Just Read: THE EVENING AND THE MORNING by Ken Follett--Another great one. I really enjoy the way his books unfold and would love to do something similar on a sci-fi/fantasy scale. He does such a good job of making you hate the villains!
Reading Now: BLACK SUN by Rebecca Roanhorse
As part of my class on leadership this semester, we've been reading this book called Deep Change by Robert Quinn. Basically, it's about undergoing a (frequently painful) major revision of culture or self in order to accomplish growth and improvement, and to get off of a slow death spiral that ends in misery or collapse for yourself or your organization.
It's made me think about this concept of inertia--an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force, and the same is true with objects at rest. Does the concept apply to people as well? I definitely go through fits and spurts of productivity, with writing and lots of other areas of my life. I sometimes realize I have been stuck at rest and need something to act upon me and give me a jumpstart. Usually it is something I read that inspires me, like a particularly good story or novel that I want to be like, and then I'm off again for a while.
So as the new year gets underway in earnest, I'm trying to think about how I can make productivity a habit. I might have to undergo some deep change to do it, like giving up staying up late and eating and drinking unhealthily, and instead wake up early and exercise and write when I'm the most energized. I've never been a morning person, but I've always wanted to be--maybe this can be the moment. I'm off to a good start so far, and if I can build some inertia, I think I can produce some good stories this year.
