Observations: February 2017

I just got back in town from a trip to Ohio, where I visited family, then a trip to D.C., where I hung out with 12,000 writers at the AWP conference. I learned a few things.

• Saying goodbye is always hard.
• Life will end, and might end soon, so live it up.
• Shiny scrambled eggs will never fail to hurt my stomach (see: free continental breakfast).
• Free scrambled eggs are tough to say no to (see: free continental breakfast).
• Michael Bolton is rather funny.
• Fiction does pay.
• Sudoku can create the illusion that one is good at math.
• Sleep is helpful when I want to be charismatic.
• Sleep is helpful when I want to be coherent.
• Airports are the only place I will read an entire magazine.
• Daily controversies are exhausting.
• There are a lot of writers in the world.
• Writers are the best people in the world.
• Lyft rocks.
• D.C. is oddly enchanting. 
• History reminds us how much we forget.
• Twitter behavior says a lot about a person. 
• Radical self-acceptance is great, but a healthy amount of self-critique propels growth.
• The amount of talent in this world is staggering.
• My neighbor's dog's howling coincides with ambulances (took me too long to figure out).

As a creativity prompt, consider a routine. Pick a place you find yourself often, make it the opening setting of a new story. Pick a routine, and try to incorporate that as well. As for your character, make him or her your opposite. If you're an extrovert, make this person an introvert. If you're cheery, make this person a curmudgeon. You get the idea.

Till next month, folks...

xo Jen

PS - I updated my site. If you check it out, let me know if it takes a while to load. I'm struggling with it. http://www.jenknox.com/