Work, Statistics, Sensation · 2:06am Jul 22nd, 2014
Work, Statistics, Sensation.
Like I said on Twitter a few days ago, life is about what you make time for. It's a constant balancing act, and I have the utmost respect for people that can put together major projects and work on them consistently. For my part, I want to have it all. I want to have a good job that I enjoy doing, want to feel ready for grad school in oh god it's only four weeks, to make 'Sensation' as good as it can possibly be, and to spend time with the people I care about. It takes a lot of juggling, but overall I think I'm happy with where my life's at. At the same time, I feel like I'm being rocked around by a pendulum with three points.
Work, Statistics, Sensation.
There's a lot going on at work right now, and with my transition away, I have a lot to do to make sure the hand-off to my coworkers goes smoothly. They're great folks over in the data management teams, and it's my biggest fear at work that I'll leave something unaccounted for, making their lives harder down the road. They're my friends, and I want them to be okay.
Work, Statistics, Sensation.
My grad program is only a year long, and it feels like I've been using that as an excuse to put off things like finding furniture. I've got my apartment and I'm working on my student loans, but there's going to need to be a lot of improv on my part to make everything flow smoothly in the first few weeks. Besides the logistics, I need to be ready to tackle the course load, and I'm not as far in the online course as I'd like to be. Part of it is that it's a bit mind-numbing with the review, and I've got to get through it in about 4 weeks time, half of which has already evaporated. In the end, though, I imagine life will be simpler once I get to Pittsburgh. Simpler, but maybe more chaotic. I thrive amid chaos.
Work, Statistics, Sensation.
I started writing as a way to calm down, as a way to get away from it all on my breaks. In many ways, it still relaxes me, but I didn't anticipate how much I would care about you. Yes, you, dear reader. Sensation is by far the biggest writing project I've ever undertaken, and I want so badly to do a good job. Several of you have added comments and given critique, and I love every word of it, positive and negative. It helps me keep going. Sometimes, though, I can't help but look at other, more popular writers and think, 'What am I doing wrong?' I've decided not to enter the "Most Dangerous Game" contest, and the EQD word limit prevents me from getting 'Tonight' featured, so this little love story is what I have left for my creative outlet. If you have any thoughts on any of the chapters, take a moment and let me know, and maybe spread the word a bit if you enjoy it. Getting feedback is the highlight of my day, and you are a wonderful, wonderful group of people.
Work, Statistics, Sensation.
I've done my work for the day, and I've studied as much as I am able to manage for the night. Time to go work on Sensation, then.
Wishing you the best,
Syn
I know but all to well what you mean. Juggling the various responcibilities in work and studies with social life and personal projects is tough within the limited amount of time you always seem to have too little of. I'm glad though to read that you've found a satisfying balance within it to be happy with.
Might I ask what your one your grad program will be focussing on?
Simple and Chaotic are two things that I would generally think not to go very well together. In fact chaos tends to turn the simplest of things into quite the complex conundrums at times. On top of that I can understand
Buying furniture is hard ^^ I do hope you're not as picky as I am when it comes to tastes. I still haven't found any chairs I like. A bit of improvising can get you a long way, but do make sure that you'll end up in an apartment you like and customize it to fit your needs. It's important to have an environment you can feel happy in when confronted with lots of studying.
Comparison is a dangerous thing. We all have different strengths, strive for different goals and have different social circles. The danger with comparing oneself to the abilities or popularity of one we admire is that the own strengths are often overlooked. Your own developement in your writing talents might not yet have achieved that particular amount of views or likes you're seeing in another's work, but you may very well have talents and skills the other might not, but have just gone unnoticed by many for now. ^^
Let your work speak for you. Don't let lower view counts or less comments discourage you. Popularity ideally shouldn't be a goal in itself, enjoying writing and being proud of what you've created should be. That's easier said than done I know as it's nice to know your work i appreciated. Viewcounts generally come through exposure, having the right people read it and spread the word essentially. It's dependant on what people are looking for, what genre or characters (the front page has a lot of mane six and a limited number of popular background characters for the most part, though love/shipping is a popular topic) they want to read about and how many competing stories there are out there. It's hard to find one story amongst the many, even if it's a gem.
Sensation though has become quite the intriguing story, taking a completely different approach to its genre that's rather unique to most stories I've read so far. A lot of romance oriented stories either go too fast or have this almost ideal setup. They're sweet and lovely, and great to feel good about after reading them. Many lack the struggles though that make them believable and a potential ending more satisfying. The journey and challanges overcome after all are as important as the ending.
The introduction and occasional breaks in the retelling to go back to the present, feels personal and makes the story easy to get immersed in. To me personally little is more important to a story than being able to get lost in it, feel with the characters and events and for that experience to go unbroken.
There's a lot of relateable conflict in Sensation, some funny, quite a bit of it serious, but told in an accessable manner, and I generally find myself hoping, as I always do, for things to get better in the end. The strange part of that though is that knowing most of it is mentioned in past tense, it feels like somewhat of a fragile hope, having an impression of the direction the story might take or what the future could be.
Well now that I'm starting to lose track of what I intended to write I wish you luck in your endeavors. Now that I have an internet connection again I'll be sure to let you know what I think next I get to read more of sensation. I'll be looking forward to it.
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Can I keep you?
Thanks for the encouragement. You're completely right about comparing myself to others – it's all too easy to overlook my own strengths if I'm using the wrong yardstick. I put a lot of effort into making the characters seem real, and I've tried to avoid the trappings of a lot of other fiction that's out there. The fact that you seem to think I'm succeeding means the world to me. I'm not after popularity, per se, but rather that feeling that others are getting some value out of what I've done. For now, I'll keep on keeping on, and hopefully the 'Sensation' does speak for itself when it's finished.
My one-year program is for a Master's in Statistical Practice at Carnegie Mellon. At one point, I thought about doing a video series that explains statistical concepts using ponies.
Maybe someday, if I make the time for it.
Fortunately, I do have an apartment waiting for me, so at least I'll have a roof over my head. The chaos comes in arriving five days before the classes begin, but that will not by any means be the most troublesome move I've ever had.
Thanks again. This made my day.