Those famous words, spoken by Lili von Schtupp in Mel Brooks’ classic film Blazing Saddles perfectly encapsulate my physical and mental state since the holidays. All that traveling, eating, drinking, and lying around tends to take it out of you, and I admit I reveled in taking a break from the routine.
Except I kind of didn’t. December was a very busy month. We had a few horrible days when we thought we’d lost our cat Prima, then she turned up alive but in need of surgery. The Day Jobbe was full of deadlines. So was the writing life. I finished up and submitted a short story, started revisions on two more, and wrote a non-fiction piece which I hope to talk more about soon. January roared in, and I hit the ground running with more tight deadlines at work, a couple of birthdays to celebrate (mine, and Herself’s!) and continued revising the above stories and more non-fiction for yet more rapidly approaching deadlines.
I also took some time to reevaluate my writing goals for 2011, and started to outline novel numero uno as part of that exercise. In general, I’ve been taking stock, and trying to see where my energies are best spent both in the short- and long-term.
Oh, and I’ve been trying to read more to recharge my batteries and fill the well. I bet you can guess how that’s going.
All in all, a very productive holiday season, even with all the eating, drinking, and family visiting. Still, though, something had to give, and that was this blog.
One of the things that I learned in 2010 was how to recognize my limits. I hit a pretty serious wall last winter trying to do too much. I was forced to pause and reevaluate the commitments I’d made and ultimately to discard some of them. We all have only so much time in the day to do the things we want to do, and sometimes you have to say “no” to some things in order to say “yes” to others.
While setting priorities is obviously important to carving out a writing life for oneself, I think the larger point I’m trying to make is don’t forget to back away from the frantic pace you’ve set for yourself and catch a breather every now and then. Get out into the world, go for a run, or read a book. Come back to the work refreshed.
Don’t feel guilty about letting the blog languish, or signing out of Twitter, or even taking some days off of writing if it’s what your soul needs to recharge and rebuild. You can’t write if you’re stretched too thin, after all. Heck, sometimes just admitting you’re tired and need to take a break is all the permission you need. (Though if you need external pressure, Ink Gorilla officially grants you permission to slack off for a bit.)
Now don’t worry, Ink Gorilla is not going anywhere. One of my 2011 goals was to post here at least once a week, and I’m going to do my damnedest to follow through.
Thanks for sticking around in 2011. Now go outside and get some sunshine*.
*it being winter, sunshine may be in short supply. I suggest the gym, dinner with family, or a game of D&D if dice and willing friends can be located.
(oh, and Prima’s doing just fine now. She’s been supervising my 2011 work from her desk perch in the office.)
Big Hero 6 — First off, today is the official release day of Big Hero 6, the latest animated feature from Disney, and the reason I was pretty quiet over the summer. Whew! In all my years in animation and vfx, I think this is the hardest I’ve ever worked. I’m biased, of course, but I think it turned out pretty darn well. If you like animated films, Disney, or superheroes, then I bet you’ll love this one! Look for me in the “Technical Animation” credits. (That’s cloth, hair, and character cleanup, plus other squishy things like Baymax’s skin.) Congrats to all my fellow (very talented) artists and filmmakers on the film!More
