Pointing and Calling

Also, a cover reveal, a swamp shanty, and rock-and-roll claymation

Today’s episode of The Habit Weekly is a smorgasbord. This smorgasbord includes (but is not limited to):

• a helpful reminder from this week’s podcast episode,

• a cover reveal,

• a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing a swamp shanty, and

• rock-and-roll claymation.

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Pointing and Calling

In this week’s episode of The Habit Podcast, Emily P. Freeman and I talk about the technique of “pointing and calling.” The idea comes from the Japanese rail system: as train workers perform their duties, they constantly point at objects (signal lights, speedometers, clocks, etc) and state obvious things about them. “Light is green.” “Speed is 80.” “Time is 4:13.” As Emily says, she might have also learned this method from her mother, who always toured the kitchen before she left the house, touching every knob on the stove saying “Off. Off. Off. Off.” In the Japanese rail system, pointing and calling reduced train mishaps by 85%. And, as far as I know, Emily P. Freeman’s mother avoided burning her house down.

Pointing and calling is a discipline of noticing. According Emily P. Freeman, it “takes something that is typically subconscious and makes it conscious.” And noticing is the first job of the writer—or, indeed, anyone who hopes to make sense of the life she finds herself in. Also—and this is a key point—pointing and calling is not about diagnosing, only noticing.

In discernment and decision-making, as in writing, there is usually a temptation to skip too quickly to what things mean rather than simply observing what things are. What are the facts on the ground? If you don’t know the facts, you can’t very well know what they mean. Indeed, deciding too soon what things mean makes it impossible to observe what they are.

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Check out this new cover for The Secret of the Swamp King. And sing along on a swamp shanty.

Rabbit Room Press just released the new cover for the Twentieth Anniversary Edition of The Secret of the Swamp King, Book 2 of the Wilderking Trilogy. The book will be available this summer. Here’s that cover, designed by Stephen Crotts:

Isn’t that gorgeous?

At the end of this new edition the Swamp King is a newly discovered swamp shanty. It narrates an ill-fated attempt by a small band of feechies to pole across the Feechiefen Swamp. We are putting together a "virtual choir" to sing it. The end result will be a little like this, but swampier. I would love for you—and/or any juveniles in your life—to be a part of it. Below I am cutting and pasting the announcement from The Rabbit Room. It includes all the links you need to record your part. A few additional reminders:

• If you or your juveniles were to wear a feechie costume and/or record in a woodsy or swampy setting, all the better. 

• Harmonies are welcome.

• Also, do please use headphones/earbuds to avoid unpleasant echoes.

Opportunities to get into show business don't come along every day. I can't wait to see what kind of creativity and talent you bring to this project! 

Here's that announcement from the Rabbit Room...

Okay folks, who wants to sing a swamp shanty? Yes, you read that right, a swamp shanty.

Jonathan Rogers (while resting in-between gator wrestling matches) has written new ballads, sonnets, riddles, and more for the 20th Anniversary editions of the Wilderking Trilogy.

One of those bonus pieces is a swamp shanty and we want you to join us on Easy Virtual Choir and add your own voice and video to the song. We’ll edit it together and show those swamp dwellers what a real shanty sounds like.

Click here for an instruction video or click here to get started. Find the lyrics here and if you want to practice on your own, it’s set to the tune of “The Wellerman.”

Tip: use Google Chrome to record. Apparently Easy Virtual Choir has a blood feud with Safari. It’s best not to ask.

Oh, and headphones. Definitely use headphones.

Best of luck and happy shantying!

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A New Single—And a New Music Video—By Willie Pearl

My son Henry and my nephew Ben (and, until recently, my son Lawrence) are in a roots-rock band called Willie Pearl. They’re releasing new singles through the spring and summer before releasing an album in the late summer or fall. Last week they released a song called “Heard It Through the Wall,” along with a claymation music video by Nashville artist Chloe Tyler. The video tells the story of a little yellow guy with no pants who wishes he were better at basketball. I commend it to you.

Follow Willie Pearl here. I’m mighty proud of them.

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• Virtual Writing Rooms on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday

• Habitations Poetry Group: Wednesday Afternoon

• Office Hours: Thursday Afternoon

• Book Club: Read Walking on Water, Chapters 7-9. Discussion next Monday night

• This week’s writing prompt: Characterization through repetition

There's a place for you in this vibrant community of writers. Find out more about The Habit Membership here.

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Emily P. Freeman on How to Walk Into a Room

Emily P. Freeman spends a lot of time thinking, talking, and writing about discernment and decision-making—doing the next right thing. She hosts The Next Right Thing podcast and created The Next Right Thing Guided Journal. Her latest book is How to Walk Into a Room: The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away. In this conversation, Emily and I talk about pointing and calling, the difference between discernment and decision-making, and the counterintuitive truth that, when it comes to discerning the next best step, remembering is more important than predicting.Thanks for reading The Habit Weekly! Subscribe for free to receive new posts every Tuesday morning.