November

[mhalachai]

I keep meaning to come back to this place to post, but you know how it goes. I was poking around my old entries and I think it's interesting how I'm less likely to talk about myself online these days. Part of it is the 'do I really want this on tumblr" but also I'm apathetic :P

So I'm going to try to make at least one post a week on DW/LJ and we'll see how things go.

Also, if anyone has any questions or comments, drop them into comments :D

Comments

[jjhunter]

*waves pom-poms of encouragement*

[mhalachai]

thanks! So far, I've logged in to DW on all my devices which is really the first step :D

[waterfall8484]

Long time no see, probably because I've also been really bad at posting. :~D

I recently put it on my to-do list for twice a week, so hopefully that helps. Now if I can only keep checking my flist as well, it should all work out fine... hope to see you again soon!

[mhalachai]

hey there!! how are things?

Yeah I should block that into my schedule - I'm notoriously bad at doing this stuff that's non-work-related, but I should do it. Only now I don't feel like I have anything to say O_O (Not that that ever stopped me before :P)

[waterfall8484]

I'm good, I'm currently studying pedagogy so I can become a teacher next year. :~) How are you?

I find that when I sit down to write I can always think of something, but that does mean that my entries end up being a bit stream-of-consciousness-like. That still means I actually have to sit down and write first though. I found this site called Habitica.com which treats tasks sort of like an RPG, so that gives me some motivation. :~D

Speaking of writing, are you doing NaNoWriMo?

[mhalachai]

yay teaching! Are you specializing in a subject or age group? (In Canada, one specializes in an age group and then in also sometimes a speciality like music or math or science or something).

I'm not writing NaNoWriMo; I'm trying to keep my creative energies open (also I'm super busy at work :/) I'm notoriously crap at writing to deadline when I'm not being paid for it (I also have some difficulties when I am being paid for it). Are you doing it?

[waterfall8484]

I am, I'm qualified for English and History (you need 60 ECTS to teach a subject), and it's for students over elementary school, so over 13 years.

No, because I'm also super busy. :~D I have exams in November/December so I'm not even trying. I am doing Yuletide though, just to get some ficwriting done this year. I tend to do better with deadlines, since they mean I a) have to sit down and actually write, and b) have to actually finish what I'm writing. It's interesting how different these things work for people.

[mhalachai]

yay yuletide! I did something like that last year (which seems like it just happened but no, a year ago O_O) i am slowing down on some deadlines at work so maybe I can redirect my energies into more hobby writing in the evenings. I do want to get back into that swing on a more regular basis - been drifting away from writing short things to writing long chapters and then breaking in between them.

good luck with writing and with your exams!!

[waterfall8484]

More writing sounds good, I always did like your stuff. :~) Long chapters sound good too, are you writing fic or original stuff?

Thanks! Good luck with your work!

[dragonlady7]

I used to write long entries daily and they really helped me keep track of my goals and moods and health and things, and it's amazing how Tumblr fulfills none of that need. I feel weird talking about personal stuff on there beyond occasional snappy anecdotes! It's not a journal, is the thing, it's supposed to be more like a place you cut out and pin up things you like, and that's just-- not what a journal is!
But it takes the time and energy I used to spend on this journal, so -- I suppose, there's that.
Also I feel like I used to be able to conclude thoughts instead of relying so heavily on em-dashes and meaningless phrases but-- well, there's that.
LOL.

[mhalachai]

I used to blog more about that personal stuff too - I think since the move away from LJ/DW I've stopped doing that and I fell out of the habit. Tumblr is so depersonalized that it's so isolating, especially for a gal raised on the community on LJ.

To be honest, in recent years, so much of my creative energies has been shovelled into work that I feel so disconnected from the online community. but I think that's part of us all growing in different directions as we grow apart, ya know? The good thing is I'm slowly starting to create new friendships in the fandom community with cool folks to chat with :)

[dragonlady7]

Tumblr is horribly depersonalized, and i feel really awful because there's a handful or so of people who've made an effort to connect with me there, mostly by being really supportive about my various writings, and I get them confused with another because the names change, the icons are tiny and never of a person, and like, on LJ or DW they'd usually have occasionally updated with things like "my boyfriend is annoying" or "how cute is my cat" so at least you get a barebones idea that there's a human there somewhere and you can get a comment from them and be like "that's the person with that particular cute cat". And on Tumblr you often don't even get that. So I'm like... I know I've talked to you before but I don't know what about.
Maybe the chat function on Tumblr will actually help with that! I just got it, so i'm not sure yet. But if we can work out some kind of etiquette so that people who like to use it can happily use it-- Eh I'm not super hopeful, but it might work well. It's just so hard to talk to people on Tumblr and I'm so bad at answering asks that I feel like I can't ever send one to someone else.
It will probably be annoying, as it shakes out.

I feel you on creative energies getting sucked into work. I have had writing-intensive jobs in the past, but mostly they've not been in any way fulfilling, and I'm realizing I can't work in any kind of writing field. So I've been subsisting on shitty retail for years, and am transitioning to farm labor-- but that might be more draining, because now I've got to maintain the farm blog and I've been talking big about it. We'll see. I had stopped writing entirely for a while after I drifted away from LJ, and that was awful. I don't recommend it.