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Don't Break The Chain

Started by Cainad (dec.), January 30, 2015, 04:32:23 AM

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Cainad (dec.)

So I recently learned that there's this thing called "Don't Break The Chain"

I ignored most of the details but the gist of it is that you make one tiny little bit of creativity every day, and try to not miss a day.

This bit of creativity can be anything, but obviously an Internet forum is best suited to writing. And whatever you make can be really, really small. If you're writing, it can be a sentence. It doesn't have to be good in the slightest, or related to whatever you made the previous day.

I'd like people to start using this thread to post the Links in their Chain, as it were. If something causes inspiration and you'd like to expand on something, make a new topic and link back to the post in this thread.

Cainad (dec.)

I've been putting entries in a notebook:

Jan 27:

     The basement smelled of dusty concrete and damp cardboard. A smell of nostalgia left to mildew. She shuffled over to the far corner, savoring the crunch of paint chips beneath her shoes. Tucked away on the old, warped wooden shelves was the object of her search: a cigar box, somehow untouched by the damp.
     She pulled the box free from the cobwebs, their strands seeming to reach feebly for their stolen prize.
     "This time will be different," she promised. A promise for no one.

Jan 28:

     The sky was just a little too clear, the sun a little too hot. He'd come home with a sunburn for sure. His cheeks tingled in anticipation of being lightly singed.

Jan 29:

     Everyone remained silent, but it was a sickly silence. Rather than a solemn hush that commands respect, this was an aching void of silence. It begged them for an answer, a question, a curse. Anything to fill the space, but they stood dumb and frightened. Each passing heartbeat seemed to grow louder as they continued to fail. Failing to answer.

LMNO

That's very cool.  I like the idea, regardless of the fact that I can't get that Fleetwood Mac song out of my head now.

I'm gearing up for the RPM challenge.  This would be a good place to keep myself honest about what I'm doing.

Cainad (dec.)

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on January 30, 2015, 01:02:32 PM
That's very cool.  I like the idea, regardless of the fact that I can't get that Fleetwood Mac song out of my head now.

I'm gearing up for the RPM challenge.  This would be a good place to keep myself honest about what I'm doing.

Yeah, I saw your thread after I made this one. That's perfect!

Doktor Howl

Quote from: Cainad (dec.) on January 30, 2015, 04:32:23 AM
So I recently learned that there's this thing called "Don't Break The Chain"

I ignored most of the details but the gist of it is that you make one tiny little bit of creativity every day, and try to not miss a day.

This bit of creativity can be anything, but obviously an Internet forum is best suited to writing. And whatever you make can be really, really small. If you're writing, it can be a sentence. It doesn't have to be good in the slightest, or related to whatever you made the previous day.

I'd like people to start using this thread to post the Links in their Chain, as it were. If something causes inspiration and you'd like to expand on something, make a new topic and link back to the post in this thread.

I do want to try this, but I'm on a bit of a hiatus from creativity, on account of burn out.
Molon Lube

Cainad (dec.)

Understandable. Best to start when it doesn't feel like work. I'm trying this as an exercise to gently get my creative writing neurons to dust off and starting working again, after years of bleh.

Doktor Howl

Molon Lube

LMNO


Doktor Howl

I'm going to do one more today, maybe, and then I'll pick it up again on Monday.
Molon Lube

Cainad (dec.)

I totally goofed up and forgot a day two days ago, but I'll put my new ones up tonight.

The Wizard Joseph

I really like the idea. I've tried to regulate my creative efforts before to little success. For some reason I can drag my ass out of bed to work on a regular basis, but consistently writing has been hit and miss. I would much rather tell a story verbally and the process of writing is concentration intensive and almost physically laborious for me. But I do get to keep the product and share without losing and so see the real value and want it.

I'm going to try and work a bit each day, without kicking myself for diversion, to work on the projects I have opened here until I have seen at least one completed to my satisfaction before I open more.

Thanks for this thread Cainad! It has provoked me to examine my habits a bit more.
You can't get out backward.  You have to go forward to go back.. better press on! - Willie Wonka, PBUH

Life can be seen as a game with no reset button, no extra lives, and if the power goes out there is no restarting.  If that's all you see life as you are not long for this world, and never will get it.

"Ayn Rand never swung a hammer in her life and had serious dominance issues" - The Fountainhead

"World domination is such an ugly phrase. I prefer to call it world optimisation."
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality :lulz:

"You program the controller to do the thing, only it doesn't do the thing.  It does something else entirely, or nothing at all.  It's like voting."
- Billy, Aug 21st, 2019

"It's not even chaos anymore. It's BANAL."
- Doktor Hamish Howl

Cainad (dec.)

You can make each piece part of a larger whole if you want, but it can also just be a sentence that comes to mind. That may even be preferable, depending on how your creativity works.

If you prefer being verbal, you could do short voice recordings.

The Wizard Joseph

Quote from: Cainad (dec.) on February 02, 2015, 07:54:14 PM
You can make each piece part of a larger whole if you want, but it can also just be a sentence that comes to mind. That may even be preferable, depending on how your creativity works.

If you prefer being verbal, you could do short voice recordings.

I have strongly considered voice recordings but not taken steps to host them or gotten my butt in gear as to what I might record.

I also could use a recommendation on a site to host audio files and pics specifically for sharing here.
I've learned much but am still really not all that net savvy.

I do like the idea of 'just one sentence' just to keep on point. That may help.
You can't get out backward.  You have to go forward to go back.. better press on! - Willie Wonka, PBUH

Life can be seen as a game with no reset button, no extra lives, and if the power goes out there is no restarting.  If that's all you see life as you are not long for this world, and never will get it.

"Ayn Rand never swung a hammer in her life and had serious dominance issues" - The Fountainhead

"World domination is such an ugly phrase. I prefer to call it world optimisation."
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality :lulz:

"You program the controller to do the thing, only it doesn't do the thing.  It does something else entirely, or nothing at all.  It's like voting."
- Billy, Aug 21st, 2019

"It's not even chaos anymore. It's BANAL."
- Doktor Hamish Howl

Cainad (dec.)

Jan 31

    The world outside vanished in the night. It seemed that only the quavering sphere of light cast by the fire was real, and even he was only a shadow guest within it. His thoughts were swallowed up in the flames and ritual abnegation that was as old as human civilization. Older, really.

Feb 1

    Even after the train doors closed, there was an unshakable feeling that they were still too late. The animal instinct to flee was still pumping through their blood like so much burning gas.
    But they were safe for now. They had made it.

Feb 2

    The buzz of an old fluorescent bulb quickly becomes a screaming nightmare when there's nothing else to listen to. It was a fool's gambit: surrender to the shrill light or strike up conversation again. The man had finally seen fit to shut up, and getting him started again was not a pleasant prospect.

Bobby Campbell

Quote from: Cainad (dec.) on January 30, 2015, 04:32:23 AM
So I recently learned that there's this thing called "Don't Break The Chain"

A really awesome and transformative idea!

A few months back I found myself pretty well outta shape, my drawing skills were really rusty, and I was very much in need of a better job, but I just started chipping away at it, little bit by little bit, day after day, and I now find myself getting back on track.

Still in need of improvement on all accounts, but every little bit helps  :fnord:

Best wishes to all!