Greetings from Thailand! I just had to say that one more time; this will be my last post from the Elephant Kingdom. This time next week will find me back in my rusty old town. I’ve been gone for a while and I’m looking forward to catching up with all my mountain people. Fair warning: my posting frequency might drop slightly as I readjust to life in Yankton (the country, not the city).
April was Better Writing Month, and I learned something: writing about writing is way too meta for me. As I said in my last post, I’m much more interested in the inner game of writing and creativity than stuff like proper comma placement. Not that there’s anything wrong with posts like that. I find them quite useful.
Upcoming articles
May has no special designations or unifying themes. Look for article or two on associative techniques, an anti-materialism screed, and an obligatory ‘back in the U.S.A.’ post. Lately I’m wondering how our physical environment affects the way we create, and I might explore this topic. I’ve touched on this once before in Removing Physical Barriers to Creating Amazing Things. Maybe I’ll delve a little deeper.
With the help of my wife, I’m also working on a longer compilation of creative techniques. More on this as the project develops.
Design and Features
I’ve joined the Thesis Theme cult, but I haven’t drank the kool-aid. Not yet, anyway. Right now I’m working up a super-sexy new design of Happenchance on a subdomain sandbox (thus avoiding any user-created clusterf&*ks). Look for the new design by the end of the month. I’m inches away from hiring someone to do this for me. Any recommendations?
I also intend to create an Amazon affiliate store where I list books (and maybe some products) that I think would be especially useful or entertaining. Yes, I’ll make a pittance if you purchase one of my recommendations. No, I won’t start beating you over the head with the ‘buy my stuff’ stick. Though I can’t promise I won’t do book reviews 😉 If you’re in the mood for a game, let’s play: in the comments, take a guess at which authors I will include in my store. The winner will get a respectful nod from me.
I’m also looking for ways to make Happenchance more interactive. One idea is to have some kind of feedback forum or critique exchange. For writers, there are already plenty of these. Maybe something more interdisciplinary (ignoring everything I said about poets and screenwriters in writers’ groups)… any thoughts?
Reader feedback
Finally, I want to hear from you. This is your chance to speak your mind. What would you like to see more of here at Happenchance? What have you enjoyed? What have you loathed? Should I revive the weekly roundups? Should the happy dancers be included in the re-design?
You can tell me in the comments or, if you prefer to be discrete, email me at seth m baker [at] g mail [dot] com. Thanks in advance. And, as always…
Thanks for Reading!
Photo credit: quinnanya
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I like the weekly roundups. And the happy dancers.
Maybe this isn’t really workable, but I was thinking you could start a writing group right here on this website – not exactly, of course, but something resembling it. You could paint it as a workshop of sorts where you invite readers to send in a small writing sample for suggestions, which you would of course reciprocate later, allowing us to return the favor. This would seem to make Happenchance more interactive as well – instead of simply commenting on the content you create, this gives us the opportunity to create content and improve it together. Of course, you don’t want the focus of Happenchance to become too narrow, so I would also encourage the submission of creative content other than writing, be it music, artwork, or whatever else. Share more of yourself and others may begin to open up more too, I imagine.