I thought with Halloween coming up tomorrow this blog posting would be somewhat topical. I just finished a book called Becoming Batman by Dr. E. Paul Zehr.
This isn't really a book on creating a costume so you can go out and have some actual fun with tricks when you don't get treats.
Wow...that sounded wrong.
This book is about the feasibility of training yourself to become Batman. Batman is unique among the superhero genre in that he doesn't have magic powers, he doesn't have alien superpowers (like a well-known Kryptonian), and he didn't get any of his powers from a freak accident or by tempting the fates by playing God or any other origin story posed as a moral. He was a kid who was screwed up at the injustice of seeing his parents murdered.
He trained himself to the peak of athletic perfection, training his body.
He studied the arts, forensic science, martial arts...training his mind.
Then he pursued his inner demons by ridding Gotham City of criminals. Seeking justice.
He was an ordinary man. His powers came from gadgets purchased from his millionaire holdings in Wayne Industries and his physical prowess came from hard work.
(Sure, some will bring up Iron Man, Marvel's answer to Batman, but this is about a man that gained his talents through hard training, not technology. Although for the record I think Iron Man still rocks and is quite possibly still better than most of the Batman franchise.)
Batman's history is, of course, subject to some editing and revision over history. A great summary is here.
Aaaand thus ends the history lesson. The book was an uneven read in my opinion. It presents excellent information on physiology and training and exercise, and the author carries a "Dr." in his title as well as being a martial artist. He presents information on topics such as hardening bones and the biology behind it; basically the structure of the bone gains microfractures, and in the process of "healing" they get stronger. He gives an overview of a technique that some martial arts masters had used and he had once tried that basically amounted to "hitting something really hard 1000 times a day until you hurt like a !@# and wait for it to heal"...a tree, a wall, a thin pad on a concrete wall are all good. And it works. I remembered reading outside this book that Bruce Lee (if you don't know him...you don't have any interest in martial arts) used to punch buckets of stones hundreds of times a day to harden his skin and bones in his hands. The author tried a similar technique and found that while it does work, it also seemed to damage nerves in his hands because his fingertips began to tingle, which interfered with some of his day job duties at the keyboard.
There was information on sleep deprivation, effects of aging, muscle growth, even physical stresses and how it affects the body.
The problem I had were relatively minor. First, the book is called "Becoming Batman". But it's not a how-to. It's more of an overview of whether it's possible to train to become someone like Batman. And he gives an answer. But if you're looking for an overview of what you would have to do to become a physical specimen of athletic perfection like Mr. Wayne, you're not going to find it here. If you want to know what your bones are made of at the cellular level, this is perfect for you.
Second the book read more like a physiology lesson given by a comic-obsessed nerd. Which is okay given that this is a book about Batman. But it wasn't really written focusing on Batman. It was focusing on the body and how attempting to train it to a condition like Batman's body would affect it while being sprinkled liberally with Batman references. It's like reading a book about how to send men to the moon with references to Battlestar Galactica thrown in, sans Cylons (We'd need armor plating made of ___ ___ inches thick to withstand the radiation of space while traveling en route to the moon, just like Galactica repelled nuclear blasts during the attack on the colonies! Okay, bad reference, but that's the gist of the feeling I got).
In the end this could have been a good book on the affects of training your body even if the Batman references were removed. It wasn't a bad read but it isn't on my gotta-gotta save shelf either. I'll probably pass it on to someone else who might benefit from the information. Any fans out there interested? Let me know.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Novel Fears
I wrote already that I'm working on a draft of a novel. It's progressing...but there are fears.
I'm averaging something like 700 to 1100 words a day on the draft. Then it would need a second pass to clean it up. Then I pass it to my editor-wife who actually knows something about things like grammar and punctuation. Then probably another pass or two. Assuming that the feedback doesn't point it in the direction of the garbage can, I would probably either start an agent or publisher hunt or find an editor for hire with more experience in the field of publishing and see if they can polish it up for an affordable fee.
But there's always doubt.
I'm dedicating probably an hour and a half to two hours a day on it. It's not perfect and I don't think of myself as a professional writer (my wife asked me when I'd stop thinking that way and I said, "When someone hands me a check in exchange for the manuscript and says they'd like to see more for another check, that's when!)
I try to remain realistic. The vast majority of writers never make it through the slush piles. Many writers, including some famous ones, collect hundreds of rejections before finding the first break.
I hear horror stories like the ones in the (current as of this writing) ISBW podcast episode talking with an editor from tor.com. They say science fiction just isn't selling now...yikes! Big publishers are in trouble due to the economy (and probably because most Americans don't read)...they are hesitant to have new writers into the scene when the moneymakers are the established authors...the list goes on and on. The podcast goes on to mention that beginners writing most likely does suck, and it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill like writing. Triple yikes! It's very possible I'm laboring for something that no one will ever want and will never make any money, which is even scarier since I put off another venture in trying to program an application that might be a better money maker in the long run (although running a business is a jar of hurt unto itself, really).
So in the end I'm working rather hard on something that may never see the light of day.
I try to cheer myself up by saying, I'm not a professional writer. There's no slap to the ego or personal hit in trying this.
I see plenty of horror stories about wanna-be authors that blatantly break common sense rules in submitting manuscripts; they send horror stories to young adult-representing agents, or don't bother to follow an agent's preferences by using fancy fonts and colored paper and pretty pictures. Still others do no research on how to properly query an agent or publisher. Or they just write a first draft and send that out with hardly any attention paid to detail in spelling or grammar.
I'm not perfect in that regard; heck, this blog probably has broken most of the grammatical rules since its inception, but these are typed off the top of my head. I rarely go back and repair entries unless my wife finds something that makes her eyes bleed. I do these so far in advance that when she asks about it I usually don't remember what she's referring to.
I really wish there were statistics somewhere regarding writers and publishing for relevant information I could use to not be so anxious about this dipping of the toes into the water. Sure, 95% (making that up...probably close though...) of people trying to get published are rejected. Maybe only .05% get a fat contract that lets them quit the day job and focus on their love of writing. But how many of the 95% were writing pure crap? Or never even heard of Standard Manuscript Format?
How many fit into my spectrum of skill (or lack thereof) and still get rejected? I want to filter out the people that make the mistakes I am trying to avoid. Would it skew into my favor then?
All I can do is keep plugging away and hope for the best...
I'm averaging something like 700 to 1100 words a day on the draft. Then it would need a second pass to clean it up. Then I pass it to my editor-wife who actually knows something about things like grammar and punctuation. Then probably another pass or two. Assuming that the feedback doesn't point it in the direction of the garbage can, I would probably either start an agent or publisher hunt or find an editor for hire with more experience in the field of publishing and see if they can polish it up for an affordable fee.
But there's always doubt.
I'm dedicating probably an hour and a half to two hours a day on it. It's not perfect and I don't think of myself as a professional writer (my wife asked me when I'd stop thinking that way and I said, "When someone hands me a check in exchange for the manuscript and says they'd like to see more for another check, that's when!)
I try to remain realistic. The vast majority of writers never make it through the slush piles. Many writers, including some famous ones, collect hundreds of rejections before finding the first break.
I hear horror stories like the ones in the (current as of this writing) ISBW podcast episode talking with an editor from tor.com. They say science fiction just isn't selling now...yikes! Big publishers are in trouble due to the economy (and probably because most Americans don't read)...they are hesitant to have new writers into the scene when the moneymakers are the established authors...the list goes on and on. The podcast goes on to mention that beginners writing most likely does suck, and it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill like writing. Triple yikes! It's very possible I'm laboring for something that no one will ever want and will never make any money, which is even scarier since I put off another venture in trying to program an application that might be a better money maker in the long run (although running a business is a jar of hurt unto itself, really).
So in the end I'm working rather hard on something that may never see the light of day.
I try to cheer myself up by saying, I'm not a professional writer. There's no slap to the ego or personal hit in trying this.
I see plenty of horror stories about wanna-be authors that blatantly break common sense rules in submitting manuscripts; they send horror stories to young adult-representing agents, or don't bother to follow an agent's preferences by using fancy fonts and colored paper and pretty pictures. Still others do no research on how to properly query an agent or publisher. Or they just write a first draft and send that out with hardly any attention paid to detail in spelling or grammar.
I'm not perfect in that regard; heck, this blog probably has broken most of the grammatical rules since its inception, but these are typed off the top of my head. I rarely go back and repair entries unless my wife finds something that makes her eyes bleed. I do these so far in advance that when she asks about it I usually don't remember what she's referring to.
I really wish there were statistics somewhere regarding writers and publishing for relevant information I could use to not be so anxious about this dipping of the toes into the water. Sure, 95% (making that up...probably close though...) of people trying to get published are rejected. Maybe only .05% get a fat contract that lets them quit the day job and focus on their love of writing. But how many of the 95% were writing pure crap? Or never even heard of Standard Manuscript Format?
How many fit into my spectrum of skill (or lack thereof) and still get rejected? I want to filter out the people that make the mistakes I am trying to avoid. Would it skew into my favor then?
All I can do is keep plugging away and hope for the best...
NaNoWriMo!
In a scant three days is National Novel Writing Month!
Shortened to NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month is a fun way to try jump starting the novelist in you by writing a 50,000 word novel (about 175 pages) between November 1st and midnight on November 30th.
That's roughly 1,667 words a day.
This isn't to write a masterpiece. It's not about a high quality story at all. This is about sitting down and writing. Fast. Hard. No editing. No rewriting. Just 50,000 words in a story.
You write it and then upload the story before the deadline for verification. You don't win anything more than a certificate and the knowledge of knowing that you have "won"...while it's easy to cheat, the people who do in this contest are really pitiful.
Another benefit lay in the act of writing each day. You gain some discipline in the act of setting a goal in word count and having to nail it each day to meet the goal. Sometimes novels that started from NaNoWriMo. For example, JC Hutchin's 7th Son started as a NaNoWriMo entry. At least, I believe that's what I heard in the "Get Published" podcast interview with J.C. The NaNoWriMo site has a list of some of the novels published as a result of participation in the festivities.
Now, of course there are detractors. NaNoWriMo focuses on setting goals and hitting deadlines, not refining the craft of writing. And perhaps these people who shake their heads in disappointment at the idea of NaNoWriMo have a point; it flies in the face of those who work hard at refining the craft of writing, reducing it to little more than a marathon with a line to be crossed rather than an art of telling a good story.
Personally if you're the kind of person that thrives on a deadline to accomplish a goal then NaNoWriMo isn't a bad thing. It might help encourage people to pursue their writing dreams. Is that necessarily bad?
There's no fee to enter. No penalty for "failing". Just sign up, write like crazy, and if you make it, you get a certificate. Let your inner novelist out to play a little.
(My wife is planning on trying to write 50,000 words this November. I'm not; I have a story I'm working on now, and part of the contest rules state you must start the novel on the first. Outlines, notes, etc. are okay beforehand, but the novel itself must start on the first, and I am not willing to suspend the story I'm working on now in order to start a new one for November and risk losing my momentum.)
Shortened to NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month is a fun way to try jump starting the novelist in you by writing a 50,000 word novel (about 175 pages) between November 1st and midnight on November 30th.
That's roughly 1,667 words a day.
This isn't to write a masterpiece. It's not about a high quality story at all. This is about sitting down and writing. Fast. Hard. No editing. No rewriting. Just 50,000 words in a story.
You write it and then upload the story before the deadline for verification. You don't win anything more than a certificate and the knowledge of knowing that you have "won"...while it's easy to cheat, the people who do in this contest are really pitiful.
Another benefit lay in the act of writing each day. You gain some discipline in the act of setting a goal in word count and having to nail it each day to meet the goal. Sometimes novels that started from NaNoWriMo. For example, JC Hutchin's 7th Son started as a NaNoWriMo entry. At least, I believe that's what I heard in the "Get Published" podcast interview with J.C. The NaNoWriMo site has a list of some of the novels published as a result of participation in the festivities.
Now, of course there are detractors. NaNoWriMo focuses on setting goals and hitting deadlines, not refining the craft of writing. And perhaps these people who shake their heads in disappointment at the idea of NaNoWriMo have a point; it flies in the face of those who work hard at refining the craft of writing, reducing it to little more than a marathon with a line to be crossed rather than an art of telling a good story.
Personally if you're the kind of person that thrives on a deadline to accomplish a goal then NaNoWriMo isn't a bad thing. It might help encourage people to pursue their writing dreams. Is that necessarily bad?
There's no fee to enter. No penalty for "failing". Just sign up, write like crazy, and if you make it, you get a certificate. Let your inner novelist out to play a little.
(My wife is planning on trying to write 50,000 words this November. I'm not; I have a story I'm working on now, and part of the contest rules state you must start the novel on the first. Outlines, notes, etc. are okay beforehand, but the novel itself must start on the first, and I am not willing to suspend the story I'm working on now in order to start a new one for November and risk losing my momentum.)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
SASE your Manuscript!
For some reason I've been running into this advice a lot online recently.
If you query with part of your manuscript, it is vital that you include a self addressed stamped envelope. Apparently this is one of those things that is thought to be "common knowledge" in the trade, but much of the time new authors are oblivious to it and are thus rejected outright.
Worse, it's an automatic rejection flag in many agencies. Send something in without the SASE and they'll heap your entry into the trash. Yikes!
Here are some links to additional information regarding proper mailing etiquette for your manuscript:
SASE Guidelines
The Logic - and Illogic - Behind the SASE
20 Tips for Writers
If you query with part of your manuscript, it is vital that you include a self addressed stamped envelope. Apparently this is one of those things that is thought to be "common knowledge" in the trade, but much of the time new authors are oblivious to it and are thus rejected outright.
Worse, it's an automatic rejection flag in many agencies. Send something in without the SASE and they'll heap your entry into the trash. Yikes!
Here are some links to additional information regarding proper mailing etiquette for your manuscript:
SASE Guidelines
The Logic - and Illogic - Behind the SASE
20 Tips for Writers
Monday, October 26, 2009
Scott Sigler's The Rookie
Scott Sigler rocks.
I first was introduced to Sigler's work with his debut podcast novel called Earthcore. This totally free book was released as a podcast and was a rich blend of science fiction, science, thriller and horror. I. Was. Hooked.
He released other novels, all freely available online, like Ancestor, Infected, and Nocturnal. The following garnered by his audio novels enabled him to finally get a publishing contract while continuing work on followups to many of his titles (Contagious has already been released as the followup to Infected, and I'm STILL WAITING FOR EARTHCORE'S SEQUEL!); and like many of his fans I've purchased some of his work to give as gifts to support an author whose work I truly enjoyed.
But you know the neatest part?
Well, aside from his strong integration of science into his horror/scifi style, of course...
He had me enjoy a book that with every chapter released I thought, "I'll probably delete it soon..."
His story The Rookie is once again a thriller/science/scifi mix with a dash of mobsters and sports stirred into the pot. And I hate sports.
Here's the synopsis from his own website (linked above):
**********
Set in a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future, THE ROOKIE is a story that combines the intense gridiron action of "Any Given Sunday" with the space opera style of "Star Wars" and the criminal underworld of "The Godfather."
Aliens and humans alike play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that literally want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed and rival players are assassinated.
Follow the story of Quentin Barnes, a 19-year-old quarterback prodigy that has been raised all his life to hate, and kill, those aliens. Quentin must deal with his racism and learn to lead, or he'll wind up just another stat in the column marked "killed on the field."
*********
I mean it. I can't tell a touchdown from a linebacker. "Third in ten" is like speaking Aramaic to me. If they're on the ten yard line I don't know if it's good or bad.
Despite thinking I was going to delete the chapter from my iPod until he would release more of something my style, like The Crypt, I listened to every chapter the bastard released. And I enjoyed the story.
For someone like me that's really saying something about the story.
More than that Sigler ties his stories together; The Crypt takes place in the Rookie universe. Aliens from The Rookie are hinted at in modern-day Infected. Like a sociopathic sci-fi Stephen King, the man makes his audience feel as if they're part of a greater story arch with inside references that newbies won't "get" until they're initiated into the Church of Sigler.
He's worked 15 years to reach that point in his craft. And he got pretty damn good at it.
Sigler is one of the big names in podcasting of novels. As a matter of fact he was one of the handful that inspired me to actually sit down and try writing a novel. Not because he made it look easy, but because he made me realize that maybe I had a story to tell. And he was frank about his own story in trying to get published and what the industry was like; there are no gummy bears or rainbows in his off-book stories (although if there were I'd bet that the gummy bears would wield the rainbows as weapons to slice your head off, and there'd be a feasible line of reasoning behind how they did it, too).
If you have ANY interest in horror and science, or just horror and science fiction, check out his stories. They're freely available. I dare you to not have the urge to purchase one of the print books after listening to even two of his books. The crossovers, the hard science, the fact that the man goes out of his way to connect with his audience...all this comes together into a perfect storm of entertainment. He's a pioneer on the ground floor of podcast novels. Grab your media player and download them TODAY!
I first was introduced to Sigler's work with his debut podcast novel called Earthcore. This totally free book was released as a podcast and was a rich blend of science fiction, science, thriller and horror. I. Was. Hooked.
He released other novels, all freely available online, like Ancestor, Infected, and Nocturnal. The following garnered by his audio novels enabled him to finally get a publishing contract while continuing work on followups to many of his titles (Contagious has already been released as the followup to Infected, and I'm STILL WAITING FOR EARTHCORE'S SEQUEL!); and like many of his fans I've purchased some of his work to give as gifts to support an author whose work I truly enjoyed.
But you know the neatest part?
Well, aside from his strong integration of science into his horror/scifi style, of course...
He had me enjoy a book that with every chapter released I thought, "I'll probably delete it soon..."
His story The Rookie is once again a thriller/science/scifi mix with a dash of mobsters and sports stirred into the pot. And I hate sports.
Here's the synopsis from his own website (linked above):
**********
Set in a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future, THE ROOKIE is a story that combines the intense gridiron action of "Any Given Sunday" with the space opera style of "Star Wars" and the criminal underworld of "The Godfather."
Aliens and humans alike play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that literally want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed and rival players are assassinated.
Follow the story of Quentin Barnes, a 19-year-old quarterback prodigy that has been raised all his life to hate, and kill, those aliens. Quentin must deal with his racism and learn to lead, or he'll wind up just another stat in the column marked "killed on the field."
*********
I mean it. I can't tell a touchdown from a linebacker. "Third in ten" is like speaking Aramaic to me. If they're on the ten yard line I don't know if it's good or bad.
Despite thinking I was going to delete the chapter from my iPod until he would release more of something my style, like The Crypt, I listened to every chapter the bastard released. And I enjoyed the story.
For someone like me that's really saying something about the story.
More than that Sigler ties his stories together; The Crypt takes place in the Rookie universe. Aliens from The Rookie are hinted at in modern-day Infected. Like a sociopathic sci-fi Stephen King, the man makes his audience feel as if they're part of a greater story arch with inside references that newbies won't "get" until they're initiated into the Church of Sigler.
He's worked 15 years to reach that point in his craft. And he got pretty damn good at it.
Sigler is one of the big names in podcasting of novels. As a matter of fact he was one of the handful that inspired me to actually sit down and try writing a novel. Not because he made it look easy, but because he made me realize that maybe I had a story to tell. And he was frank about his own story in trying to get published and what the industry was like; there are no gummy bears or rainbows in his off-book stories (although if there were I'd bet that the gummy bears would wield the rainbows as weapons to slice your head off, and there'd be a feasible line of reasoning behind how they did it, too).
If you have ANY interest in horror and science, or just horror and science fiction, check out his stories. They're freely available. I dare you to not have the urge to purchase one of the print books after listening to even two of his books. The crossovers, the hard science, the fact that the man goes out of his way to connect with his audience...all this comes together into a perfect storm of entertainment. He's a pioneer on the ground floor of podcast novels. Grab your media player and download them TODAY!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
What if I Fail?
If you're like me you have had an idea or five tickling the back of your mind where you wanted to become a published author. The problem is that it's always tickled the back of your mind and never actually became a full story.
I found this article on Cracked.Com that may give some inspiration to overcome that fear. It lists 5 people who "failed" their way to fortune.
Usually I wouldn't find inspiration on Cracked.Com, a site largely dedicated to funny lists and satirical social commentary. But this list had an author named Amanda McKittrick Ros and I thought, "This would be a perfect first post topic on a new blog about my progress...or lack thereof...in trying to get published!" (there are other posts appearing "previous" to this...but those are migrated from another blog. This is the first "official" post to the NAC blog.)
From the Cracked article:
***
Amanda McKittrick Ros is believed by many to be one of the greatest bad writers who ever lived. How do you earn a distinction like that? You earn it by opening your novels with sentences like this...
"Have you ever visited that portion of Erin's plot that offers its sympathetic soil for the minute survey and scrutinous examination of those in political power, whose decision has wisely been the means before now of converting the stern and prejudiced, and reaching the hand of slight aid to share its strength in augmenting its agricultural richness?"
***
Her first novel, Irene Iddesleigh, was self-published by her husband as a gift. The book managed to gain a following that counted among the members C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, who publicised the book with a contest daring readers to see how far they could read it without bursting with laughter. Even Mark Twain commented on the book with a witticism.
Probably not how she meant to be known, but her books did gain readers and that is ultimately what an author wants. What's more, she managed to turn these successful failures into a career from which she made a decent living financially.
So I figure...if someone like this managed to break into being a published author...I must have some chance, right? Maybe slightly more than winning the lottery?
I found this article on Cracked.Com that may give some inspiration to overcome that fear. It lists 5 people who "failed" their way to fortune.
Usually I wouldn't find inspiration on Cracked.Com, a site largely dedicated to funny lists and satirical social commentary. But this list had an author named Amanda McKittrick Ros and I thought, "This would be a perfect first post topic on a new blog about my progress...or lack thereof...in trying to get published!" (there are other posts appearing "previous" to this...but those are migrated from another blog. This is the first "official" post to the NAC blog.)
From the Cracked article:
***
Amanda McKittrick Ros is believed by many to be one of the greatest bad writers who ever lived. How do you earn a distinction like that? You earn it by opening your novels with sentences like this...
"Have you ever visited that portion of Erin's plot that offers its sympathetic soil for the minute survey and scrutinous examination of those in political power, whose decision has wisely been the means before now of converting the stern and prejudiced, and reaching the hand of slight aid to share its strength in augmenting its agricultural richness?"
***
Her first novel, Irene Iddesleigh, was self-published by her husband as a gift. The book managed to gain a following that counted among the members C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, who publicised the book with a contest daring readers to see how far they could read it without bursting with laughter. Even Mark Twain commented on the book with a witticism.
Probably not how she meant to be known, but her books did gain readers and that is ultimately what an author wants. What's more, she managed to turn these successful failures into a career from which she made a decent living financially.
So I figure...if someone like this managed to break into being a published author...I must have some chance, right? Maybe slightly more than winning the lottery?
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Music and Writing
I was listening to the StackOverflow podcast (number 69) went over, among other things, the topic of programmers listening to music and some of Jeff and Joel's anecdotal evidence of how it affects programmers' concentration.
I am not a programmer. I did a little coding while in college, and while I probably should have considered staying in that track or something related to it I did not...I became a techy tech. But when it comes to listening to something that is potentially distracting while concentrating on something else, I do this quite a bit.
My Aspergian tendencies make me more comfortable when I'm not disturbed from what I'm concentrating on. Sometimes it doesn't work very well because we're always being distracted by people walking in, interrupting with questions totally unrelated to what I'm there to work on, or phone calls (the bane of any work environment, I think). I used to try listening to my iPod at times when I wasn't even supposed to be interacting with people but then I got into "trouble" because "someone" felt I was unapproachable when wearing headphones (um...wasn't that the rule to begin with?). So I was forced to return to the less efficient way of interacting with my routines with more interruptions.
That said, I have noticed that there are certain things that are impaired in unexpected ways when listening to my iPod. I know it's not music, per se, but rather it is basically listening to audio content while performing some other task. I normally listen to podcasts. StackOverflow. Pseudopod. I Should Be Writing. The Writing Show. Escape Pod. MacOS Ken. And more. Can you tell I love my podcasts? It's like my version of NPR. I've discovered that if I'm trying to do something like writing, concentrating on a repair to a system, basically anything that takes more than rote actions, I find I can't retain the information form the podcast. It's like parts of it just disappear from time...I can't recall anything for periods of the podcast.
Another observation. I am trying to write a first draft of a novel. My goal has been 500 words a day. My writing area is usually at my desk, which is in the living room near the TV and the family. It's a long story as to why it has ended up there, but this is about observations on listening to something while concentrating on another task. anyway, I when I'm at that desk trying to work on the story I usually end up doing this in the evening. I get distracted easily by conversations, the television, the four year old, and even the fidgeting of other people. (It's weird since Aspergians are supposed to be very focused on things, supposedly...).
To help isolate myself I put on a set of headphones and listen to a loop of music videos I fetched from YouTube. It's basically the same list I've heard many other times and once in awhile I'll add one or two more. The background noise helps me focus a little more. I typically get somewhere between 400 and 700 words after roughly an hour of work under these conditions.
If I go somewhere else and work in quiet for an hour, I've hit upwards 1,000 to 1,100 words or more on average.
This tells me that, for me, music or other sounds while concentrating on a task is a distraction. I'm not a neuroscientist, but as I recall the brain breaks tasks down and processes various tasks in ways that don't break down into what to us are logical units. Even when making sentences, bits and pieces, like the nouns, the verbs, the structure of the sentence coming out of your mouth...are pulled from different areas of the brain to be assembled in another part before erupting from your speak hole.
So I'm thinking that music or listening to audio content stimulates parts of the brain that otherwise are part of the creative process.
It doesn't seem so bad when listening to music that I've listened to a hundred times before. It's like once the brain has something imprinted and it's not something that is being operated on...analyzed, thought about, etc...then it is background noise that helps drown out some of the ambient noises. It obviously isn't completely unprocessed in the mind, but it does have different effects depending on how it is "memorized" or imprinted in memory.
There is obviously some disconnect that people have with perception vs. reality in dealing with distractions. Countless studies have shown that texting while driving, talking on the phone while driving, even eating while driving increase your chances dramatically of being involved in an accident. Yet hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people do this every day. I've often said that adults are really kids with bank accounts and more responsibilities...as much as many don't acknowledge it, adults have the same "it won't happen to me" attitude that idiot teenagers carry when taking irresponsible risks. I think adults quash some of the impulses...perhaps through experience their impulse control becomes a little more refined...but at heart, I know that people are still having that attitude poke through in different ways (like seeing someone reading the @#$ newspaper while driving down the freeway. If that isn't dangerous and irresponsible, I don't know what is.)
A huge number of people while say that XYZ helps them when in reality studies show that it's a distraction, or that they're actually being counterproductive. What it comes down to is that some people get into certain habits that they are comfortable with. For people like me, I need to try to isolate myself from distractions while concentrating on things that take deep or creative thought.
How about you? Have you noticed any affect from listening to something while concentrating on an unrelated task?
I am not a programmer. I did a little coding while in college, and while I probably should have considered staying in that track or something related to it I did not...I became a techy tech. But when it comes to listening to something that is potentially distracting while concentrating on something else, I do this quite a bit.
My Aspergian tendencies make me more comfortable when I'm not disturbed from what I'm concentrating on. Sometimes it doesn't work very well because we're always being distracted by people walking in, interrupting with questions totally unrelated to what I'm there to work on, or phone calls (the bane of any work environment, I think). I used to try listening to my iPod at times when I wasn't even supposed to be interacting with people but then I got into "trouble" because "someone" felt I was unapproachable when wearing headphones (um...wasn't that the rule to begin with?). So I was forced to return to the less efficient way of interacting with my routines with more interruptions.
That said, I have noticed that there are certain things that are impaired in unexpected ways when listening to my iPod. I know it's not music, per se, but rather it is basically listening to audio content while performing some other task. I normally listen to podcasts. StackOverflow. Pseudopod. I Should Be Writing. The Writing Show. Escape Pod. MacOS Ken. And more. Can you tell I love my podcasts? It's like my version of NPR. I've discovered that if I'm trying to do something like writing, concentrating on a repair to a system, basically anything that takes more than rote actions, I find I can't retain the information form the podcast. It's like parts of it just disappear from time...I can't recall anything for periods of the podcast.
Another observation. I am trying to write a first draft of a novel. My goal has been 500 words a day. My writing area is usually at my desk, which is in the living room near the TV and the family. It's a long story as to why it has ended up there, but this is about observations on listening to something while concentrating on another task. anyway, I when I'm at that desk trying to work on the story I usually end up doing this in the evening. I get distracted easily by conversations, the television, the four year old, and even the fidgeting of other people. (It's weird since Aspergians are supposed to be very focused on things, supposedly...).
To help isolate myself I put on a set of headphones and listen to a loop of music videos I fetched from YouTube. It's basically the same list I've heard many other times and once in awhile I'll add one or two more. The background noise helps me focus a little more. I typically get somewhere between 400 and 700 words after roughly an hour of work under these conditions.
If I go somewhere else and work in quiet for an hour, I've hit upwards 1,000 to 1,100 words or more on average.
This tells me that, for me, music or other sounds while concentrating on a task is a distraction. I'm not a neuroscientist, but as I recall the brain breaks tasks down and processes various tasks in ways that don't break down into what to us are logical units. Even when making sentences, bits and pieces, like the nouns, the verbs, the structure of the sentence coming out of your mouth...are pulled from different areas of the brain to be assembled in another part before erupting from your speak hole.
So I'm thinking that music or listening to audio content stimulates parts of the brain that otherwise are part of the creative process.
It doesn't seem so bad when listening to music that I've listened to a hundred times before. It's like once the brain has something imprinted and it's not something that is being operated on...analyzed, thought about, etc...then it is background noise that helps drown out some of the ambient noises. It obviously isn't completely unprocessed in the mind, but it does have different effects depending on how it is "memorized" or imprinted in memory.
There is obviously some disconnect that people have with perception vs. reality in dealing with distractions. Countless studies have shown that texting while driving, talking on the phone while driving, even eating while driving increase your chances dramatically of being involved in an accident. Yet hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people do this every day. I've often said that adults are really kids with bank accounts and more responsibilities...as much as many don't acknowledge it, adults have the same "it won't happen to me" attitude that idiot teenagers carry when taking irresponsible risks. I think adults quash some of the impulses...perhaps through experience their impulse control becomes a little more refined...but at heart, I know that people are still having that attitude poke through in different ways (like seeing someone reading the @#$ newspaper while driving down the freeway. If that isn't dangerous and irresponsible, I don't know what is.)
A huge number of people while say that XYZ helps them when in reality studies show that it's a distraction, or that they're actually being counterproductive. What it comes down to is that some people get into certain habits that they are comfortable with. For people like me, I need to try to isolate myself from distractions while concentrating on things that take deep or creative thought.
How about you? Have you noticed any affect from listening to something while concentrating on an unrelated task?
Monday, October 5, 2009
Novel Writing
I chronicled my progress on entering The Writing Show's Halloween short story contest. What I haven't really discussed was that since I entered that contest I was working on a novel.
I think writing is one of those ideal jobs for people with my mental wiring. I kind of live in my head already. I have stories to try telling. I want to work alone, without having to get stressed by other people. Unfortunately the life of an author is seldom the life of the Stephen Kings in the world. Very few authors get to make a life of their writing; most do it as a side job or labor of love. And that's the small percentage that actually get published.
I've heard that an author is someone who manages to get published despite really knowing how the odds are stacked against them.
I want to get a book published. I wondered if I could manage to defy odds and get a novel out there, maybe get someone to read it and like it.
I'm not an English major. I can't accurately dissect sentences into parts of speech. I just wanted to see if I could tell a story in a compelling way, compelling enough to sell it to someone that would hand over a decent advance and say, "Hey, kid, how about you send me another manuscript and we'll see about getting it published a year after this one?"
But I was afraid. See, something like this is best kept in your head. My head was filled with stories. Great stories. Stories that would make you tingle with delight at the valor of heroes and gape in awe at the entrance of the starship that swoops in at the last moment to the riffs of Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For a Hero". Your head would explode from the sheer amount of awesome in my imagination.
Actually trying to get these things on paper was another story. In my head, I am successful. I am great, as a matter of fact. To actually try it...that's putting yourself out there. It's a way to perhaps validate that I'm a failure. One of the only things I thought I could do as an alternative to the stresses I currently live with in my current job would be finally acknowledged as a non-alternative.
But I still toyed with the idea. I listen to I Should Be Writing. I listen to The Writing Show. Both give inspiration for wanna-be writers. I started reading magazines aimed at writers with tips on how to create decent characters and plots and how to avoid common pitfalls in beginner's writings.
After the contest entries I sat down and started working on a story. I'm near the 25,000 word mark at the time of this writing. It will require a lot of polish and enhancement before I really show it to anyone for editing. I still have fears that it'll get to a point where if there is a decent story in the chaff, I'll get stuck at a point where it can't be fully developed or completed. Or I might sabotage myself and give it a crap ending, validating my fear that I'm not able to cut it as an author.
I desperately wish I knew what I was doing, if what I have is "right". But it's subjective. And I can't send it out to people for comments if it's not minimally reworked; one of the bad things I've read about is asking for comments from someone then telling them a week later, "Wait! I redid these parts. See if it's better with this instead!"
I could be wasting my time completely.
But for now...I'm making goals to stick to. I wanted to add at least 500 words a day to the draft. I've been pleasantly surprised to be hitting about 1,000 almost every day.
So who knows? Maybe I'll have something good with this. Maybe it'll end up thrown away. If I can polish it, then get it edited a few times, I'll try shopping it around to a few hundred agents and see if there's interest. If not then at least I finally tried. I really haven't failed until I have tried, right?
I think writing is one of those ideal jobs for people with my mental wiring. I kind of live in my head already. I have stories to try telling. I want to work alone, without having to get stressed by other people. Unfortunately the life of an author is seldom the life of the Stephen Kings in the world. Very few authors get to make a life of their writing; most do it as a side job or labor of love. And that's the small percentage that actually get published.
I've heard that an author is someone who manages to get published despite really knowing how the odds are stacked against them.
I want to get a book published. I wondered if I could manage to defy odds and get a novel out there, maybe get someone to read it and like it.
I'm not an English major. I can't accurately dissect sentences into parts of speech. I just wanted to see if I could tell a story in a compelling way, compelling enough to sell it to someone that would hand over a decent advance and say, "Hey, kid, how about you send me another manuscript and we'll see about getting it published a year after this one?"
But I was afraid. See, something like this is best kept in your head. My head was filled with stories. Great stories. Stories that would make you tingle with delight at the valor of heroes and gape in awe at the entrance of the starship that swoops in at the last moment to the riffs of Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For a Hero". Your head would explode from the sheer amount of awesome in my imagination.
Actually trying to get these things on paper was another story. In my head, I am successful. I am great, as a matter of fact. To actually try it...that's putting yourself out there. It's a way to perhaps validate that I'm a failure. One of the only things I thought I could do as an alternative to the stresses I currently live with in my current job would be finally acknowledged as a non-alternative.
But I still toyed with the idea. I listen to I Should Be Writing. I listen to The Writing Show. Both give inspiration for wanna-be writers. I started reading magazines aimed at writers with tips on how to create decent characters and plots and how to avoid common pitfalls in beginner's writings.
After the contest entries I sat down and started working on a story. I'm near the 25,000 word mark at the time of this writing. It will require a lot of polish and enhancement before I really show it to anyone for editing. I still have fears that it'll get to a point where if there is a decent story in the chaff, I'll get stuck at a point where it can't be fully developed or completed. Or I might sabotage myself and give it a crap ending, validating my fear that I'm not able to cut it as an author.
I desperately wish I knew what I was doing, if what I have is "right". But it's subjective. And I can't send it out to people for comments if it's not minimally reworked; one of the bad things I've read about is asking for comments from someone then telling them a week later, "Wait! I redid these parts. See if it's better with this instead!"
I could be wasting my time completely.
But for now...I'm making goals to stick to. I wanted to add at least 500 words a day to the draft. I've been pleasantly surprised to be hitting about 1,000 almost every day.
So who knows? Maybe I'll have something good with this. Maybe it'll end up thrown away. If I can polish it, then get it edited a few times, I'll try shopping it around to a few hundred agents and see if there's interest. If not then at least I finally tried. I really haven't failed until I have tried, right?
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