But I Digress…, Episode 17: My Interview with Nick Hayden

“But I Digress…”
Hosted by Nathan Marchand

This episode has two special treats. First, I have a sidekick: Leo. More importantly, I have my first guest: my friend and fellow writer Nick Hayden, who’s just published a new novel entitled, “The Unremarkable Squire.” The episode is done in the style of a late night talk show. Enjoy!

Title card by Jarod Marchand.

Learn more about Nick on his website: www.WorksOfNick.com.

Distractions, Distractions, Dis–Oh, ‘Doctor Who’!

distraction (1)really need to update more often on here. Heck, I took a writing seminar at Gen-Con where I was reminded that if I want to be successful as a writer in the digital age, I need not only maintain a blog but update on a regular basis. I’ve been trying to do that more often, usually writing about things besides, well, writing, but life has a way of interfering with my best laid plans.

But it’s not just that. It’s me. Dr. Hensley, my English professor from TUFW,  would be disappointed with my time management. What’s weird is it seemed easier to be disciplined back then. Maybe it was because there were fewer distractions–or at least fewer readily accessible distractions. Regardless, I’ve been taking on more and more writing projects than I originally expected. Remember my last vlog of 2012 where I mentioned what my big projects were gonna be for this year?  Well, it’s at least double that now. I’ve taken on a co-writing a nerdy devotional with a friend; making an updated version of Destroyer; writing short stories for a pair of collections; writing a script for a fanfilm I’d like to produce; and I’m still trying to keep up with my aforementioned projects!

If it was just because I’m trying to do too much, I’d say it was a good problem to have. But that’s not the only reason. I’m somewhat unique among writers in that I’m an extrovert. I like being social. I’ll usually respond to friends asking me to hang out. Or I’ll jump on Facebook and “hang out” there. Lately, I’ve been showing my brother Jarod the new Doctor Who show. He’s hooked–and so am I to showing it to him. Or I let my hobbies, like video games, sap my time.

Meanwhile I’m still have a part-time job and I want to go back to the gym.

Procrastination is a fiend!

Then I stop and realize I haven’t gotten nearly as much done as I wanted to. This bugs me. I like feeling accomplished everyday. The problem is I let myself feel accomplished doing things like earning trophies on my Playstation 3 games. It needs to come from getting a minimum 1,000 words written everyday (and that excludes blog posts like this!).

So, first, let me apologize for my poor time management. I still need to get photos from Gen-Con posted on here, dangit!

Second, you have my permission to harp on me to get stuff done. You’d be surprised what pressure from fans can accomplish. Also, if you have any advice for overcoming distractions and/or procrastination, please share them with me.