goals

Eyes on the Skies

~ Patricia Schnase ~ 1 Comment

I ran across this quote last night on Facebook (and fact checked it, haha). I’ve always felt a kinship to Theodore Roosevelt, which isn’t too surprising considering I live in North Dakota. And I attended an elementary school named after him. I appreciate his perspective on a lot of things, though I am not as brave, or perhaps reckless, as he was.

This quote really got me thinking. Taken at face value, I love to look at the stars. I love how I feel as a tiny part of the universe. I love recognizing the constellations and thinking about the mythologies that are connected to it. Space is my jam. (Not to be confused with Space Jam.)

Metaphorically though, my eyes are often focused on the ground. I’m very aware of what is happening in my reality, about what might be coming in the next few steps. It’s good to watch where you’re going, you’re less likely to trip. It’s just that looking at the ground, or just at your immediate surroundings, it’s harder to dream.

But at the same time, when your reality takes most of your mental and physical ability to keep up with, like parenting and co-running a start-up with your spouse, it is often discouraging to dream. I regularly struggle to make time for my hobbies and passions, and then resist dreaming or setting goals because of the likelihood of failure. I’m trying to change that.

Image credit: parttimedragons.com/comics/

Serendipitously, that comic came across my feed earlier today. Changing my self-talk is a big step in the right direction. People talk about dreaming big. For me, I think I need to dream small. Can I do a little bit? Write a scene or half a chapter? Write one blog post? Yes. I can do that.

It’s like that old joke. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

And maybe that just means sneaking a look at the stars in the evenings, and watching where I put my feet during the day.

Here we go! A Writing Challenge

~ Patricia Schnase ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been working lately on a challenge for myself. I’ve always loved the idea of NaNoWriMo where you write a novel in 30 days during the month of November. I’ve attempted once, but it’s got a couple of flaws for me. November is a hard month to commit to a big project, it’s busy and the weather often gets me down. Also, I have trouble with goals, because I feel like if I get behind, there’s no going forward. Obviously that’s flawed thinking, but I’m a flawed human.

So I’m setting my own 30-day challenge. I’m going to write something, a minimum of 500 words, 5 days a week for the next 6 weeks. Because of my trouble with daily goals, I decided that building in 2 grace days every week was crucial.

I’ve also decided that my goal is not cohesive content, but instead consecutive creation. I’m not trying to write a novel in the next 6 weeks, although I may spend many of my writing words on a couple of my novels-in-progress. I’m just trying to create a regular habit.

I’ve been creating and collecting writing prompts from a variety of sources. I have a writing pin board that I’ve been collecting ideas on for years. I’m also using the stack of writing books that I already own: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, On Writing by Stephen King, Page after Page by Heather Sellers, The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman, and Your First Novel by Ann Rittenberg and Laura Whitcomb. I’ll also include prompts based on something that I saw or read or heard recently.

My goal is to post the day’s writing prompt in the morning and then edit that post to include my 500+ words before bedtime that day. I’m posting the prompts early in case any of you readers/writers wish to join me. No pressure though. If a prompt happens to strike you and you want to run with it, be my guest. I’d love to read what you come up with.

But mostly, I’d love some accountability. It would be great to know that someone is reading these posts. That someone is looking forward to them, or even just cheering me on. So let me know if you’re out there friends, with a comment or even just a Facebook like. If you’ve got an idea for a prompt to get me started, I’d love that even more!

{I’m only at 400 words, so I’ve got to fill some more space.}

To be honest, I’m a little nervous that I’ve set the bar too high for myself. I’m really excellent at setting large goals and disappointing myself. But I also know that I can’t keep saying that “someday I’ll start writing regularly again.” I’m making my someday now. If this is truly important to me, I can make time for it. I will make time for it. There will be days of disaster, but I can combat those with all the days of success that have come before and will come after.

So, starting next week, look for my daily writing updates. Thank you for joining me on this digital journey.

The worst writing advice I’ve ever gotten

~ Patricia Schnase ~ 1 Comment

So, my friend Jamie over at Arcane Geometry has a great post this week about writing and procrastination. When I have friends who blog, I faithfully read them, whether or not I agree or feel they apply to my life. Writing often feels lonely, but in my experience, it takes a village. {Side note: if you also blog, post a link in the comments. I’d love to follow you too.}

In general, when Jamie writes about writing, I tend to agree. Although, when we write fiction our genres are generally very different, I appreciate his feedback and truly enjoy reading his work. This particular piece about procrastination hit home. Often when I want to write, it’s so much easier to do something else.

The worst piece of writing advice I ever received relates to this. It sounds like a quote, but I’ve scoured the Internet looking for the original speaker to no avail. (Another fabulous procrastination technique.)

Before you sit down to write, make sure the dishes are done.

What this is trying to say, I think, is that you should make sure that any small projects that could be a distraction are taken care of, so that your writing time will be uninterrupted.

What I’ve taken it to mean, however, is that every undone chore or task ranks above writing on my priority list.

This cannot possibly be true! Because then no one would ever write anything. I’m pretty consistently behind on housework, and now that I’m a mom, I’m pretty sure this won’t be changing anytime soon.

I’ve been working to retrain my brain against this “helpful advice” for the past few months. Rearranging my priorities, essentially. Yes, there are some things that rank above writing on my daily list, but there are few things that rank above it on my weekly list. Writing every day may not be possible with an infant in the house, but I have no excuse for not writing something every week.

So whether your procrastination is internally or externally driven, remember there are ways around it. Ways to fight and reprioritize. And sometimes the way is simply to begin again today. To try again tomorrow.

Photo credit: http://www.theladyinread.com

 

I’d love to hear the worst advice you ever received, writing or otherwise. 🙂

 

New Year Goals

~ Patricia Schnase ~ Leave a comment

For the record, I’m pretty terrible at creating and keeping realistic goals and habits. I think the main reason for this is because in my mind missing one day/week/whatever means I’ve already failed and keeping at it after that is really hard.

Yes, I’m aware that’s pretty ridiculous.

However, I was struck yesterday by a Facebook post by the author Kate DiCamillo (Tale of Despereaux and Because of Winn Dixie, among others):

A long time ago (23 years this January), I made a deal with myself.

I wanted to be a writer, but I was too afraid and uncertain (and truthfully: flat-out lazy) to do anything about it.

But in 1994, I was going to be 30 years old.

And I could see that it would be easy for me to spend the rest of my life dreaming and wanting and not doing.

So I told myself that I would write two pages a day.

Two pages isn’t much.

But if you show up every day, it adds up.

I’m thinking about all of this now, because in November of 2015, I started a novel and last week, I turned that (written and re-written and re-written and re-written) novel into my editor.

Can I just say?

I am so glad that I sat down and started to do the work.

I am so glad that I woke up.

There are a lot of aspects of this that hit hard. In 2017, I will also be turning 30. I also want to be a writer and am afraid, uncertain, and lazy about that work. Lazy and perfectionistic, a wicked combination for accomplishing anything.

Becoming a mother has shifted some of my priorities. My most important work for the next 18+ years will be raising my children. As C.S. Lewis puts it,

Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.

But I know that story is a huge part of childhood (and adulthood too, if we’re honest), and that I have stories to tell.

So maybe the laundry won’t get done. Maybe there will be dishes in the sink. There will be dog hair on the floor and couch. But the people in my house will be fed and loved and read to everyday.

And the pages will be written.

And on the days that the pages don’t get written there will be grace.

But, two by two, here I go!

Good Intentions

~ Patricia Schnase ~ Leave a comment

Lately, I’ve been drinking my morning coffee on the patio while the dogs do dog stuff in the yard. It’s peaceful and not too hot or windy yet. A good time for thinking.

Today I was thinking about procrastination, one of my challenges. Turning it over in my mind a phrase came to me.

The path of procrastination is also paved with good intentions.

Following that rabbit trail a little further, I realized that good intentions are one heck of a building material. And like brick or concrete or wood, they can be used well or poorly, to build something useful or something bad. What seems to make a difference is whether you use any other materials in the process. A path made only of bricks with no sand foundation or mortar between them won’t be pleasant to walk on or as durable.

So here’s to mixing your good intentions with thought and action. See where your path might take you.

Sometimes you just have to start somewhere

~ Patricia Schnase ~ 6 Comments

Because this blog is primarily meant to be a home for brainwaves, the content will be varied. I’m a person with a lot of interests. Maybe I should start there. I’m Patricia Schnase. I’m a dreamer and a storyteller. I’m a writer and an introvert. I’m a wife and a mother. I’m an observer of the world. Many posts will likely be reflections on my life, progress on current projects, book reviews, and attempts to process what’s going on in my head and heart. But most posts will be fiction pieces based on the writing prompts I’ve been collecting on Pinterest.

I call myself a writer. Ideally, I’d like to be paid to write. Therefore, I really need to write (more than I have been lately). Part of the purpose here is accountability to keep writing.

The title The Percolator came via a thesaurus search on the word ramble. I know that the content of this site would be too inconsistent to discover the name that way. When I read the synonyms for percolate, I knew I’d found it.

“Percolate- bleed, bubble, charge, drain, exude, filter, filtrate, impregnate, leach, ooze, pass through, penetrate, perk, permeate, pervade, saturate, strain, sweat, transfuse, transude, weep”

Besides the obvious coffee/writer reference, the other verbs in the list resonated with my goals for my life and this site. I don’t want to just pass through this life without being charged by contact, without allowing my thoughts to penetrate, permeate, saturate, and transfuse through others and back.

A few years ago, when my now-husband and I were dating we had a family discussion about osmosis and diffusion. My sister said, “It’s when particles move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration,” to which my husband replied with an offended “HEY!” I don’t want my life to be an area of low concentration. I want my life and work to be thoughtful, creative, and valuable for me and those around me.

So take a moment, and join me for a cup of whatever you’re drinking and some thoughtful conversation.