Month: November 2020

DAY NINE: money

by
Do you BitCoin?

BitCoin is worth more than gold, again.

I own a little of it, and Ethereum, and gold (actual gold coins) so, when it makes news, I pay a bit of attention.

But not enough of either to worry about. Maybe it goes up more, maybe it goes down again.

Maybe soon we’ll start using BitCoin or another digital currency to buy and sell actual stuff. I doubt my gold coins will ever get used unless I end up living during the Apocalypse (but why?)

Just mussing, wasting time instead of writing or editing my fiction…

day eight

by
Drugs that make us better?

An oxymoron possibly. 

Isn’t ‘make us better’ the what and the why of all the organic chemical  manipulations we’ve concocted to alter ourselves? 

Anyways, I’m for them. 

Sure, we’ll screwup and make drugs and take drugs that don’t make us better but that’s no reason to ban them. 

Day SeVeN: Comfort

by

I like my comfort zone. So why is “getting out of your comfort zone” an objective?

Reasons to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone | Duke Today

At the Duke.EDU site, they say: ‘By embracing the unfamiliar, you expand your skills and become an even more valuable team member’

Do I want to be a ‘more valuable team member?”

Day Six: Stuck in the middle

by

I feel like I’ve been planning and writing and rewriting act 2 for years. I’d think it would move quickly. After all, my characters are careening from incident to incident, discovering secrets, anecdotes and desires that propel them to act.

Buy Act II Instant Popcorn Chilli Surprise 4 x 30 g Online| SastaSundar.com
https://amzn.to/3lzw9Ny

But every time I think my hero is ready to move on to act 3 and the climax of her story, another act 2 reading requires more explanation. What’s stopping her and me? Just a thought today.

Day 5: Structure

by

For the novelist, structure makes creating a readable story possible.

But, as there are multitudes of readers and writers, there are many ways to find structure. Modern storytellers take their characters on ‘Hero’s Journeys’ thru 3 acts and 4 acts, stages and plot points and pinch points, beginnings & middles & ends.

STORY STRUCTURE: 10 Simple Keys to Effective Plot Structure - Michael Hauge's Story Mastery
https://www.storymastery.com/story/10-simple-keys-effective-plot-structure/

Married to a set of compelling characters, the structure begets the novel, or so I’ve discovered.

DaY FouR

by

Today’s reading: I’m grounded (as a human) in: Peace, Compassion and Strength.

Peace is often seen as passive, a recoiling from the fight. But it’s not; not when peace is a conscious choice to embody and project. We can fight for peace but when compassion and strength are included, it’s a lifestyle choice available to me, no matter the external appearances.

SO, am I ready to live in peace? To choose compassion and strength over fighting? An enlightening question to ask myself. And, when I say yes, my world is immediately more peaceful.

kindness traits

Day Three: Fictional Characters

by

Today I’m working on planning a series of adventure novels set in the 1970s and 80s.

A series depends on a couple of recurring characters that appeal to readers over a longer-term. so, even though it’s a book about structure, her character development advice helps me plan.

Jessica Brody (the author) says I need characters with: “… a strong, compelling want and an even more compelling need that readers will resonate with. … figure out what to do with this beautifully flawed character of yours.

Where are they going?

What is their big journey?

What is their most perfect plot?”

Day 2: Money

by

Plucked from my email:

“Let’s start with our goals and tolerance for risk since both should drive all other investing decisions. … willingness to tolerate market volatility and having a strategy for coping with it… allows us to handle a high level of risk. … we are getting “the market’s” return for a large part of our portfolio.” AAII

Got Goals?

Defined Risk?

The Best Book on the topic for me, a hands-on investor and personal money manager:

DAy OnE: PleasUre

by

I’m committing to publishing more. SO, here goes.

Reading this morning about “Healthy Hedonism”

“Our relationship with pleasure gives us a unique window into how well our emotions are working. We have core wired emotions that regulate how we feel and react. Emotions affect our core, visceral experience. We’re not going to be effective [without pleasure].” Dr. Nan Wise

This resonates, and it’s not JUST about orgasms. I seek to better access and express emotions in my writing. Coffee, chocolate, and sex all help.