Inspiration

Reblog: The Number One Secret To Superhuman Willpower

It’s back to the Observer again for this week’s reblog, Dear Reader – this time from the fingertips of Benjamin Hardy.

With Lent on the door step, I thought an article about fasting would be approperiate. Now, while I can’t personally attest to the correctness of his claims in this article, intermittent short term fasting is something that has come naturally to me over the years. At first I did it without really thinking about it or realizing I did – though I’ve done it intentionally from time to time as well – and from my limited experience it seems to have beneficial effects. In any case, I found the article interesting and I plan to make a more conscious ritual out of it and see if I get any results.

So I encourage you to read the article, check it out for yourselves and maybe try it for a day and see if you experience any positive effects:

http://observer.com/2016/02/the-number-one-secret-to-superhuman-willpower/

Reblog: David Bowie’s 100 Favorite Books

As you all know by now, yet another music legend has lost his bout with cancer.

David Bowie was not only a varied and talented musician, he was also a varied and avid reader. Follow the link below to see a list of 100 of his favorite books, courtesy of Lincoln Michel at Electric Lit:

http://electricliterature.com/david-bowies-100-favorite-books/

How many have you read, Dear Reader?

Starting Over Again

“Every single decision you make turns you a little bit into the person you are going to be tomorrow.”
—Chris Hadfield

 

A week of the new year has gone by and things are slowly moving forward.

I’m on my eighth day in the Word Mines and about 5,000 words into my new project. Scrivener is serving me well, though I have barely even begun to explore its features, and it has allowed me to both pants and plot my way through the first leg of the story. Writing in isolated scenes is a new experience for me – one I am growing quite fond of. Most of the writing so far has been done on my smart phone – also a first. Previously I have only written blog posts that way, but with the overview Scrivener gives me I always know what I need to write next, and my daily target of 350-700 words is a perfect length for writing on the bus or on a break. Once home I can easily copy-paste the text into the right place in the story, do some quick edits, look ahead at the next few scenes and see if I made my target. Then I may or may not write more as dictated by time, discipline and inclination.

So far so good.

Rearranging my living space has been more challenging, but that is finally starting to come together. Next week should see all the important changes finalized, then there will just be details and two or three unnecessary projects left. I’ve set up a corner of my living room for painting and made drawer-space there for my art materials. With a bit of luck and some compromise I should also be able to find space on my desk for writing related resources. If everything works out, by month’s end I should have a home environment more conductive to creative pursuits than it has been for a long time.

How’s your year shaping up, Dear Reader?

I hope you have had a good start, with not too many resolutions broken, and that you have all be sort of plan or goal or dream for the coming year. If not, well…the Chinese new year is coming up. You can have a second chance at your first week after that!

Take a moment, get things started and begin the year working toward your dreams!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, Dear Reader!

I’m not usually one for new year’s resolutions. Instead I tend to do my own version or resolutions and restarting at the start of my personal year – my birthday.

This year, however, is special.

December was unusually hectic for me (in truth, January won’t be much better, but I won’t let that stop me…I hope) and thus I have decided on taking a more traditional approach on this new year’s day.

Each month I will pick one ’30 days to/of/for…’-type book to follow snd complete. At least for the first six months. I have a selection lined up, but haven’t quite decided which book goes with which month yet. Except the first. Chuck Wendig’s ’30 Days in the Word Mines’ will kick-start my year (and, incidentally, my new writing project). Also, I will restart my exercise regime (yeah, yeah, I know, that’s what everyone says), but that’s not all:

The new year also sees a slight upgrade on this blog.

I have redesigned my logo a bit, subtly altered the font here, added social media links, and there will be more updates in the coming months. My plan was to roll out a bigger overhaul today, but, well…like I said it’s been a busy December. Things will just have to take a bit more time.

Here’s hoping 2016 will be good to you and those you care about!