Tag: Goals

Back From Hawai’i

On By D.A. CampisiIn Art, Life in general, Mind Grapes, UpdatesLeave a comment

So… if you have never been to Maui before, I cannot recommend it enough. It was absolutely beautiful and we had the most amazing time. Hands down, best vacation ever.

But don’t just take my word for it. Check out these pictures.

So much fun.

Anyway, on Monday it will be nose back to the grindstone, tracking food and getting this health journey cart righted.

See you then.

– DAC

About Goals – Important Life Update.

On By D.A. CampisiIn Life in general, Updates1 Comment

“I have goals.” That’s an easy thing to say, right? After all, who doesn’t have some sort of goal in their life?

“I want to run a marathon.”

“I want to lose 20 pounds.”

“I want to learn to speak French.”

Everyone has goals. It’s that finish line way off in the distance that you want to reach before the sweepers show up and tell you the race is over.

Having goals is one thing. It’s something else altogether to act on, work toward, and accomplish those goals. It takes a lot for forethought, practice, motivation, dedication, and accountability to reach these goals with a satisfactory conclusion. And suffice it to say, the lofter the goal, the more time you will need to spend on working toward it.

I have goals… but I haven’t been pushing myself toward them. At least, not as much as I should be. Every year around this same time, I hop on this blog and spout some words about how this year is gonna be the year. This time I will fight for my dreams and make them a reality.

It works for a while. I crank out some blogs on topics I find interesting, start going to the gym, make an effort to better myself, practice a craft, etc.

Then I stop. Not all at once. It’s a gradual thing. I don’t even entirely realize I’m doing it most times. I get busy and put something off until the next day, saying “I’ll start fresh on Monday,” or some other equally hopeful phrase.  Then Monday comes and… well, I guess calling it a vicious circle would be an understatement.

I understand this post is sounding a bit cynical, but please bear with me for a minute, as that is not my intention.

You see, recently, a visit to my doctor gave me quite a wake-up call in regards to my health. Nothing dire, but troubling and a bit scary. I’m not going to go into details, but let’s just say I’m going to need to make some major changes to my lifestyle going forward, else the consequences will be a lot worse than just troubling and scary.  I’m going to need to change not only how/what I eat and my activity level, but also my mindset of how I go about making changes, setting goals, and sticking to them.

And there was a time in the not so far past where I would refuse to quit, despite the doubts my brain would throw at me.

EVIL DOUBT BRAIN: “You won’t be able to do that half-marathon on your first try!”
ME: “Wanna bet?”

EVIL DOUBT BRAIN: “You can’t write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days!”
ME: “Oh yeah? Watch me do it 5 years in a row.”

You get the idea. I need to look at this new set of challenges in a similar way. I need to kick my doubts to the curb and push through with the changes that need to happen.

Over the next few months, I’m going to use this space to provide updates on the progress with health as I reach for these new goals. On top of that, I’m going to use this overall change of mindset to really push myself forward creatively. I’m going to force myself to level-up, for lack of a better phrase. There is going to be more writing, more blogging, and more reporting on how the submissions and query process is going. Maybe I’ll even start drawing again when I can’t find the right words that I want to say.

Basically, my body has told me that I can’t “start fresh on Monday” anymore… and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

This is a rallying cry to embrace change, not a penance to fear. I’m being challenged, and honestly, I like rising to a challenge.

I’m going to stick this post at the top of the blog as a reminder. Any big milestones, updates, or changes I will link to below.

 

  • DAC

Radio Silence

On By D.A. CampisiIn Life in general, Mind Grapes, WritingLeave a comment

I know that I have never really been good at updating this blog in a proper/timely manner.  This is something that those of you genuinely interested in what I have to say have likely noticed. I tend to deem these extended periods of time “Radio Silence,” despite the mixing of medium metaphors. Honestly, I’m not happy with these periods, would very much like them to stop, and therefore be more prompt with my writings/blogging. Whether it’s a blog published elsewhere on the web or just a general update on my work and progress, there really is no reason I cannot post more frequently… besides willing myself to get up off my ass (or sit down on it, I suppose) and actually do so.

And aside from my extended blogging in 2017 for Sideshow.com, I have not been all that productive. I’ll spare you the laundry list of lame excuses and understandable reasons. Except one…

Genre writers and storytellers are sponges.  What I mean by that is, we see the world around us, absorb it, filter it, then spit it back out as something new we can call our own.  When things are bad, we create dystopian dramas with unlikely underdogs fighting back against oppressive regimes. When things are good, we create fantastic adventures through space and time, boldly creating and discovering new wonders throughout the universe.

To put it mildly, the state of the world around us right now… isn’t good. Absorbing and viewing in the swirling garbage around us, for me personally, makes it more difficult to feel creative. But you don’t really need to hear about my general malaise at the current state of our political, social, and natural environments. You’ve seen it. You know what is happening. I’m sure you are sick of it too, and wish for some big changes.

So I blocked it all out.

I have always been hesitant to post any social or political views here. I also try to avoid it on Twitter and Facebook aside from the occasional share/retweet which, let’s be honest, is the political equivalent of saying “Yes, I agree with you, but I’m gonna do it from behind this shrubbery where the bad guys can’t see me.”

I think that needs to change.

I know many readers prefer not to have a writer’s political/social views shoved down their throats. But no matter what you are reading, chances are that is exactly what is happening whether you realize it or not. I think it would be impossible for a writer not to include at least a little of their personal beliefs in their works. Whether it is intended is another matter entirely.

Where was I going with this long ramble?  Oh… right… Basically, I need to not be afraid to state my mind. Share my opinions, even if some people may find them unpopular. I think guarding my opinions so closely has been stifling my creativity in a way, because I didn’t want to anger the limited readership I have gained because of a differing opinion.
I think that is all I wanted to say for right now. Hopefully, this will be the first of many new blogs for 2018.
Thanks for stopping by,
– DAC

San Diego Comic Con 2017 Survival Guide

On By D.A. CampisiIn Life in general, WritingLeave a comment

SDCC

There are a series of articles currently on Sideshow.com (written by myself) with helpful tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your SDCC Experience!  Check them out below!

SDCC Survival Guide Part 1: Pre-Show Planning

SDCC Survival Guide Part 2: Advice, Tips, & Tricks

SDCC Survival Guide Part 3: Keeping Updated on News

Enjoy and hope to see you on the convention floor!

 

November has come.

On By D.A. CampisiIn UpdatesLeave a comment

And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.

– William Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

As I worked on this new blog today, the first thing I noticed as I picked my title and chose my theme, was the above quote.  No accident, as it was no doubt specifically chosen by the theme’s designer or WordPress to entice the blogger to using this particular theme.  Well, it immediately caught my eye, so mission accomplished. I have a weakness for the idea of imagination. It’s been a driving force in my life since my brain could grasp the very concept.

I’m no stranger to starting blogs. In fact, I’ve made enough of them to start my own personal blogosphere.  A web of multiple blogs, each unique in it’s own universe drastically different than the previous one, all awaiting the inevitable crisis looming to condense them into one all encompassing web journal.

That crisis happened at the start of the year when I created a new account on the Ghost blogging platform.  I liked Ghost, I really did.  However, I could not justify cost of using Ghost when there were free options available. So I wandered the world wide web for a few months after my trial account lapsed, periodically checking back to blogger, blog, and LiveJournal to see which would be the best substitute.  None made the cut.

So here we are at WordPress and the fantastic quote above.  This will be the new, and final blog.  I have included a few of the Ghost blogs posts here as well, including the first ones with my goals for this year.  Let’s revisit that, since 2014 is finally wrapping up.  (Thank God, by the way for that.  It’s been a terrible year overall.)

  • Goal #1 – Editing Book #1. This was more or less accomplished.  The 2nd draft was completed before April and sent to Beta Readers.  Most of the feedback has been generally very good, with good critique on things that need some fixing.  Still waiting for a few more people to finish reading and feedback.  After Nanowrimo this year, December will be dedicated to correcting and changing the third draft, and then submissions
  • Goal #2 – Finishing Book #2 prior to November. This did not happen. No one to blame but myself.  I could say the reason was I was so focused on getting book #1 done and out, but that’s more an excuse than anything, and not a very good one.  I’m currently working to complete this project for this years NANOWRIMO (which started yesterday).
  • Goal #3 – Short Stories.  I’ve had lots of ideas, but no submissions yet.  Two stories are ready to be submitted, and someone pointed me to a website called The Submission Grinder, which looks to be an amazing new resource.
  • Goal #4 – Read More. I’ve definitely been reading more, but I have not finished any new novels this year, I’m sad to say.  But the year ain’t over yet.
  • Goal #5 – Blogging.  See above.

So here we are again, at another NANOWRIMO.  The goal this year is get book #2 done.  After that, we can get back on some of these other goals.  In fact, I better get cracking.

Till next week,

DC

Soundtrack today was November Has Come by Gorillaz.