J is for... Jokes About Writing

Back in 2011, I held a week-long contest to celebrate the fact that I'd reached my 500th post, after nearly four years of blogging.
At the time, I sorted many of my previous posts into groups, which made for easy referencing, especially of story material. (Also because I've never tagged my posts!)

When I celebrated reaching my 1000th post during last year's A to Z Challenge there wasn't time to sort all the posts between 2011 and 2016.

What better time than now?

I’m actually going to go over 1,000, and collate all posts to the end of 2016! And I’m going to link to every single post (except for the A to Z posts, which are mostly summarized), something I didn’t do in my original 500 compilation, or even in my 900th post compilation.

I’ve got lots of fun themes coming up for each day -- and each day will also highlight a fellow blogger or two!

Today is...
Jokes about writing!






 
 

Rewriting Shakespeare, Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie


A telegram from Dorothy Parker

Revised weekly editing schedule

I'm reposting the original opening to that last post because,
even though the schedule no longer applies to me, the accumulation of stuff continues unabated:

"Until yesterday I was still feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the projects I've committed to - not necessarily because there are so many, but because I never feel as though I'm editing quickly enough.

Also despite the fact that I somehow took the entire weekend off (if I can spare time for that, why can't I catch up with other things?); besides family events, all I did all weekend was read - no, devour - Stephen King's 11/22/63. A wonderful, absorbing book. King, as always, is a master of characterisation.

Of course one of my first thoughts once I'd finished reading, after my tears had abated, was 'why do I bother???' But that, of course, is not how I should be feeling. I knew that right away, so I tried to focus on what I can do, to make sure my stories evoke similar reactions in my eventual readers. One of the first things I thought of is that I really love my characters, so I've got to make sure the writing shines enough that readers will love them too!

Back to the overwhelmed feeling. Part of the problem is this:


What is that? you ask... It's the pile of STUFF I accumulated last week: books to read, printed books and scenes to read and beta, my own half-edited MS and current notebook of notes, a couple of newspaper clippings of interesting vacation sites, finished books with notes about items to blog or investigate, and I think there's even a knitting project at the very top!
My computer was underneath all that. I had to tidy and re-allocate some items to other piles just to get at it. And this happens every week! (Part of the problem of course is that I have no office or properly organized library...)

All this to say, I have come to the point where I'm changing the much ballyhooed schedule. Here's what the New Save-My-Sanity-and-Reduce-the-TBR-pile Schedule looks like (neverminding the 9-5 job, and knitting at lunch times, and seeing friends and family): MON--THURS Read, FRI Blog (both Sunday and Wednesday posts, and comments, and the Forum, and all other internet stuff!), SAT Edit (must get up early!), knit at night, SUN Edit (again getting up early)."


Today’s featured blogger is... Hart Johnson!


Has anyone else been feeling overwhelmed?
What have you decided to do?

Comments

Nick Wilford said…
Wow! I feel positively lazy compared to all the stuff you get done. Hope the scheduling continues to go well.
Laurel Garver said…
Wow, I feel like quite the slacker in comparison, too. And my job is just a 9-3 gig, sometimes so slow I squeeze in social media here and there and even fiction researching. Having a more ambitious schedule would surely make me more productive.
Hi Deniz - if there's a joke here .. it's on us I think!! How you achieve all you achieve I fail to understand - definitely you are doing lots and keeping yourself so busy, but in a sensible way ... and I'm sure hubby and Emily are helping! Love seeing what you're doing .. but please don't ask me to compete with you!!! Cheers Hilary

http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/j-is-for-jellicles.html
sage said…
wow, you are busy. I didn't know King had published a Kennedy murder book--that sounds interesting.
Deniz Bevan said…
I might look busy but I feel so slow! Want to get more of my stories out in the world already! :-)