Author: Ian

Fall TRAM Now Online, Plus Thoughts on Editing a Cool Indie Zine

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The TRAM (a.k.a. that zine I work on in Toyama) has a new issue out, one that I’m particularly proud of because of the quality of the material.  This was also our first new issue since our long hiatus earlier this year, and it has a mix of stuff that I’ll sincerely recommend here.

Those outside the Toyama JET community will be most interested in Mind Your Mindset, an article about Growth Mindsets vs. Fixed Mindsets by recent JET alum Rikio Inouye that shows how opening up to personal growth can lead to greater happiness and success.  I’d recommend anyone interested in improving their perspective and taking on new challenges check this one out.

I also put together another edition of my Let’s Talk About Japan Books! column, this one covering two nonfiction books about the JET Program itself.  While Bruce Feiler’s Learning to Bow isn’t worth getting excited over (despite its popularity, I didn’t like the book all that much), the centerpiece is my review of a book called Importing Diversity: Inside Japan’s JET Program by David McConnell, a for-serious academic study about the early years of the JET Program. The book leaves no stone unturned when it comes to the problems faced by ALTs and is incredibly relevant to anyone currently working on or considering JET. Continue reading »

I Like Doing Everything: An Interview with Jeff Gill

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Jeff Gill is an animator, editor, and voice actor (plus a whole bunch of other stuff) who’s worked on South Park and Ask the StoryBots, a children’s educational show currently airing on Netflix for which he’s won Emmys in the Writing and Directing categories.  He’s also worked as the Director of eCards for JibJab and has a hilarious Soundcloud page of songs he’s recorded while stuck in Los Angeles traffic.

I talked to Jeff via Skype to discuss his path to animation success, how to network and get jobs, and what it’s like to work in the industry.

 

I. It Was Really Through Sheer Passion for Learning

 

But I Also Have a Day Job: So what made you want to become an animator?

Jeff Gill: Becoming an animator was something I wanted to do from a very young age.  As a kid, your vision of what an adult job is involves working at a bank or being a lawyer, or doing something where you’re in a suit.  The first time I saw a job that wasn’t that was a behind-the-scenes of either Ren and Stimpy or Rocko’s Modern Life where they showed a Nickelodeon animator at his desk, which was covered with toys, and he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt.  I just remember looking at this guy and thinking “Man, that’s what I want to be when I grow up.” Continue reading »

Do You Shut Down or Check Out When You’re at Work?

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In my last few posts I’ve talked about my recent stresses and how I’m slowly making things better.  While some of those stresses are related to my daily life and creative work, a few of them have been Day Job-related—though again, I won’t be talking about them here for Day Job-related secrecy reasons.

What I have been doing, though, is talking to some coworkers I trust (both Japanese and Western) about the problem.  Talking to people I work with about work problems has a few benefits, including:

  1. It makes me feel better
  2. It lets my coworkers know about the problem so it’s not a secret anymore
  3. It lets me gain their perspective and hear their advice

As a result of Benefit Number 3, I’ve been hearing different ways that my coworkers deal with their own stresses, one of which I’d like to write about this week… Continue reading »

How I Changed My Routine to Reduce Stress – A Rundown

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It’s been a rough couple of weeks, but things have been getting better.  (And on that note, MANY thanks to everyone who reached out to see how I was doing—it means a lot.)

As I wrote about last week, I’ve been having some issues with stress and general pessimism both in- and outside of my Day Job, and earlier this month I sat down and talked with my boss about it.  This was a pretty big step for me—and not just because of the language barrier.  Rather, it was me admitting to myself that I needed to slow down, step back, and reprioritize some aspects of my life.

This understandably involved a few changes—some big, some small, some I implemented right away, and some that were more gradual.  In order from most to least significant, here’s a rundown of what changes I’ve made, why I made them, and what effects they’ve been having…. Continue reading »

I Was Having Problems at My Day Job and Talked to My Boss About It

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Yep, this is kind of a serious post.

Things in general haven’t been going well for a while, and I’ve kind of been in denial about it.  My writing’s still stalled, I’ve been way too insanely busy, and I’ve been pushing myself too hard during the week and then crashing hard on weekends.  None of these has been doing me any good.

Apart from all this I’ve been experiencing some pretty bad lows, many of which can be indirectly traced back to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Even though Japan’s been grappling with the virus far better than the States, over here I still have to deal with cancelled plans, limited activities, and lot of other negative changes.

Here’s a big negative change: I had to cancel my trip back to the States in August, when I was planning on meeting friends, seeing family, and attending my brother’s wedding.  That sucked pretty hard. Continue reading »

Eliminate Distractions by Unplugging Your Internet

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I wrote this article a few (well, many) months ago as a guest post for another blog…that didn’t end up getting picked up :-(  Rather than relegate it to a folder on my hard drive I decided to share it here.  While the app I mention in the opening paragraphs is old news, whether you eliminate distractions through internal or external means is an important question to consider when taking back more of your time.

A while back I read about an app designed to improve focus for writers.  Cleverly named The Most Dangerous Writing App, it serves as your word processing program and monitors how long since you’ve actually pressed the keys to write. After five minutes of inactivity the app will assume you’ve gotten distracted and your writing will start to fade; go for much longer and it disappears completely. How’s that for incentive to stay focused? Continue reading »

Is Too Much Freedom With Your Time a Bad Thing?

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Short answer: Sometimes.  Long answer:

Recently someone asked me how I felt about the idea of having total freedom to write or do whatever creative work I wanted—and whether that much freedom would be overwhelming.

The question took me back to the last time I had a lot of freedom with my time, after I left my job where my boss was crooked and before I started my current job in Japan.  I was editing the fourth or so draft of MFA Thesis Novel during the day, editing the first New Hampshire Writers Project Anthology in the afternoons, and in between that I was brushing up my Japanese, doing editing side gigs, and trying to read a lot of books.  I also had to find time to move all my stuff into storage and vacate my apartment.

In short, I was pretty busy. Continue reading »

Non-Creative Things I Do to De-Stress: Saturdays at Home

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On Saturdays I like to step away from creative work.

I used to sleep late on Saturday mornings, but this left me feeling lethargic, so now I try to get up around eight or so to let the sunlight in through my balcony doors.  If it’s sunny (which it usually is this time of year) I’ll throw in a load of laundry to air-dry later in the morning and lay in bed reading until I feel like getting up.  This morning instead of a book I read this essay from The Millions about writers living a life of uncertainty, which left me feeling inspired.

After reading but before leaving my bed I pull out my phone and check messages from the night before.  I try not to overdo it, though, since it’s best not to get sucked into a social media vortex first thing in the morning.

I used to check email first thing on Saturday mornings too, but this left me feeling drained and empty regardless of what I found in my inbox, so I stopped.  I’m writing this at one p.m. on a Saturday—I haven’t checked my email today and I genuinely don’t care.  It’s midnight in America, so email can wait. Continue reading »

I’m Getting Ready to Write a New Novel But Not Actually Writing It Yet—Here’s Why

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My writing’s been in this weird state of transition for a long time now.  That’s because, for the first time in nine years, I’m not actively working on some sort of novel.

Instead I worked on querying MFA Thesis Novel to publishers for ten months, and in between queries worked on some shorter pieces in various states of completion.  Having time to focus on these other projects has been great, but I’m realizing how badly I miss having a bigger, more involved project to work on, and how much I want to get back into the creative process of working on a novel.

But, as I wrote about in my post a few weeks back, I’m having trouble starting.

That’s partly because this novel idea is particularly ambitious—it’s like nothing I’ve ever written, and writing it the way I’m imagining it is going to take every bit of my writing skill, in addition to a lot of skills I’ve yet to get a handle on.
Continue reading »

Should Writers Have to Pay to Submit Their Work?

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In my post a few weeks ago about getting my novel accepted for publication by a small press I briefly mentioned a topic that really merits more discussion: Submitting my novel to publishers cost me some actual folding money.

Said folding money came in the form of submission fees to some of the 22 small indie presses I applied to over a 10-month period.

The submission and payment process for indie presses works a bit differently than it does if you’re going for a contract with one of the Big 5 Publishers.  To get that kind of contract, you first have to send your novel to a literary agent, which is always free.  Literary agents get paid by charging commission fees off advances and royalties—in short, they only get paid when your novel sells, and any agent who charges upfront reading fees is almost certainly running some kind of scam.

This is because the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR) specifically prohibits its member agents from charging writers to read their work.  This is an amazing protection for writers that Continue reading »

A Very Special Thanks for the Support

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Hey everybody,

After I posted about getting the contract to publish MFA Thesis Novel I received a FLOOD of comments and messages from people saying congratulations, that they were happy for me, that they couldn’t wait to read it, and more.  Some came from people I hadn’t talked to for literally years, and getting back in touch with them felt really good too. I took the time to reply to everyone individually (and if I missed yours I sincerely apologize!) because that kind of personal response is important to me.

In the meantime, though, I also wanted to say a collective thank you to everyone who sent messages, commented, replied, Liked, or otherwise reached out in support—it means a lot, makes me SUPER optimistic about getting MFA Thesis Novel into the world, and provides a genuine confidence boost Continue reading »

Do You Have Trouble Starting New Projects, or Trouble Finishing Them?

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I’ve got a big writing project I want to start, but instead of actually starting it, I’m going to blog about it instead.

I’ve always had trouble starting new projects.  In high school I was a bad procrastinator who often watched TV and played video games when I should have been writing papers, and as an adult I developed productive procrastination habits where I do the million and one other things I have to do apart from the difficult project, thus creating the illusion of productivity.

I guess I just get intimidated by big projects.  If I start something new, I know I’m going to have to finish it, which can feel downright scary.

A lot of other people, though, start projects easily because they’re excited about them.  Unfortunately, when the initial excitement wears off Continue reading »