I know most of the world is really frustrated by the current limitations, but I'm loving this stuck at home business.
1. Scheduling my day - I can plan around my chronic pain issues, rest, eat, and exercise in a way that works for me.
2. Productivity - I'm able to get way more done with less interruptions
3. Finances - I'm fortunate to be able to do my day job from home (teach grade 1/2) so I'm still drawing a paycheque. On top of that, I'm spending waaaaaay less money on impulse purchases. Something I hope to continue after the apocalypse
4. Time with family - My Mrs. McKay and I are walking the dog together, working on a lego set, and generally spending more quality time together.
5. Watching the good in the world - It's been wonderful to watch all the good people hitting the news. I've always believed the bad news and people doing terrible things you see on social media and news sites only represents the tinies fraction of humanity, and this tragedy is proving me right.

What are some positives you are seeing during this time?

*phew*
November was a busy month! I took up the Nanowrimo Challenge for the first time and manage to draft 65,000 words of my first novel. It's a complete train wreck of a draft. It will need a total re-write, but that's what a first draft of a first novel is for. The act of writing it helped me sort out what I actually need to do when I get back to it. But the most important thing it did for me was show me I could draft a novel. I need to write more, learn more, and build my skills before I'm willing to go back to it, but now I know I can.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least have one blog post here to talk about yoyos. If you are a new fan who found me without going through the YoYo world, here’s a bit about that maddness.

This photo was taken at my wedding. We had a very serious discussion beforehand and agreed that while I’d have my YoYo on my belt for most of the evening, I’d take it off for the actual ceremony. Which I forgot to do. There has literally been less than a dozen days in the past decade where I’ve not had a yoyo on my belt. My wife and I are both entertainers, and neither of us wanted a traditional wedding. Her because there are more fun ways to plan a party, and me because I didn’t want to treat my friends and loved ones like dirt. “hey, can you give up one of the few Saturdays of the summer to watch me get married, sit around for 3 hours waiting for photos, then sit in a hall listening to speeches all evening?

So we had a Cabaret show with a wedding ceremony as the finale. I delivered a YoYo performance, my wife sang, friends of ours did a light-up poi routine, a burlesque routine and a drag number. 5 years later we still have people commenting that it was the best wedding ever. 11 years ago I was a regular grade 2 teacher. Then the NED show performed at an assembly and sold all the kids yoyos. I bought one with the intent of learning enough to help my students. 11 years later I’ve won 2 national titles, founded the Canadian Yoyo association, built my own succesful YoYo brand, and started an author career by writing a series of guidebooks to the modern world of YoYo. 

Maddness I tell you! 

My wife, bless her heart, not only tolerates my passion for this age-old sport, she revels in the fact that I have this really cool skill and the drive to do something with it. Pretty much any time we are out in public, she finds someone who just absolutely needs to ”check out this cool thing my husband can do!”. 

Author Robert Fulghum wrote “We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.”

That sums up my wife and I beautifully. We are playmates and we are weird together. This blog post started out about my YoYo hobby and ended up about my wife. But that’s OK, since that’s an accurate description of my life, a fact I’m grateful for every day.

-J.D. McKay

p.s. It’s Irish formalwear, you can tell by the Harp’s on the buttons and the cut of the jacket. The Sporin is Scottish though, it was a gift from a friend. I get asked often when I share this photo.

Gently now..Why is it when you tell your kids “don’t touch the element, it’s hot” the next thing they do is touch the element? Heck, why is it when you tell your friend “taste this, it’s awful”, they do?

Our brains are both incredibly efficient computers and at the same time really inefficient. You can’t just put data into the brains program and expect it to integrate. You have to massage it in.

In education we call that “I do - we do - you do”

The first time something enters our senses, it usually just exits again, leaving a hint of a connection. If we combine senses, it sticks better. See, hear and do. If we do a thing with a friend, it sticks better. The story we write about the relationship with the friend now includes the thing, as does our individual story.

The more I learn about marketing the more I realize that I’m starting from a strong point. Everything I do to convince a 6 year old that a given learning task is worth doing is transferable to sales. The soft repetition of a message and gentle nudging towards a decision. If I’m doing my job right they learn the concept without realizing that’s what is going on.

I start with building comfort. Kids have to feel safe to open up to learning, so it begins with building an environment that is safe. From there I deliver a concept through many different channels. Read aloud, worksheet, group activity, art activity. Somewhere in there it’s going to click.

When it comes to my yoyo business I deliver the experience of Rain City Skills in much the same way. I started by creating a bank of tutorials. Free lessons for everyone. I followed that with a friendly and positive online presence. When it comes time to design the purchase experience, I work hard to make sure that there is almost zero chance someone is going to feel let down. I package the yoyos in such a way that the unboxing is an experience in itself, and the ‘extras’ all have value. Finally I strive to deliver an impeccable customer service experience.

I maintain a presence in the various online yoyo communities of someone who gives more than he asks. Who sells products by engagement, not advertising.

It’s working so far. My brand is growing and I’m learning as I go.

Next task is to figure out how to do the same with my Author career.

When does an idea become book-worthy? Storytelling can take so many forms. YouTube videos, blogs, lengthy threads on Facebook or Reddit. Heck, you can tell a pretty compelling story in with memes. When I was working on The Duck, I came across a youtube video about the Canada Goose. It was a similar type of story told in video instead of print. 
(https://youtu.be/Aw-jES3OvVw)

I think an idea becomes book-worthy when an author decides to put in the work.  I’ve got a list of story ideas. I’m sure just about everyone does somewhere in their mind. But an idea isn’t worth anything until you do something with it. It might be a poem that takes 5 minutes to draft and a month to polish. Or a short story, novella, or even a novel. It just requires an act of will and some follow through.

I remember watching an author talk about writers block (I can’t remember who) and they said they put in 3000 words each day no matter what. Some days they are driven by intense inspiration, others a brutal slog. But at the end, after editing and polishing, this author couldn’t remember which parts happened on the inspired days.

The difference between an idea and novel is work. Plain and simple.  

I’m random as heck. I hit up the used bookstore regularily for paperbacks, and take advantage of Boobub deals often enough that there’s always a book to read in my Kobo. I read less than I used to. In high school/university it wasn’t unusual for me to have a half dozen novels around the house that I was in the middle of. I’d pick up wherever I had left off in whatever book was handy. 

I also used to be an avid library customer, but I hit a point where I realized it was cheaper to just buy used books (epic overdue fines on a regular basis). 

So why do I read less now than I used to? Video games are part of the problem. I mean, I’ve been playing video games my whole life, but when I was younger I was playing slow-moving RPG’s, so I’d be reading a book while waiting for things to happen.

Now most of my gaming is Ingress, Pokémon Go, or Wizards Unite. Games that get me out of the house walking. When I’m home I’m either working on my YoYo business or writing.  

I also used to read in the bath every day. Then I got an IPad and discovered I could watch TV/movies. I don’t mind losing that reading time, I need time during the day when I’m resting my hands. But I still make the time where I can. After all, the key to good writing is good reading.

What about you? How do you choose your next book?

Short stories are hard to write. At least, good ones are. Crafting something that hooks a reader, builds to a climax and resolution in a couple thousand words. A tale that leaves the reader feeling like their time was well spent. That’s hard, but I like it. My ADHD brain can keep track of a short story. 3000 words later, I can still remember the beginning and keep everything in my head. 

Writing a novel is harder. I’ve got 2 novel ideas that I really want to write. I’ve started both and got stuck, for the same reason in both. I need to learn more before I can properly tell the tale in a way that will give a reader the experience they deserve. Keeping track of what has happened, figuring out what to do next. These are challenges to overcome. It doesn’t help that I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer. I’ve tried outlines, but I can’t figure out what’s going to happen next until I’ve written it.

I recently had a light-bulb moment that I think is key to the whole process. A novel is a collection of short stories under an umbrella of a bigger picture. Four or Five dozen ‘scenes’ that all work together, but have to work independently as well. 

Now I just need to get to work writing them.

 

-J.D. McKay