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[nicksgal]

There's a question for everyone this week: What's most motivating for you? How do you keep the motivation going? What do you do when the motivation wanes (any particular rituals)? What does your inspiration station look like? (e.g., desk, location in your home, not your home at all, etcetera)

Chatting here again has been pretty motivating, but I also haven't written a new chapter this month so we'll see how that goes. I'm trying to monster edit these last few days of winter break since the beginning of the new semester is always a little stressful and it's taken four days on average to edit PBox, then let it sit, then do a "quick" (still takes about half an hour per chapter) re-edit before posting. On keeping the motivation going, I honestly don't know. Right now it all seems exciting and great, but I also know that I've started so many things over the years (BSB fanfics or original fiction) that have sat unfinished, so I don't know if it's a lack of motivation or just being spent or what. The decade of nothing aside, of course... I think one day during NaNo, I hit a wall and decided to edit something instead and then figured out what to do next a couple hours later. I guess these days, I've been doodling if I'm not writing, so if you follow my update thread and like my doodles, have I got a million tiny Nick doodles for you all.

Click here for my "Inspiration Station"! Bless this mess (be grateful I didn't do a larger pan shot because it is... not pretty, as mentioned). I had to rearrange a couple things because there's a photo of my first class and some telling things that are first name/last name up there normally. I also figured our best man and possibly my husband did not want to be displayed on the interwebs, so I covered them with a magnet. I also purchased those BSB funko pops and haven't figured out where to put them yet...

What are everyone else's rabbit holes? Either in general or a particularly memorable one from the past?

As I mentioned, right now it's castles, but in general I'm a sucker for interesting academia. I'll be researching on the internet and they'll list book sources or academic articles and I will read online if I can or get them from the library. And then it will be days later and I'll be knee deep in looking at something about... I don't know... deforestation and I'll stop and be like, "Wait, wasn't I researching furniture?" A book I've borrowed from the library, read and reread many times is called "The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt." I finally broke down a few years ago and just bought it. I've often joked that I decided to teach because Egyptology is not very profitable, if that's any indication of how much I love ancient Egypt.

I think the binges I've gone on so far in my little editing and writing adventure have been: castles, furniture in the Muromachi period/Ming dynasty/etcetera, clothing (mostly outerwear) of the Muromachi period/Ming dynasty/etcetera, caves, Eastern wedding traditions, and a couple others that I don't think I can mention because they'd be pretty big spoilers, but one of them took days from my life in October. All good and worth it, but days... And then I re-rabbit holed when I was actually writing the chapter in question.

TV Tropes is also a time suck for me, especially if I stumble on one that has an "Analysis" page.

[RokofAges75]

I stumbled on that a few years ago after I saw her TED Talk "The Corpses that Changed My Life," which I thought, I should watch this because what a weird thing to call a TED talk. And you're right, oddly funny and fascinating is exactly how I would describe it.

Overly Sarcastic Productions is always really distracting for me. They retell history, classics, and do trope talks. It's all good and funny. I think my favorite was the retell of Paradise Lost, I've laughed every time I've watched it.

Yeah, she is hilarious!  I share her morbid sense of humor and respect what she does for a living.  I could not handle the smells LOL.

I will have to check that channel out!  Sounds like something I would like.

[RokofAges75]

Love your inspiration station and the cute doodles!

Ancient Egypt is definitely one of the coolest eras of history.  I love that stuff too.

And TV Tropes!  Yes!  I've been sucked down the rabbit hole of that site too.  Wikipedia is also notorious for wasting tons of my time (but is it really a waste when I learn so much from it? LOL).

[nicksgal]

I could not handle the smells LOL.

YES! Anything with other people's bodies, really. I would be the worst doctor. But then I sit over here writing "Blood! Blood! Blood! Let's talk about how it smells!" I think I compared Nick to steak once and couldn't think of anything better to say, so I left it, haha.

Love your inspiration station and the cute doodles!

Ancient Egypt is definitely one of the coolest eras of history.  I love that stuff too.

And TV Tropes!  Yes!  I've been sucked down the rabbit hole of that site too.  Wikipedia is also notorious for wasting tons of my time (but is it really a waste when I learn so much from it? LOL).

Thanks! We're PBoxin' right now, but there's a whole stack of them under the magnet.

I've been working on an original fiction forever, almost 20 years now, that's heavily based in Egyptian mythology, but then Rick Riordian moved on from Greek Mythology and I've been wrestling with diversity in it for a while now... So that's where it's at...

Is learning ever a waste of time? Inconvenient perhaps, but all knowledge is good knowledge! I just really like tropes in general, so I'll reread the same pages over and over again. It's so silly.

[nicksgal]

Well, I got distracted by reading old posts on this forum! I'm sitting on the couch now trying to write to the ambient sounds of college basketball... Since inspiration station was super unproductive.. .

[RokofAges75]

LOL I've definitely spent hours going down the nostalgia rabbit hole of reading old threads here.  It's fun though.

YES! Anything with other people's bodies, really. I would be the worst doctor. But then I sit over here writing "Blood! Blood! Blood! Let's talk about how it smells!" I think I compared Nick to steak once and couldn't think of anything better to say, so I left it, haha.

LOL!  Yeah, same...  I think I would have gone into healthcare in some capacity if I wasn't a teacher, but I honestly don't know that I have the stomach to be a doctor or nurse (especially nurse).  It's not the sight of blood and gore that would bother me; it would be the smells.  I have a pretty sensitive gag reflex when it comes to bad smells.  I have to hold my breath in public restrooms sometimes to avoid gagging so hard it brings tears to my eyes, so I'm not sure how I would do dealing with the various disgusting odors the human body can create.  But then some days I watch Dr. Pimple Popper and think I missed my calling and should have become a dermatologist, cause her job looks so satisfying LOL.  Gross, but satisfying.

[RokofAges75]

Does anyone have any writing-related resolutions this year?

I'm not a resolution person, but I did make a resolution to write every day in both 2017 and 2018.  That worked out well for me in 2017 and not at all in 2018.  I don't think I bothered with it the last two years, but 2019 and 2020 were both great writing years for me.  So this year, I will just say I want to keep writing regularly.

[nicksgal]

LOL I've definitely spent hours going down the nostalgia rabbit hole of reading old threads here.  It's fun though.

I think it was the first version of this type of thread back when we were all starting to get to know each other and it went on for pages... I spent half the time saying "so insightful, everyone here is a true master of their craft", then probably a quarter of it saying "our inside jokes just ran rampant, yeesh," then the other quarter saying "I sounded so stupid, omg."

LOL!  Yeah, same...  I think I would have gone into healthcare in some capacity if I wasn't a teacher, but I honestly don't know that I have the stomach to be a doctor or nurse (especially nurse).  It's not the sight of blood and gore that would bother me; it would be the smells.  I have a pretty sensitive gag reflex when it comes to bad smells.  I have to hold my breath in public restrooms sometimes to avoid gagging so hard it brings tears to my eyes, so I'm not sure how I would do dealing with the various disgusting odors the human body can create.  But then some days I watch Dr. Pimple Popper and think I missed my calling and should have become a dermatologist, cause her job looks so satisfying LOL.  Gross, but satisfying.

You know, I used to also and then once I started teaching Pre-K, I was like "I can handle anything! Every bodily fluid you all have!" so maybe now I could be a health care professional. My best friend is a wonderful nurse, and we're constantly telling each other "you're amazing, but I could never do what you do." She's really held me up during all this and vice versa.

Do dermatologists have as many weird smells comparatively? If not, maybe you did miss your calling! I have no idea what I would have done if I didn't end up teaching. I think I was really lost until I figured that out. On winter break right now though, stay at home wife/professional volunteer seems like a pretty cushy gig, but I feel like I would get bored within a month.

[nicksgal]

Does anyone have any writing-related resolutions this year?

I'm not a resolution person, but I did make a resolution to write every day in both 2017 and 2018.  That worked out well for me in 2017 and not at all in 2018.  I don't think I bothered with it the last two years, but 2019 and 2020 were both great writing years for me.  So this year, I will just say I want to keep writing regularly.

Oh man, I am not a resolution person at all. I used to blog right after I graduated college as everyone did in the new 10's. I eventually stopped doing it because I would try to post something every day (gee, sounds familiar) and the only things I really had fun posting were when I told old stories about things that had happened to me that were a mix of memoir and a mix of "this is a scene from a novel" (see: lost, missed writing). But, one post I had fun doing every year was something I called "X Things Before X" where the "X" was however old I would be on my next birthday. I figured, since my birthday was so close to the new year anyway and I was terrible at keeping resolutions, I would just make a list of things I thought would be fun to do before my next birthday. And it ran the gambit from "try skiing" to "watch Titanic X more times so you'll have spent a month of your life watching it" to "visit four new states," etcetera. And it actually motivated me to try to do some things on the days I felt listless or actively seek out adventures. It got harder to come up with things as the years went on (I don't think I could come up with 34 things now for this year), but I still did it for a few years even after I ultimately stopped blogging (no one read it anyway, so no real loss when I was no longer enjoying it).

Writing goals this year? I'm not sure that I could commit to writing something 365 days in a row, 30 was fun, but I just don't think I could keep up the pace. Though if we're counting editing (which I have been), I'm up to 61 in a row now, so maybe I could? If I really tried... But I feel like that's a lot to commit to right now. Especially after only really editing for a month.

I think my writing goals are:
1. Finish this massive editing project that is PBox a decade later.
2. Maybe finish writing PNecklace this year. Only 28 chapters to go and 32 pages of interesting tidbits to put in the right spots! Which feels like another 4-7 chapters based on what they're about... Seems doable? Especially since I have updates covered through May, so it feels less stressful than posting a thing I had then having nothing until I write the next one.

I could probably do another month of writing every day some time this summer (the hustle and bustle of November is fun, but kind of an odd time of year), so if anyone else was interested in doing a "Camp NaNo" type thing together, I think they do it in April and July? I'd be happy to organize if that's up anyone else's alley.

[RokofAges75]

I think it was the first version of this type of thread back when we were all starting to get to know each other and it went on for pages... I spent half the time saying "so insightful, everyone here is a true master of their craft", then probably a quarter of it saying "our inside jokes just ran rampant, yeesh," then the other quarter saying "I sounded so stupid, omg."

You know, I used to also and then once I started teaching Pre-K, I was like "I can handle anything! Every bodily fluid you all have!" so maybe now I could be a health care professional. My best friend is a wonderful nurse, and we're constantly telling each other "you're amazing, but I could never do what you do." She's really held me up during all this and vice versa.

Do dermatologists have as many weird smells comparatively? If not, maybe you did miss your calling! I have no idea what I would have done if I didn't end up teaching. I think I was really lost until I figured that out. On winter break right now though, stay at home wife/professional volunteer seems like a pretty cushy gig, but I feel like I would get bored within a month.

LOL I know, sometimes I cringe at those old threads where we hijacked the topics with side conversations and think how obnoxious we all were, myself included.  I may still be obnoxious, but I'd like to think I'm less so now that I'm older LOL.

That is true - teaching children builds up your tolerance to puke, snot, blood, and other bodily fluids.  Especially in Pre-K, I'm sure!  I have had students have "accidents" at school, but it's not as common in 4th grade as I'm sure it is in preschool.

I'm sure dermatologists get their fair share of bad smells.  There's a lot of pus on Dr. Pimple Popper, and that can't smell great.  I bet healthcare workers get desensitized pretty quickly though.  God bless them for the work they do, especially this past year!  I think I made the right choice with teaching.

[nicksgal]

LOL I know, sometimes I cringe at those old threads where we hijacked the topics with side conversations and think how obnoxious we all were, myself included.  I may still be obnoxious, but I'd like to think I'm less so now that I'm older LOL.

Like no wonder cliques came up so often back then. Maybe that's why Mare used to tell us stop and move discussions so often and said nothing when this turned into "a how I organize and declutter my stuff" discussion. And poor Rose, I once hijacked one of her update threads to have such a dumb "argument" with her that we could have just kept having privately over YIM instead.

I have had students have "accidents" at school, but it's not as common in 4th grade as I'm sure it is in preschool.

I'm sure dermatologists get their fair share of bad smells.  There's a lot of pus on Dr. Pimple Popper, and that can't smell great.  I bet healthcare workers get desensitized pretty quickly though.  God bless them for the work they do, especially this past year!  I think I made the right choice with teaching.

Teaching grade school this year, I think I've had one accident all semester, not one a day! Very grateful!

And that's true, especially if it's infected. God bless them indeed, and all essential workers. Essential workers are the backbone of our society for sure and I hope they get the recognition they deserve from now on. I agree, definitely made the correct choice hanging out with my small friends.

[RokofAges75]

Writing goals this year? I'm not sure that I could commit to writing something 365 days in a row, 30 was fun, but I just don't think I could keep up the pace. Though if we're counting editing (which I have been), I'm up to 61 in a row now, so maybe I could? If I really tried... But I feel like that's a lot to commit to right now. Especially after only really editing for a month.

I think my writing goals are:
1. Finish this massive editing project that is PBox a decade later.
2. Maybe finish writing PNecklace this year. Only 28 chapters to go and 32 pages of interesting tidbits to put in the right spots! Which feels like another 4-7 chapters based on what they're about... Seems doable? Especially since I have updates covered through May, so it feels less stressful than posting a thing I had then having nothing until I write the next one.

I could probably do another month of writing every day some time this summer (the hustle and bustle of November is fun, but kind of an odd time of year), so if anyone else was interested in doing a "Camp NaNo" type thing together, I think they do it in April and July? I'd be happy to organize if that's up anyone else's alley.

Those are good goals.  If you count editing (which I agree is an important part of writing), even just opening a story up every day and doing something with it, whether that be adding on or just editing one word, seems doable.

I've always kind of wanted to do NaNoWriMo, but November is not a good month for me either.  Between parent-teacher conferences and getting ready for the holidays, I get busy and don't have as much time to devote to writing. Summer would be a much better time for that for us teachers. I would definitely be interested in doing something like that in July.  Reminds me of the summer reading challenges we used to do around here.  I miss those!

[nicksgal]

Editing always turns into a massive undertaking for me. Like the new chapter I posted this week, after I'd edited it I'd ended up changing or adding about 600 words. I don't think I could just do one word in a day, haha. I've definitely decided that editing is a major part of my routine now, though I'm looking forward to when it's just the PNecklace chapter of the week edit. I should have done 5 chapters a week for PBox, but 10 weeks seemed like a long time to edit before posting a new story.

I was honestly surprised that I completed it this year because it was a lot of very precise time management for those same reasons (although I guess my conferences were way less involved this year than last year, though I did do a school-wide literacy training at that time so... still time consuming). Let's chat about Camp Nano in May then! I tried it once and the nice thing is that you can set your own goals and it doesn't have to be the 50,000 words necessarily. I'll set it up when the time comes. Maybe there's a way to conjoin it with a reading challenge.

[FrickingKaos]

My only goal right now is to finish If I Knew Then, which I've been working on for about two years. I don't know how long it's going to be but it's going to be a long story. So far that's my only focus right at the moment.

[nicksgal]

You've got this!