Content Creation – The Blackburn Memoirs

Blog Update: Goals, New Logo, Future Projects & More | #Writing #WritingCommunity #Poetry #Poems #Goals #LoveConquersAll

“The Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
– Lao Tzu

“Believe in your dreams. They were given to you for a reason.”
– Katrina Mayer

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.”
– Les Brown

It has been a while since I have done a blog update, and the reason for that is because I needed to set myself up for some future projects, get organized for writing, as well as work. As such, I wasn’t going to have too much additional time to do all that, while still actively writing for the blog. Even so, I don’t see myself taking no extensive break any time soon, which is good because I’m ready to begin sharing a lot of different things.

There is another crucial component why I kept myself away from most social media, and it’s because once I get sucked into “The Vortex”, I get stuck in there and begin draining countless hours, many of which are not doing anything productive. And being someone that values time to a great extent, it hits me hard that I could allow myself to let lack of mindfulness siphon so much time away. Because of all that, I had to detach to a considerable extent and do what’s best for me to make sure I was in an optimal place for the future.

Now, I wanted to give a quick update on my latest project, my book Amor Vincit Omnia – Love Conquers All, which is written under my Zy Marquiez pen name. I just ordered what I am hopping is my ‘last’ proof copy, and if there are no formatting errors then the books a go. Thankfully, none of the previous proof copies had any, but I did delay the release because the book grew to a considerable extent, much more so than I thought it would. That said, I’m excited to have that done and out the door so I can move on to other things.

Speaking of other things, I wanted to speak at brevity about the Logo. As mentioned in a previous post, the reason I designed the Logo that I did was because I wanted to create something for myself. If someone else likes it, great, but that wasn’t the reason I chose to make it. Not unlike when I write, I write and create as an expression of myself, first and foremost for me. The Logo follows the same mindset.

I was seeking to create something that not only resonates deeply with me, but also follows some of tenets I value, such as a no–nonsense very straight forward approach, simple and yet complex simultaneously, something that operates on multiple tiers, not unlike how life does physically and metaphysically, and something that included initials for both of my pen names. All four letters of each of my pen names are integrated into it, with three Zs (two seen primarily as Ns and one small one), one large M, four Ns, and two Bs.

Along the same lines, I have filed for trademarks for both the Noctis Blackburn pen name, and the Logo I designed. Given that intellectual property theft is a an issue, I thought it prudent to do that. Moreover, given that slander is also something to be seriously concerned about with the way social media operates and in general as well, I was urged by my attorney to follow that particular approach.

Shifting gears, the Blackburn Memoirs Facebook page is now being run (and has been run) by one of my best friends from college that I’ve known for exactly 20 years, that goes by Pandora. I met her at ASU and once I ran the idea by her she was thrilled to do so. That said, I did start another FB page under my Z.M. pen name, which was unplanned, but a few people thought it a good idea given that the content from each of the pen names, although similar in nature, is going to start to diverge in significantly different directions with time. I will handle that page myself for a few weeks tops as I get it off the ground, and will either let Pandora take over if she wants, or someone else perhaps. Still uncertain of that however.

Now onto other randomness, did you know YouTube’s still a thing? Apparently. In any case, I have a YouTube channel to hopefully help other writers not make the same mistakes I’ve made while writing, publishing, etc. That is the main baseline for the channel, hopefully serving others in a way that it can help them hone their craft and save time, given how precious time is. There’s at least a dozen videos there or so, covering writing from a variety of angles, so if you’re interested in that, it’s there.

I will be uploading videos regularly on things that directly or indirectly couple with writing, at times taking an outside of the box approach to explore a kaleidoscope of concepts in hopefully intriguing ways, at times coupling it to poker given how many commonalities writing and poker have, which I find very intriguing.

Besides that, there’s one final announcement that I’m thrilled to tell you all about. Months ago I thought about an idea that I’ve slowly been getting off the ground, and it’s actually quite fun and different, definitely nothing I’ve ever done before.

I’m working on a book along the lines of a masquerade, so for now, let’s call it “The Masquerade,” although the actual title was already chosen months ago. Thank you for those handful of you that have known and kept my trust. Now, I wanted to work on this book a lot more the last 2 months, but given how complex Amor Vincit Omnia turned out to be, I just decided to put The Masquerade on hold.

Just like A.V.O., this book kind of took a life of its own. At first, I wanted to make it based around a Love story, and that’s certainly one component of it, but the book’s grown much larger in scope than that. I’m really chomping at the bit to tell you all more, but I just can’t. It’s not the time. That said, I am super excited for it, although there is no tentative release date at the moment since it still needs lots of work.

Why a masquerade? Because I’ve always loved the idea of a masquerade. There is something about it that is not only intriguing, but very mysterious. It’s like a blank canvas within the nascent stages of the evening, something that holds endless possibilities for a night to truly remember. I have never had the pleasure to attend one, but one day in the future I will. I really do think it would be amazing experience subjectively speaking, and something that when the time is right, I will definitely knock off my bucket list.

That is also why I have often used a mask not unlike the one seen in the Phantom Of The Opera. Not only that, but when I was younger, my Mom had nigh two dozen Venetian–style carnival masks on the wall, which were a constant reminder of the idea of a masquerade. This idea has resonated with me since I was a young teenager, and although I never planned on writing a book on a masquerade ever, now that I’m here, I’m going to go with it wherever it may lead and let the chips fall where they may.

I really hope you all are doing amazing, and I’m glad that I’m going to be posting regularly again since I have missed doing so, interacting with you all and learning from you as well. It has definitely been a minute. You all take care of yourselves and I appreciate you taking the time to read. Make sure to have a wonderful day and keep on keeping on.

______________________________

About Me:
Noctis Blackburn is an author, bibliophile, writer, poet, dreamer, star gazer, autodidact, logician, researcher, lover of life, Carmel Macchiatto addict, and more.
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Maintaining A High Output In Writing | #WritingCommunity #Poetry #Poems #CreativeWriting #Prose #NoctisBlackburn #Writing #Inspiration

“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.”
– E.L. Doctorow

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
– Louis L’Amour

NoctisBlackburn.com
Noctis Blackburn
August 9, 2019

Writing is an extremely time intensive process.

It is easy to spend dozens of hours a week working on your craft, drafts, editing, and so on, without it even being a job for you. This is why it’s paramount to keep your energy levels up (physically and mentally) and your inspiration topped off as much as possible, for it allows for seamless creation of content whether you do fiction, non-fiction, poetry, book reviews, or anything else.

The aforementioned was stated because I’ve often been asked how is it that I’ve written quite a few poetry books so quickly, and my main answer when asked has always been that I make sure that my inspiration is always there. I am always exposing myself to things that inspire me, whether it is music, movies, words, passages, moments, people, interactions, meaningful memories, previous write-ups, diary entries, letters, notes, emails, you name it, all of that inspires me to the core. It keeps the embers of inspiration lit to such an extent that I’ve actually come up with a term named “Writer’s Flood”, which will be discussed at length in a future blog.

To sum it up now though, the term ‘Writer’s Flood’ is the opposite of the term ‘Writer’s Block. Where in traditional ‘Writer’s Block’ you couldn’t write if your life depended on it, ‘Writer’s Flood’ means that you’re so inspired writing basically takes care of itself, it’s almost like you’re tapped the well of inspiration and it costs you no energy and your output at such a time is incredible and nigh effortless.

The vanguard thing I do now is that, whenever I feel this inspired, or significantly inspired, I end up writing, whereas before I would have specific time slots to write. Well, the latter idea, though great on paper, almost never works that efficiently for me. If it works for you, fantastic, it just doesn’t serve me that well. As such, it matters not whether I’m at the coffee shop, a friend’s house, playing pool by myself, at the gym, at Barns & Noble, maybe a restaurant, you name it, I plop down my notebook, or write on a book, or use the phone, and begin writing. And it’s not uncommon during the most inspiring moments to knock out 50 or way more poems fairly quickly. This isn’t always the case, but it happens probably once or twice a week, with several other times, sometimes multiples a day, me writing a lot of poems at varying times, as well as many other passages and so on.

I say all this because this isn’t some special talent, or anything that’s inherent to only me. I know one person that’s beginning to do it considerably, and another two that are taking this approach and its working well for all of them.

So what exactly do I do? Simple, as mentioned in the introductory paragraph, I do things that infuse me and/or increase my energy levels coupled with things that inspire me, whatever that may be. Certainly, what may inspire me, may certainly not be what inspires you, but each of us can be hit by inspiration, or actively seek it. And once we infusing ourselves with tsunamis of energy, writing doesn’t become a choir, but an adventure.

I fittingly chose to write this on a Friday Night, because I’m between hanging out with friends, and I’m about to head out by myself to my favorite spot. This place is the place where I draw a lot of inspiration from, and I’ve written hundreds of poems, countless journal entries and blogs, and everything in between here. Because of this, I try to go there on Friday nights as much as possible, because it works for me, though I know this wouldn’t work for everyone.

Bottom line: do whatever works for you. Seek inspiration however you can. If you’re always being energized when in the company of others, or while having conversations with others, this should tell you all you need to know about what works in inspiring you. Or if something else inspires you, do that. Do whatever it is that brings joy to your soul. And hopefully, once you create these circumstances for yourself, it’ll be a long time before you experience Writer’s Block again, because hey, if you can circumvent ever having Writer’s Block, why not do it?

You all have a wonderful evening.