Tag: writing lifestyle

Thoughts on making a living as a writer

As many of you know, my biggest life goal (besides obtaining a signed first-edition copy of David Gemmell’s Legend) is to make a living telling stories that I love.  Accomplishing that goal is no small task.  For the last five years, I’ve been focused on that goal like a hellfire missile, and as of right… Continue reading Thoughts on making a living as a writer

Projects, projects everywhere …

… and not a clue where to start. Seriously, I feel like that guy in the Russian proverb who’s chasing two rabbits.  Except, in my case, it’s more like a dozen.  Here’s what I currently have to choose from: Stars of Blood and Glory — This one is in publishing mode, and should be out… Continue reading Projects, projects everywhere …

A new daily writing approach

So last summer, I decided to stop tracking my daily writing word count.  There were a lot of reasons for this, mostly having to do with the way it led me to focus on the wrong things and beat myself up in ways that were ultimately counterproductive. The trouble is, I’d structured almost my whole… Continue reading A new daily writing approach

A Letter To My 2011 Self

Dear Joe, Well, 2011 has been an eventful year, hasn’t it? It sure didn’t feel like it when you were down in the trenches, but now that it’s over, you’ve got to admit, you sure came a long way. You’ve discovered a lot of things about yourself since January. In your quest for economic security,… Continue reading A Letter To My 2011 Self

Some thoughts on internet access, self-discipline, and productivity

As many of you probably know, for the past four months I’ve been living in a small Georgian village in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains.  It isn’t as remote as some places in this country (like Tusheti, where some people still practice pagan animal sacrifices), but my internet access has been limited, especially compared… Continue reading Some thoughts on internet access, self-discipline, and productivity

Some new thoughts on productivity

I’ve been thinking a lot about writing and productivity, mostly because I seem to be struggling a lot with it lately. With nanowrimo just starting, this is a pretty topical thing to blog about, but I also want to look at it from a long-term career perspective, since that’s what I’m personally more interested in.… Continue reading Some new thoughts on productivity

Managing time and mental space in a foreign country

Some of you asked for a writing update, so I figure I might as well do a quick post on my current projects and where they are.  I’ve also been experimenting with my daily schedule a bit, so it would probably be good to blog about that as well. Right now, the main project taking… Continue reading Managing time and mental space in a foreign country

Writing log results

For the last month or so, I’ve been keeping track of my daily writing habits to look for patterns that might give me some insight on how to improve my creative process. I’ve amassed somewhere around 65 data points, and I think the results are clear enough to notice some trends.