Reclaiming Time

[penpusher]

The biggest positive of disabling my Facebook, which I did this morning, is simply getting the time back that was spent on it. And that's time that I can use back here, both for posting and reading. I had disabled FB back in 2012, returned last October, and nearly lasted a year, and I would call it a "bad" year, before pulling the plug again.

It also frees up time that I need to use for writing. I have two projects I'm working on that I hope will be worth time from other folks eventually. One of those is the novel, which I already know needs a rewrite, at least the middle section which is going to go much faster than I currently have it moving. I've got a handle on it and I really almost want to go back and fix those sections now, rather than going to the end of the work and then doing a proper rewrite. But I'm resisting that urge because of the very word "rewrite." You can't rewrite until the writing has concluded. That's my approach.

I am considering a sequel novel already, but that might not be viable or useful because an idea that I thought would make an intriguing television series is, according to a contact in the industry, isn't very salable. So, that might become the next novel. And I think I'm going to want to have a change of pace from the material that I'm working with in this piece. Still haven't ruled it out for a future story tho.

And of course there's the relief of not having LJ Idol to deal with on a weekly basis, now that it has concluded. In case you hadn't heard, the winner was marlawentmad. I finished a very respectable second.

Idol really took a lot more time than you might imagine, as there was the issue of deciding what to write, coming up with a story, then crafting it into the piece I submitted. The great thing is that LJ Idol definitely helps with my process for preparing and executing a story, so that is invaluable, especially where I'm at right now.

Currently, there's no clear answer to if there will be another full season of Idol. Gary, the guy that runs the show, has already stated there will be a mini-season coming soon. But there are a lot of questions, not the least of which is where will it happen? LiveJournal is on the bubble since we are a Russian entity. And nobody, so far, is treating Dreamwidth like it's a reasonable replacement. It is still the attic for your old LJ entries and that's about it.

But that's not for me to figure out. I'm just back here, and, at least for the time being, glad to be back.

Comments

[bleodswean.livejournal.com]

Idol is a HUGE time sponge, and not just physically....as you say it is mentally draining. I'm completely wiped out. BUT.... *grins* .... I still want to try tackle NaNo. Good luck on your writing projects. We can always gather a group here to create a writing group, more of a writing workshop.

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Much like anything you do while you're doing it, the focus is so much on the task, you likely don't notice all of the other stuff that surrounds it or the stuff that is changed or different than when you're not. NaNoWriMo is a big step. I wish you much luck with it, and I'm sure you'll create something wonderful.

Your suggestion about a writing group/workshop is very well taken. I think I'm going to want a couple of beta readers for the current piece eventually. And then there's the aspects of what's next. Lots of opportunity and necessity for a workshop based concept!