G-G-G-Goals!

Goals.

When people wonder what motivates the super-productive, it can be a tricky one to answer. Sometimes, it's not about the creating so much. I've sat down to write just to stay awake so I could be sure I hear the Fed-Ex guy delivering something because gods forbid they ever knock. Other times, it's just a great excuse to drink coffee and move my hands for a while. Or it's a break from crochet or drawing because my hands are itching to go but the threat of RSIs mean it's time to change up.

Sometimes, it's just a choice I make.

Goals (still here) help. I mentioned before the advertising and wanting to do ComicCon are big to-do's even though I haven't been making much money. At writing. I do take odd jobs here and there that means my fish don't starve, gifts are made, etc.

In some ways, I have too many, but I try not to look at the pile-up. There's the UnQuadrilogy I'm still working on. I have several books started with rough outlines for possible outcomes (one of which actually became a short story instead). I have two comic ideas I've been fiddling with treatments for. These aren't just maybes. These are ones I constantly think about, jot down notes for, all while writing up drafts and editing and the other life-ish things.

I'd love to bottle it and sell it. I'd be filthy rich and could afford a studio and employees and just pump shit out like a factory. However, it's a matter of whatever magic formula appealed to me. Like losing weight, it's not just something you can do for a week and, boom, you're done. To build good habits takes a lot of work and it's always easier to just not do it. Like losing weight. I really need to get back to that, but 'tis not the season when I have much else to do. The fish tank and long walks and running up and down the stairs because every truck sounds like a Fed-Ex truck maintains me for the time-being. The tough part is resisting the temptation to bundle up and eat. When you've got the genetic make-up of a she-bear, this body stores everything like it doesn't trust me not to eat for a while. It's not wrong. I forget. But bingeing is a big no.

It's a mental thing. Yeah, I'm mental, but I mostly mean discipline, fortitude, motivation. It takes patience and introspection. If you think sitting to think is wasting time when you could be doing something, then that's likely part of the problem. Thinking is the powerhouse for action. I can't tell you how often planning and brainstorming for an hour had led to typing 2k/hr for 5 hours of work. I managed a 10K sprint in part-time hours. My usual average is a modest 1k/hr so that's a HUGE time-cruncher. The same thing can be apply to your creative pursuits.

If you have an inner critic, you need some sort of ritual to drown them out. For drafting, it's absolutely pointless. When you are building up an idea, your ego, goals, criticism--they all have to GTFO. They'll have their place, but ideally, you need to stop worrying about everything within 10-15 minutes of steady work. If you have the sort of focus to try for longer, then go ahead and stumble for 30 minutes, an hour, but if you really can't get the creative juices in their own arena and your head keeps getting in the way, time to abandon it and try something else.

If you're stubborn (and I am that too), then it's not necessary to completely throw out your plans, but you will want to change tact. I've posted quite a few helpful ways to dabble in writing-related planning, including map-making, character sheets, blogging, updating social media or websites, mind-mapping, brain-storming, Venn Diagrams, eating, drinking, sleeping...

A common area that writers can forget. If you're a busy person, it's even easy to miss how important those things are to how useful your brain and body are. Eat, drink, sleep. Lots of water and, yes, it will make you pee a lot. There's a rule that I broke for years; you know, the thing video game warnings used to print out? You need a 10 minute break from sedentary work every hour. Having to get up to pee is a great excuse. If you find it too distracting, take a notebook with you (or keep it in the bathroom) and jot things down. I've similarly done yoga stretches or made food to eat while attacking a notepad. You think your art suffers for interruptions, wait until your body slows down after prolonged abuse. You could be looking at months, even years where just sitting up in bed is a chore. It's not just an old people problem-- it's a danger in an era of technological convenience.

It's really not necessary to keep lists like I do, but it doesn't hurt. If you just tend to forget, then setting alarms and making lists are good habits to start. 

Sure, it's tough. All of it. Typing fast, pounding out ideas, those are very hard won advantages to working efficiently, trial and error. It's messy. It's less messy once you build up your arsenal, but if what you want is to actually work on those ideas you're wistful to put to work, then you need goals. You need to devote time, however small. You need to plan what resources will make you more efficient. You need to have actual things to look forward to (like getting a booth and ComicCon, planning giveaways, paying for advertising).

Speaking of which, I'm hearing a lot of writers downing on paid advertising, yet some of my more successful writer friends are always drumming up interest in promotional materials, giveaways and... paid ads. I would, however, warn everyone not to dump hundreds into ad-campaigns, no matter how much of a 'deal' it's advertised to be. Start at the lowest priced packages and if they build success, then move up through the amounts. Ending up in the negatives because you think more is better is a common pitfall. Stick with something budget-friendly when starting out. This is advice I see consistently and something to definitely consider if you're on a low budget.

You Can Make Me (But You Can't Break Me)

I hesitate to make a claim that bold because I know damn well the lengths people will go to break me, both as a woman and as a human being. Is it a little sad to say that I'm aware I'm not invincible and I'm not proposing a challenge to physically cripple or harm me, just making a stand as a writer?

Regardless, this is what I mean-- While fans and trolls can promote me in terms of popularity and sales, there is nothing that can be said that will make me give up my dream to write and draw. I've heard it all-- some people can find no fault (and can offer me no room to grow) while some people absolutely hate things I've done (also offering nothing to improve on). However, good or bad, the words are showing that people are paying attention.

Often that is the way people will strike the hardest. It's not the complements or insults that cast the worst shadows, but the silence. People like Trump, attention whores, would slap the water but eventually sink if we just stopped talking about him. It's why many people have resorted to becoming infamous, eschewing quality and integrity in favor of staying in the spotlight. At first, it did hurt that I couldn't get people to read my work. However, I wondered about the path of my stories and my work when the temptation of money and burden of popularity colored it.

Green can be a lovely color, but often lends tragic results in combination with others. You have a little green and it's never quite as green as you like, so you want more. You gather it and wonder if it's as green as it could be. And why the hell are you not happy with it when so many people's only taste of green is envy?

I know that money isn't everything, but the people who say that most often have more than what is comfortable or not much at all. Rich people can be the most blasé about it, but also live lives so effortlessly comfortable, blind to the things that are auto-paid or complimentary or expected, the red carpets rolled out that they never look down at while their noses are turned up. Poor people can be so used to the exhausting struggle to have enough of it to throw at basic needs that they prefer chicken farming to the endless effort every little detail of survival makes necessary. So many of us are sick of money-- both the dependency and that it's hard to make it fill all the holes in our lives that we think it should.

Of course, I think about money. Taking on writing and art as my primary contribution has not been a road to financial comfort. However, I have never felt like I am more in my element than when I work on it. Many people unfailingly believe that if you do what you love, you never work a day in your life. It's not exactly true taken literally because many people realize a dream is harder work than they're willing to risk when they do make a go of it. Even the people that stick with it have crippling moments where their resolve is tested. Some even admit to quitting for years but still longing for it, just don't want to repeat those mistakes but unsure of what other routes are available. What is true about it is that the work is a compulsion that exceeds duty. Even when it's hard, you're left with a determination that is hard to describe with any word short of passion or love. It's intense even when it's frustrating. You could throw everything down and walk away and you find yourself ending up in front of it again. And yes, time spent doing it is gone so fast. Your body may feel the full 14 hours, but your mind is confused by what time it is. Didn't you just blink and the hours are gone? You go back through what you did and sometimes look at it in a state of wonder. Did you really just do that?

Nothing can compete with that. It's just a fact. You can tell me I suck or I'm pretentious or perverted or boring or confusing-- pick your adjective-- but you can't say anything to me I haven't already beat myself with at some point. You can't amplify it in numbers or voices or threaten to blacklist me. You can pick it apart or slam it with bad reviews. I can't say it doesn't hurt, but it doesn't stop my drive to keep going. Unless I see some constructive criticism, I don't let it lay on a nerve. It's small and insignificant compared to the fire burning to keep going.

Finishing up, I do want to say that you can find fault with my views on this, but what matters is that I am doing something that makes me happy. And others as well. What strangers think I should do will not play into what I can and want to do. While I am full grateful for support and opportunities to grow, negativity has no place in my focus.

*I do apologize if any generalizations are taken as a blanket statement. That's never the intention. I do have experience with wealth in different extremes and I know there are exceptions. It doesn't change the fact that money is a poisonous crutch to so many people and we need it just as much as we don't want to. We don't want to care about it but we're aware of its power. It's not a perfect world and there's no perfect way to sum it up, but it is important to discuss our impressions and experiences in a way that makes it clear we are aware that they are opinions are not facts.