Comments for Inkhaven

Comment on Starting over by Jeff Petersen

Jeff Petersen — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:40:54 +0000

Go Monks, go!

Comment on Vocabulary by Lisa Rodgers

Lisa Rodgers — Sat, 12 May 2012 02:23:46 +0000

That’s what I love about reading science fiction and fantasy: the authors use such great words. I particularly like the word “chitin” — the first time I came across it was in C.J. Cherryh’s SERPENTER’S REACH.

Comment on Vocabulary by Links and Things for May 11, 2012 | The Digital Inkwell

Links and Things for May 11, 2012 | The Digital Inkwell — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:15:09 +0000

[...] Vocabulary by Christie Yant – Discusses the joy of learning new vocabulary while reading. I’m lazy and often try to glean the meaning of a word I don’t know from context alone. Since a Kindle has been added to my life, I can look up words as I go. My desire to learn new words and my laziness are satisfied. [...]

Comment on Focus by Jeff Petersen

Jeff Petersen — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:38:38 +0000

I have limbered the cat-o-nine. Make tha novel sing your song.

Comment on House progress by Ali

Ali — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:12:23 +0000

That porch will be lovely! I am a huge fan of roses, and those are exquisite! Apparently, I’m very into exclamation marks today, but I think they’re warranted. :-)

Comment on Focus by Ali

Ali — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:10:06 +0000

Plans are good. Sticking to them can be tough, but worth it. I will flog if necessary. *grin* Happy writing!

Comment on Vocabulary by Jeff Petersen

Jeff Petersen — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:34:14 +0000

I love that Meiville can use all that vocabulary without it sounding forced or unnecessary. I always want to toss some more fancy words into my work, because I love fancy words, but it’s sometimes tricky to do right.

Comment on Snapshot of life at age 30 by Matthew Sanborn Smith

Matthew Sanborn Smith — Sun, 06 May 2012 20:15:35 +0000

Years into my marriage, I took to hiding my notebooks from the wife to avoid her ridicule. It helped, though she had lots of other material with which to work.

Comment on The ultimate deadline by Jeff Petersen

Jeff Petersen — Sat, 05 May 2012 23:56:26 +0000

It’s nice to see that someone else feels the same way. If only I had a maid to do the chores, so I had more time to spend with the family and write.

Where can we get patrons to take care of the boring stuff?

Comment on The ultimate deadline by Alex J. Kane

Alex J. Kane — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:53:24 +0000

Yeah, I hear you completely. I’m pretty young — 22, almost 23 — and even I experience anxiety about mortality, time management, and the desire to write more all the time.

I think creativity comes in spurts sometimes, but there’s obviously also a big discipline component to this thing.

But for me, I think this anxiety comes from the fact that I constantly compare my progress (generally measured in terms of number of sales and my age at the time) to other writers’.

I see folks like Ken Liu, Stephen King, and Cat Valente blazing through page after page, making sale after sale on an almost daily basis, and my poor time management, depressive tendencies, and obligations to school make me cringe with — as you described it — self-loathing.

Still looking for the answer, but I think the key may be to try and become a healthier, happier person; I’ve been overweight since I got an emotionally draining job as a bank teller and schoolwork has me stressed beyond description. Thankfully I’ll be graduating in two weeks, but I can’t kid myself that college is the sole source of my problems.

Best of luck to you, and be sure to find solace in past successes as well as the inevitable future ones. Sales to Daily SF, Fireside, and Year’s Best SF&F are feats to be proud of; and there will be more.

(It’s too bad about the Beastie Boys’ loss of a core member. They kick serious ass. Always have, and probably will continue to in his absence.)