Counios and Gane: Hesitation and Change
A change of season leads to new things.
Angie
It's fall.
I used to fight against it and resist it. I wanted summer to stay, but what good was that?
So instead of kicking and screaming, I've shifted my perception of the entire season. It's a new beginning, and with that comes change, but it's not always bad.
I've started paying more attention. I've learned to embrace everything about it: the shift in seasons, the cooler evenings, the fresh air, the beautiful turning colour of the leaves, the soaund of dry leaves crunchy under my feet, the extra layers to keep me warm in the morning and then the shedding of those layers in the afternoon sun.
Dealing with transitions and resistance happened with David, too. He wanted me to try a new app for collaboration, and let me tell you, it was a roller coaster. Not because of anything he said. He was super kind, but I freak out anytime I have to deal with new technology.
I'm not dumb, and I'll figure it out eventually, but there's always that initial moment of resistance. I went back and forth in my mind avoiding it, and when our meeting day finally came, we didn't use it. It just wasn't "all that" for collaboration.
It was a good lesson for me in not resisting. If I had entered into it with a simple "sure," I would have saved a lot of precious personal time mulling it over.
Another new beginning was our story building of Wolfe's Blood. I am so excited about this book. I was hesitant at first (are you seeing a theme here), and I put off starting for a while.
I'm not exactly sure what the hesitation was. Maybe it was because the other books set a standard of success that I wanted to achieve, but let me tell you, it's going so well. There are already so many cool moments that David and I are building between Charlie and Tony. It's an exciting time for me to feel that buzz when creating a new story.
So, despite all the hesitation, there have been a lot of rewards and learning too.
I feel it's going to be a good fall.
David
I’m the first to admit that I’m a technophile. I love computers and the apps that come with them. I get excited with every new development and can’t wait to try out the latest version.
But when it comes to Counios and Gane, this gets me into trouble. As Angie mentioned above, she freaks out when I suggest using a new app or technology. She likes the familiar and staying with the tools that have worked in the past.
Why then do I keep making her try something new and stressing her out?
Usually, I’m hoping to streamline the process. There’s often much busywork required between writing, editing, and publishing, and the less I have to do, the better. (I’ve also asked to quit using certain companies due to their ethics, but that’s a different post.)
So when we began work on Wolfe’s Blood, I suggested a new app. It was pricier, but it was something I had loved using in the past. I thought it would help with collaboration since I could share the main document and easily share all our research, outlines, and pieces of writing that I’d cut out. I also hoped it would streamline the publishing process.
However, Angie had been hesitant towards it, and as soon as we tried it, I knew it was a failure. Things weren’t syncing easily or immediately. When you are trying to collaborate from two different places, you want that connection.
It didn’t take long for me to scrap the new app and return to the familiar tools that we knew worked and that Angie felt comfortable with.
But here’s where it took the unexpected turn. In trying to find an app that worked for Angie, I returned to some basic tools that we get on our smartphones. Ones that I had overlooked for years because they weren’t new.
Yet, they had improved. The developers had continued to work on them, and now we used them to write this newsletter.
Will I want to try something new in the future? Possibly, yes. Will I stress Angie out? Absolutely.
But for now, she has reminded me that our old tools can be just as good as the shiny, new ones.