I keep saying I'll install Gimp and LEARN HOW TO USE IT this year. Heh. Anyhow, I finally did download it. Still looking to learn how to use it and suggestions for resources are quite welcome, but I thought this turned out pretty for first noodling around with photos.
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"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
The first and most important is that I can feel a little burnout creeping up around the edges. I’ll be talking in a class and think to myself, “I know I’ve said this before,” and it will be because I have said it before, repeatedly even — but not to that class. I can tell that if I don’t take a break, that feeling is going to drown me.
The second is to focus even more on the writing, because there’s at least two books I’d like to finish up this year, along with the usual roster of short stories. (I’m at ten completed so far this year, which is unusually productive but highly pleasing.)
The third is because I don’t want to get in a rut. I want to go think about some new things and then come back ready to talk about them to students.
So – if you want a class with me in 2014 — check out the list now. I’ll probably list a couple more conversation classes in June, but that’s it. But I’ll be back in 2015!
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A little history. One of my favorite reads this year was Bud Webster’s Past Masters: And Other Bookish Natterings. Bud’s book combines hearty doses of interesting history with some deliciously thorough reading lists, that will only lead you to more and more reading. Bud always managed to tell me something about the writers that I didn’t know but which shed more light (and interest) on the stories I already loved. Heartily recommended, particularly if you’re well-read in the SF field and want to know more about some of its greats.
A little inspiration. WonderBook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction is a fabulous, gorgeous book about writing created by Jeff VanderMeer and Jeremy Zerfoss that will inspire and amuse. There’s a lot of writing books produced each year – this is not only the nicest of this year’s, but one well worth dipping into over and over again.
A little fuel. Writers usually require coffee. This year, due to this blog post by Chuck Wendig, I’ve become a fan of the Chemex coffeemaker. It’s got a nice little ritual to coffee-making that helps start the day right. Or a pound of fancy weasel-butt process coffee, if you want to go all out. Uncaffeinated writer? Get them a gift certificate and let them pick their own liquid.
A little efficiency. Dragon Dictate is dictation software available for Windows and Mac (although check what OS you’re running, a version hasn’t been released yet for the latest Mac update.) I love Dragon Dictate and think it makes me significantly more productive. It does take a little getting used to, but once you’ve worked with it a while, writing by hand feels archaic. And slooooooow.
A little notebook. Though it may seem unoriginal, writers always need notebooks. There’s a reason Moleskines keep being popular. Toss in a few fancy pens like this or these for a coordinated gift.
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In this Medium article, Cat Rambo talks about how she tries to control her year in order to hit her writing goals.
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5 Responses
Nice! My friend Fred used Gimp to make the covers of his three ebooks. I still think getting a pro to do covers is a good idea for those who can afford it, but Gimp appears pretty versatile. I’ve had it on my laptop for a while but haven’t tried to do anything withit yet. Let us know if you come across a good resource for noobs.
People have been telling me for a long time how wonderful GIMP is and how it can do everything Photoshop can. Maybe it was designed to, but the implementation isn’t there, at least not in the version I have. Quick Mask, for instance, does not exist. There’s a button to turn it on, but the button does nothing. This is true of a number of other features I consider essential. I try to follow tutorials only to discover that what they want me to do cannot be done. Frustrating and disappointing.
I don’t know Photoshop at all — I think the first thing I need to do is get my head around how layers work.
Hi Cat … just read your story in DSF … nicely done!
Thank you! 🙂