What did you blog about today?

[Stephen Palmer]

An important historical document.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Jo, been a little light on blogging due to a combination of much work (making redrafting notes took a loooong time) and having gone from umpteen reviews (about 6-7) to none. Do plan to keep blogging, just that I've not had that much time and stuff wouldn't come to me (and I'd rather take a small break than just write stuff for the sake of it).

 

[Juliana]

I didn't put my last blog post here, as I posted it in GWD instead (it was the interview about making time to write). I've been trying to organize my notes from last week's convention, and I'll do a blog post on that.

 

[Juliana]

There! Organized!

Boskone 53 Round-up
(also, if you click on home, the next post down is the making time to write one)

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Ha! Got you all on the run (nice read, Ju!) anyhow, I mused on where the spaces for an author to grow are now:

JoZebwrites: Room to Mature.

 

[Juliana]

As usual, interesting musings from Jo.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

The Naughty Step rides again...

 

[pambaddeley]

Just posted about the progress on the 'final' edit ... at least there is some - Chipping Away at the Stone – Pam Baddeley, Writer

 

[Stephen Palmer]

On crappy reviews.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

On to-do lists. And stress.

JoZebwrites: Must do, should do, would like to do

 

[thaddeus6th]

Jo, good piece. One minor point I'd make is that women being more likely to report stress than men doesn't necessarily mean they feel more. Men (bit cliched, but still) bottling things up happens a lot, and is probably why more than three-quarters of suicides are male (women actually attempt more, but in such a way that rescue is possible, whereas men, despite attempting fewer, tend to go all the way).

I agree entirely on time management being very tricky, especially when lots of things are easy to forget (it's why I reply to e-mails so quickly, otherwise I can forget about things for months).

Edited extra bit: and here's a piece I did yesterday with a few quick tips about comedy: Thaddeus the Sixth: Tips: Writing Comedy

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Jo, good piece. One minor point I'd make is that women being more likely to report stress than men doesn't necessarily mean they feel more. Men (bit cliched, but still) bottling things up happens a lot, and is probably why more than three-quarters of suicides are male (women actually attempt more, but in such a way that rescue is possible, whereas men, despite attempting fewer, tend to go all the way).

I agree entirely on time management being very tricky, especially when lots of things are easy to forget (it's why I reply to e-mails so quickly, otherwise I can forget about things for months).

Edited extra bit: and here's a piece I did yesterday with a few quick tips about comedy: Thaddeus the Sixth: Tips: Writing Comedy

I absolutely agree with you on the men front, actually (and male suicide is a huge problem here in NI, one of the bit, often overlooked, legacies of our past), but one salient point that i think does make things a little different is that it is the level of women's stress that has climbed markedly in recent years with, as far as I could research (pity @alchemist isn't around), a less noticeable rise in male stress.

So, yes, both sexes get stressed, and men's is often under-recorded (although there is a key hormone women tend to be lower in, so there is a medical reason why women are also more prone), but it's women's stress that is mushrooming currently.

 

[thaddeus6th]

The increase is probably right, given that women have moved from working being a bit unusual to it being standard (male childcare has made a bit of a shift but not to the same degree).

 

[Juliana]

Jo and Thad, I finally had the time and wifi access to read your latest blog posts, and well worth the wait. Thad, great tips list! And Jo, bleakly true on stress and to-do lists (both for men and women). I've always loved the quote by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of adventurer Charles Lindbergh and mother of five. "What a curious act we women perform everyday of our lives. It puts the trapeze artists to shame. Look at us. We run a tightrope daily, balancing a pile of books on the head. Baby carriages, parasol, kitchen, chair, still under control. Steady now!"

 

[thaddeus6th]

Thanks

Due to pre-release stuff, I actually have plans for the next few weeks and (due to a chance tweet) will likely be doing a piece about disabled figures from history. The tweet was about disability and lack thereof in fantasy, which gave me pause for thought.

 

[Juliana]

Here's something odd and a bit waffly that sort of poured out this morning... On how fantasy stories can seem at the same time familiar and unfamiliar.

The (Un)Familiar

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Nice, Ju. Thad, Mark Lawrence did something like that a few years ago - it might be worth looking at what he had to say.

Anyhow, I blogged about blogging:

JoZebwrites: BLOG ‘COS YOU WANT TO, NOT ‘COS YOU HAVE TO.

Next week, I'm taking a break since I'm at Mancunicon, but some guy called Sir Edric is going to post for me, on the perils of women.

 

[Juliana]

some guy called Sir Edric is going to post for me, on the perils of women.

Ha! That should be...interesting!

Jo, re your blog post (didn't want to go on and on on FB so posting here), I was determined not to do the whole blog thing. I really, really didn't want to, and I had nothing to say. So instead I started a micro blog on tumblr which was mostly short bits and photos. But then the short bits started growing longer, and I moved to my current wordpress, and next thing I knew I was hooked. Heh. So much for not blogging, ever. Sometimes I bang out a quick 20m blog post, other times (like when I do interviews and need to be properly thoughtful and look up everyone's bios etc) it can take a good couple of hours. But I do it because I like it, not for exposure (although it's lovely and rewarding when an author I've interviewed shares a post).

My friend Carrie (Jo knows who I'm talking about), who has an upcoming debut by a biggie pub house, has been told repeatedly by her 'bosses' that she has to have more internet presence. But she really, really doesn't want to blog. So she found a compromise; she's been posting haikus about special moments in her life instead.

At the convention I went to lately, Wesley Chu mentioned he tried blogging but really didn't like it; he prefers twitter to connect with people. So I guess the moral is, find what you WANT to do, rather than what you think you SHOULD do. Whether that's blogging, tweeting, or posting haikus online.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Might see if I can find it... my knowledge of disability in fantasy is minimal, but I know a little more about history.

Alexander and Caesar were both epileptic (Caesar may have also had Crohn's), and Hannibal only had one eye. Depending on the definition, it's surprising the three best known ancient generals were all disabled.

I wouldn't trust a word Sir Edric says. The man's a scurrilous rogue.

Agree entirely on doing what fits. I like Twitter's brevity. I don't like Faceborg's tentacles. My blog, whilst currently (or shortly) all about self-promotion/Sir Edric stuff, is a nice place where I can ramble about historical stuff like the Diadochi and Eastern Roman Empire, or have Sir Edric explain why elves are rubbish. It's handy having a place for that sort of thing.

 

[thaddeus6th]

To maximise efficiency, I copied and pasted this (well, it was a guest piece written for me. I'm not some sort of nefarious bounder):
Thaddeus the Sixth: Guest post: Authors Navigating Instagram - Hashtags, Sister Apps, and Best Practices, by Jo Michaels

It seems there is a thing called an Instagram. And this is a guide for authors using it. Capturing images and transmitting them through the air sounds suspiciously like sorcery to me, but there we are.