Good place writing, bad place technologically
I seem to be in a good place with my writing (although this morning was blood from a stone). There’s a theory that when you finished something, you should put it in a drawer for a few weeks, so that you can come back to it afresh. I seem to be handing them to beta-readers and then getting on with something else, which is very productive. I’ve a fantasy trilogy (The Jackdaw’s Choice, The Crows’ Banquet and The Raven’s Way) and a political thriller (We’ll Cross That Bridge) being scribbled on in red ink. (Actually black ink and Word comments, I think.)
In the meantime, I’m writing a first draft of the next Derring-Do Club steampunk adventure. I got a fan letter (email) asking when the next book was due, and this was all the excuse that the sisters required to get back into my head. It’s good to be in their company again.
The real trick has been to ban myself from social media until I’ve done my thousand words, morning and afternoon.
Facebook, Wordpress, LiveJournal and Google+, where you are reading this, are such vampires of time and creative energy. It feels like you are busy, catching up, making progress and generally being constructive, but I’m just not convinced. The other time waster in my life is also technological. We had our cable TV upgraded to the point of complexity. The remote control has more buttons, so they are smaller and therefore I need my reading glasses to work out what the tiny white letters mean.
Can anyone recommend a good, easy to use all-in-one remote control?
I’ve one of the sonic screwdrivers, but you can’t put it down without accidentally changing channel or screen mode.
I really need one with one big button labelled “Telly!” The equivalent of Spotify’s ‘Discover’: gimme something to watch and now. A trillion options take a long time to scroll through. I had to buy a video recorder when there were only four channels, now it’s “come on, there must be something on.” I’ve actually forgotten how to set the DVD recorder and as for getting the new Tivo to do its thing... later.
Ah well, things are much simpler in Victorian times.
In the meantime, I’m writing a first draft of the next Derring-Do Club steampunk adventure. I got a fan letter (email) asking when the next book was due, and this was all the excuse that the sisters required to get back into my head. It’s good to be in their company again.
The real trick has been to ban myself from social media until I’ve done my thousand words, morning and afternoon.
Facebook, Wordpress, LiveJournal and Google+, where you are reading this, are such vampires of time and creative energy. It feels like you are busy, catching up, making progress and generally being constructive, but I’m just not convinced. The other time waster in my life is also technological. We had our cable TV upgraded to the point of complexity. The remote control has more buttons, so they are smaller and therefore I need my reading glasses to work out what the tiny white letters mean.
Can anyone recommend a good, easy to use all-in-one remote control?
I’ve one of the sonic screwdrivers, but you can’t put it down without accidentally changing channel or screen mode.
I really need one with one big button labelled “Telly!” The equivalent of Spotify’s ‘Discover’: gimme something to watch and now. A trillion options take a long time to scroll through. I had to buy a video recorder when there were only four channels, now it’s “come on, there must be something on.” I’ve actually forgotten how to set the DVD recorder and as for getting the new Tivo to do its thing... later.
Ah well, things are much simpler in Victorian times.