Justine Larbalestier

reading, writing, eating, drinking, sport

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A Lack of Musings

A friend just asked if I’m ever going to write another musing again. She wonders if this blog has destroyed them for all time.

Tis true that I didn’t write a single one in September or October, but then I hardly wrote an email in that time either. But just as I will write emails again, so too will I muse again. I’ve even got a bunch of half-written ones: about podcasts, the artist who’s back to being known as prince again, about city hatred, being Australian, travelling, and about the nightmare of writing a mathematically gifted character (Reason in the Magic or Madness books when I am so not and how it gets harder with each book—not doing that again!).

It’s mostly not the blog what ate them. It’s trying to write two novels a year, plus Daughters of Earth, plus the various other ideas I’m turning into proposals and like that. I’m crap at multi-tasking. To be honest, I’m not even that good at single-tasking. Working on five different writing projects at once breaks my brain.

But blogging ain’t like that. It’s easy, relaxing, instant-gratification writing. I don’t slave over my posts the way I do over my musings, I don’t try to make them structured or particulary coherent. Thus they never take much time to write. And I love the response I get from the people what reads me posts. I was particuarly thrilled by the really cool discussion of translating in response to this post. (I’ve been meaning to ask David Moles for ages about his suggestion that the Australian and USian sections of Magic or Madness could be translated into Mexican and Argentinian Spanish, which way he was suggesting. Mexican=Australian; Argentinia=USian? On account of Mexicans are known for being laid back as are Australians—yeah, yeah, I’m an exception, okay?—and Argentinians like USians are known for, um, how do I put this delicately? their confidence.)

The conversations are the coolest part of blogging. I’m much less interested in blogs that don’t have a comments section.

And, er, um, to sum up: there’ll be more musings when I finish another one. In the future.

Posted by Justine at 10:55, 3 November 2005 under Bloggery/Internetty Stuff, Excuses, Magic or Madness trilogy, State of the World | 8 Comments »

Comments

  1. Diana Peterfreund Says:

    hear hear (or is it here here?) on the comments. I freely admit to being one of those that posts occasionally controversial blogposts just so i can get a good frothy commentary going. I’m usually nice on other people’s blogs though. I never say anything approaching, “I never really cared for cricket.”

    and hear hear hear on the no multi-tasking. screws with that whole intensity thing.

    And hear x 4 on why learning lesson about creating characters gifted in areas we know nothing about. i suck at video games. it was a bad idea.

    November 3rd, 2005 at 2:48 PM

  2. 2. Justine Says:

    Hang on a cottonpicking second, missy, you just wrote something blasphemous about cricket on my blog in the guise of saying that you wouldn’t ever do that! Okay, I’m counting that as a first transgression, do it again and I start editing your comments as I’ve been known to do to a certain M__go Lana__n. You have been warned!

    Sometimes I think the only way to be one of those multi-tasking people is to have a baby. My friends with kids are way better at it than me, but they’re also tireder and crankier . . .

    Deal, Diana, from now on we only write about people with our exact same skillsets! (My apologies for using the word “skillset”.) Thus my characters will all be Australians from inner city Sydney who spend time in NYC and are mediocre Go players.

    November 3rd, 2005 at 3:02 PM

  3. Diana Peterfreund Says:

    Well, I already did the snarky lit major from yale, unfortunately. Must branch out in hopes of having career.

    Perhaps I shall adopt the philosophy “embrace the maelstrom” and write only about pro cricket players who spend their spare time doing the butterfly stroke, playing halo2, watching the home shopping network and rockclimbing in tibet.

    November 3rd, 2005 at 3:27 PM

  4. 4. Justine Says:

    That’s the spirit! Of course, in order to do that you’ll have to become a pro cricket player, learn butterfly, and how to play halo2 and the rest of it. All we have to do is lots of hands-on research then we can write about whatever we want! Piece of cake.

    November 3rd, 2005 at 4:52 PM

  5. richard b. Says:

    comment sections are cool, yes; though i wish i could find some rss-ifying gizmo that would automagically pipe them into bloglines. all this clickity-clicking around is no fun for the carpal tunnels. and i’m trying to do all my blog reading in bloglines for time/efficiency’s sake, in the hopes of one day, some day, any day, doing some successful single-tasking. get well to scott!

    November 3rd, 2005 at 6:16 PM

  6. 6. Justine Says:

    Hey, Mr Richard B: This blog is supposed to have a comments rss. If you look at the bottom of the page under credits. I have no idea if it works or not.

    November 3rd, 2005 at 7:35 PM

  7. richard b. Says:

    Hey, lookit that! I knew these desktop calculators were good for something!

    November 4th, 2005 at 2:02 AM

  8. 8. Justine Says:

    So does that mean the comments rss thingie works? Yay!

    November 4th, 2005 at 9:58 AM

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