comics / circling

Still loving Obsidian and this knowledge base sense of scavenging my brain and circling (in the holding pattern sense) the results from above and within. It really is a tool that's far more in line with my thought processes and the way I work – though it does require a modicum of faith that all the disparate pieces will connect and that I'll be able to turn them into something worthwhile. (I’m working on getting there, faith - of any kind - never being my strong suit.)

Spent yesterday afternoon on the comics thing: a clarity WRT the rules of the world(s) in which I'm mucking about. From past experience, comics being my unicorn and all – that mythological yettobe – I'm leaving open the possibility that the final iteration of these stories will be serialized or standalone shorts/novellas. That said, I'm writing them in script format an amplifying my ambitions accordingly: I want these to be comics; it is way past time that I express myself in this medium which I love so dearly.

Also, comics: I love that writing in script format exercises a different part of my creative brain – and, if nothing else, I've always found said format to be a more beneficial first draft of any final medium than a prose-vomit draft.

Next thing to decide is whether I work on one project each day or split the day into multiple. Both have their pros and cons.

Happy that this space has become a full-on catchall; it feels like home.

Starting

After a rough start this morning (the past month, really) on the new thing (at least partially the same as the old thing), think I've found the/a way forward. Finding that germ, that gem, whatever, always being the most intimidating prospect at the start of something new: the hook, the angle, maybe... and that mistaken belief that it gets easier with time, with "experience.”

(Ha.)

And, while it's still too broad a view for any level of detail-oriented depth, those essential "small assignments" provide, at least, a place to begin – which doesn't mean it's the beginning – only a place to start.

Which is certainly not nothing.

Feels like I've finally hit the sweet spot with this site. Tags and channels and methods and all of that. Who knows if it'll remain this way but, for now, I'll take it for what it is and enjoy myself.

P.S. Happy 95th birthday to my grandfather: still, and always, the best man I’ve ever known.

Now with Comments

Survived familial small talk via my usual methods: sit, pretend I'm not there, and nod occasionally. One would think, given that I've been doing this Sunday game for ten years now, that I'd be neutral to its banality but it never ceases to exhaust me more than anything else I do all week.

Speaking of: I have, for the first time in this site's existence, turned on the comment system. Part of my desire to have all of my communications be through this site and/or the newsletter. Comment away – though I have no idea how Squarespace handles comments; I might install Disqus at some point if SS is user-unfriendly. Banality allowed.

(I had considered setting up a Discord channel for discussions and stuff here, and I might – especially for NL subscribers – but I prefer, at this stage in whatever passes for my career/life to keep all comminiques/broadcasts on platforms that I own.)

Obsidian love continues: my own Zettlekasten variant emergent, even though I have zero interest in learning all the ins and outs of the system, preferring instead to form my own hybrid out of the viscera of several disparate ones (the note titling system, YYYYMMDDHHMM, is great, especially since I have Obsidian set up to send these to an Inbox folder for later processing; would be great if Obsidian allowed for haptic touch menu Zettlenote creation, but it’s a young program – plenty of time to grow). That said, I love how it – along with other voices/uses – has moved my conception of my "writing times" into "focused thinking/processingtimes": one project for a two-hour chunk twice a day (still haven't decided if it's best for me to work on one project per day or two – if one's on a deadline, the deadline ALWAYS takes precedence over a non-deadline system), chunks composed of thinking and processing, sometimes with actual words put to page, other times not. Still in a state of flux but the state of flux is moving in the right direction.

One Obsidian caveat: I'm not sure that I would recommend you use Obsidian without your own systems in place which it can augment nor would I recommend it if you're not predisposed towards more visual, tangentially connected thinking best represented in mindmap form. For me, it's been a revelation – a means towards frictionless creation; for others, it might gum up the works.

Another heatdome day awaits.

Second Brain

The month of trying new things continues: new projects and, at the moment, new processes and workflows. (Figured the timing was right to give it a go.) Combo of recent TSR interview with Nick Sousanis and the writing/composition of SPOKENSOFTLY demonstrated, to me at least, evidence that it was time for something new.

Biggest change has been – after a few days of hem/haw – shifting from writing in iA Writer to using Obsidian ("A second brain for you, forever" / "... a powerful knowledge base") networked notes app for everything. Since I had been working with mindmaps, both in interview prep and in SPOKENSOFTLY composition, I could tell that the representation of my thinking was moving in this networked, Zettlekasten direction.

(For a good discussion of the Zettlekastan method, I recommend Cal Newport's recent chat with The Unmistakable Creative's Srini Rao)

And, though it's not without its idiosyncracies – the lack of full-screen editing on the iPad is problematic, I'm getting used to it by, counterintuitively, adding more panes to the screen. The Daily Notes plugin, a sort of mental catch-all, has been a boon; perfect space to be writing these pieces.

As I continue to learn my way through Obsidian – which has, so far replaced Drafts, iA Writer, and, potentially, MindNode in my workflows – I'll hurl thoughts into this space, such as they are.

A busy socialization week ahead: two SOCIALIZED RECLUSE interviews coming up. Still planning to experiment with a different type of TSR episode – though it might simply constitute more episodes, IDK...

The day's run and more familial small talk await. Happy Sunday.

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