[A Pleasurable Headache] the real lesson was the knights we lost along the way
Over the years I've tried to kill the perfectionist streak in me, trying everything from self-imposed deadlines to CBT. The latter has probably been the biggest help in giving me the tools, tactics and means to recognise when I'm getting into one of my ruts. But it sometimes becomes very easy to disregard the methods that you know work. Especially when your own mind is working against you. Then new patterns rear their head and work is still not getting released (it always gets done but it's never good enough).
So it was something of a revelation this week when I lost my umpteenth chess match. As mentioned in the last edition I recently started playing and I am not great at it. The thing is with chess, unless you're a prodigy, you will lose a lot of games right out of the gate. It seems that even when you better yourself and your ELO goes up into four digits, there will be times (and games) where nothing goes your way and all you can do is lose gracefully and (here's the important part) take on the lessons you've learnt and come back stronger next time.
The same has to apply to writing, right? There will be times when things don't chime, when projects you've completed are not what you expected or anticipated. The best you can do is play the game, analyse the results, learn from it and move onto the next thing.
I appreciate that none of this is revelatory or new advice. But seeing it through a different prism, a different framework seems to have shifted my mindset somewhat in the last few weeks. Everything is grist for the mill and there are no failures where you won't learn something. You just have to be open to the idea.
Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk. Here are some links.
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Assassin's Creed Valhalla made my home a magical wilderness
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-01-15-assassins-creed-valhalla-gloucestershire
Emma Kent at Eurogamer comments about how AC:Valhalla represents her home county of Gloucestershire. It seems the game takes historical and geographical liberties here and there, but is somewhat accurate in other regards smooshing together landmarks and other bits of recognisable geography. Kent is right in that there is something magical about seeing a familiar landscape in video game form as I'm sure denizens of NY and other major cities can attest. It seems Ubisoft even included elements from my own stalking grounds.
"Despite all this, I could still recognise the Severn Valley and guess at certain landmarks. The unreachable mountains in the west likely represent the Welsh Brecon Beacons, and the large round hills look suspiciously like the Malverns, particularly given the next hills in that direction are the Shropshire Stiperstones. The absence of my hometown of Cheltenham was hardly surprising - it was still only a village at the time - but I was delighted to find one of my local walking routes, Cleeve Hill, which frankly hasn't changed a great deal from the 9th century."
I do miss playing as Kassandra, the protagonist from the last game, but Eivor has her own narrative that's just as compelling. Also, riding, strolling and killing your way through a beautiful, pre-industrial England is good for the soul. Everything looks beautiful, wild and untamed. Secrets lie around every corner and in every nook and cranny. I heartily recommend the game.
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The Realities of Becoming a Full-Time Writer
<https://litreactor.com/columns/the-realities-of-becoming-a-full-time-writer>
Max Booth III on at LitReactor goes over his recent switch to, yep you guessed it, writing full time. There's some good advice within, even if you haven't made that switch yet. I also recommend you go read his recent novella We Need To Do Something. Here a family become trapped in a bathroom during a tornado warning. Secrets, resentments and nastiness bubbles to the surface as a result.
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The Great Reset Conspiracy Smoothie
<https://theintercept.com/2020/12/08/great-reset-conspiracy/>
Naomi Klein at The Intercept on the idea of 'the great reset', a concept that is prevalent amongst those on the far right, and the more conspiracy-theory orientated. However, instead of being a grand plan by a secret global cabal, it's just yet another buzzword thrown about by a neoliberal elite who are all too happy with the status quo, thank you very much.
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MAJ SJÖWALL AND PER WAHLÖÖ: A CRIME READER’S GUIDE TO THE CLASSICS
<https://crimereads.com/maj-sjowall-and-per-wahloo-a-crime-readers-guide-to-the-classics/>
CrimeReads does a deep dive on perhaps my favourite pair of writers. Their Inspector Beck series is a stone cold classic. Seek them out and devour.
"They worked at night, after the children were in bed, at opposite ends of a table in their study, writing in longhand from ten or eleven pm until the children woke up. They had a detailed synopsis in front of them—“If Per started with chapter one, I would write chapter two at the same time”—and the next night they edited and typed the other’s work. “We never talked about the story when we were writing it,” said Sjöwall. “The only things we said were, ‘Pass me the cigarettes’ and ‘It’s your turn to make some tea.’” (“I don’t see how you do it,” an American mystery writer told Wahlöö. “My wife and I can’t even collaborate on boiling an egg.”)."
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Amsterdam Is Embracing a Radical New Economic Theory to Help Save the Environment. Could It Also Replace Capitalism?
<https://time.com/5930093/amsterdam-doughnut-economics/>
Gee, let's hope so.
"Instead of equating a growing GDP with a successful society, our goal should be to fit all of human life into what Raworth calls the “sweet spot” between the “social foundation,” where everyone has what they need to live a good life, and the “environmental ceiling.” By and large, people in rich countries are living above the environmental ceiling. Those in poorer countries often fall below the social foundation. The space in between: that’s the doughnut."
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Intrepid Navigators
<https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2021/02/25/intrepid-navigators-birds-migration/>
The NYRB talks about three recent bird-related book releases, throwing amazing and wonderful facts at the reader left, right and centre.
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Fearsome and Female: Part One of the 2021 Women in Horror Roundtable
It's Women In Horror Month and, as ever, Gwendolyn Kiste is hosting a roundtable discussion with several authors over at her blog. Discover some new favoruites!
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I'm off to lose to checkmate in four. See you in two!1
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I swear to God this will not become a chess newsletter. ↩