why don't we paint the town

Use Autism **Acceptance** Month (as opposed to Autism Awareness Month).

NO “light it up blue” or puzzle pieces. Google “Autism Speaks hate group” to learn more.

Use red or gold instead, which are colors supported by the autistic community.

Use identity-first language (most autistic people prefer “autistic” instead of “person with autism”), but don’t police the language of someone who prefers to be called a person with autism.

NO scare terms like “suffering with autism” or “afflicted with autism.”

Avoid functioning labels like “high functioning” or “low functioning.”

If autistic voices are not at the center of your efforts, you’re doing it wrong.

When in doubt, ASK AN AUTISTIC PERSON. 

how did it end up like this

if you realize you’ve been studying for hours: grab a snack to refuel your body and watch a sitcom to refuel your brain. then back to the books.

if you’re feeling stressed out: take some deep breaths, text your friends, maybe stare at a wall for a few minutes. gather yourself.

if you can’t seem to focus: get moving and get outside. take out the garbage, check your mail box, maybe walk your dog. just get moving and get fresh air. it’ll help bring you back.

if there’s something else going on in your life and you can’t get it off your mind: write down what’s going through your head, sort of like a diary entry. it’ll help you work things out.

if you’re just mentally and physically exhausted: set a timer for 25-30 minutes and take a nap. any longer and you’ll hit REM and you’ll wake up feeling just as tired. once you wake up, get some caffeine in you.

if the material is boring as hell: find another way to study. see if there’s a crash course video online about it or draw out what you’re trying to learn in diagrams and pictures to make it fun.

if people around you won’t shut up: listen to some music. soundtrack and classical music is always good because they won’t absorb you as much as music with lyrics. white noise (like ocean waves, rain sounds, etc.) also works.

I know that doesn’t sound particularly positive, but you’d be astounded how many artists I’ve run into who are literally unaware that project management is a) a totally separate skill set from being Good At Art, and b) something you actually have to learn - they think that people are just intrinsically good or bad at doing long-form projects and that’s all there is to it.

From my POV, project management for big creative projects comes down to four things:

Have a plan. Plan from start to finish. That means as complete an outline as you can create. Knowing your ending helps you finish.

Have infrastructure that helps you create. This goes back to Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own. Space, tools, time, childcare/eldercare, quiet.

Ass. In. Chair. Sit down and work whether you feel super-inspired or not.

Have goals around the project. “Get this done by Thanksgiving so I can enjoy the holidays,” “Have this out there by July 10th for the summer reading audience,” “Complete this…for VENGEANCE.” Those sorts of goals.

I can add a few project management things, too: I do a lot of big projects. These are writing-centric, because so am I. But I think at least some of them could apply to visual art, filmmaking, etc.

If you can have a small amount of overlap on your projects. You will feel a little busy. But your engine will stay warm and run smooth. Big breaks between projects can fuck you up. 

A small amount of overlap will allow you to switch back and forth between different project modes, helping prevent burnout; that means I’m muscling through paragraph generation in the late-stage project in the morning, and doing playful brainstorming for the early-stage project in the afternoon. 

Interact with your plan every day. You don’t need to add bits or take away bits, but reconnect with the shape of the plan, particularly the deadlines involved.

This is especially important if you procrastinate, like I do.

Page counts for the day are a thing. (Today, I need to get from page 78 to page 90 on the thing I’m working on. Wish me luck.) 

Pace yourself well. I like to try to get a page an hour; I tend to work fifty minutes out of every hour. You’ll have to figure out the best ratio of breaks to bursts of work energy. Make sure you give yourself time to immerse yourself. 

Are other people involved with your project? Stay in touch with them. 

Every day, spend a little time quietly, by yourself, imagining, envisioning, feeling as if the project is already finished, whole. 

This is not daydreaming. What you’re doing is trying to catch a glimpse of the finished product. Because that will help you figure out what to do. 

Look down in there. Easy now, don’t squint, just wait. What do you see?

Very tired of our lives being seen as not worth living.

No. Just NO.

And I really feel like there are parts of fandom that don’t get or don’t believe this, and I think that’s troubling.  I’ve seen arguments that people shouldn’t have dark fantasies, or that bad impulses in themselves make a bad person.  I’ve seen so much shaming over thoughts.