My Most Memorable Accomplishments of the Decade
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- What have you accomplished this decade? Today I'm talking about some of my most memorable milestones-and I'd love to hear yours!
WHERE TO FIND ME:
BEYOND THE RED, INTO THE BLACK & THE RISING GOLD buy links (where you can buy my books)! avajae.blogspot...
Writability (aka my blog)! avajae.blogspot...
Patreon (where you can get access to extras!): / avajae
Twitter (where I spend way too much time)! / ava_jae
tumblr (because pictures! and inspirational thingies!) / avajae
Facebook (where you can like me)! / avajae
Instagram (because more pictures!) bit.ly/avagram
Goodreads (where you can add my book to your TBR shelf)! bit.ly/BtR_
In 2009 I lost the teaching job I loved when the college closed down. I reinvented myself and became a freelance writer/director/producer making documentaries, commercials, music videos and I returned to writing original dramatic feature scripts which was my first love. Then in 2012 I scaled back on my freelance work to help out my parents who are now in their 90's and both dealing with cancer. I took the step to get into heavy therapy. Even with all of that I have written 15 original feature length screenplays. For those who don't know writing a feature length screenplay involves a story that is somewhere between a short story and a novel generally involving as much research as a novel. My relationship with my kids and granddaughter is wonderful and my relationship with my ex-wife is improving. Lastly I moved out of an apartment that was unhealthy for me on many levels and into an apartment that truly inspires me. Thank you again for all of your vlogs they inspired me and kept me going when things were tough during this last year.
The Beyond the Red trilogy is absolutely AMAZING!!! I could go on, and on, and on, my god.. amazing!!!
The best thing in 2019 was finishing my first ever manuscript. It was a great feeling.
That’s so awesome! Congratulations!!
I just re-watched this Vlog again and I've lost count of the times I have seen it. I return to it because it is so inspiring.
Congrats Gabe! You accomplished so many awesome things and I’m so proud of you!
My most memorable accomplishments this decades are:
1. Moved to the U.S. and found a chosen family here
2. Got into my dream school
3. Drafted three manuscripts (in my nonnative language)
4. Came out (as trans) and started transitioning
5. Became a more compassionate, open-minded human being
Your journey has been inspiring to me. Thank you, Gabe, and keep making these videos!
ocean waves !!! These are so many awesome things! Congratulations! Wishing you all the best for the new year! :)
bookishpixie Thank you!! Wishing you all the best in the new year (and decade) too!
It sounds like you've had a huge decade! For me, I started, grew and sold a business, lived and worked in three different countries, got married, and finally started writing fiction again this year (the first time since 2005).
I also have a quick question about your name change, so I hope you don't mind me asking. Will you also change your name on your published books (assuming your publisher's okay with it)? Or will you continue to use Ava Jae as a pen name, given that that name has some recognition among your readers?
JP Writes So many great things!! Congrats!
As for your q, my books that are already published will remain under my old pseudonym, but all of my books going forward will be under my name!
I was watching your video of things that show you are a writer somehow recommended me while I was watching a video about Haruki Murakami
Wow! Monumental accomplishments. Congratulations!
Hears changing name part
Damn that was the entire decade all its own. Do you know how complicated that is? I want to change my name too but damn that's a long process. Congratulations on getting that done maybe I'll do it myself probably not because it's a lot of work.
Thanks!
*Good luck mate!* I'm glad you had a great decade, and I hope you have fantastic results in the decade to come!
My big personal achievements from the last decade are that I retired, plus I started as a casual tutor teaching STEM subjects to kids. I found that I really enjoy tutoring kids.
Thank you! And that's so awesome-congratulations!!
@@bookishpixie - Thanks for replying Gabe!
I am (of course) also trying to write my first novel in my retirement ... a sci-fi novel.
I have a question that you might be interested in answering ... I'll try to explain:
I'm an Engineer, thus I am a very technical thinker, and I've been writing technical documents for decades. I'm good at that.
But .... novel writing is totally different to technical writing, and my wife says that my novel is coming across as dry and lacking emotion ... just like you would expect a technical writer to be when they first try to write a novel.
As I understand it, as a writer I need to develop a "voice" ... which seems to be this ephemeral thing that nobody can really describe to me. Thus I'm floundering and confused about how to develop this "voice" that is apparently crucially important to novel writing.
I have a great concept, a plot that's well developed, with interesting characters doing exciting stuff while the hero is almost getting killed most of the time, and I've planned my story milestones with heaps of tension....
By no "voice"!
Any hints on "voice"? ... I would be very happy to get some direction on this problem ....!
@@pauligrossinoz Voice is hard! We all have one, it's just a matter of developing it through writing...a lot. And reading. And getting exposed to a bunch of different writers voices as we continue practicing our own. I wrote this article about voice back in 2014 but I feel it's still pretty relevant-maybe it'll help! avajae.blogspot.com/2014/11/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about.html
@@bookishpixie - I'm seriously honoured that you replied again ... _Thank you!_ 😊
So ... I immediately read your blog post, and you have some very good advice there. Thanks for that too...
I have both this fear, and also awe, of "voice" in fiction. Fear because I cannot grasp this ephemeral thing (and I really want to) and awe when some author's "voice" resonates within me.
The hardest part seems to be the _subjectivity_ of it all. For example I dearly loved the "voice" of Douglas Adams ("Hitchhiker's" & Dirk Gently) as well as Terry Pratchett. Both of them have affected a dry, understated wit in their narration that somehow strongly appeals to me, yet my wife, also an avid reader, simply cannot stand reading anything by those two authors!
But I was recently heartened to hear that there seems to be such a thing as a "neutral voice" (or "transparent voice"?) - a voice whose style allows the reader to see right past the narrator and to more directly view the underlying action in the novel. I'm thinking of Dan Brown and "The DaVinci Code", where Brown's narrative style is basically very forgettable, and forgotten, because the tension on the page is so intense that the reader just wants to know how the hero and heroine can possibly survive the next moments as mortal danger breathes down their necks on every page. That novel sold countless millions of copies for a reason!
Dan Brown, in my view, succeeds in no small part due to the neutrality of his narration, the "invisibleness" of his style. His story has a very broad appeal because at no point is the reader conscious of the narrator. Instead, we are right there with the heroes as they flee from one mortal crisis and bumble into the next one, apparently being lead by the nose by a mysterious antagonist the whole time. We can only wonder who the antagonist really is, and hope for more clues at each turn of the page. By the time the story reaches its (insipid) climax - _spoiler alert_ - Jesus made a baby with Mary 2,000 years ago - we readily forgive Brown for that silliness because the ride was hair-raising and oh so enjoyable.
Clearly my own background as an Engineer and technical writer suit Brown's style rather than Adams or Pratchett, so I somehow have to move from my current dry and lifeless style (according to my wife) to the very accessible "invisible" style achieved by Brown.
And your advice - to keep on writing and reading and writing until I get there - seems like pretty solid advice. My specific plan, _formulated after reading your blog post,_ is to write and rewrite my first chapter until it passes muster for my wife - who is my harshest critic (no joke).
Anyways, if you read this far ... thanks again for your time and attention, and of course your sound advice, and again I want to wish you all the best for the coming decade! 😊👍👍👍
Last year was able to run and finish my first ever Half Marathon after training for about a month
Congratulations on so many amazing accomplishments, Gabe! You are an inspiration and I look forward to what's to come!
Heather Venkat Thank you! :)
Congrats Gabe!! As a writer, you have been such an inspiration to me. Beyond the red was the first book I brought home from the library, when I was about 13, and your advice has really spurred me toward being a better writer! This decade I graduated high school and started college as a pre-nursing major, and plotted my first novel despite my dyslexia. I'm really excited about this one. I might actually finish it lol.
Omg this is so cool!! Thanks for letting me know-and congratulations to you as well!!
Congratulations on achieving so many things this decade!!
As for me, I was barely 6 years old in 2009 so most of my achievements are towards the ending of the decade.
- I got into reading in 2016
- I got into writing in 2017
- I wrote my first novelette in 2018
- Participated and won nanowrimo for the first time in November 2019.
Oh and also I read 50 books since 2016 which is...slow but I crossed 50 so, yay.
Graduating high school, college, all of that reserved for the decade we're headed into!
Those are really awesome accomplishments! Congrats!! :)
Great to hear you are going to be teaching writing. You were born to teach writing! You were also born to write and my fingers are crossed for your new projects. You have been an inspiration to me both in writing and in life. My accomplishments will follow now I have call my Granddaughter.
Thank you! :)
My biggest accomplishments of the year were starting Grown Up Book Fair in Missouri, and published my fourth book. Best wishes for your 2020, Gabe!
That's awesome! Congratulations-and thank you! :)
Your persona has seemed so much happier ever since you’ve been on testosterones! I’m so happy for you!
I discovered youtube in this decade.
Sweet!
Thanks.
Congratulations!
Thank you!