Like I said yesterday, another speaker couldn’t come at the last minute, so I made another presentation about NaNoWriMo, this time looking at bringing creativity into how you do NaNoWriMo. (It’s the second half of the longer presentation I am doing for another group – more about that tomorrow.) It went well and I was glad to get a chance to present this material for a group that hears me more often before doing it in front of a group where I am less well known. 🙂
Category: Computers and Internet
One of our other speakers wasn’t able to make it, so I’m doing a bonus session on NaNoWriMo tomorrow at noon, this time talking about bringing creativity to your NaNoWriMo. Find the group here.
Today I spoke at Tyler Public Library Writer’s Club Facebook Group about “NaNoWriMo Prep.” Facebook wouldn’t let me do the slideshow while I presented, but I was able to share a link to the slideshow after I made my video. It’s not wasted, either, because I am doing the same presentation for another group next week.
I will be giving a lesson on “NaNoWriMo Prep” at the Tyler Public Library Writing Club Facebook Group on October 21, 2020 at noon. You can find the group here.
Today I spoke at Kathryn McClatchy’s writing group Unleashing the Next Chapter. I spoke to them about prepping for NaNoWriMo and all the things I do to prepare myself and my household for November. I created a handout of all the different worksheets and calendars that I personally use when I do NaNoWriMo. It was a really pleasant experience. I love this group so much! If you are part of the Facebook group, you can find the replay of the Zoom session here.
I spoke today at the Tyler Public Library’s Writing Club Facebook Group on “Writing Dialog.” It went really well! If you are a member of the group, you can see the replay of the live video here: {link}
I will be speaking to the writers at the Tyler Public Writer’s Club Facebook Group on September 30, 2020 at noon. My topic will be “Writing Dialog.” Please join us here if you are able.
I was supposed to speak to the Tyler Public Library’s Writer’s Club Facebook Group today about “Selling Your Short Fiction to Anthologies.” Instead, I had a long series of disasters, which lead to me posting the text of my speaking notes, offering writing prompts, and sending links to some good places to submit short stories. It was so frustrating. But no one seemed to mind, so I guess that is something, right?
I will be speaking about “Selling Your Short Work to Anthologies” at the Tyler Public Library Writer’s Club Facebook Group on August 26, 2020 at noon. You can find us at: {link}
Another one of Julia Cameron’s big things is taking yourself on an Artist Date. Julia describes them thusly: “The Artist Date is a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly “artistic”– think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the imagination. They spark whimsy.”
A bajillion years ago when I did my first Julia Cameron experience, I had no kids, I lived in a big city, I wasn’t immunocompromised, and there was no pandemic going on. So there are big changes in the here and now version of my life.
I’m really not leaving the house much these days. I go on walks around the neighborhood, the grocery store occasionally, and Wal-mart even less often than that. Not much more than that. So Artist Dates are hard to imagine right now. Fortunately, the group I’m doing this with is awesome and came up with a list of alternate ideas for artist dates, some of which I’ll share below:
- Hike in a nearby nature preserve
- Virtual the Met Opera: https://www.metopera.org/user…/nightly-met-opera-streams
- Virtual museum list https://upgradedpoints.com/best-virtual-museum-tours/
- Other Museums: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour?fbclid=IwAR3zE0xcyW_ZlqOqNUBiVtFKc9OeAx9nw-5K-_fx0X88SoZtEZ9iDYkUxyI
- Virtual pop concerts https://raisingcanes.com/virtualentertainment
- Virtual lecture series with culinary professionals. https://www.internationalchocolatesalon.com/chocolate-events/
- Virtual classical music performances from the Kennedy Center: https://www.kennedy-center.org/digitalstage/
- Virtual events at the AT&T Performing Arts Center: https://www.attpac.org/culturecalendar/virtual-events/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw-O35BRDVARIsAJU5mQX8kdTXKcBWXCn9lw-LUcHDEiiX04y9rCLeyt5HfatTRSfHxJEuaOMaAiAiEALw_wcB&fbclid=IwAR3hl0QMInWPcgYio1Q6UwfDGNIPveCniVYfJJm2ySY3Gmf9jayNrmKI-RQ
- Virtual — Find a documentary that somehow relates to your WIP or to something that intrigues you.
- Virtual — Observatory tour. Followed by planetarium presentation: https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/visitor/virtualtour.html?fbclid=IwAR3ZVCiFIcl4atZBEavTNOlXuopt9ohTOA4pEVkhN2xz44V0VITDreOg1cMtps://www.astro.caltech.edu/…/visitor/virtualtour.html
- One more Observatory tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZwDmvwEpxk&fbclid=IwAR1BCZuwppK4c5Wis6EUixspVh4V3J9MrTZGsZbJjLQH_YRzj-pj3xWy0YQ
- IRL birding tours of local parks.
- This nature/music/photography Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcGPU4A6xJ1OYOkvfMoo25w
- Virtual Nasa Tours. (Updated every 2 weeks): https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-at-home-virtual-tours-and-augmented-reality
- Virtual psychology: Happiness Lab Podcast: It is interesting how so much of the “what you think will make you happy really won’t” relates to writing. Because that’s exactly what our plots teach our characters. It’s the first time I’ve heard agency applied to actual people — but it makes the importance in writing make sense. Done by a Harvard professor. https://www.happinesslab.fm/
- Virtual: Virtually visit a city in your WIP, or one you’ve always wanted to go to. Put the city name in to search YouTube and you’ll likely get hours worth of travel videos, history clips, etc. In advance, look up CITYNAME recipe and find a recipe to make on your virtual visit.
- Virtual: Add Webcams to your Virtual city tour. Select areas may be featured in Webcam Taxi. https://www.webcamtaxi.com/en/
- Virtual: Here’s six hours of being at the beach. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsNZiGXwKtc
- Surf Web Cams: https://g-townsurf.com/
- IRL: Painting makes a great artist date
- Virtual: She said that watching a good film can count as a date. Kanopy has incredible foreign films. You can watch 6 free films a month, and can sign up with google or with your library card. Kanopy.com
- Virtual: the DMA has a bunch of online activities: https://dma.org/programs-virtual-date-nights/out-world
- Virtual: Dallas Theater Center has a bunch of videos about prop making and wig making and sound design. You can learn about backstage at a live theater! https://www.dallastheatercenter.org/production-classroom/
For this week, I did an Artist Date with my youngest son. We painted “pawtraits” of some local rescue cats as part of a charity fundraiser to raise money for O’Malley Alley Cats in Tyler (the group we fostered for this spring and summer).
Lisa Holcomb 