a middle-aged gentleman like myself to change his evil, or a minimum of slovenly methods. Looking at this week’s to do record, if I hold my eyes on that prize, I’ll be getting to 6 hour work days starting . . . yikes . . . at present! On April 5 I blamed myself for a series of . . . TRAGIC WRITING INJURIES The back pain solely obtained worse, and after a stable year went by for the reason that first jolt of breath-stopping pain was lingering persistent agony, I lastly had to try another physicianâ€"something to determine what the hell this was, especially with some other really scary signs including numbness in my arms and legs suddenly displaying up. Finally, lastly, obtained a physician to have a look at me for various seconds, take blood and x-rays, and . . . drum roll please . . . Osteoarthritis of the thoracic spine! We have a winner. What causes this? I suppose my crooked posture photographed in that submit might not assist however it’s wanting like I’m simply too God damned fats. I’m tall, at about 6’three”, but 360 kilos is just means, way too many pounds. Don’t believe me? Try this: Get 100 kilos of sand and strap it to the front of your stomach. Carry that round everywhere, at all times. Sleep with it. Wake up with it. Go to bed with it. Yeah. Treatment? Stop bein g so fats. I’m now into week three of no processed sugar, little or no if any fat, very much much less meat, and common aerobic exercise each week day including stretching workouts and Wudang Five Animals Qi Gong. I already have more almost ache-free days, and can get again to the physician within the subsequent couple weeks to see if there’s something else I could be doing. I’ve lost weight earlier than and when you’ve by no means had to attempt it, you have no thought how onerous it is. I use meals as an anti-depressant and it may be simply as onerous to kick as any drug. But strangely, I’ve discovered that I even have no sugar cravings at all, don’t miss the afternoon salty snack, and might stroll away from the third serving at dinnerâ€"even seconds!â€"without the withdrawals. I suppose I managed to get my body to such a broken state that my mind truly recognized that it’s more painful to be this fats than it is to go with out ice cream. Fingers crossed, we are able to get this factor beat in a year. I NEED TO READ NEWER BOOKS . . . was a promise I made on January 12 when I realized that most of the books I was reading at any given time were older than me, and I’m fairly old. I began off by including the latest Elvis Costello autobiography to my “at present reading” shelf and . . . just completed studying it final night. What? It’s a pretty long book, however really? Eight months? I blame the New Yorker, which just retains coming. Every week. Week after week. My non-New Yorker reading actually dropped off the first half of this yr. But thanks in large part to spending half an hour on the exercise bike every single day, I’ve started reading extra normally, so let’s see if I’ve managed to read more newer books . . . My present books are: Essential Doctor Strange, Vol. 2. Marvel comedian e-book reprints from the late 60s. Not new. Black Legion of Callisto by Lin Carter. Early 70s sword and planet collection. Pretty much the same age as the good doctor. A guide from 2015! Space Wolf by William Ki ng. A Warhammer 40,000 novel fromâ€"hey, not that way back: 1999. That’s solely a year older than my son. I suppose I stated I needed to read books that were lower than eighteen months old but what the hell, it came from my random science fiction seize bag box, and I’m diggin’ it, so, no matter. What We Talk About When We Talk About Loveâ€"a group of quick stories by Raymond Carver, mostly from the 80s. Raymond Carver is a nationwide treasure, so . . . And changing Elvis Costello for my present non-fiction read: The Upright Thinkers by Leonard Mlodinow from 2015! Hey! So, yeah, no less than there’s nothing from earlier than the time of Christ. Baby steps. But my favourite of all . . . RANDOM BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION PROMPTS FOR WRITERS This one I’ve absolutely embraced proper from the get-go. I love this. You really need to do this. One factor I’ve added to it is to combine up the prompts more. Some didn’t actually assist me, and I had a couple other ideas, but simply at present my Calendar advised me to strike the superhero pose and I did, and it always makes me really feel better. This month consists of prompts like “fix something that’s broken,” “Read Dr. Strange,” and “Tweet about another person’s e-book” that simply stops me, will get me doing something else, clears my brain, maybe gets me shifting, and otherwise not simply wallow within the to do list. You won't have a hundred kilos to lose, you might already be reading new books or don’t agree that new books have anything to offer, and may not be totally in charge of your work hours, but if nothing else, do this. I’ve come to look forward to these little reminders and take a look at not to look forward at them so I may be surprised. When was the final time you were pleasantly shocked? â€"Philip Athans About Philip Athans I have to do child steps myself. In most of the areas, you’ve mentioned. I’m attempting to change some of my habits as properly. I eat when confused. I additionally have to work on my story time. Lately dr. runs have been consuming them. I do learn newer books, although. It’s really harder for me to learn any classics as I am crunched for time. I have bookshelves overflowing with books and could begin my very own library, lol. I’ll get to them.