Building a Writing Routine

I’m back in my local coffee shop typing this newsletter. The smell of coffee and biscuits fills the air while indie pop and mixed conversations drift through my ears.

Hope everyone is having a nice summer!

In This Issue:

• My writing routine

• House of Satisfactions update

• What am I writing?

• What to [watch] this weekend

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Building a Writing Routine

This past year I’ve rediscovered writing.

I believe writing is good for us on a fundamental level. It allows us to exercise creatively. It does more than organize our thoughts, it allows us to create thoughts. The act of deciding what to write forces me to look internally and consider my interests.

Creating is a welcomed change from the glut of consuming. The modern life is an onslaught of content. Working behind a screen exposes me to emails, messages, and meetings that occupies my brain. But instead of giving myself a break in my time off, I jam in podcasts, audiobooks, and TV during my downtime.

It’s exhausting.

My morning routine:

• sip my coffee

• read for 5-10 minutes

• jot down general thoughts in my journal

• write for 25 minutes

It takes about 45 minutes all together and is the perfect beginning to the day. I get up earlier and eat breakfast quickly to accommodate this practice.

But my resistance to this routine is astronomical. My brain feels the pull to check email first (just in case). And if I’m on my computer (I rationalize), I might as well surf the various websites I enjoy.

My capacity to repel what I know is good for me is akin to the resistance to working out or eating healthy.

So I keep a tracker. My goal is to write for 25 minutes and hit around 500 words. If I am under that number I see a red box. And on good days I am rewarded with a green box. This is working well for me.

It’s kind of astonishing how much can be done with incremental daily habit like this. I hope to expand the time writing to 60 minutes in the near future.

Creating anything is often a marathon not a sprint (despite the many appealing legends that say otherwise). And showing up is half of the battle.

My guide and motivator as of late is Steven Pressfield whose book The War of Art has shaped my thoughts around this practice.

In this book, Pressfield says that the creator must declare war on the vile thing that holds us all back: resistance. That is the true enemy that keeps us all from writing our book, starting that business, and [insert goal here] to bring us true fulfillment. To achieve our goals we must adopt a professional stance at our craft. A professional (someone who gets paid to do something) does the job daily whether or not we like it. That’s the rigor I am attempting to create in my writing habit.

Pressfield has multiple books on the subject and I plan on continuing to read these parable rich self-help books each morning to keep my goals on track.

House of Satisfactions Update

House of Satisfactions is my alternative comic book studio that is publishing a Southern horror anthology on Kickstarter in October.

It’s con season!

My partner Miller went to San Diego Comic-Con last weekend. The indie comic community there is incredibly supportive and he made connections to help our campaign be a success.

On September 12th I’ll be hosting panels on crowdfunding at OCAF: Oklahoma City Arts Festival.

Once we have our books in hand, conventions will be a key part of selling Hangwater, TX. Right now we’re in the networking and learning phases.

Sign up for the House of Satisfactions email list so you get VIP pricing for the comic.

Pre-Save "Hangwater, TX" on Kickstarter

What am I Writing?

Finishing is the hard part, so I am forcing myself to only work on minimal things at once.

Reviews of Media

An easy subject that is fun for me to write about is about the movies, books, and comics I consume. Anything from two sentences to a mini-essay. This comes easy and allows me to process my media consumption.

This Newsletter

I slipped a bit earlier this year, but I’m back. I’m not trying to put hard and fast rules on myself or beat myself up when I miss an issue. The newsletter also continues to evolve in terms of content and subject matter.

Short Stories

The current story I’m working on is set in the fictional town of Hangwater, TX, and is a two-hander about rival architects in the 1940s. I’ve sketched out a rough three-act structure with jumps to the characters’ backstory.

I just completed a first draft. After which I’ll do a second draft to clean up, send to some trusted writing friends for feedback.

Comic Scripts

I’ve had a comic story in my head for years that I’m only now seriously outlining. It’s a reinterpretation of the Christmas mythology in which older Winter Gods, led by my hero Jack Frost, have a shaky alliance with the new Giftgiver Gods (led by Santa). The Giftgivers are growing too powerful and Jack Frost is forced to take action to save the world. It’s been swirling so long in my head I have to get it out. Hoping to actually do something with this one.

What to [watch] this weekend: Spider-Man: Brand New Day

While I am a big comic reader, Spider-Man is a bit of a blind spot for me. I always attempt to jump into new Spider-Man runs, but I inevitably drop them. This character is the epitome of Marvel comics’ “world outside your window” aesthetic. The worm is turning on superhero films in favor of a cinephile approach (Odyssey) or down and dirty horror auteurs (Backrooms & Obsession). All things considered I’m excited to see the new Spider-Man. He is a character that will always work.

Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton

Logline: “A forgotten Peter Parker lives alone as a full-time Spider-Man until mounting pressure triggers a dangerous change and a powerful new enemy emerges.”

Have I watched it yet? No

Where to watch? Theaters

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See you next week.