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Writing Momentum · 17 August 2024

When I wrote about not being in a funk, I mentioned momentum. Then, I completely ignored the thought. So I thought I would come back to it.

Momentum is a strange thing. It is also a simple thing. Both in physics and in life.

Momentum is merely mass times velocity in physics. At least mathematically. And it is just the mathematical expression of Newton’s first law. A body at rest tends to stay at rest and body in motion tends to stay in motion unless it is acted upon by an outside force. The unless part applies to both the body at rest and the body in motion. Pretty simple.

Momentum also applies to real life. Both in the Newtonian sense and in the abstract sense. And since it applies to life, it applies to writing. (Perhaps you thought I would never get there.)

Most people think of momentum or inertia when they think of motion. (I suppose that is why they call them Newton’s Laws of Motion.) But momentum applies to non-motion too. Think about it. When you are at rest, you want to stay at rest. It is tough to get out of that bed or chair. Especially if said chair is a recliner. I know it is a state of mind more than a state of body in this case, but it is still momentum. We must force ourselves to get moving.

The same is true for writing. When we are not writing very often, it is tough to get to that piece we were working on. It is so easy to agree with Scarlett O’Hara and just say, “After all, tomorrow is another day.” So we do not keep the momentum going by writing day after day after day. Which is the key really. To be a writer, you must write each day. Week after week, month after month, year after year. They do add up. And as the days add up, you will have the blog posts and books to show for it. You see, when you have momentum, you do not need to do much to keep going.

In physics, the thing you need to overcome to keep the momentum up is friction. I suppose that is true in life too. Something comes up to mess up your writing routine. Friction. Something happens to your relationships to mess up your writing routine. Friction. (In more ways than one.) Yes. Life is full of all sorts of friction. Which is why you need to keep adding energy to your writing train to keep it in motion. To keep its momentum up.

Which is one of the coolest things to experience.

I have had many moments in writing when I have lots of momentum. Idea after idea comes into my head. For blog posts, for books, even for poetry and song. That is the sweet spot. Just keep writing and the ideas keep flowing. Just keep the ideas coming and the writing keeps flowing. It is a process that feeds on itself. On its own momentum. Woo woo! Keep that train movin’. Keep that momentum going.

The thing about writing momentum is that it can even push through writing funks. I suppose it is like a plow at the front of that train plowing through the snow on the tracks. Keep up the head of steam and the snow is no match for the momentum. Words keep flowing. Woo woo!

Well, that is about all that I have to say about writing and momentum. And trains. At least for today. I hope that you are able to keep up your momentum by writing or doing whatever you need to be doing every day.

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Not in a Funk · 10 August 2024

I am not in a funk. Not really. But it seems that my blog writing momentum has gone down.

I have been writing my blog for a long time. Since 2006, to be precise. Actually, I did not start my foray into websites and actual blogging until early 2007. But that is another story. A story that I think I already wrote. But who knows? Certainly not I. After all, I write my blog, post, and promptly forget it. Which is not entirely true. I usually remember topics that I wrote about, but forget the specifics. Usually. There are those times that I cannot remember ever writing about certain topics. Which is again a completely different story.

Having written my blog for so long it is sometimes easy to come up with something for the next week. Yes, there are times when I have a tough time. Usually those times are when I do not have any writing projects. Which seems odd. The more I am writing, the more topics I have to write about. I have plenty of things to write about when I am busy. When I have lots of writing projects. It is usually when I am in some sort of writing funk without many projects that I have a tough time writing a blog post.

Which seems backwards. You would think that the less projects I have, the easier it would be to write a blog post. Oh sure, it might not be funny or enlightening or entertaining or even readable (if it ever is), but it ought to be easy to write when I do not have tons to do. I ought to just be able to come up with something when I do not have lots of writing projects.

But it does not work that way. At least not for me. At least not usually. Usually, when I have lots of projects, I have lots of blog ideas too. Usually, when I am writing lots, I am full of more writing ideas.

It is when I am in a writing funk that I usually do not have blog ideas. When I have no projects in the queue, I have no blog ideas in the queue either. Nothing. In a funk for projects means in a funk for blogging. None of my writing is any good in any form.

Now, I know what you are thinking. None of my writing is that great anyway, so what is the problem? The problem is that I am not in a funk. I have more projects going than I can really write. I am working on at least three writing projects. Which usually means that blog ideas come freely too. But not this time. This time, I am writing on my projects, but no blog ideas are forthcoming.

Oh the horror.

Then again, the horror could be that I really am in a funk. That none of my writing anywhere is any good. That the projects I am working on are terrible. That the blog posts I write have no merit. That they are way below mediocre.

Or maybe I am finally realizing that I have always been in a funk. That my writing has ever and will always be far less than mediocre. Regardless of what anybody says.

But that is ridiculous. Or at least that is not my mindset. I will at least listen to a little of what my readers have told me. I choose to believe that I can at least write close to mediocre stuff. And every once in a while, I might exceed that standard. Maybe.

Oh. I do not believe I am in a writing funk. Or any funk for that matter. I just need to keep writing. That way, when I do get in a funk, I can just write out of it. After all, that is what real writers do. They press on whether their stuff has any merit whatsoever. And so to misquote Charles Dickens. Write on! Write on over all obstacles and win the race!

Write on over all obstacles and beat that funk. Write on. Even if there is no funk.

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USMC Educator Workshop Debrief · 3 August 2024

Neither the United States Marine Corps nor any other component of the Department of Defense has approved, endorsed, or authorized this blog or this blog post.

If you are an educator and you do not see the United States Marine Corps (USMC) or any branch of the military as a viable option for all of your students, you should open your mind by attending a USMC Educator Workshop.

I attended a USMC Educator Workshop in early July. The goal of the weeklong workshop is, of course, to get educators to see that joining the Marine Corps is a viable option for students. Whether those students are the best of the best or those who are barely squeaking by or may not even be squeaking by or somebody somewhere in the middle. And as the commanding general of the base told us, to realize that we are partners in helping young men and women become the best versions of themselves.

I have always seen any branch of the military as a viable option for any level of student. I have had students go to military academies and students who have enlisted. Sometimes with my urging, always with my encouragement, applause and congratulations. I have seen all branches of service as pretty much equal in terms of what they do to help my former students become the best versions of themselves. I am not so sure I think that way anymore. To be sure, the educator workshop has probably given me a little bias toward steering the best and brightest, and the hardest working students to the Marine Corps. (But I will still encourage and applaud those who enter any branch of the military.)

Part of the reason that I am more likely to send the hardest working students to the Marine Corps is because of the values they instill. I always tell my students that regardless of whether they remember any of the content I teach, they will hopefully retain some of the values I teach. And I can certainly steer students toward an organization that instills the values of honor, courage, and commitment into its people. They are not exactly the values that I try to instill in my students, but they line up well.

But back to the workshop.

Perhaps the best part of the weeklong workshop was that we were assigned a Drill Instructor (DI) for the duration. We had two busses for traveling to and from our accommodations to wherever we were going, and the people on each bus had their own DI. It was interesting getting to know our DI. Actually both DIs. They barked orders to us from the very beginning. They had us get in lines. They had us shout, “Aye aye, sir!” as a reply to almost everything. They told us how to cover down (get in line) and step out (walk) and, of course, how to reply to everything they said (at the top of our lungs). It was thrilling to say the least. But we were not recruits. We did not need to live with those Drill Instructors for the next 13 weeks.

The interesting thing was that when the DIs wanted to talk with us as just normal people instead of simulated recruits, they took off their coveted campaign covers. Even more interesting was that after a couple of days, we still replied at the top of our lungs when they asked us questions without their covers. And on the final day we seemed at a loss and could not function well when we did not cover down to load the busses and when we were not barked at to do everything. To be sure, it was both disconcerting and comforting talking to the Drill Instructors as regular people.

The workshop was amazing. We went from place to place to place listening to briefs and doing activities. We were lined up on the famous yellow footprints, taken through to have our belongs processed for contraband, crushed by the Combat Fitness Test, allowed to shoot at the rifle range, challenged with team problem solving, and exhilarated by rappelling. Oh. And did I mention that we were often marched from place to place to place? (We did not really march, we just walked. In lines. Covered down.) The briefs were informative, the activities were amazing, and the marching was grueling (on at least one day). In short, the workshop was more than I expected.

The captain in charge of the workshops asked us early on in the process who would have signed up to be a U.S. Marine had they known what they knew after just a couple hours of the workshop. Maybe we had already forgotten our barking drill instructors, but I and many others raised our hands.

I know that the U.S. Marines is not for everybody. It really is for the few and the proud. And I will tell my students and anybody else who asks me that the Marines are looking for good people. Not just to win the nation’s battles, but to do all sorts of other jobs in support of that mission.

I could probably go on and on about the USMC Educator Workshop, but it is not something you should just read about. It is something you should participate in. So if you are in education, I would encourage you to attend a USMC Educator Workshop. You will be glad you did. And you will get a small taste of what your students will experience when they start their process of becoming United States Marines.