Create Your Own Writing Retreat - Finding a First Priority

Image: 'Man Writing' by Photos8.com

After two months of dealing with distractions, I am trying to get myself back into my writing routine. Perhaps you've had this problem, too, where other issues seem much more pressing than your allotted writing time, and you allow yourself to be drawn off to deal with them. I've gotten out of my writing habit the last few weeks, distracted by stuff that looks like writing, but really isn't: dealing with the SFPA poetry contest, going through old files of ancient stories, keeping my weekly prompts here on my blog, and other 'administrative' tasks. It is all important to me, and related to writing, but actual writing time has fallen way, way down.

To recharge myself, I decided to 'send' myself on a writing retreat. (And no, I'm not in some amazing natural setting, putting pen to paper during a sunset, gazing out at the water ... but you work with what you have.) My spouse had to attend a conference, and I chose to go along and use the time out of my usual environment to concentrate on getting back into more of a writing habit. (And hopefully finally finish that novel that has been crying for attention since April.)

Part of my agenda is to write at least a short post every day this week here on One Writer's Mind. As you know, my usual strategy is to post one or two long posts, and then a writing prompt. (Or post nothing but writing prompts for weeks, apparently ...)

Going about planning a writing retreat turned out to be an interesting process. My first issue, and the one I chose to blog about today, was that of choosing my main goal. What did I hope to accomplish by the end of the week? I have five days where I can devote several hours to writing, editing, re-reading, crafting, background research, or anything I need to do. An amazing luxury. So how do I get the most out of it?

I decided I should define a first priority, the way to say "if you accomplish this you can claim 100% mission success." My need to reestablish more of a routine was pretty clear. So while I figured that I needed to set several specific writing goals, the first and foremost was simply to say I would write for two solid hours each day. No editing in that time, no re-reading, no research. Two hours of writing. I often end up getting diverted with all those other important tasks, and simply do not get the words down on the 'page' each day that I need to get down.

Have you sent yourself on a retreat? Did you make a primary goal? How did you decide what you wanted to accomplish more than anything else?

Thanks for reading - now back to making the day's writing goal.

Pax

Image Credit: 'Man Writing' by Photos8.com via Creative Commons and Flikr

Prompt the Muse #18 - Wednesday Speculative Writing Prompt

Image: Textile Art

Symbols are very important to all aspects of human society. Your characters live on another planet, or deep in the past, or in an alternate universe.  Their existence is different from ours.  They must choose five symbols from their everyday lives to use in an important work of art.  What symbols do they choose, and why?  Write your ideas in 150 words.

Image Credit:  Bright textile from Wikimedia Commons

Prompt the Muse #17 - Wednesday Speculative Writing Prompt

Art: Planet collision

You need to write a paragraph where two characters have a great impact on one another.  They have never met, and do not meet in the paragraph, either.  What happens that allows these two characters to have such an effect on one another?  Write the paragraph in 150 words, either as an outline of your ideas, or as you would put it in a story.

Image Credit:  Impact from NASA JPL - Caltech on Wikimedia Commons

Prompt the Muse #16 - Wednesday Speculative Writing Prompt

Art: Mirror with Candle

Consider the means whereby writers create a mood in a scene.  For this prompt you need to create a sinister mood in 200 words.  Steer clear of any obvious words such as: evil, malicious, horrifying, dangerous, dark, scary, etc.  Try to create the mood by describing the setting as creatively as possible.

Image Credit:  Skull Mirror from Wikimedia Commons

Prompt the Muse #15 - Wednesday Speculative Writing Prompt

Image:  Blue Fractal

Humans use many different tools to determine their position and direction, such as a compass and satellite systems. Your characters have been stranded on a planet where there is no advanced technology, and no metal. What means do they use to determine their position and direction? Feel free to consider what early humans might have done, or call on magic or supernatural means. Write your ideas in 200 words.

Image Credit:  Kompas from Wikimedia Commons

Prompt the Muse #14 - Wednesday Speculative Writing Prompt

Image:  Many Galaxies Colliding

Your characters take a journey from one galaxy to another. They do not use a mechanical or technological means (i.e. no star ships, warp gates, etc.) They do not use magic. How do they travel? What is the journey like? Write your idea in 200 words.

Image Credit:  NASA

Giant Jupiter Provides a Constant Spectacle

Art: Gas Giant Mining Drone by Betelgeuze01

I see I have managed nothing but writing prompts for the past few weeks. Haven't been producing the word counts I like to see, and I have several short stories languishing here on my computer that should be out on the street. I've been concentrating on other issues, like the poetry contest at the SFPA I posted about. So I imagine this somewhat sorry state of writing affairs will continue until mid July, when that wraps up. But that's one of the reasons I started this blog, as a fun way to keep myself motivated to write. And the heavens have cooperated with a little planetary display that has gotten me off of my duff for a real post.

I am generally partial to planets with solid surfaces, and then am biased to rocky planets as opposed to icy ones. Still, Jupiter has diverted my attention, as well as the attention of many others. Recent events have underlined just how cool a gas giant planet can be. Atmospheres always emphasize the human fascination with things that constantly change, and yet stay the same. Seasons, for example. We love to watch the seasons change, but mostly because we know that winter will always give way to spring. Constant change, but within a known pattern.

Jupiter has a number of cyclical patterns that change its atmosphere - some of which are pretty dramatic, (as noted on Emily Lakdawala's great blog over at the Planetary Society, AstroBob, Bad Astronomy, and others) About a month ago, amateurs noted that the wide, nearly ever-present dark band around the southern equatorial region of the planet was ... gone. Yep, just gone. (Note pix - also note that the Great Red Spot is still there, just on the other side of the planet.) For those unfamiliar with the cyclical changes on Jupiter, this was a pretty big shock, and a striking change to the look of the planet. But such a dramatic change isn't unexpected; the southern equatorial band disappears every three to fifteen years, and then comes back again. The return is actually a pretty dramatic event, too, so it is worth keeping your eyes and ears open for Jupiter news.

Of course, when I see things like this, I imagine what the good, solid, scientific reasons might be, and then what the fun, bizarre, speculative reasons might be. For example, maybe the atmosphere of a gas giant could be altered by a planet-wide gas mining operation (as seen in the art, above). A gas giant like Jupiter might give the impression of possessing an infinite quantity of resources, but like the Earth, any planetary resource will eventually run out. Or be handled in such a way as to eventually destroy the environment that supported the resource. An interesting idea - contemplating how such mining might be approached. In Star Wars, Lando Calrissian was the administrator of the Cloud City Tibanna Gas Mines. We weren't given all the details about exactly how or why that operation was carried out, but it definitely sounded cool. (Although apparently "tibanna" is some kind of "rare form of matter naturally found in the state of a gas." Definitely not enough detail ...)

I was planning to end my post there, but then Jupiter experienced another interesting event. The image shows a bright flash in the southern hemisphere (image is south to the top). This was probably caused by an impact event, smaller but basically the same as the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact events of about fifteen years ago. Jupiter possesses the high gravity demanded by its high mass. Such a gravitational well and big target means impacts into Jupiter's atmosphere are constant. They are into the Earth's atmosphere as well, but bigger stuff hits Jupiter more often than Earth (fortunately for us).  This same astronomer found the impact scar of another event in 2009.  That scar was different from the cometary impacts of SL9, indicating an asteroid impact.  We are not yet sure what impacted Jupiter this time.

Amateur scopes and image processing equipment have now reached near-professional levels. Because of this, even smaller events that happen on the planets are rarely missed. This gives us a new appreciation for how dynamic and changing our solar system really can be. And, of course, it gives us plenty of new ideas for speculative writing about the topic.

Pax

First Image Credit - Gas Giant Mining Drone by Betelgeuze01

My comment - This naturally caught my eye as I was thinking about the atmospheres of giant planets. I am rather irritated by the non-explanation of "Tibanna" in Star Wars, since I always prefer more detail. But what gas would a civilization really mine? We have plenty of hydrogen, already.  However, if I do think of a good reason to mine the atmosphere of a gas giant, it will certainly appear to my eye as something like this great piece of art. The blimp-like mining robots seem both unique as well as functional for their appointed task.

Second and Third Image Credits - Anthony Wesley, Australia.  Known 'amateur' astronomer.  Making observations that once upon a time even the professionals could not make.

Prompt the Muse #13 - Wednesday Speculative Writing Prompt

Image:  Watery Planetscape

A group of characters must swim from one island to another, avoiding a dangerous hazard in the water. What is this hazard, and how do they try to avoid it? Do they succeed? Write your idea in 150 words.

Image Credit:  EonWorks

Prompt the Muse #12 - Wednesday Speculative Writing Prompt

Art: Eos with Wings

We have named many astronomical bodies in our system after the characters of different mythologies. Develop a naming scheme for planets in another star system, based on the culture of the sentient beings who live there. Perhaps they use the names of artists, colors, or elements. What are the names of three planets in their system?

Image Credit:  Eos from Wikimedia Commons