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Sunday, March 31, 2019

Procrastination or delayed discipline

cj Sez: It used to be that I worked better when I had a short-term deadline. That said, I thought if I gave myself a deadline, I’d have the incentive to keep going on the WIPs I have on my computer. Found out that’s not true.

   I have managed to bury those deadlines under weeks of procrastination that I called “research.” It seems that the more I research, the less creativity I have. I’m getting bogged down in discovering fascinating facts, and the stories are suffering. I suspect I’ll be scrambling in the last few days to get finished.

   I suppose some of you might call that procrastinating. Nope, I’m calling it delayed discipline.

How about you? How do you kick research to the curb and stay on track?
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Speaking of research, I try to make it my job to learn something new every day. Today I came across the word "bildungsroman" while I was spiraling down a research rabbit hole looking for more information on coming of age stories. In literary criticism, a Bildungsroman is a literary genre

"Bildungsroman is the combination of two German words: Bildung, meaning 'education,' and Roman, meaning 'novel.' Fittingly, a 'bildungsroman' is a novel that deals with the formative years of the main character - in particular, his or her psychological development and moral education. The bildungsroman usually ends on a positive note with the hero's foolish mistakes and painful disappointments over and a life of usefulness ahead. 

   "The term coming-of-age novel is sometimes used interchangeably with Bildungsroman, but its use is usually wider and less technical."


   I’ve seen the word before but never committed its meaning to memory until now.
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“The Apprenticeship of Nigel Blackthorn” is a coming of age story from author Frank Kelso, a friend of mine: https://amzn.to/2V3gmZT

In 1853 Texas, thirteen-year-old Nigel Blackthorn is the spoiled son of a Protestant preacher. When his missionary family fall victims to a Comanche attack, his easy childhood crumbles in an instant. How will he find the grit to survive?
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You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj
Free on Kindle Unlimited at the time of this post:  DEADLY STAR \
A fast-paced read: Mirabel Campbell must learn how to stay alive in a covert world of political intrigue where the unexpected is the norm, and she’s not the kind of woman who’ll wait for anyone else to make her decisions. She made a promise to a dying friend to find out what’s so special about that tiny point of light in the sky, and she intends to keep that promise.

Little note: Print copies of Choosing Carter and Deadly Star are becoming scarce as Simon&Schuster winds down their support of the Crimson Romance imprint. HOWEVER, you can support an indie book store and order an autographed copy of my books here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice.

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Simon&Schuster Author Page = https://bit.ly/2uo1M0Z

1 comment:

  1. Bildungsroman. I'm not sure if I'll manage to commit that one to memory but I will tuck it away in my research file. Thanks.

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