Thursday, April 9, 2015

The Rounding of the World

I found a severe lack of the other things in my life that I would love to share with others.

Family - Finding family time is quite an adventure with 2 teens and one younger child, my wife works throughout the day with spread days off, and I work best at night. What we have done to keep some manner of time together is family game night. We schedule every Saturday for card, board, dice, or some other manner of tabletop gaming. It give everyone time to get together, laugh, joke, play, and compete.




Time to think and express myself - I love spending time writing. Recently I found the world of Fountain Pens and all of the wonderful tactile experience that makes me feel more connected to everything I put on paper. It gives me time to relax.


Meditation - I make sure I get time to meditate each day to help center myself and work out things that are bothering me. The sunroom is the most brilliant invention ever for this in an area that isn't always so great outside.


Stretching and Yoga - I love the way it feels after I have done my meditation to stretch and do some Yoga. It helps me feel ready for the day and ready for whatever that brings.


What are your things? What things help you stay grounded? I do try to include my family in all of these except my writing time. Everyone needs that one thing they do for themselves.

No Worries,
Charles Colp

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Off Track

     Sometimes you just need to get off track in order to remember why you were there. I took a short break from writing and it turned into a massive editing session.
   
     I found mistakes, repeated so often throughout all of my writing, that I just cannot live with anymore. I know this means I will also run the danger of over-thinking plots and characters but there must be a happy medium there somewhere. I am working to fix more of these repeating issues to cut down on the editing time so I can spend more of it doing the writing I love so much.
   
     All of this has also led me to make a painful decision and stop posting first draft work on my site until I have had a chance to at least go over it and then still guard it like a newborn until I am picking out beta readers. I am not sure what I will be doing with my site as I make these changes but I still plan to use it regularly and finish the story I left hanging. After that, who knows....



Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Moto Expedition: The Last Frontier trailer #1








Follow cancer survivor Samuel Dresel II as he rides more than 2,300 miles from the Pacific to the Arctic Ocean on his 20008 KLR 650 dual sport motorcycle to raise money for the American Cancer Society and North Star Volunteer Fire Department.







This is an amazing film! I can't wait for the full thing.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Yoga, Meditation, Bohemia, and the Writer

There is a major disconnect in the writer world. Drugs and drinking are held up like some sort of magic ladder to becoming famous. Growing up you are told the funny side of a famous old writer who wrote a masterpiece while on LSD. I see writers still trying to emulate this. There really is another way.

I found a magic fountain, it isn't a new one, it was just new to me. I began doing Yoga and Meditation this summer. I still feel the writer pains, I still feel the demoralization of critics, trolls, and well meaning advice. The magic comes in by choosing to change my natural default setting. When I meditate I work on my self, not on the forces I can't control. People are going to hate what I write. I can't change that. Instead I work with what I can. I look at what they say, break it down to what they are really saying between the curses. Then I meditate or do yoga depending on how much I am worked up.

Writing comes from emotions. Sometimes, this leads to something beautiful. Even the happiest stories often come from a place of pain and wishing. The writer loses someone close to them. They write a story of redemption where their character defeats the odds that took the person they loved. The reader is overjoyed with the story of hope. They may never know the real story that is behind it. Most readers won't even care.

Letting life happen, however it will, isn't easy but it is simple. The only pain that reach you, is the one you let in. Things will happen. People will betray you. Acceptance is key. You need to let things come. How you deal with them is the only way they really can affect you. Write from your heart, write from your pain, write from any emotion that pushes you. Don't let the pain become you, leave it on the page. No one will buy your story of every character dying, unless you magically became Shakespeare. There is too much perceived and real pain in the world. We as writers have a duty to take our pain and finding the outside perspective to find some kind of silver lining. The reader deserves to feel better by the end of the stories we write.

Putting Yoga and meditation into my life changed my writing. It has created a new atmosphere. I am able to write more prolifically. I have even found time to sleep again after years of insomnia. There is a reason so many writers are called Bohemian. It isn't about becoming a poor artist. It is about the mind of the artist taking life's pain and transforming it into a positive energy.

I am not sharing this because I am all-knowing. I am not an expert. I am only sharing what works for me.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Cory Basil "Everything You've Heard is True"

Cory is one of the most exciting poets of our time. If you are able to get this book, you will not be disappointed. I own sever pieces of his art and his poetry books. He finds the places in your soul that rarely see the light of day and brings them to full attention. If you are capable of getting this for the reader in your life it will become the favorite gift quickly. I have never read poetry that is able to reach into your soul the way his can. This is the recent blurb about release.

"Everything You've Heard is True, the next full volume of poetry and prose, has a cover and a release date:
December 9th, 2014
Pre-Order info coming soon."

http://hereliescorybasil.com/


If you have the ability to get it, you will not be disappointed. He truly is a master of emotion and can bring even the hardest parts to light. 

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The best writing gifts ever.



The perfect combination. I have a neon green Leuchtturm1917 hardback, a TWSBI Vac-700 filled with Noodler's Green Marine, and a new story to write. I have tried several different books and none are suited better for writing a story than the Leuchtturm1917. Table of contents, 249 numbered pages, dates at the top of the page to keep track, and stickers to label it when it is finished. It happens to also be the cheapest fountain pen friendly hardback book I have found. Too much good in one picture. Time to write.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Stop Random Acts of Kindness

Goodwill to others should not be bottled into a consumer friendly season. It is almost always free, Takes very little work, and a heart. So if you have no money, a few spare minutes from your most recent selfie collecting, and a heart, Do something nice for someone for no reason. It isn't a random act of kindness when you do it often enough, it is called being a good person.