Author: @HppoTweeter

writer of words. Teller of tales. Leaking insanity from every notion.

Newsstand Pulp, Comic Spinners, Disney+, and why Harry Potter is the last great original IP franchise.

Posted on by @HppoTweeter in HppoThorns, Uncategorized

As a writer of novella’s my competition is every piece of media in existence, not just other books or movies, video games and YouTube as well, and even online click-bait articles from twitter or the FaceBook and fanfic hosted by WattPad. I am selling an hour and a half of entertainment after all.

A market theorist should argue that “With increased competition, the quality of the goods and services provided will increase as well.”

My starving artist friends argue that getting endorsed by an industry titan will provide financial success and legitimacy of their talents. My comic artist friends want contracts with Marvel or DC. My painters want their art on display and endorsed through high art circulations. Writers want a publishing deal with the Big 5. Musicians a record deal.

The current market is not a meritocracy. It looks that way on the surface and as long as people believe it’s operating fairly, my artist friends (you included) will not upset the institutions they seek validation from.

The current market is still an aristocracy but that is about to change.

If you want to skip the three narratives that I have based this theory on then skip ahead to these marks

_—_

Our story starts in the 1920s when newsstands became filled with pulp magazines. Competition was high. It bread Robert E. Howard. Competition was so high in fact that even the greats like the creator of Conan could not support themselves off of writing alone. Even being paid $0.01 a penny a word for a short story or serial part ($20 for 2k/ 4 pages), which is $0.15 in 2019 money (a 2k story would pay $300).

Competition was high on the newsstands, but there was no TV, no internet, no Facebook.

The 30s came around and a new beast started attacking the pulps dominance.

Comics.

By the 40s only a few Titans of pulp were left, comparable to today’s BIG 5 publishers. They would only accept the best the likes of Issac Asimov, but by the 1960s Competition was to high and what even the big magazines could afford to pay was too low to attract talent. The pulp magazine industry died somewhere in the early seventies a quite death.

Forty years is a good run but what happened to pulp magazines is what’s killing Comics.

In the 90s comics were still in every grocery store. A cheap impulse buy was the only barrier to keep up with the adventures of the Amazing Spider-Man. Accessible to everyone. Until one day they weren’t, the comic shops had opened and the speculator market was booming. Image Comics forced innovation from the big 2. This single extra step of going to a comics store prevented “normies” from buying comics, or the brands from attracting new fans. Licensing characters to Saturday morning TV (IMO) is responsible for creating the next generation of fans eager to watch batman/spider-man/MCU films.

Competition, since the 90s, is high but the inconvenience barrier of the comic book stores prevents access to a casual audience. The direct market, comic bookstores, continue to lose customers. Sept 2019’s number 1 comic was Spawn 300 which sold an est 262,599 units while the number 10 sold Harleen issue 1 sold 84,785. For point of reference, keep in mind that Wonder Woman was the reworked in the late 60s because it was selling only around 200,000 copies a month for an average issue. (known as the Mod ERA)

Sales are so low that Disney owned Marvel is considering shutting down the comics book division.

Disney sits at the top of the market place right now. They want to leverage this position to run Disney+ and make that sweet Netflix money. Competition in the streaming service center is now high. Access is also getting harder.

Lets go back to before cable, Disney use to air it’s movies on regular television. Then once cable came along and VHS, Disney switched to a direct to customer model. Selling it’s classic films for limited time to customers who didn’t have cable and locking their films behind the cable pay wall. They turned away 80s children who now didn’t have access to their films. Then in the 90s when they became dependent on those same 80s children to watch their films, no one showed up to the theatre. Disney almost went bankrupt before the Pirates franchise saved them in the early 2000s.

Disney+ will do the same for the Disney corporation, when they depend on the adults and parents of 2030 to show up to the theatre.

Now the short answer as to why Harry Potter will be the last great original IP.

Harry Potter books came out in the 90s. Where was there audience exposed to them? What was there competition?

Scholastic Book Fairs

90s children had little internet, no cell phones, comic books were in comic stores.

Before the movies were released, this series of books was able build a hardcore base over the course of four years then it’s movie releases brought more people into the books. Growing each year as children aged up and were exposed to the books at the book fair and the movies all over television. In 2005 cable became mandatory as the FCC demanded that all TV convert to HD by 2005. Which meant that more people had access to catch the first three Harry Potter films on marathon every other week.

Children today and for the foreseeable future will have unlimited access, to everything. Clint Eastwood’s man with no name trilogy, the death of superman, The entire discography of Prince. Whatever they, or you want, is just a couple of taps away from the palm of your hand. And that’s if they are in the mood to spend or search pirate bay. YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Reddit, Wattpad all provide free alternatives to keep you entertained.

_—_

Competition could not be higher.

Access by everyone for everything is high.

Convenience of Access is being limited only by the Titans themselves.

I have a plan, a theory, and a mission. But I can not do this alone.

The Future is not individual artist competing against each other.

The Future is small groups of artists functioning as one for each other.

The larger and more unified the artist group the more effective they will be as individuals.

I’m bringing together seven independent authors whose target audience is men ages 18-25+.

As the Magnificent Seven remarks.

“Men are Cheaper than Rifles.”

Right Now there are two requirements for a seat on this council

          1. You must have at least one professionally edited publish work for sale. (one mistake per 10k words)

          2. You are willing to spent at least 2 hours a week for the promotion and success of the council.

E-mail me at hppofantasywestern@yahoo.com

The first applicant to meet the requirements will be accepted immediately. Then applicants will be approved through an interview process and by a majority vote of the sitting members of the council until all seven positions have been filled. The last approved member of the council will get amazon and goodreads reviews from the sitting six members, As the first order of the council’s business.

Whether first or last you’ll be a winner, if you join a winning team.

I also want to make this clear. I don’t want your money. I want to help you sell books. I want to sell more books. I want to use the skills I have to best serve the other members of the council, in exchange for promotion, legitimacy and audience sharing. If you want these things as well and you’re willing to spend two hours of your time each week trading support for support.

Then let’s work together.

Send these to anyone author you know might be interested.

With Love,

HngyHngyHppo

You can reach me on Twitter at @HppoTweeter

I-601 plea to allow my wife to stay in the USA, Work in progress.

Posted on by @HppoTweeter in Family

I must write a letter to the immigration officer explaining that if my wife is removed from the country it will cause me “great and extreme” hardship. In order for her to attain a waiver for failing to meet an immigration requirement. This is what I have so far:

 

 

To you, the civil officer with sole discretion of my future and current well-being,

This is the most important letter I may ever write. More than simply stating the truth that “if my wife, Lalita, is deported my life, destiny, and trust in America will be irrevocably burdened”. More than that I must provide evidence of my claim, pray that the sway of your heart is soft, that you are in generally high spirits, and that a hundred other factors, of which I have no control or even ability to fathom, align today for a favorable verdict. Even the sting of a paper-cut or the hunger pangs from your upcoming lunch could force my plea on deaf ears. So it is with tears streaming that I write this, filled with hope that you’ve been of good spirits, satisfied with hot beverage and hearty food, with a heart overflowing with love and grace. My happiness, safety, and future depends as much on the facts of my case as it does on how well your disposition sits today.

Economically I will be ruined, if this waiver is not approved.

Lalita and I are in process of buying our first home, we have put our earnest money down and construction will be finished around may of 2020. Her income goes primarily to rent our apartment rent, which I will be unable to maintain along with my current level of debt, on my income alone. Without her I will be forced to sell everything we’ve worked for, file for bankruptcy, and hope that I can prevent homelessness and hunger on my income alone. At this point though with our savings depleted and the cost of living maintaining a life in Colorado very high, that even after bankruptcy, forfeiture of our future home, I will need to relocate and depend on the kindness of my friends and family so that I will be able to work and save money to follow my wife back to her homeland and live there. If I work six days a week, am fortunate enough to rely on the generosity of my friends for housing, I would be back in her arms in less than six or seven months. I’m not a stranger to hardship, having given four years of distinguished service to the USS Jimmy Carter and If this waiver is denied, understand that while our future in America is over, our future and our love will continue separated by only a momentary hardship no greater than a year.

Emotionally I am quite unsure as to my future, without her ever present in my daily life.

I have not been without Lalita for more than five days, since October of 2014. And it is with an unsteady heart that I even dare imagine, how a separation of months would weight on me. Even if this plea is denied at the very least I will be able to rest a peaceful night’s sleep, for the course of my life will once again be in my hands. It is currently a terrible state for me to imagine a cold bed, life bereft of her warmth and laughter. But while our fate is in limbo and awaiting your decision we will continue to build our family, work our labors, and act as though your decision will be a positive one. If though deportation is the decision, then I will not be the same man I am today. I strive to be the best person I can be for her and work with joy in my heart knowing without doubt that she is there for me as I am for here. And no amount of physical distant would lessen the love that I feel for her or the exercises I take to become better as her husband.

Honestly the writing of the letter has caused more tears and heart ache over the hours and days spent rereading, rewriting, and re-imagining the emptiness my life would be without her smile and kiss, for only just a short period of time as decided by the capabilities of my resources and the willingness of the state to allow for her continued stay.

With humility, anxiety, and grace I await your verdict,

Maxwell C. Stannard

Even if the evidence I’ve provided and my plea is insufficient to be blessed with a positive outcome, I still wish the best for you and understand that there are those with greater needs then me and my wife.

 

– I would like to keep the letter to a single page and free of dense or abstract prose but I need this to be of the highest quality. And while my skills as a writer improve weekly, my ability to put comma’s and colons where they need be is far from academic levels. Every penny I have is tied up with the purchase of our home and I can not afford legal help with this matter.

– I think the scariest thing is that this isn’t a simple matter of pleading and explaining before a judge our case but that we must do so based on this letter and evidence provided that I will become homeless, possibly depressed, and suffer greatly unless the civil worker who has full authority, and solely by their discretionary judgement decides that we qualify as an exception based on the evidence provide and the convincing argument of this letter.

 

any and all help would be a great. If this letter does it’s job and tears you up even a little bit. (Writing it sure has caused a drought and itch in my tear ducks). I NEED to know that as well.

 

Thank you for your time and with love,

HngyHngyHppo

A letter to my highschool economics teacher.

Posted on by @HppoTweeter in Uncategorized

I’m glad that my meme’s are provoking thought but they are first and foremost propaganda so that my friends and family believe and value themselves more than how a company treats them poorly. While my pay is mathematically (according to inflation calculations that include medial and housing) far below the media income of the 1950s or the federal minimum wage that was set in the late 70s, I love my job. I only work three nights a week and earn enough to pay my portion of the bills. It gives me the time and opportunity to work on my novellas and pursue a career writing stories that hopefully will promote literacy for men age 18-25, who have been taught by school that reading is for nerds and girls.

Now onto what I really think about businesses in general, they are not evil organizations out only for the bottom line. Meritorious advancement exists as a function of a healthy market, If you are not advancing your best employees your competition will. They will gain market share and put you out of business. If you treat your employees to poor they will quit and you will be unable to preform the companies function. These are the reasons why we have such great working conditions.

Yet people need to understand that if they are using cognitive dissonance to excuse their company they must separate their identity from the company before they can make healthy decisions regarding their life. Most my memes are to this point. The company is out for profit not your welfare.

I truly believe we are kept from a full communist revolution because most companies are public traded. Rational people understand that a company exists to provide a good or service and that the CEO and board make decisions to maximize the profits for the share holders. Such shares that can be purchased by the very employees that the company employees. For example US Foods, which just purchased the company I work for, has 25,000 employees and 35% equity retained within the company. Which means that 65% is publicly extended for purchase at about 40$ per share, IF the employees wanted to they could become the principal shareholders for $12,500 each. If they want 51% collaborative voting rights that would be 65,800 each. But they don’t, they have the choice and they would rather keep their coin then make their company work for them. Publicly owned companies dominate because they have the power of the people financing them, their is a hard cap on the resources a privately owned company can call to bear.

I use this argument to explain why a CEO deserves 250x the wage of the lowest paid worker, because his/her wage is determined by the value added to the shareholders whom the low wage workers choose not to be.

Second and this is the point of most of my memes, If a company is treating you unfairly. You need to leave. Because unlike buying a car when an individual is negotiating with a company they are actually negotiating not for themselves but for the next guy. I have been made aware of companies that have raised their starting wage because after months of finding suitable candidates that turn down the offered position due to pay and benefits.

If you’d like an IRL example at my wife’s work, she has received healthcare benefits and pay raises because other people have left her position and stated healthcare and pay were their primary concern. Is she still underpaid, according to similar market positions, yes by about $2 per hour. But she loves her job and we do not work for money. After her company raises benefits and wages, they do not call back old employees who left over those concerns. Instead the new hires and my wife reap the rewards of people making the best market choice for themselves.

Now let me explain why the freedom dividend will do so much more to improve a healthy working relationship between employee and employer. 1K per month is not enough money for an individual to stop working and enjoy the offerings that minimum wage work provides. People will still work if they want cable, Netflix, internet, Iphones, dinners out, etc. But it will Provide courage to those who are in low wage jobs that barely pay the rent to ask for more or leave thus providing more the next guy. It is just enough money to prevent homelessness and allow people the freedom to move away from the Democratic socialist dens of NY, Denver, CALI and form smaller communities among the country side, with a guaranteed income moving across state lines to pursue employment at a job that might not work out is less of a threatening proposition. Many people are moving to CO because we offer higher wages, we do so because we have higher cost of living, Some will be able to move back after saving money for a few years. Others will never be able to move back because the wages offered by their home city wouldn’t be enough for them to make minimum payments on their credit cards.

Okay enough of that,

I use OpenOffice writer (Apache suites) and spell check through e-mail, a free writing software with no spell check.

And yeah I hope in the future people are working not because the choice is that or starvation and homelessness but because like me they enjoy the work they are doing.

Because until I can raise enough funds through selling my novellas to open a studio dedicated to their production, I need a day job. You can help on this front of course, My premiere work is only 99 cents for the eBook. It’s target audience is men 18-25. I know this isn’t you but your reach is vast and if you give it read, endorse my efforts. I’m sure you know exactly who to pass this onto with your blessing so that it can continue to reach young minds, raise reading speeds, and rekindle the lost love of literacy in the next generation.

Let me know if you would like me to provide you with a free copy. While I am trying to raise funds to further improve the quality and reach of this program, what’s important is the end result.

For instance my beta-reader after reading this within a week, started and finished DUNE in under 2 months. He had taken a 2 year break from reading longer works and wasn’t considering starting again.

(Note: this book contains sex in the second half of Act 3 – Longhorn Gold and Criostal) (this is not erotica and that portion can be skipped without any negative effects on the plot.)

Here is a link if you choose to help I’d be ever so grateful,

Much love,

HngyHngyhppo

I have a pattern of breaking myself

Posted on by @HppoTweeter in Uncategorized, Vox hierarchy

I just received a text from a fellow trying to leverage the courses his paid for to become a real estate investor. He’s been attempting to break free from the 9-5 life for almost a decade and he asked me a question.

“What I don’t understand, is why don’t we always do the things that are in our best interest, and none of the things that don’t serve us.”

-Future millionaire friend post the year of our lord 2019

The answer is simple… well simply complicated. This is a broad question and their are very specific answers for very specific patterns of behavior or unserving bad habits. Generalizations are not going to help here.

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about in the first place.

I first asked this when I was maybe thirteen. I thought at the time I was clever and I could figure it out. I was after all a smart boy, educationally bored and problems like this I could dwell on til I had an answer I deemed suitable.

First I made the question simpler

“Why am I doing things that I don’t 100% want to do because I know aspects of them are bad?”

Things like

Why am I teasing my friend for his failed attempt to draw ghastly? Why don’t I answer all the questions on the quiz? Why don’t I like eating vegetables? Why did I steal that thing? Why do I occasionally drop everything and focus everything on one specific aspect of a task like an annual retentive accountant? Why am I thinking dirty thoughts instead of focusing the math homework?

What I understood then was that each of these things that I was doing was in service to a need that I had but not all my needs as a person. Stealing got me the object of my desire but left me with guilt becuase god says it’s wrong so now I feel bad. Bee tea dubs stealing is wrong unless its inspiration or art or method.

So this is when I broke myself apart to figure out why half of me could be fore something and half could be against it. Or in some cases how twenty percent could take control and do it anyways.

I took the general motivations I as best as I understood them and created a council room within my mind for them to meet and discuss the business of life. I sit as always at the head to my left sits the first chair but all chairs are equal. (This bugs me that even as a child with no knowledge of military seating etiquette. I managed to solve the problem of having a rectangular board room table but distance from the head of the table did not create an implicit rank between the board members. By leaving the chair on my right side empty for guests every member present was equally separated and not therefore equal in voice, votes, and authority though a standard meeting starts from left and ends on the empty or guest chair.)

Well, the first chair sits myself in a leather jacket, long rebellious hair, and a quite curt demeanor. He is in change with aspects of myself that pertain to image, social influence, status, reputation. Basically the Fonz of my brain letting me know how a given course of action will affect me socially. The public relations officer if you will.

Then to his left sits myself rather thinner wearing glasses, a lab coat, a short unkempt but regularly trimmed haircut. His role is to simply tell me the odds of success, cost benefit analysis, and general inquiries needed to raise the quality of data available for future decisions or more accurate predictions. This is the head of my R&D division.

To his left, and at the tail of the table, sits myself bearded in robes with a funny hat and fluctuating religious adornments. Sometimes deacon-like color schemes or wearing a Buddhistic piety cut. His appearance is never static. His role is guide me morally, ethically, and righteously through life as any spiritual advisor would. His arguments come largely from christian teachings but he will incorporate all other available religious teachings as well. Unfortunate Corporations don’t have souls and therefore moral guidance does not have a seat or position within a company’s board room. So there is no corporate equivalent job title but as far as a military command he would literally by the Chaplin.

To his left, now ascending the right hand side of the table. Sits myself in full military regalia, a five star general, military fade cut weekly, the most muscular build of myself, as well as the rudest. He speaks for authority, discipline, and how to concisely achieve victory. The chief of operations or COO would be the corporate equivalent. General Order is about stratagem, resources, and whether or not a course of action is lawful.

To his left is my penis, an unimaginative representation of myself wearing a mushroom capped flesh toned German M35 steel helmet. Yeah I was going through puberty at the time and providing representation to the hormonal screams of my body was and still is important. Otherwise ignoring his thought process leads to unexpected outcomes when shareholders vote over a given course of action. Because he is a strong shareholder within the boardroom of my brain. Suffice it to say his advice will often be “Fuck it!” or “Fuck it hard!” or “Fuck it gently.” or the classic “I don’t give a fuck.”

Then there sits an empty chair and beyond that at the head of the table sits myself, without body.

This helped me discover a few of the reasons why I did things that I shouldn’t be.

Why did I steal that?

Because now you have another item that adds to your social status. It’s what’s cool

It was very likely to succeed. I saw no cause to raise the alarm.

I was out voted. Don’t steal.

While success was likely the consequences of a failed attempt would have been disaster. Don’t do that again without first consulting us.

Nice. Fuck that guy am I right.

Well there you have it a peak behind the framework that I use to deliberate future courses of action when I have time to internally debate whether or not any idea is a good idea or bad one.

Did this solve the ever present problem of long-term self destructive behavior. NO, each behavior must be analyzed and dealt with individuality. There is not blanket cure-all one pill solution to apply.

Much Love,

HngyHngyHppo

Pragmatism is the only philosophy of success

Posted on by @HppoTweeter in HppoThorns, Uncategorized

Pragmatism has gotten a bad rap over the years.

Coined by John Dewey it is often regarded as the American philosophy

More so than Objectivism

The bad rap comes from an effective campaign of people who don’t want you to succeed.

If you know the wrong facts about Dewey

then you know he is credited with the American k-12 education model

-false-

He pioneered the Dewey decimal system

-true-

He advocated for standardized testing

-false-

If you know the mis-characterizations of pragmatism then you may have heard

Follow your emotions… Take Action

-Rucka Rucka Ali

Pragmatism is concerned with getting the job done at any practical cost. It is not a cruelty free philosophy. If a man stands in your way and killing him allows you to cross, then that is the pragmatic demand of the situation.

-H.B. Brag

Pragmatism is just an excuse to justify a Hedonistic lifestyle. “Do What Feels Good.”

Over what is actually and objectively good for both you and society at large.

– Stephen Strawman

But the truth is simple, yet nuisance and messy as with all things in life.

The truth (IMHO) is that pragmatism would best be described as the Scientific Method applied to life.

Pragmatists start with their feelings that is true. They use those feelings to form a hypothesis.

Hypothesis- “I should be a banker.”

then they gather data and preform tests as necessary to prove or disprove that hypothesis.

LONG before they declare a college major and/or career path.

The end result helps them decide whether or not to pursue banking.

Some people will love banking, Some will not but could stand it, and some one you know thinks it’s a great idea but you know they will burn out of the finance world like a magician’s flash-paper.

Now Education and Pragmatism

Dewey advocated not for a grading system and standardized tests but for a system closer to UN-schooling. Where the teacher is a facilitators and course direction and study is determined by the students who create their own projects and experiments then evaluate the results of the experiment as well as their course of action. Their can not be a grade scale because even in failure knowledge will be gained on evaluation. As opposed to the current American model or rote memorization and regurgitate on demand.

for example

if you remember

THE MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWER-HOUSE OF THE CELL.

That is because of hours and hours of rote learning.

(Which has it’s place. Letters, math tables, trig functions. Many things can be learned best through rote education.)

What can not be learned through rote education is Critical Thinking and Abstract Problem Solving.

Pragmatism teaches you where to start

with a feeling

“I feel like I can do a back-flip.”

teaches you to test that feeling against reality

-tries back-flip

Measure the outcome. Did you succeed or fail? Why? Did you enjoy the attempt?

Then that serves as a basis for continuing forward.

I write these thorns to solidify, my own positions on these topics. Because the mere act of writing a short and finished -though unpolished- article has helped my writing speed and quality in my true calling Pulp novella writing.

I actually get more energy and focus after having written an article like this than if I was just to tick away an equivalent word count or about 1-2% of my next novella. This boost in my mood about having something personally achieved allows me to tackle the 5-15% novella quota I have each week.

This is pragmatism in action.

It took two hours in writing this but I know that It was worth more than the 3 hours I spent last week on Twitter entertaining myself and trying to convince myself that I am learning how to optimize my exposure on the platform @hppotweeter. Be tea dubs.

Much love, HngyHngyHppo

I promise you’ll read this and smirk

Posted on by @HppoTweeter in HppoThorns, Uncategorized

As storytellers we make a promise to our readers that they will at the very least be entertained. If we don’t fulfill this promise, they will but down the book and find something else that fulfills that desire to be entertained.

What does that mean though?

To be entertained.

Of course for everyone it is a different and unique flavor pf desire. Some like a complete character growth arc one where the lonely neglected street urchin becomes king honored, refined, and desired. Through their journey we achieve a temporary relief from our own dissatisfaction with our place in this would.

If you don’t know what you are promising your genre reader than you won’t be successful. Period.

I write pulp western fantasy novellas.

My first promise is simple.

SEX

Premo Prose,

Ink stains that your eyes easily…oh so… effortlessly slide over crafting euphemistic yet euphoric images inside your minds,

I promise a sweet dark chocolate surprise somewhere hidden within my text.

But I am not writing Erotica. I’m writing Pulp I am literally writing easy to digest garbage. Staple of the pulp promise are racy plot driven stories that finish quickly and leave no marks on the reader after the experience is over.

My second promise is a bit more complicated

Western stories

mean more than the three decades of American expansionism that sprung the genre. In its basic elements a western is a story following an unchanging iconic hero often a stoic emotionally as they navigate a hostile world. At the bare minimum it must contain the stoic emotionally distant hero and a hostile world. No gun-play and cowboy boots needed.

My fantasy promise

is the fantastical. From the magic’s of the elder dragons of the northern kingdom to the rumors of dwarves. These are facts of reality for the denizens that populate my world and stories but they are not of the earth that we inhabit and when you read about how an illusion caster summons lighting from the clouds. You should be impressed and your own imagination should run with the questions of how, why, what if, and that would mean, etc.

Those are the basics of my promises to readers

This blog has made the promise that if you didn’t smirk you’ve left unsatisfied

and well i am sorry but this is a blog

and as such it’s only promise is that it is a web based log of it’s author’s thoughts. Which it is.

I didn’t promise Shakespearean turn of phrase.

I didn’t promise you atmospheric mastery like Lovecraft.

[Self thought: it would be rather ironic once my writing mastery has reached the point where I can craft works on par with Lovecraft or Hemingway but have to shelve those works because they do not satisfy the promise of pulp western fantasies.]

What have you promised your readers? Drop it in the comments. I’ll get to it if I can

By entering genre fiction.

Much love,

Hngyhngyhppo

I don’t plot, I brew.

Posted on by @HppoTweeter in Uncategorized

There are two ends of the spectrum when it comes to writers. Plotters: those who in fine detail outline the order of events within and outside of their narrative. And Pantsers those who sit down and go on a journey with their characters as it happens. Every writer falls closer to one side.

Then there are

saints like

Cheyanne A Lepka

Who created a chart akin to DnD alignment

D6YdtRjU8AAJT36

 

I’m a True Plantser.

And this is the process I use.

Which is both frustrating and exciting.

I start with the problem and a question what would happen if?

Goblins used guns, Miners discover a dragon egg and abandon their contract, A duke is on a hunting expedition to slay a dragon,

Exciting because I don’t know how my stories will end or what turns they will take.

Frustrating because I thought it was going one way but no it went another.

Fiction unlike reality, or this blog, has to make sense

So I have a loose outline, but I have to keep the characters fidelity high. Which means that if a character is about to act out of character just so I can have everyone hit their marks and move the story back to the outlined path, I won’t go there. Sometimes that means my characters demand I scale a vertical cliff or walk through a dangerous marsh rather than stick to the simple well laid path.

When I hit these difficult patches, I do a lot of thinking. What do I need to do now? And I work though in my head over a dozen or two dozen unwritten paths, until that eureka moment hits and the wall is scalable and entertaining. Then I do that.

Though I am still a little sore that I was unable to use pirates in my last story because. I had them roughly outlined, their motivations, weapons, etc etc. But the characters on stage demanded more screen time and had a far more interesting tale to write. SO I put those pirates back in the cupboard and when I get a chance I’ll see if I can use them to spice up another story.

Oh man I am going to have to rewrite this post a few times to get the words as they should be.

Oh well,

Much Love

HngyHngyHppo

If you found yourself in this chart and want to argue. I’ll be in the comments below.

Turning Inspiration into dedication.

Posted on by @HppoTweeter in Uncategorized

1% inspiration. 99% perspiration.

  • -Einstein

Let’s talk about energy, time, knowledge, and resources(money usually)

First you were excited about all the things you learned. You had all the energy in the world and nothing seemed like work. You were too young to even have a concept of work itself. Life was just a series of let me try this now. Now this. This way. Oh that’s new let me try that. You had the time, the energy, but had no concept of what knowledge you needed or what money was.

Then childhood was over and puberty started. And suddenly you knew everything, you found yourself surrounded on all sides by the incompetence of those in authority around you.

Parent’s just don’t understand

-Will Smith

Yet even though you knew everything you were still learning at a rapid pace. You would discard poor information for better information without a struggle, you had no concept of ego but figured this was the way to do things from now on. That was in keeping with your self concept of knowing everything. You had the energy. The knowledge basics. The time though that was kept from you by obligations like school and fun Resources either went to affluence or to enjoying your time.

It’s in this stage I was sold one of the biggest lies of my life. That “Real Life” began after high-school. Then I got that diploma, Turns out your still a child till your thirty. Then your not an adult until…. UNTIL… UNTIL. It just keeps going. Your either a child or an elder there is never an in-between.

If you take anything away from this. Take this “High School” is “Real Life”. If you wait for real life to start because you think it has a different rule set not only will you be disappointed but you’ll be behind the game. The only real differences are that your body may not be finished cooking til your older and that things can be different once you have money. But the personality you leave High school with will be your personality for just about ever. So take the mission of getting the personality you want.

Now- back to the Now

You have found that you have enough energy and time to go to work forty hours, sometimes sixty. And if your lucky in this late stage capitalist nightmare then perhaps your banking a decent amount of resources. But in all likely hood you are spending what little excess you have on inflating your happiness to put up with your work schedule. Congratulations, you don’t have the time or energy, and even if you have the resources you’ve lost the knowledge.

1% inspiration 99% perspiration

-Einstein

The knowledge you’ve lost is that you don’t know shit. Motivational life coaches and other carpet baggers will sell you the dream. One quick trick to fix your broken life. You pay the resources and get a high of inspiration but the high fades and so you chase another hit from a different dream seller.

The problem is your Ego. You’ve been successful for so long in the status quo that secretly you don’t want to change a thing. Because if you did, honestly, you would have. You’ve met the basic needs of Maslow’s hierarchy and while you strive to complete the second tier before you can reach the top. You’ve been holding yourself back.

If you can work sixty hours for a paycheck then why can’t you work for yourself six more?

What do I want to do?

Who am I?

Where do I want to be?

Ask the right questions and fucking accept the answers. I don’t want to write books but I have to. I don’t want to work in a warehouse but I need to. These are the things that make me … well myself. The more I stay true to how I am the more energy I seem to find. The less resources I need to spend on happiness. The more open I am to receiving knowledge that helps me without having it conflict with what I already have in practice.

In Maslow’s hierarchy Self-actualization is at the top. To be taken care of after all other concerns are addressed. But you’ll be spinning your wheels if you don’t answer that need first.

Ask the right questions and accept whatever the answers are

By doing that you will create the energy,

You master the time,

If you know how to use google the knowledge is at your beck and call.

You may not have the resources, but that means you need to ask smaller questions.

Not just because you are going to need to sweat doesn’t mean that it has to be something that isn’t inherently fun.

With Love,

HngyHngyHppo

Ownership of Time

Posted on by @HppoTweeter in HppoThorns

Everyone has 164 hours a week. Except for me. How did I gain more?

It’s not about sliding in a extra hour here and there. Winding back to clock only to have it catch up later. It’s about divesting that time

We each have a week, seven days. Most work 5 for wages and two for debt. Debts to family, faith, and fun. I work 3 nights for wages, hard labor which has had a better effect on my physique than any workout regiment I have tried and quit. Then I work three days behind the keyboard, til my brain is tapped out. Spend the next two days paying my debts. That’s right I have eight days a week but the real miracle is that by varying my daily focus from physical, mental, and spiritual. I actually have two weeks in a seven day period…

I want you to remember what you did last week. Odds are you only remember a few things, significant and insignificant. I was late to work on Tuesday, Thursday I had a second cup of coffee before first break which is unusual. You had just as much time as me but like water the memory of that time has slipped from your hand. So while we have had the same amount of time. I’ve actually had twice the experience because I remember more of the experience.

Whats best is that since I am removed from the tasks associated with one of my weeks for an extended period of time. It give me time to analyze and evaluate what I’ve learned and how I’ve spent that time. So that by the time my hard labor is done I have a new plan to attack my mental labor. When my mental labor is under completion, I can contemplate my spiritual labor.

How can I best serve my family friends and faith?

Then as my spiritual labor comes to a close,

How can I improve upon my mental labor?

I hope that the word keeps this a secret, because honestly we are in competition and I am to win.

Victory being young men with reading speeds of close to 1,000 words per minute.

Take care, and remember its

how much time you’ve spent getting experience

It’s about how much experience you can get out of time.

With love,

HngyHngyHppo

Never accept Responsibility without Authority!

Posted on by @HppoTweeter in Uncategorized

I learned this lesson ages ago. I was a lifeguard for a popular water park. I held a position of responsibility for the safety of guest, was a face that represented the park and helped shape the guests experience.

It was a great responsibility. During my two summers I “rescued” a small child and an elderly man whose panic had kept them under water and in danger. But the average day was entirely uneventful and that was a blessing.

However, their existed a class of guests referred to as “season passers”. Some parents rather than have their kids be bored for summer or send them away to camp purchased season passes for their kids who would come to the park once or twice a week, more if the children wanted to master the wave machine (a boogeyboard surf jet). Since the life guards and other staff saw these faces so often, we knew amongst ourselves who was trouble and who wasn’t.

But we only had the illusion of authority.

If the rules were broken, exiting a tube early, cutting in lines, raft stashing, or harassing/taunting life guards who can’t leave their station. Our only course of action would be to blow our whistles and hope that they stopped. But doing so raises awareness of the other guests who are busy enjoying their day at the park. If we wanted to eject someone from the park, the offense must have been bad but also and most importantly the offending party must be 100% compliant and freely agreed to standby the lifeguards station ’til our roving position could come to the station and escort the guests to leave. But if they ran… then they were gone forever. Stories were common they waited for ten minutes then just walked away and I couldn’t leave my station so UGH!.

This is responsibility without authority.

As a lifeguard we had the authority to execute the primary responsibility of guest safety. “No, I’m sorry your to short to ride this buddy.” “Excuse me I’m going to have to ask that you gentlemen leave before I have security escort you out.” or we could jump into the water and “rescue” a 4 foot tall child who doesn’t realize the water is 3 feet deep. We had that authority.

We also had the responsibility to enforce the rules. The rules ain’t there to ruin peoples fun, some of the rides can be dangerous if you are out of your tube and you could hurt yourself or others. Most injuries result from breaking the rules or running carelessly. Climbing and diving from a feature that was aesthetic and not for diving.

Which is why in my second year I taught the new generation, to recognize the season passers and to turn a blind eye to their antics. Because rules or broken in inches, every time a season passer gets away with breaking a rule because the life guard didn’t see it. They assume that if they had been called out it would have meant trouble.

BUT what was important to teach the lifeguards was that if a season passer was called out on a minor rule violation and they realized that “hey the lifeguard can’t leave. I’ll be out of the park and back tomorrow they won’t even remember what I did if they are here too.” leads to major rules violations because now they know for certain their is no penalty for breaking the rules. It’s better to let them think they are getting away with something rather than to expose the truth that they could get away with everything.

Because eventually the summer would end and if they were breaking the rules by inches then hopefully they won’t have caused harm to themselves or others. But if they broke the rules by miles, someone would get hurt.

I knew then that I could not in the future accept a responsibility without the authority to make sure it happens.

Ask yourself do you have the authority to enforce the responsibilities you’ve taken.

Are you responsible for hiring candidates? Do you have the authority to negotiate pay scales?

Are you responsible for meeting the overnight’s production schedule? Do you have the authority to hire staff and use company resources?

Are you responsible for leading a team of sailors through an extended maintenance period on the ship’s diesel engine? Is it within your authority to use command resources to incentivize complaince or dole out reprimands for non compliance? No, the answer is almost always no. The military does have the threat of Non-Judaical punishment but that is extremely rare. No, the military gets things done in a similar fashion to the free world, based on the illusion of authority not it’s actual existence.

It is America’s respect for the illusion of authority that is the root answer as to why drivers in America follow the rules of the road and stop at red lights. I hope we never lose that respect. But I hope you go into the future with the knowledge that if you accept a responsibility without the authority than your as effective as a goat being lead to the alter tasked with making the rain. Either you get lucky and it rains before your burnt or you don’t and are offered up as an appeasement sacrifice.

Much love,

HngyHngyHppo