The Enemy of Good — mnchrm vol. lxi
Hello friends. I hope you're all staying safe. Apologies for the radio silence; I know I've said this before, but not only have I been finding it harder to write, but when I can find the energy, I'm not quite sure what to say.
I have still been lucky. I haven't gotten sick, nor has anyone I'm close with. I'm still employed (though I was pretty sure I wouldn't be, for a while there) while the vast majority of my friends are not. Basically, the world is a strange and scary place right now, and so far I've managed to avoid the worst of it, I think largely due to my privilege. I am both grateful and bothered by this.
On the writing front: As the Contributing Resident at The Chicago Review of Books, I've been editing some pieces lately for the site. This has been a lot of fun, working with different writers, and seeing what their style is like. I like reading with a critical eye, of course, and it's been interesting to turn that onto non-fiction for the first time rather than fiction. I'm proud of the pieces I've gotten to work on in this capacity.
It's also interesting to see not only the editing side, but the political side of this as well. How many edits should you suggest? At what point are you splitting hairs? If you know you can only do one round of revisions on a piece, what's the priority, and how can you express what you want to change in a way that doesn't step on the toes of the writer?
I also finished my latest piece for CHIRB, a review of Andres Neuman's Fracture.
I got a chance to take a course with Garth Greenwell online, a one day workshop on writing sex. It was super fascinating! I've been sort of scared to write about sex, even though it's so integral to life and romantic relationships. I feel like the course gave me a better grasp of the how and why, and just a lot to think about with my writing in general.
Work on my novel has been somewhat slow; I've just been writing and rewriting the opening section for a week or so now. Partially, I feel as if once I nail the first part in voice, tone, style, I'll be off to the races. But also, "Perfect is the enemy of good"; but I want to be perfect. At some point, I know I just need to forge ahead and sort it out later. I'm just hoping I can turn my editorial eye on my own work better now. Time will tell.
I got my old blog up and running, thanks to my friend Nathan. I had been putting off getting my certificate renewed, because I figured it would be hard, and even though I decided to self-host my website, web development intimidates me. Especially now, since I haven't been working on it for a long time. However, Nathan showed me it would be super easy to set up, and make it auto-renew.
Now I've got to update my website! Maybe write a new blog post?
I also managed to completely redo my photography portfolio / website. I switched from hosting it on Smugmug to hosting with Pixieset. Functionally, they look very similar on the face, but soon Pixieset should allow people to order prints of my work directly off the site. These will go through a printer I'm familiar with, with prices set by me, and no commission cut taken by Pixieset. Rad! Any way I can streamline this process is good with me. They also have some neat integrations with client galleries for when I do professional shoots, and the ability to make photobook apps, which I'm not sure I intend to utilize.
I'm missing a few things that Smugmug offered, like their archive system, and making it a bit harder to just download the full resolution jpgs, though many of my photos are available on Unsplash anyways.
Take a look, let me know what you think. And if you'd like to order a print, shoot me an email, and I'll give you a discount.
Beyond that, I've been cycling a lot, which feels a bit safer than running, given the increased distance to people. This is one of those times where living in a more suburban setting would be preferable; I know even 10 or so miles out of the city would be better for cycling. Hopefully, I can start making my way out there and doing much longer rides anyways. I'd almost forgotten how good cycling feels, the joy of maintaining and fixing and *knowing* your bike, the pure direct connection and feeling of speed you get riding around. Also, easier on the knees.
On Patreon, I wrote a new piece on this season's currently-airing anime, and what's avoided being postponed due to coronavirus. Thanks so much to all my patrons; gonna to keep the posts coming!
I'm also excited to start a Lancer campaign with a few of my internet friends. I've never played a TTRPG, but even just doing the character creation, dreaming up and writing my pilot's bio was a lot of fun. Can't wait to explore that narrative space with some friends.
Anyways, stay safe out there. We've just got to keep pushing, do our best to stay safe, and cross bridges as we come to them. While I haven't found the productive niche that many seem to have, I'm so thankful to be safe and sound, and to have a few outlets to keep me going.
Stay strong, fight on.
From Chicago with love.
Your faithful commander,
-- I