This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. You can find all my work at MJMunoz.com.
This is Story Over Everything, Episode 21, and...
Wow, I almost tripped. I'm doing a walk and talk.
I've decided to, and I'm kind of vamping while I pull up my script for this episode, but also not vamping because this is pertinent information.
I've decided I need to be writing more because I am not writing nearly enough and it's very disappointing.
And I have somewhat legitimate reasons for not doing it, but I'm also letting those reasons become excuses.
And that's not good enough. I want to come up with a period of everyday...
It's modest and it sounds stupid, but it's what I know I can do.
Commit 10 minutes every day to writing. That way I'm writing at least an hour a week.
And after that, I don't know what I'm going to do.
But I also was looking at my format for Story Over Everything, and I've got these topical episodes, the workshop episodes where I educate myself on something concerning writing, and I try to share that with you as well.
And then the story machine episodes where I tell you my progress, but I also go over a writing prompt that I came up with to be more writerly or whatever.
And then skimming leaves where I do a casual book review, book chat, book discussion.
And I think skimming leaves is good. Story machine is okay.
The other two don't really make sense because while I'm putting energy and time into coming up with topics or researching and learning something for writing craft, I could be writing instead.
And I don't know, probably I spend a half hour to an hour total finding something to talk about, talking about it, editing it, getting it posted and all that stuff.
And that doesn't really make sense because I'm supposed to be writing. I'm an author, artist, and analyzer.
And how can I be? I'm doing plenty of analyzing, but I'm not doing enough authoring and definitely not enough artwork.
So I want to start drawing. I'm thinking about, I'm playing with the idea of let me draw 10 minutes a day. Let me write 10 minutes a day.
Dedicate that 20 minute block to that creative outlet and toward to making progress on the projects I'm doing so that I can keep advancing and keep, well, keep advancing.
That's what I have to do. If I don't, then I'm giving up and I'm failing myself and I don't want to do that.
So anyway, I think I'm just going to pretty much do a walk and talk when, you know, when weather permits and I'm going to work on the book.
And you can just pretend it's like a live stream, whatever book I'm working on. It's going to be a work in progress. Oh yeah, that's right. So I made this note.
So this episode is going to be a grow bug tails whip or work in progress 602. So for Friday, 602 was that June 2nd.
This is the episode I'm going to publish. I have a whole like, I'm very grateful for the advances that I've made with myself as far as the podcasting things concerned.
And now that I'm using RSS.com, which if you want to pay me for that RSS.com, I will gladly take your money because I really do like your service.
What I've, you know, what I've been able to do with it. And like you can make transcripts super easy and there's a bunch of great stuff you can do, but it's helping me.
I think it's helping me like become better at doing the talking and doing the podcast making and distributing and all that stuff.
And there's some things I need to fine tune on that, but that's been distracting me. Unfortunately, from doing the work of actually my creative writing, and I've instead been working on analyzing stuff.
And I think I'm getting better at that. I think I'm doing a much better job with that. And I'm letting go of certain things.
I'm trying to follow the 80-20 rule or the Pareto rule. I think they call that where you figure out what 20% of the thing you do gives you the 80% payoff for doing that work.
And I think I'm finding what my niche is as far as the analysis stuff. And now I just need to get back to writing and not let that become something that is a second priority for me.
It needs to be after my family and everything else. It needs to be my first priority because this is what I want. I want to be an author. I want to be this creative person.
I want to make a career of it. And again, I can't do that if I'm not doing the work.
So yeah, without further ado, I'm going to go ahead and pull open my Grow Bug Tales document. I'm currently in the midst of writing chapter six.
I don't know where I am so I'm going to be reading to you some of my manuscript. And like I said, I'm just going to be super open.
And I also need to take a little bit of time to do the recording for all five Grow Bug books and get that up on the website.
I have Ava and the Grow Bug up there which is book two. It was actually the first book I wrote in this series. And it's almost my personal favorite.
I just have a lot of affection for it. So that's the first one I wrote. The audiobook and the finished text as far as I'm concerned right now is up there.
And you know, it could change. It's not 100% final because it hasn't been published yet.
But anyway, I'm going to get the other Grow Bug books up there. Hopefully one a week starting next week.
And you know, so in a month all five Grow Bug books will be up there.
But then this Grow Bug Tales book that I'm going to read part of it to you and work on part of it right now is a book that encapsulates all those.
And it combines all of them and it tells the other side of the story from those books as well as a larger tale, a larger narrative with these Grow Bugs that are...
Well, you'll learn about them. They're these guardian angel insects basically that come to Earth and are raised in their own little Grow Bug society.
And they get sent out to save children from night terrors called hobnots or night hobs.
And no, no, hobnots. That's what they're called. Hobnots.
And I was playing with different names. So there we go.
So they protect and save children from these hobnots.
And they have their own little world that the kids don't know about because the kids just get exposed to them for a brief amount of time.
They're rescued and then everybody moves on with their lives.
So like I said, I'm in the midst of chapter six. I'm doing a rewrite and...
Oops, I lost my place.
And now I'm going to basically...
So another great thing about RSS.com is they have this great transcription feature.
And I'm going to speak the words here and then I'm going to have them transcribed and copy them into my document.
And that's what we're going to do.
And it makes a lot of sense to me to go ahead and do that.
So I'm being super transparent with my process. It's something I want to do from now on to help me with my content making.
To help me concentrate on making the things I actually want to produce as part of my content making strategy.
So anyway, I'm just going to read a little bit and catch up.
So... Okay, this is like the climax of Harmony story.
I was panicked as Harmony fell. I had never fallen like that since I have these great wings.
After a few moments, I called to Harmony in her mind and hold her.
She had to fly or had to think of flying and she did.
I flew as fast as I could at Stranger King and he called... or and she called out,
Harmonia kick! And with a crash, she knocked him, the scepter and the crown to the hard stone.
Both instruments of power shattered, sparks streaming from them.
It's a very tokusatsu-y thing to have happen.
How could you beat me? He's strained to ask.
I may be a child, but we're always changing and growing. You never know when we'll surprise you.
So that's this grow bug, Wisp, telling the story from her perspective that happens in Harmony and the grow bug.
And I'll continue from there. It says, Harmony and I...
Oh, gee, I need to edit that.
Okay, so I'm doing a little bit of editing and letting the audio transcript thing take care of it for me.
So, edit point.
Harmony and I chatted while she rode down the street on her bike.
So there will be no more crazy dreams like that, Wisp, Harmony asked.
At least not anytime soon around here. And I'll have to be off too, kid.
Well, that's too bad. But you'll come back if there's more trouble, right?
I'm sure you can handle most anything coming your way.
But if anything too wild happens, you know what to do.
I'll know, Harmony said.
Wisp the grow bug shot up into the sky and Harmony rode on.
So, I need to change that last line.
I need to do another edit right there. It shouldn't be Wisp the grow bug shot up into the sky and Harmony rode on.
It should be something along the lines of.
So, I'm thinking this.
So Harmony, you know, the last line is, I'll know, Harmony said.
Harmony rode on and I flew off ready for some rest and hoping I wouldn't see her anytime soon.
Then I have at the end of this chapter an opportunity for the grow bug cadets to ask questions or give input on the story.
And I framed this story with Wisp, rather, the grow bug, butterfly grow bug saying that she was presenting to the grow bug cadets a different type of story.
Where really all she had to do was kind of help the human kid, Harmony, who she was assisting.
All she had to do for her was not save her from, you know, terrible monsters necessarily.
But just help her open her eyes so that she could, you know, to an extent, save herself or adjust what she's doing.
Because what she was doing was what was causing the harm and causing, you know, disharmony.
And Wisp was trying to help her through that situation.
And really in that book Harmony does see the error of her ways and she tries to make the correction.
And at that point, that's when Wisp was able to get in with her.
So, you know, do I follow up on that point that Wisp...
I'm not sure. And if I do, how do I do it? I don't really know at this point.
So, again, I have Wisp wondering what to do.
No, no, no. I'm wondering what Wisp will do and what she'll say to the cadets and if they'll follow up.
So let me... I'm actually going to jump back to earlier in the document and see what I had written down.
So, let's see.
Okay. Good evening, cadets. Let's welcome Guardian Wisp.
Thank you, Glimmer. A pink butterfly flutters her wings by way of greeting and addresses the circle.
Fluttered and addresses and addressed. Should we...
Okay, now I'm editing. That's not good. I'm getting distracted by editing.
And addressed the circle.
Those were some great stories, cadets.
Chuiang and Ya were friends, forced to fight. They've almost lost their parents because she was so afraid.
Sometimes humans need someone to help them see through the darkness.
That's what happened with my fellow guardians here. My story is a little different.
So, it isn't really that Wisp helped Harmony to see through the darkness.
Harmony got to the point where she was able to see through the darkness by what she was experiencing.
And then Wisp helped her to have the power to face that darkness.
Because she had the courage and the moxie, certainly. The girls got chutzpah.
And then she just needed like, you know, a weapon or a tool to use.
So, how do I go with that? Because the point of Harmony's story is empathy.
But that doesn't mean that's the point of Wisp's story with Harmony.
It can be something totally different. It does not have to be the same at all.
Which is saying the same thing twice.
Let me see.
So, basically, I have Wisp here acting as a crutch or a tool, an asset for Harmony to utilize in order to get out of this jam that she's in.
So, how do I convey that? Do I tell that? You don't want to tell. You want to show, right?
Did I show that in the story? Did I show that in the story?
And is that what the girlbug cadets are going to take away from it? Or are they going to ask her about it?
Because they can make comments or they can ask questions.
So, if they ask a question along the lines of transcription note.
So, Harmony didn't need you after all.
One of the girlbug cadets spoke up.
Wisp batted her wings once and said,
Harmony did need my help.
But not in the way you might expect.
Can anyone see what she needed from me and how I helped her through the situation?
By the way, I should use dictation as my keyword so I can jump in and know when I'm starting a dictation or ending a dictation
so that I can use control F to find that in the document and more quickly parse out my text that is useful to me.
She didn't need you to show her that she was wrong.
Did she just need you to free her from her prison?
Another girlbug guest.
Did she need you to help her fly? A cadet asked.
Those are interesting ideas, Wisp answered.
She could see her situation clearly and she knew what needed to be done to fix things.
But she just needed a little boost, a little help doing it.
And that's what I was there for.
Everything happens for a reason, though sometimes it's hard to know why.
A cadet spoke up with doubt in its voice.
I don't know if it's a boy or a girl. I'll have to figure out which cadet it is.
So are you saying that hobnots are actually good?
I'm not sure.
What I'm saying cadets is that everything that happens, happens for you, not to you.
I'm not sure if it's a boy or a girl.
That is not an easy answer, but it doesn't mean it isn't a good one.
If no one else has anything to say, I think that means that my part is done.
I'm not sure if it's a boy or a girl.
Wisp bent her antennae in a bow and removed herself from the center of the circle.
Dictation over.
I'm going to stop there for now. I need to wrap up this recording and I have other things I need to attend to.
I really enjoy thinking out loud. It definitely benefits me.
Especially a walk and talk is especially beneficial for me.
I think this is something I want to keep doing.
I don't know about editing the pauses or the quiet spots of silence out of this.
You might just have to listen to it at 2x speed or something like that.
That might be the best way to go forward for you and for me.
I am glad I challenged myself to do this.
I think this is a good next step in me becoming more productive.
I definitely wouldn't have done this riding otherwise.
Definitely not at this time. I discovered that I can use dictation start, stop, or just dictation to create those spots in the document for myself.
Where I can pick up and more easily process the data.
The reason I am choosing to be so quiet in those quiet spots is because if I don't say anything, then hopefully the transcription won't have any words there.
Won't have any useless or empty words there.
I can just continue making my comments.
When I have gathered my thoughts and I am ready to speak, I will be able to say what I have to say.
The transcript won't know any different. It won't care that there is a gap.
Visually there might be a gap, but that won't matter to me because I will just know to go to the next word.
I think that makes a lot of sense.
Maybe I need to come up with some other audio tags like dictation start, stop, comment.
I will have to think about that a little bit longer.
I guess I could take a lesson from myself and just be quiet and think about that for a few seconds.
Then once I have my thoughts gathered, I can figure out or I can speak up and say what I want to say.
I will think about it later. I want to wrap this up.
I will comment some more about something and then I will go ahead and wrap up the episode.
I like this new approach. I am going to have to play around with it.
Maybe I will do multiple walk and talk things throughout the week.
Maybe I can make that my 10 minutes a day walking and talking.
Maybe I will develop my, I mean I think I will, develop my dictation muscle and I will be able to dictate more effectively in less time.
Or rather, if I give myself only 10 minutes for dictation, I would think the word count and the content I could get out in each 10 minute period should increase to a reasonable extent or over a reasonable range over time.
Let's say I do this for 2 or 3 weeks. I would think my 15th dictation session should be much better than this first one here where I had so many pauses.
So, I think that's what I am going to do and I will consider that more later for now.
I am going to go ahead and wrap up and I encourage you to stick around as I continue to document my journey as an author, artist, analyzer.
Mostly on the author part here because that's very important. I need to do that more frequently.
As I said earlier, I won't belabor it any more than I already have.
And that you will stick with me as I am going through trying to figure out exactly how to do this and figuring out my style.
And I am going to share my best practices with you as I develop them.
So, until next time folks, take care. This is MJ signing out.