Our theme this month asks us to write about three things we do well -- I decided to not confine that to three things I do well in my writing life or as an author. Although I'm sure there are many other things I also handle pretty well on some level, I opted to highlight three of my favorite talents.
I am a life-long genealogist, and I particularly enjoy the analytical elements of genealogy. I often find myself shaking my head at online family trees or entries where someone has clearly not looked at the big picture OR the small details. The other day, I noticed that a family tree connection that's been shared and perpetuated all over the internet quite clearly is impossible -- basic arithmetic around known facts makes the data wildly inaccurate on its face. I pride myself on attention to detail -- even if that means I must remain right where I am on that family line until I can find the proven links to earlier generations (resisting the temptation to add 10 more generations in one fell swoop!). It should be said that same painstaking attention to detail is both a blessing and a curse in my historical research -- you can be sure I left no stones unturned in trying to "get it right" but . . . I might have spent weeks dithering around over one tiny and probably insignificant detail.
Spreadsheets are my jam. Despite being incredibly math-challenged, I am the queen of spreadsheets, to-do lists, and any other data compilation. I actually wrote fastest and with fewer distractions when I created a spreadsheet-based chapter-by-chapter outline in Excel (with columns for typical romance novel beats, the perspective character's goals, motivations and conflicts in that chapter, etc). I suppose it's a mark of a certain level of geekiness to own up to enjoying data and spreadsheets. And I suspect it's an odd talent for a creative person to highlight.
What else do I do well? Well, recently, I've been in a decluttering and organization frame of mind. I went on a spring cleaning frenzy -- and the results are fostering a stronger sense of calm and well-being. My hope is that improving my space and my mood might also send me back to my work-in-progress, which has been languishing for far too long! I started with my very cluttered scrapbooking space and supplies and moved on to my desk. Up next: closets!
I look forward to reading about what all of you chose to spotlight in this month's blogs!
3 comments:
Eleri - I wish I had patience for research. But I do use spreadsheets to plot out my annual writing goals by month. With lots of little subsets. I also use a spreadsheet to keep track of my annual February 30K challenge that I participate in. And when I am writing a new book, I use a spread sheet to track my chapter-by-chapter word count, POV, setting, and other details. It helps in the editing process, to go back through and find a chapter I need to tweak, because I made a change in a different chapter. But if you ask me to use a spreadsheet for anything related to math - HA! Not in my skill set. When I worked with college students in one of my jobs, I had one of them help me figure out Excel, and alas, it never computed in my brain.
Eleri, I am totally with you on the sense of calm as you declutter. That speaks to me. I've got the basement left to do...well, one shelf in my office that was blocked by 'stuff' that is now gone. I love seeing empty shelves/spaces. My goal this year (hopefully this summer) is to do a major cleanse/purge in the basement. As to your research, it's one of the reasons I love your books. They accurately reflect World War 2 as my relatives talked about it to me.
Loved your blog. post!!!
I used to know Excel Spreadsheets but that was during my working years. It has advance a lot in the last 13 years.
I do make a lot of lists, and feel satisfied as I cross things off.
Good luck on the closets! I still have several to clean out.
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