New Year, New Approach

With the New Year having just passed in our Modern Age of Technology, it is impossible to ignore the endless stream of resolutions claimed by nearly everyone.  A quick glance at Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or any of dozens of social media sources, you will find numerous hopes and promises for the coming year.  The resolutions range from learning a new skill to pursuing a hobby to the ever recurring desire to live a healthier life. 

The resolutions are compounded by the marketplace offering aid that will help you achieve your goals.  Fitness gyms fill the commercial gaps of your favorite broadcasts with beautiful people wearing spandex that reveal perfect, tanned abs claiming that you too can have the ideal beach-ready body in time for summer.  For a fee, you can quit smoking, eat healthy, earn more money and become smarter.  For but a few dollars, you can become a better you and thus – be happier.

The truth:  You will fail.

Let me stress that your failure is not a product of some character flaw.  You are not weak.  You are not inferior.  You are simply human and setting a long term goal of self-betterment is not realistic.  I’m not saying that having a goal is bad.  On the contrary, goals are vital.  What is important is creating goals that are within reach.  Keep it real.

No.  I’m not suggesting you lower your standards and set little goals, either.  Ambitious goals give us a destination to strive towards, but no great achievement has ever gone from conception directly to completion.  Set a final goal, yet focus on the conditions needed for that goal to be achieved.  Perhaps an example:

Weight Loss.

Goal: Lose fifty pounds

Statistically, overweight individuals who have made a resolution to lose weight have failed an average of six times.  Why is this?  Simple:  life gets in the way.  You might join a gym and be pumped up to work out every day.  The first day was rough, though.  You are sore and need to take a day off before another workout.  You decide that maybe every other day at the gym is best.  You see a few pounds vanish and get excited.  Then something comes up and you can’t go on Monday, so you will just get back to it Wednesday.  Missing one day doesn’t matter… until one day becomes a week off.  Maybe the weight loss has plateaued and your goal seems impossible.  You start to question if there is a point to sweating and being sore when you have nothing to show for it.  The gym becomes something you dread.  Eventually, you give up.  Your body just won’t lose the weight.  You stop working out.

This is a common occurrence.  This is the only reason gyms often require contracts.  A gym can be profitable by charging a monthly fee, but the real money comes from cancelled contracts.  They know full well that most people who sign-up for a membership (especially after the first of the year) will give up before the spring thaw.  They are counting on it.  They expect you to fail and to pay them for a service you aren’t using.

Should you avoid joining a gym?  Of course not.  Be realistic, though.  You probably aren’t going to have time or energy to work out as much as you hope.  Having a goal weight is fine, but don’t dwell on it.  Instead, concentrate on the act of working out.  Even though the pounds aren’t evaporating at an accelerated pace, you are still doing a good thing for your body.  If the gym isn’t for you, simply taking a walk is beneficial.  You missed a few days or a week?  So what?  It doesn’t make you a failure.  Don’t let your goal defeat you.

This applies to everything.  Tried to quit smoking, but gave in and had one after a stressful day at work.  That doesn’t mean you have to go back to smoking fulltime.  Pick up where you left off.  It’s okay to have hiccups along the way.  Been counting calories, but was seduced by a piece of chocolate cake?  Good for you!  You deserve a treat now and again.  One stumble doesn’t need to mean failure.

For the New Year, I have decided to try my own approach to resolutions.  I really have no idea if it will work, but it’s worth a try.  First, I have my “final goals” (which I will tuck away and hope to reach):

~ LOSE FORTY POUNDS

~ QUIT SMOKING

~ FINISH A NOVEL

~ WRITE MORE (NON-NOVEL RELATED)

Ambitious, I know.  Having these goals defined, I am going to focus on a list that is manageable:

~ WALK LAPS AROUND MY TRUCK BEFORE AND AFTER EACH DRIVE SHIFT

~ PURCHASE THREE (3) INDIVUALLY WRAPPED SNACKS EACH SUNDAY.  ONLY THREE (3) AND ONLY ON SUNDAY.  RATION THEM DURING THE WEEK.  IF ANY REMAIN COME NEXT SUNDAY, PURCHASE ONLY ENOUGH TO HAVE THREE (3) SNACKS ON THE TRUCK AT ANY GIVEN TIME.

~ REDUCE TOBACCO USAGE BY FIFTY PERCENT EACH WEEK.  NEVER HAVE MORE THAN ONE (1) PACK ON THE TRUCK AT ANY TIME.

~ COMMIT TWO (2) HOURS TO MY NOVEL EACH DAY PRIOR TO GOING TO BED.

~ POST A BLOG EVERY SATURDAY CONSISTING OF AT LEAST ONE THOUSAND WORDS.

This list seems doable.  Will these items lead to my final goals?  Eventually.  Might not happen in the next year, but it is a step in the right direction. 

I leave you with a mantra that I focus on every day:

There are no big problems.  There are only clusters of little problems.  Solve the little problems and the big ones will solve themselves.

Thank you for reading and Happy New Year!

Just a Touch of Madness...

Oh how I love watching the confused expressions that flash across people's faces when I attempt explaining my life.  I am not saying this with the slightest of sarcasm.  I truly do enjoy seeing the conflicting emotions that are a result of trying to comprehend my activities... or more accurately - one activity in particular.

Most of my daily routines are accepted as sufficiently mundane:

~ My primary job is as a commercial truck driver which requires my residing at work five days per week (70 hours on the clock, 60 hours of driving).

~ I am an avid reader that enjoys all genres, though I've been known to favor literature possessing elements of history, psychology, and dystopian societies.  Having a career that primarily places me behind the wheel, I have taken to acquiring numerous audiobooks... preferably unabridged.

~ I am a chronic consumer of music.  Again, genre does not matter.  Those who have had the misfortune of traveling any distance with me can attest to my varied listening habits as I transition from classical to heavy metal, bluegrass to modern pop.

~ I spend much of my spare time studying.  The topics are yet again greatly varied.  Politics, history, psychology, social dynamics, technological developments (ancient and current), science, medicine, art, fashion, and civil rights are but a few of my common pursuits.

~ Most unsurprising, I am a lover of food and coffee.  I'll eat most anything, but I expect my coffee to be thick and dark.

I know, you might be thinking, "These things seem normal enough.  You have many interests.  Nothing wrong with that." Truly, nothing I've listed thus far contributes to people's concerns.  In fact, my varied pursuits have led others to seek my advise.  Some friends and colleagues to start calling me Jeeves.

The confusion starts when the topic of my favorite pastime is addressed: Writing. 

Now, writing itself is not a subject of concern.  Many people write for many different reasons.  Be it the expression of opinion, the sharing of skill or knowledge, a telling of personal memories, or a product of pure imagination aimed solely at entertaining - authors have been putting thought to print for eons.  Personal diaries, blogs, poetry, lyrics, textbooks, epic novels -  the world has had more writers than there have been published authors.

By being a writer, I am not special.  The act of writing isn't what others find strange.  When people discover that I spend so much time writing, they tend to be curious.  Curiosity leads to conflict.

The following conversation was with a prospective writing friend... a conversation that seems to take a recurring path:

What do you write?
Mainly science fiction and fantasy.
Can I read something you've written?
Sure. (offer a piece fitting to reader's interests)
Where do get your story ideas?
I base my stories on reality.  Historic events, current news, and such.  Just need to shape the tale to fit the desired world.  You can take something as common as war and apply it to any era simply by expressing the appropriate technology and motivational drives.  Medieval conflict could be the desire to conquer new lands and gain resources - battle involves swords, archers, and siege machines;  likewise, a futuristic battle might involve the ambition to control a new planet for the same gained resources - the fight is waged with spaceships, lasers, and robotic warriors.
Are the characters based on real people, also?
Not in particular.  I don't make characters that are fictionalized versions of people I've met.  My characters are creations of my imagination.
How do you come up with so many personalities and manage to maintain a convincing dialog?
I spend about twelve hours each day talking to myself.
You talk to yourself?  Like speaking your thoughts out loud?
Like carrying the whole conversation for all the personalities.  I voice each person individually.
But, all people are different.  You can speak for two characters, but they would both still be you.
Unless you commit to the separate personalities completely.
Yes, but it is still you.  You can't accurately predict how characters would realistically react to each other.
And that is why I live my characters.  Speak as they speak, think as they think, feel as they feel... in real world situations.
You pretend to be a fictional character with real people?
No.  I am the character.  The people in my stories are real.  I make them real.  I give them flesh and I sit back watching what happens to my characters in the real world.
*a long pause* Uh... that's a bit crazy.  I've gotta go.  Nice talking with you.

Crazy.  Insane.  Mad.  Unbalanced.  Delusional.  Detached from reality.  Needing of professional help.  I've heard it all.  Perhaps they're right.  On the other hand, I find myself asking the question:

"Who hasn't lived the role of a fictional character?"

Before you claim innocence, I would like to offer examples:

When you visit your parents or grandmother, do you speak and act the same as you would during a night out with friends?

Do you talk to your boss in the same way as you do with a telemarketer calling during dinner?

Are you the same person whether sitting in church or sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic?

Chances are, you have adapted individual personalities to address varying situations.  I know personally, I can be quite crude and profane on a regular basis... yet I manage to maintain a level of decency when dealing with others who possess more delicate sensibilities.

The ability to embody such a wide range of personas is what makes the human mind so remarkable.  The adaptation of who we are is key to our survival and success.  Our pliable minds are what separates us from animals.  A wolf can't decide to be a lamb, but you can be anything you wish.

In closing, I wish to offer a challenge.  A challenge without set rules.  A challenge without winners or losers.  The challenge is simple:

Sit down and talk to yourself.  Have a conversation between the party goer and grandma's favorite.  Have a debate between the optimist and pessimist.  And if you have an interesting discussion with yourself, consider writing it down and giving your characters names.

NaNoWriMo vs Driving Career

DO NOT TEXT AND DRIVE.

Simple rule everyone should be following.  Texting isn't limited to sending messages either.  Creating text-based messages of any sort while in operation of a motor vehicle is dangerous.  Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Instagram, searching digital maps or reading anything on any device must be avoided.

Avoided?  No.  Not just avoided - prohibited.  Staying connected through a phone is tempting.  We must all be committed to be safe and leave the phone alone.

That being said... I find myself being tempted more than ever this month.

I have been trying to participate in this year's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  Simply put: writers from around the world attempt to rough draft a 50,000+ word novel in 30 days.  So far, I've managed to write 29,262 words.  Reaching 50k shouldn't be a problem, yet it does present an interesting observation in the area of writing process.

What can you expect to achieve in 30 days?  Is 50,000 words realistic?  Is it worth the effort?

Well, let's start with some simple math.  The goal of 50,000 words in one month equals 1,667/day.  Now, you take a someone who is slow at typing like myself (25/words per minute average) and that works out to just over 1hr of writing time each day.  Surely, anyone can find a single hour in which they can dedicate to writing.

Thus, time isn't an issue... if you have something to write about.

If it was a simple matter of typing an hour each day, this challenge wouldn't be hard at all.  Of course, it isn't so simple when we want to have something worth reading in the end.

I am in day 9 of this challenge and have spent just over 20 hours of actual typing to achieve 29,000 words.  What I have created so far is a good beginning to a story that establishes a few key characters and sets a foundation for the story's world.

Honestly, it needs a lot of work.  Spelling, grammar, plot transitions and overall flow will require major rewrites before out can be considered a novel.  Right now, it is a notion - an idea requiring nurturing.

When I reach the end of this month, I will have 50,000+ words that hint at something more.  As it should be.

A draft isn't supposed to be pretty.  True, there are writer's who will turn out a beautiful tale on the first try.  This is rare and never consistent.  When you first write a story, you must ignore perfection and just focus on putting the tale in writing.  If you spend all your time worrying about the details, the story will never get written.

Just write.  You will have plenty of time to edit and mold the story.  In fact, you may find that much of your story needs reworked in the end.  As your story grows, so do you.  You will find new ideas to add earlier in your tale or realize that other ideas must be removed.  This is normal.  Let the tale evolve and watch yourself grow through the process.

Now, I am going to trying writing another chapter in my story without stressing about my horrid grammar.  Happy Creating!