Organizational Tools

Organization: it’s like a Holy Grail for some folks, an unattainable goal, a mystical, amazing, miraculous process.

I suck at it. Totally. That Grail will never be mine. I will forever be the Woman Who Runs With Coconuts…

What? Oh. Sorry. Talking about the Holy Grail always puts me into a Monty Python mode… right. Back on topic, now:

In the midst of dozens of wonderful computer tools that could help me colorcode my life from dawn until 2 a.m., I stick by my trusty paper dayplanner and lots of hastily scribbled notes: fill bird feeders today. Get book 3 revisions finished! Call mom. Business plan for year ahead. Write more blog posts!

It’s pathetic. I know. And I do try. I’ve gone through multiple electronic calendar programs, virtual dayplanners, time tracking tools, plotting software, contact list trackers … determined, every time, to get my life organized … and within two weeks, I’m back to scribbling on bits of paper.

I even put together my own spreadsheet (created in Open Office) that should, if I did it right, let me get everything you need to know about everyone you know in one place, easily searched through and accessed. I’m still working on filling it out, myself… and to go by past history, I’ll probably lose interest in a few days and it will languish half-done for years, sad and lonely and pouting on my desktop.

I don’t understand it. I do, at this point, have to accept it.

But other folks like those sexy little organizational programs and gadgets–so I’m going to list a few of the ones I’ve tried, and throw open the floor to other suggestions. Hopefully this will help someone else find that Perfect Match that lets them streamline their life into a Powerhouse Of Productivity…

Anyhoo. Here’s what I’ve gone through to date:

Papel: Essentially, this is a freebie version of Scrivener. It’s not bad, for folks on a budget; a little clunky, but quick to make sense if you go through the “how to” files.

Fanurio: A free time-tracking software especially for writers. I really like this one, but as usual I keep forgetting to call it up when working…

Eyes Relax: This is a program I really need to use more often. It’s a free, automated “time out” program that blanks the screen every so often, forcing you to take a break. When I remember to turn it on, it’s fantastically helpful–because when I get on a roll, I look up three hours later and wonder why I’m hurting. Very customizable and user-friendly.

I’ve tried other programs. I know I have. I just can’t remember what they were and I can’t find my records about them…big surprise there, right?

I’ve also gone through the standard Microsoft roster of calendars and time trackers and scheduling software that comes with every Windows system; don’t care much for those at all, but the main problem, again, is my lack of willingness to open yet another program and enter information I could more rapidly write by hand.

If you want that spreadsheet I mentioned, please leave a message in the comments, or email me, and let me know if you want the Open Office or Excel version. I’ll email it to you.

What programs and/or methods do you use? Frantic writers everywhere want to know….

 

Dazed and Confused, Amazed and Amused…

Readings are, by and large, deadly-dull affairs. Friends and family sit politely, trying their best to prevent their eyes from glazing over; once their relative or friend has stood up for their turn, they gratefully head for the nearest exit.

That’s standard. That’s why readings, whether open-mic at a coffee-shop or single author reading slots at a convention, are so sparsely attended and often require a buffet of expensive treats to induce a healthy audience turnout.

Those of you who know my style of writing are waiting for the “but”. All right, here it is:

But I recently attended my first evening of a reading by students of The Muse Writers Center of Norfolk, VA, held at Lola’s Caribbean Restaurant, and I really enjoyed myself. Yes. And it wasn’t just because the food and service at Lola’s are phenomenally good–as an aside, it’s actually worth making a trip over the water, if you live in Newport News or Williamsburg, to visit this place–yeah, it’s that good.

Anyway.

Starting with Kelly Avery, who did a very nice job of reading an essay about a family gathering fraught with only tangentially explained tensions, on through the bright, evocative poetry of Cathy Malley, to the triumphant and powerful wrap up by teacher and writer Mae Lynn Walker–a short story about a woman with a steadily progressing degenerative disorder (it sounded like Alzheimer’s to me, but the disease was never directly named)–the readers, twelve in all, thoroughly impressed me with not only their material but their confidence in presenting it. For all that a few of them admitted being nervous about reading to an audience, they did a superb job overall.

And what an audience! I counted forty people in that room (Michael Khandelwal said it was closer to 65; I just know what I counted at one point, but now I think of it, I wasn’t looking back toward the bar…). Now, granted, it was a great restaurant, and granted, the Muse Writers Center has been around for seven years now (if I recall the comment correctly), and granted, these folks were reading work produced from a variety of seminars and workshops and classes, and granted, there were a number of Muse teachers (including me) in attendance–still. That is a really freaking big audience for a reading of twelve people. Color me impressed.

So here’s the deal. If you’re a writer or a reader in the Hampton Roads area, especially in Norfolk or Virginia Beach, you really ought to check out the Muse Writers Center. If you’re over on my side of the water, in Williamsburg or Newport News–it’s still worth making plans to attend a reading once in a while. The folks I heard were good, which speaks volumes about the teachers, the classes, and the students they attract. Take a look at the upcoming schedule, and take a night off to encourage and support your local community of creatives. You won’t regret it.

Oh–and if you happen to go to Lola’s, and you want real Cuban coffee, you’ll have to ask for it specifically…and it’s well worth asking for.

 

Looking Around, Looking Inside

I’m finally catching up with my backlog, one big part of which are the guest blog posts from the wonderfully patient Steven Savage. Here’s his latest offering: Stop Looking At Others. Enjoy!

 

Of Epiphanies, Whining, and Zazziness

I had me another epiphany just now. I like epiphanies. For one thing, the word itself is really cool: epp-piffff-phan-kneee… it’s fun to say. Like spatula.

What? Oh, yeah, my epiphany. Sorry. Here it is:

I opened up my latest email from Ash Ambirge of The Middle Finger Project–which is all about taking a sassy, “you can do it”, full-throttle approach to being an entrepreneur. As I scanned through the contents, I found myself thinking, “bwahbwahbwah, yeah, right, little miss perfect, maybe you could go from nothing in the bank and homeless to making a ridiculous amount of money in under a year, but you know what, you’re smart, and college educated, and experienced in marketing before your Big Crash, and you’ve got that personality, that drive, that zazziness (another cool word, by the way)–not everyone has that. I don’t have that. I’ll never be that kind of person–”

And I stopped, because I’d heard myself.

I was whining.

The curse of every creative person, the first crutch we usually reach for: whining. It’s not my fault, I’m not good enough, it’s not my fault, I just can’t get a break, it’s not my fault, my agent/publisher/friend/sister/lover lied to me, it’s not my faaaaauuuuuuuuult…

I got up and walked away from the computer. I made myself a nice hearty bowl of Irish oatmeal with lots of fruit and nuts and brown sugar and spices, and I let the whine work itself out while stirring the oatmeal.

Round and round and round the ladle goes. Round and round and round the thoughts go. I remembered a recent conversation with a good friend who told me that I need to stop being such a peacemaker and doormat. I remembered my odd confusion at that statement:

But I want to be nice. Being nice is my “thing”. It works for me. He just doesn’t get it. Just because I try a little too hard sometimes to help, even when it’s not my business to get involved, well, that just makes me a good person. I want to be a good person. You’re supposed to help other people out if you’re a good person….

At the same time, I saw exactly what he meant–and agreed.

But I can’t do that, was the immediate answer to that. I’m so tired. I don’t have the strength to push back right now. It’s too hard to stand up to people who are rude. It’s so much easier to just back away and let them go without a confrontation. It’s too hard to stay out of other people’s business. It’s so much safer to help, instead of taking the risk of being labeled a bitch for saying “your problem, not mine”. I’m so tired. It’s too hard….

Whining. Whining, whining, whining. Blech. I kept stirring.

Eventually the whining part of my mind gave up, and I had my epiphany:

I’ve known I was exhausted. I didn’t realize until just that moment that I ended 2011 not just exhausted, but flattened. I scraped through October, staggered through November, and limped through December–collapsed at the end of it, actually, with a 3 week bout of pneumonia. Not really surprising. I ran myself hard last year, and the last three months were supposed to be my wind-down rest period–and wound up, instead, into some of the most stressful days of the entire year.

I had nothing left. Nothing. Zip. I’ve been running not just on fumes, but on borrowed fumes–the support of friends, the kindness of strangers, the love of my amazing husband. When StellarCon very politely rejected my application because I queried too late–they were already full up–I was relieved. That gives me most of January and February to recover and get back on my feet again.

To get my zazziness back, because I remember now: I am that sort of person, when I’m not burned up and burned out and ploughed under. I know my zazziness is there. My drive. My “who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that; get outa my way because I’m not getting out of yours” attitude. I can see it, hiding in the deep nooks and crannies of my being; I scared it but good this time. But it’ll come back to me. I just have to remember the trick to coaxing it out of hiding….

…and in the meanwhile, I have a lovely bowl of oatmeal in front of me, and a list of fun stuff I’m looking forward to over the next few weeks. Like a tea tasting. A massage. Finishing the revisions for Book 3. Cleaning the house. And that science fiction story I shelved so that I could work on the revisions is beginning to stir again, and is kicking at me impatiently to come back (gotta love such a forgiving story)…

..but that story really requires my zazziness and “in your face” attitude to be at full capacity. And no other Major Projects on my desk. So for right now, I’m going to enjoy my coffee and my oatmeal; refill the bird feeders (that have been empty for months now) and watch the birds return to my yard; put on cheerful and silly music; get my obligation list whittled down little by little; and rest.

Inbetween writing, of course… speaking of which, excuse me, I’m due to start in on Chapter 71 of the revisions now…

…and you know what? Even if you won’t excuse me, I’m going anyway. So there. Mwah.

 

Stop SOPA/PIPA