It’s kinda my fault that I didn’t like this book any more than I do. I kinda thought it was going to be like War of Art by Steven Pressfield. But I was kinda dumb. The actual words used to describe the book on all marketing materials make it clear this book is Scalzi’s writing about writers and the writing business. Not about the day-to-day grind of working in solitude (which I could really use some advice on.)
You’re Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop on Kindle Cloud Reader. This is how I would’ve read the book on my laptop had I read it on my laptop in a coffee shop.
I guess it says something about my future in publishing that my idea of being successful in that business is roughly equivalent to churning out words everyday. (Laughable at best.)
Even though this ended up not being the book I expected, it was still an enjoyable read. I like Scalzi’s blog, the Whatever, and read all his new stuff there as it comes out. Most of the content in You’re Not Fooling Anyone […] are old posts from that blog when he was still carving out his space as a novelist and primarily working as a non-fiction writer. All his snark is in full force even if it didn’t really motivate me to go and do anything.
And for the record, I’ve been getting some of my best work done in a coffee shop recently.
You’re Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop by John Scalzi, part of my 2016 Reading
I’ll always be an addict. But for now I’m an addict who’s taking steps to drink less coffee. I plan to have at least two weeks of drinking nothing stronger than decaf coffee and herbal tea.
Earlier in the fall, I would’ve very much defended my addiction. There’s even an awesome CGP Grey video that says it’s okay.
But evidence began to mount that I couldn’t ignore. Baristas at my new favorite coffee shop told me I was drinking too much – and I was drinking nearly a pot of coffee at home along with all the coffee I had while there. My sleep was getting worse and worse. I was useless mentally until my 3rd cup.
These are not conditions for success. I could hear Tim Ferriss’ voice in my head all the time telling me to drink nothing stronger than green tea for a year (his advice to a friend who was addicted to stimulants.)
I’m not committing to a year, but I decided to start a reduction. My plan has been to back down a bit more every week then do at least two weeks of no caffeine at all:
As much caffeine as I want until 12pm
Up to 3 servings of coffee before 12pm
2 servings before 12pm
1 serving before 12pm
No caffeine
No caffeine
???
First week went better than I expected. I definitely found myself struggling in the afternoon for energy but wasn’t getting headaches and it helped with sleep from day one. Stopping at 12pm should stay around even after I add coffee back.
The second week I accidentally cheated. Because one of my favorite mugs is larger than most. But I didn’t realize how much larger. 3 cups from this thing is really more like 5. So I just re-did the 3-serving week successfully and sure enough I’ve been dealing with headaches, low energy, and difficulty with focus.
My enormous Star Wars mug. It drew me to the dark side with its vast amount of coffee.
Today starts the 2-serving week. I’m genuinely worried about whether or not I can hold myself to it. We’ll see.
I’ve learned a couple things already though. One, I really prefer regular coffee to espresso when it comes to getting a caffeine fix. One day Ber was out running an errand in the morning so I had herbal tea at breakfast and she got us lattes. They say there were three shots of espresso in that latte but I may as well have had a glass of milk. I just need a steady drip at all times, it would seem.
Two, I don’t hate decaf as much as I remember hating it. I think I just remember all the times I wanted a bit of energy and didn’t get it. But I’ve been drinking a bunch of decaf in the afternoons and it’s not been so bad. It just makes me feel old.
Three, I really am an addict. It was a problem. I should have dealt with it earlier. I’m dealing with it now.
Deep sigh. That’s about all I’ve got right now. That’s my complete arsenal.
Seems like in every facet of my life I’m letting down the other people involved. I’ve tried cutting back on anything that I personally wanted. And nowhere has anyone else appreciated me more for it. In some cases they appreciate me less.
The only time I’m actually doing what I want any more is that I’m getting 8 hours of sleep. And even that comes at the cost of my wife’s sanity because this baby won’t stay asleep.
I don’t watch the baby enough. I don’t get enough work done. My friends never see me. And all I can pull together is this shitty blog post.
I’d been meaning to read this book for a while. Friend and then-coworker, who is also named Patrick but is not the author of this book, recommended it to me back in 2012. In April 2016 I bought the damn book when the price dropped for the Kindle copy. In November, I finally got around to reading it and finished it in about two weeks staying up too late most nights. It was a journey, but now that I’ve read the book I can say that Patrick Not-Rothfuss was correct: it is a good book for me.
Guest reader cat, Ladybug, who is not as avid as Bagheera. The Name of the Wind on Kindle.
Set in a fantasy world, The Name of the Wind likes to keep its readers guessing as to what toys happen to be at this playground. There’s magic and lore, but there’s also a lot of civilization à la medieval Europe. Paragraphs about medicine, math, and chemistry are just as commonplace as something we’d describe as magical. There’s discussions about the existence or non-existence of rare, mythical creatures or hoaxes.
At its heart, the book is the coming of age for a special young man in Rothfuss’ new fantasy universe. His hero’s work is ahead of him, and he discovers his own world at the same time as the reader, albeit with a head start. Not so different from the young Paul in Dune. We learn about sympathy, Naming, and artificing right along with Kvothe, but can assume from the early pages that he can do all the things a level 1 hero can do here on earth and he’s smarter than the average bear from being raised well by an intrepid troupe of entertainers.
Framed around Kvothe’s young life is an older Kvothe, renowned for his feats and adventures, spinning the tale. That’s how I know there’s better stuff ahead – he told me himself. About the only thing I don’t like about the book is how this frame sets the book as one of a series so early on. It concludes with dialogue that’s nearly a sales pitch for future books. Blegh — it left a bad taste in my mouth.
The story of young Kvothe is enjoyable. But the storytelling is pieced together masterfully. It’s Rothfuss skill that will compel me to the sequels more than the stories yet to be told.
Some “rules” about Rothfuss’ writing that particularly grabbed me:
Associate places and the people in them. It flushes out both the secondary characters and the settings.
Hide foreshadowing within description. Kvothe’s summer before living in Tarbean seemed odd for a while, but it more than made up for itself in later scenes. (No spoilers.)
Create allies and enemies on a spectrum. Not all the good guys are heros. Not every rival is a “big bad” or a peon, more likely somewhere in between.
He stages his scenes efficiently, and there always seems to be a purpose from it. If not immediately, then later. That’s the feeling I’m always hoping to give my own creative endeavors. If one could run a D&D campaign the way this book reads, you’d be one hell of a DM indeed.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, part of my 2016 Reading
My vote for Hillary Clinton won’t affect whether or not she wins. Kentucky is overwhelmingly in support of Donald Trump and I can’t really change that. But there were plenty of important decisions to make down-ballot and my vote could very well impact those.
Please make the time to get out there today if you haven’t already.
In darts they say the ideal is “look where you’re throwing and throw where you’re looking.”
Both in darts and in life I think I look in the right places, but often I just drop the darts on my foot instead of throwing them anywhere near the board.
Alex "Gus" Gustafson 