Last Person #5

[Steve]

Congratulations.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

As I said above, I have quite a few freelancing gigs to do at the moment. Actually, items 3 and 4 aren't too bad. It's moreso items 1 and 2 that are killing me. What I am doing is splitting my time: writing 1000 words per day for the novella, which means I have to do that for 7 more days. For the novel, I am reading 50 pages per day, so that will take me 8 days to complete.

Sometimes, though, I wonder if splitting duties is the best way. I could ignore one item and just knock out the other, but then again it would probably take the same amount of time to complete both anyway.

Question of the day: when faced with more than one massive task simultaneously, what do YOU do? Chip away at all of them bit by bit, or ignore all but one task at a time? I am curious to know different approaches that people take.

Mostly, I conveniently forget that one of them exists. My wife uses a long word for this...something starting with a "p"...I just call it "being otherwise focused".

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Post #1500!!! As long as another thread doesn't get taken down...

I'm going to go raise hell in one, just to get it taken down and bring your count back down.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Bryce Courtenay (Bryce Courtenay - Wikipedia) told me a great story. He was a marathon runner, competing in over sixty of them. As such, you strive to run the most well known one, the Boston Marathon. A hectic writing schedule, tours, teachings and signings, as well as family responsibilities, didn't allow him that opportunity. Until it did. So he went and ran.

Bryce was a dynamic personality. When he lectured, he charged across the stage, engaging everyone, then would pause, and just grab your attention by the short hairs. He was a dynamic kind of guy. A gentleman wild man.

I paraphrase, but this is what he told my wife and I.
"I'm running along, it's a beautiful day, I'm not a Kenyan running in front, but I'm not a slouch, so I'm somewhere in the middle of thirty thousand runners, and I find myself pretty much alone. Up ahead, I see a man, much younger than I, and he's struggling mightily. You know me, you know how I enjoy to engage. So I pull up next to him and keep pace. I say - Hi There! How are you today?

He doesn't have much left so he just nods and grunts. I then ask him, So, my friend, what do you do? (Bryce is running in place as he tells this) The tired man replies, barely audible, I'm a writer. Bryce's eyes go wide, he makes air quotations and repeats - he's a writer!

Bryce says, Now I'm really going to mess with him....because he's a writer! So, tell me my friend, what's the secret to writing? The struggling man doesn't say anything for a moment....then slowly croaks out - "bum glue".

Bryce (still running in place while he shares this with us) thinks about it for a minute and says, My God, thirty years in this business, lecturing all over the world about writing, about story, and this hapless man just tells me the truest thing I've ever heard and never thought of before. Bum glue, just glue your *** to the chair and write. Don't answer the phone, don't go see what the dog is doing, don't go for a stroll around the house to stretch your legs, don't go get a drink of water....just write.

Bryce goes on and tells us - him and the hapless man finish the last ten miles beside each other, never really speaking much more. Just running. They make it to the finish line and help each other to the medical tent, where they wrap up in those reflective blankets and get water to rehydrate. Bryce sticks out his hand and says, Please to meet you, my name is Bryce Courtenay. The guy shakes his hand and says, Likewise, I'm Stephen King. They remained good friends until Bryce passed away.

Bum glue. Pretty good advice about writing, from a pretty good source.

I love that story. I'm a big fan of King - my favorite of his writing is actually his book about writing: On Writing.

 

[Buka]

I love that story. I'm a big fan of King - my favorite of his writing is actually his book about writing: On Writing.

Wasn't that a great read? And if you ever want to recommend it to somebody it's on-line (PDF) for free.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Friday...have seminars to go to this weekend.... seemed like a great idea at the time.... now...I just want to stay home ,relax and work around the house

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Wasn't that a great read? And if you ever want to recommend it to somebody it's on-line (PDF) for free.

It was easily as entertaining as his fiction, and that's saying something. Given there's a free PDF version, I'll be recommending it a bit more often.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I love that story. I'm a big fan of King - my favorite of his writing is actually his book about writing: On Writing.

His newer stuff is... disappointing.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

His newer stuff is... disappointing.

I haven't dipped into anything of his in years. I binged on King in the 90's, and I'm not sure I've read anything new since then.

 

[Steve]

I was a fan until he wrote It. Have read a few things since, but needful things was the last straw. Deus ex machina pisses me off.

 

[ks - learning to fly]

you know how sometimes your knee is in just this
aggravating, sleep-wrecking pain and then, one day -
you get a shot of cortisone and..pain, what pain..?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

you know how sometimes your knee is in just this
aggravating, sleep-wrecking pain and then, one day -
you get a shot of cortisone and..pain, what pain..?

I haven't gotten to the cortisone thing yet. I was just lamenting with my wife about the coming winter. It was 80 degrees Farenheit today, and my knees ached. What will it be like when it's freezing?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Seminar today, I'm going, I know it will be informative and I will enjoy it....but I'd still rather stay home, hang out with my youngest, bother my oldest via e-mail (and maybe phone) and do work around the house

 

[granfire]

I am off today, boss texts, to see if I can come in.

I contemplated it, but dang, I need to do some stuff at home today...while I hope I won't continue to be this effing sore.

This job is killing me!

 

[ks - learning to fly]

pretty good tournament today - coached a few of
our kids who did pretty well - as I just had the doctor
appt. yesterday, I was taking it easy and just did
form, took a silver so - all in all - pretty good day

 

[Xue Sheng]

Seminar went well, happy I went. It was taiji and as soon as the guy teaching found out I did XIngyiquan too he decided to start showing applications and used me for about 95% of those application demos....it was awesome

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Every time I click on this thread, "Mambo No. 5" plays in my head.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Every time I click on this thread, "Mambo No. 5" plays in my head.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I forgot to add this after Mambo #5

 

[Buka]

Happy Halloween, everyone.

Yes, I'm off to work this way, yes I'll probably get yelled at, and yes, I know a banana clip isn't suited to an automatic at work. I probably won't get any candy.