My Father and Reading

In the past, when I would think about my father, I would usually think how different we were. Now that he’s passed away I’ve been thinking about our similarities. I’m pretty sure that I got my love of reading from him. 

Up until the day he died, my father always had books around the house. He was always reading something. I have lots of books around my place now and I’m always reading something. 

When I first started reading books I started with short stories. I’m pretty sure that I checked out every collection of science fiction short stories from my high school library. 

One day my father took a look at one of the collections I was reading and recognized the authors. My father read a lot of science fiction when he was younger. He pointed out one author and told me to be sure to read that one, that I was sure to like it. This was during a phase when I was disagreeing with my father a lot so I saved the story for last. When I got to the story I was hesitant to read it. But I did. And I loved it. It was the best story in the book. 

Next: Education of a Wandering Man

Six Months In: Putting What I've Learned Into Practice

“You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself.” - Stephen King 

I started this blog six months ago to give myself a reason to write regularly. My goal was to post at least twice a month. So far so good.

Reading
A number of things have helped me to get me to this point, but there are three things that stand out. The first was easy. Reading books on writing and reading interviews with authors.

As I’m reading books on writing, I’m highlighted pages and taking notes in a notebook. I’m using a Rhodia Goalbook for this. It has 224 numbered dot-grid pages and a 6-page table of contents. I’m up to page 56. I have notes on Ray Bradbury, Ken Rand, Algis Budrys, Stephen King, and Neil Gaiman. I call it my Writing Study Journal. Pretentious, I know. But it’s got me studying.

Habits 

The second was the most challenging. It’s also had the most impact. I changed some habits. 

At the end of last year I decided that I wanted to write and I wanted to write regularly. I didn’t think writing on the weekends would be enough. I am not a morning person and I’ve always tended to stay up late. I realized that if I was going to the find the time to write, I was going to need to make some changes. I decided to start getting to sleep earlier and to start getting up earlier. This has allowed me to get some writing in before work. I still stay up too late sometimes and I don’t always get up as early as I want, but overall I’ve managed to squeeze in extra time. The amount of time varies, but it all counts, it all adds up.

Trying Things Out 

Third was picking and choosing what advice to try from all the advice I had come across. I realize now that the things that I figured out fall into four categories: Writing tools, time and location, system, and mindset.

Writing Tools 

I do most of my writing on a small laptop using Google Docs. When I don’t have my laptop with me I use my phone. I also use the Evernote app for writing down ideas. When I don’t have my devices with me or it’s too much trouble to take them out, I go old school. I carry a passport sized notebook and pen with me. You know, sometimes I just want that feeling of a pen writing on paper.

Time and Location 

One piece of advice I kept coming across was to establish a particular time and place to write and to keep to a regular schedule. I found this pretty challenging as my schedule changes a lot, from the days I work to the hours I work. Then I read that Frederik Phol carried a laptop with him so he could write on the go. Aha! I bought a very small laptop. Most of the writing I’ve done in the last six months has been on the go. Coffee shops, craft beer bars, and trains.

Mindset 

Of all the advice I came across, there were two more “Aha!” moments. I read that when Ray Bradbury was writing he would sometimes think of more than one way to word something. Instead of stopping and trying to figure out which version to use, he would just write the two or three versions down and keep moving forward. Then he would go back and figure out which version to keep later. I found that so helpful. The second, and most impactful piece of advice came from Ken Rand who said “Some is better than none.” I can’t always find the time I want, but even just ten minutes is worth it. Some is better than none. This has become my mantra.

System 

In the past when I wrote, I tried to do everything at once. That just lead to stress and not finishing anything. Author Jeff Goins breaks writing down into three separate activities: collecting ideas, writing drafts, and editing drafts. Discovering that writing can be broken down into three distinct categories was pretty darn eye opening. It also fit in with the things that I had decided to try out. It helped me focus.

In Conclusion 

Years ago I had the idea of bringing a notebook to my local hangout and writing. I really liked the idea and thought about it a lot. But I never went beyond the thinking stage. 

Now I write. 

Next: Memories of my father.