{"id":6476,"date":"2016-01-26T08:25:15","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T14:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/?p=6476"},"modified":"2016-01-26T08:25:15","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T14:25:15","slug":"looking-ahead-to-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/2016\/01\/26\/looking-ahead-to-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Ahead (To 2016)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SunEarlier this month, I talked about how much I like winter<\/a> because it’s dark and quiet. At the same time, there’s a brightness under it all when a new year rolls around.<\/p>\n

I suppose it’s natural to kick off a new year with enthusiasm. Plans are made, and you want to shoot off from the start. But a year is a decent click of time, and sprinting when it begins is a good way to wear yourself out. Like a long race, it’s about locking into a rhythm that will carry you through the year.<\/p>\n

I’m not a big planner. Most of the time when I plan, it’s damage control:<\/p>\n

How much more writing do I need to do until I can call this novel done?<\/p>\n

I committed to a talk, so I better start putting slides together and practice…<\/p>\n

Work is busy, so which creative stuff matters most to me — and how much can I do while keeping up with the thing that pays the bills?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite planning not being a priority for me, I get a fair amount of things done in any given week. In the back of my head, I usually keep all that’s going on bubbling around. This is what 2016 looks like for me…<\/p>\n

Not About Lumberjacks<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The new(ish) podcast<\/a> terrifies me in some ways, which is — at least in part — why I decided to do it.<\/p>\n

I’ve not written short fiction for some time, and I miss it. I have stories ready to go for the show, but already there’s a bit of fear about how long I can keep going. So…I actually made a schedule for the podcast.<\/p>\n

I can go a couple years with little more than the time it takes to record and edit an episode. But that means in a couple years I’ll have little in reserve to carry the show. To remedy that, I plan to knock out a short story a month (with at least half decent enough to be released). It’s something I used to do when I was in an old writing group, and producing new stories now means the podcast can keep going without it feeling like a burden in a couple years.<\/p>\n

I know what story falls on which month for the next couple years, and I hope by planning now that all my fears about one day rushing with the show are unfounded.<\/p>\n

\"Forest:<\/p>\n

Unbound Book Festival<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In April, I plan to attend the Unbound Book Festival<\/a> in Columbia, Missouri. Initially, I wanted to go mainly to say hello to Alex George<\/a> in person (here’s an interview with Alex<\/a> I did a handful of years ago), but it’s quickly shaped up to be a different kind of book festival.<\/p>\n

It’s not simply a bunch of writers sitting at tables with their books — there are programs for many different interests, and other things going on throughout the day. It’s put together by people who really<\/em> love books and understand the relationship of authors and readers. It sounds like a blast!<\/p>\n

I also plan to head through Kansas City on the way there or back and catch up with a person or two I’ve chatted with about writing (and comic books) for years. (As well as show my wife where I lived during summers and my 6th grade year when I was younger.) I’ve spent many a summer in Kansas City and Missouri, and a festival focused on the Show Me State will be a great long weekend trip.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Annual Writing Retreat<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I’m not sure where or when this year’s writing retreat<\/a> will be. The friend with whom I do the retreat was laid off from his day job about a year ago, and he decided to return to school instead of another job not-so-much to his liking. But somewhere in between tests, labs, or even semesters there will be a long weekend [probably in East Texas again] full of writing in a cabin in the woods.<\/p>\n

\"Cabin<\/p>\n

A Magic Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is the biggie, and I don’t really have a plan other than: wake up and WORK!!!<\/p>\n

I finished the first draft of the novel in 2015, but I let the day job, podcasts, and some other things get in the way of the rewrite.<\/p>\n

So this must<\/em> be the year of the rewrite!<\/p>\n

\"Opening<\/p>\n

At Least One Talk<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There was a time when speaking before a group terrified me.<\/p>\n

To remedy that, I began speaking in front of large groups (and performing).<\/p>\n

Last weekend, I came up with some ideas for a talk at a podcasting meetup — topic: podcasting fiction.<\/p>\n

I also might shoot for a talk at a conference in September.<\/p>\n

\"Stack<\/p>\n

Juggling<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Somewhere in all this, I want to also get back to a qualifying run juggling 7 things.<\/p>\n

\"Juggling
I need 4 more of these wonderful things!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That’s All That<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So those are the plans bubbling around in my head as we near the end of the first month of 2016. (Yes, already!)<\/p>\n

Here’s to a badass year!<\/p>\n

\"Fluffy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, I talked about how much I like winter because it’s dark and quiet. At the same time, there’s a brightness under it all when a new year rolls around. I suppose it’s natural to kick off a new year with enthusiasm. Plans are made, and you want to shoot off from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6476"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6476"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6489,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6476\/revisions\/6489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}