9: Chasing Names Among the Vodun
10/03/2011
Thought I’d work on my Vodun profiles tonight and finish them off. I also thought it would only take an hour, three tops. Then I spent six hours just chasing down their name origins! And there’s still eight I can’t find in my notes! I didn’t get a damn thing done on actually filling out the profiles. This shit is a real pain in the ass sometimes.
Present-Day Reflection
6/3/2026
Names are important. Details are important. Nothing is unimportant. This is both a curse and what I love most about the creative process. I may bitch about it, but I also love it. It’s what I signed up for, to do it right to the best of my ability. Half-ass is ALL ass.
I’m not naturally good at anything. Nothing comes easy for me, and it’s frustrating, but it also makes me more eager to prove I can do it. It takes me longer, but I believe in myself because I’ve grown stubborn in my old age. I’ll pivot, or rest for a bit to work on other things, but I won’t ever stop until the work is done.
And when is that? As Wanyana says in the final chapters of Wings of Providence – so long as you’re alive, your work isn’t finished.
One of the best reviews I ever read of a book was for Andy Weir’s, The Martian – referring to it as “competence porn”. I love that, because it’s true. Finding writers – and their characters – who are extremely competent, and will spare no expense to make sure things are done right, is the greatest find in the world for me. Inspires me. I can’t get enough of it, because it’s just so rare in my daily life.
