Starting Starchildren 2 (Definitely won't be the actual name)

      Started writing the sequel to Starchildren this past weekend. I only got about two pages in, but two pages can be a mountains worth when you’re beginning a new project. One thing I’ve noticed this time around is that the words are coming a little bit more confidently. The first book was one thing, and even though it was only about 173 pages, it was a huge one thing! I’m planning for this second one to be even longer
      Unlike what most people say, it’s not all about the length though right? I don’t think this one will be longer for the sake of pleasure though, but more so as a result of my newest goals. One of the glaringly obvious facts of the first Starchildren, let’s just call it SC, is that it’s plot driven.  Being plot driven isn’t a bad thing, oh not at all, there are only 50k words after all! It just is what it is. I had two goals in writing SC:
1.) Communicate a point to important people in my life.
2.) Finish the book.
Mission accomplished… and a damn good read too.
Goals for SC 2:
1.) Continue telling my story.
2.) Use more detail as well as continue with excellent & true plot to drive the story.
3.) Finish the book.
This is doable, totally doable.

Necessary Evils

      When I sit down to think about what necessary evils are, the first member to the mental party is always work. Work takes blunt force blame because for most of us, it is inescapable! Unless you’re rich, even those who love their job are stuck with a sucking reality of not having a choice in the matter. Yes it’s true, we can always find new jobs to up our level of happiness. But, to me, the level of happiness does not make it any less necessary nor any less evil.

      To dwell over lost time spent at work is akin to beating oneself up over 7 hour nights of sleep. Pointless acts. We have to work, we have to sleep, and we have to eat. Unfortunately, the necessary evils do not stop at the obvious; necessary evils run especially deep through vague tunnels of obscure meaning yet unpredictable consequence.

      If you’re not careful, it can be easy to mislead yourself into thinking that some necessaries are unnecessary.

     “If I could just be alone all the time, I could finally get some things done that I want to get done.”

      It’s a trap. And yes, this is where the levels of happiness marry the necessary evils, because keeping people in your life is very much both of these things. People are evil not just because they are unpredictable and unwieldy, but because they provide layers of unique inspiration that simply cannot be duplicated in any other way. And even if I could, EVEN IF, I could get by without them, my personality type is such that I’d never get any of my real goals accomplished anyway. Why?  Because I’d be too concerned about my people.

      This may sound like a blatantly obvious description of the self-actualization pyramid, and maybe it is. What I can say for sure is that I have spent more time than I’d like to admit, thinking that I don’t need a lot of the necessary evils in life, when the truth is, I literally cannot succeed without them.

Before you can publish a book you have to edit it.

Before you can edit a book, you have to write it.

Before you can write a book, you have to feel it.

Before you can feel anything, you have live it.

Time Management

 

The feeling is very similar to one we have throughout our lives. When you're busy, or not doing what you'd rather be doing, you wish you had more time.  When "free" time does finally present itself, you don't do that thing you were thinking about earlier, choosing to instead put it off for another time when you will really be able to focus. 

Merry-go-rounds are fun, don't get me wrong, but to stay on one for years at a time is nauseating.  Our world is full of distraction, the necessary evils as well as the pointless.  For the better part of what feels like forever, I've been using necessary evils as the primary excuse for not having any time, when the reality of the situation is that there is plenty of time.  "Plenty of time" is relative of course. 

One of the trickiest parts of this equation is figuring out what's necessary, what's pointless, and what's the otherwise.