Writers (like other groups knitter, athletes, readers, etc) often have conversations about this new thing, this technique, this awesome process that they have discovered. And generally, you have one of two reactions - either that sounds so cool or meh. I spoke with a chapter-mate about how she went to one workshop about plot building and left a quivering mass, convinced she was deluded about this writer dream and she'd never make it. She went to another that day, and it was an epiphany, it spoke to her, the stuff made sense.
So, I have two (at least points). It's hard to figure out which is the thing that will be awesome, until you try. I knit one pattern using the twisted German cast on, and honestly, I can't tell the difference in the finished product between that and the long tail. So, I tried, for me, the long tail works great for most things, we move on.
When I first heard about NaNoWriMo, it sounded like the best idea ever. (I still think it is really cool.) It was a ridiculous month, given the rest of my life, but I knew that the shared competition/pain would work for me.
The second part of this is that sometimes things that you think are silly or for other people, suddenly sound awesome. There is a Buddhist proverb, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." Basically, things show up all the time and suddenly you're thinking, yes, I would love to learn more about martial arts and then you meet someone or remember that that person you were talking to a few months ago said something about that too.
When I first heard about fast draft, I thought, wow, that is amazing and crazy. That's like climbing Everest, you go have fun with that, I'll be here in the lodge. And then, somewhere along the line, I started thinking, well, it's really only like twice as many words as Nano in like half the time. And then I stumbled across a blog post where someone was talking about their experience going through a workshop. And I ended up signing up for one. Even though it was in January. Even though I had work, and volunteer stuff, and was already enrolled in another class for part of that time.
And I did it, and it was great, and I had a draft that...changed halfway through. So I haven't officially done that since. But I usually try to NaNo and finish early now. Somewhere between 14 and 30 days seems a good match for my style. And let's face it, like a lot of things, some stories, some knitting projects, some, exercise days (I hear) are different from others. It's not always the new thing that either helped or hurt. But it's worth exploring.
So, I have two (at least points). It's hard to figure out which is the thing that will be awesome, until you try. I knit one pattern using the twisted German cast on, and honestly, I can't tell the difference in the finished product between that and the long tail. So, I tried, for me, the long tail works great for most things, we move on.
When I first heard about NaNoWriMo, it sounded like the best idea ever. (I still think it is really cool.) It was a ridiculous month, given the rest of my life, but I knew that the shared competition/pain would work for me.
The second part of this is that sometimes things that you think are silly or for other people, suddenly sound awesome. There is a Buddhist proverb, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." Basically, things show up all the time and suddenly you're thinking, yes, I would love to learn more about martial arts and then you meet someone or remember that that person you were talking to a few months ago said something about that too.
When I first heard about fast draft, I thought, wow, that is amazing and crazy. That's like climbing Everest, you go have fun with that, I'll be here in the lodge. And then, somewhere along the line, I started thinking, well, it's really only like twice as many words as Nano in like half the time. And then I stumbled across a blog post where someone was talking about their experience going through a workshop. And I ended up signing up for one. Even though it was in January. Even though I had work, and volunteer stuff, and was already enrolled in another class for part of that time.
And I did it, and it was great, and I had a draft that...changed halfway through. So I haven't officially done that since. But I usually try to NaNo and finish early now. Somewhere between 14 and 30 days seems a good match for my style. And let's face it, like a lot of things, some stories, some knitting projects, some, exercise days (I hear) are different from others. It's not always the new thing that either helped or hurt. But it's worth exploring.
