Blog Chain: What Gets Me Going

Tere Kirkland kicked off this round of the chain, despite having major computer issues. Good work getting it together, Tere! Yesterday, Margie posted. Tomorrow, head to Ali!

Here is her topic: What conditions do you need to get your best writing done? Closed door, crowded coffee house? Computer or notebook? Can you just sit down to write, or do you need to wait for the time to be right?

As always, my answer is not a simple one. 

I have yet to figure out what the best writing conditions are for me. Whatever that condition that is is elusive. I have written for hours at a coffee shop with complete success only to return a week later without the ability to write. I have written in complete silence and I have written with "Time to Pretend" by MGMT blaring on repeat. I have written indoors, outdoors, and behind closed doors. BUT I can never repeat the success I have with one atmosphere. That is unless I don't try so hard.

When I don't try so hard to get in words and pages, they tend to flow on their own. It's kind of magical. And by magical, the process is *POOF* gone before I can analyze what worked about it. Like I said, it's elusive. I may be searching for this perfect writing environment, but I know it'll appear to me soon. Until then, I am content with short stints of writing as I work on my craft.

Goals and/or The Beginning

1. Become a One Hit Wonder. *rumbo yo chaaange, rumbo yo chaaange*

2. Find a nice blazer, brown mohair perhaps, that makes me feel good.

3. Design a house.

4. Become a destination.

5. Never buy another bottled water.

6. Visit Stonehenge for the second time and change my mind about it.

7. Wear a pair of legit cowboy boots.

8. Order a coffee without feeling self-conscious (seriously, this happens).

9. Payback those to whom I owe mullah.

10. Shake hands with Neil Gaiman.

There ya have ten goals off the top of my head. You may notice none of them directly relate to me as a writer, I did not intend for that to happen, but am I glad it did. I am a writer, yes, but I am not Jonathon Arntson: Writer.

I am Jonathon Arntson: A Million Other Things.

Try it, it feels liberating.

Blog Chain: Greatest Accomplishment

This time around, Michelle Hickman, started the chain with this question:

This is the month in creating writing goals and making big accomplishments. What is your greatest accomplishment -- in writing, your life or perhaps something incidental that had a big effect on you?

Hmm.......

Er...............................

Uh........

Well.

My greatest accomplishment, thus far, was my decision to move out to the country to become a writer. That sounds so much more romantic than it actually was. Things have not been all that easy since I made that decision, but I am happier. Let's just say that if I got paid to be a self-saboteur, I'd be a millionaire.

As I work on my writing, I am also working on a degree in secondary education. My writing is both helped and hindered by my pursuit of a degree. I also work at a restaurant as a server. That was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made. I spent the first 10 yrs of my working life refusing to work around food. I was scared to death of getting orders wrong, poisoning someone, or spilling burning coffee on some poor old woman (my family carries the clumsy gene in many, many ways.)

Working at the restaurant has given me so much confidence, even in my writing, but especially in my communication skills.

Where am I going with this?

I think I mean to say that sometimes, our greatest accomplishments do not look like finishing that big first draft, but instead are a small beginning to a grand end. That end is in sight, and it's not really an end, but yet another beginning.

There are other inspiring posts to check out! Go see Sarah's post from yesterday and tomorrow head to Christine's blog.

Keep writing (brought to you by our illustrator friends)

I have been hard at work with my NaNo project, homework, and, well, work. Watch this amazing video, it inspired me to keep on writing!

keep drawing from studio shelter on Vimeo.

For the latest blog chain, Matt asks What is your favorite all-time monster? Yesterday, Shaun posted (his post gave me the creeps!). In general, I am not a monster person - I prefer the scary shit of real life. But to fulfill the blog chain, I quickly thought of the monster that really scares the crap outta me.

I am deathly afraid of everything that lives in the water. Anemones, crustaceans, sharks, bluegill: they all freak me out. Like, I've had panic attacks at PetCo over the pet hermit crabs with peace symbols painted on their shells. No lie.

It makes perfect sense that the monster that really takes away my ability to sleep is the biggest, baddest, scariest sea creature: the kraken. Tentacles reaching fifty feet covered in suckers that are lined with spikes are scary. And there's that mouth with rows and rows of teeth. Those features pale in comparison to the kraken's eye. When they show the eye of a kraken in a movie, I am done. No more. I just want to go sit in the window seat with a down blanket and a bowl of popcorn and rock back and forth for the rest of my life.

Despite the fear, I think krakens are fanfreakingtastic. There's something beautiful in their ethereal existence. They definitely rule the deep sea.

Halloween may be over, but these creatures occupy our consciousness all year. Tell me what monster scares the shit out of you! And go visit Christine for her favorite monster.

Oh, and to my fellow blog chain members: I promise I'll be getting around and commenting! I was without internet for almost an entire week due to Frontier's sillyness.

Happy NaNo 2011

It's kickoff day! I could spend 500 words telling you more about my excitement and wishing you luck, but I won't

Basically, this is the time to write and write for the sake of letting go.

Write dammit!

Okay?

Okay.