Category Archives: Writing

Blogging Basics

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A friend asked: Could you share some tips for those of us wanting to get into blogging? 

Absolutely! And here’s a fun fact: did you know that blog is a truncation of “web log?” A log on the web.

To start, I will say that the interwebs are full of information and advice on getting into blogging. Personally I found some of it helpful, some of it not so much. Some of it I agree with, some I don’t. This is my personal considerations, suggestions, and tips for starting up your own blog. (And if you blog, feel free to comment below with your tips and suggestions.) Just remember, there’s no one right way to blog. Continue reading →

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Post-November Updates

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Wow. Has this year flown by or what?! Here we are already a week into December and since I was writing furiously last month, I’ve been lax on posting. So let’s catch up on what’s been happening. Continue reading →

NaNoWriMo 2017: The Midway Point

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Today marks the middle of NaNoWriMo 2017. We have survived the first 15 days. But I still have over 25,000 words to write in the next 15 days to reach 50,000 and the end of NaNoWriMo 2017.

At this point, it’s easy to be fatigued. To wonder how can I possibly survive these next 15 days. To worry that I’ll never reach 50,000 words. To feel that everything I’ve written is just awful.

Is anyone else feeling something like that?

Well, my advice to surviving these next 15 days is to be like Dory—just keep swimming.  Continue reading →

NaNoWriMo 2017: The First Week

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The first week of NaNoWriMo is mostly fun with a side of anxious. Fresh ideas abound even if you secretly worry about hitting 50,000 words by the end of the month. And with the excitement of getting the words on the page, hitting the 1,667 daily word goal seems fairly easy at this point.

I usually have my best writing days during the first week. Continue reading →

Gearing up for NaNoWriMo: Holy Fish Nuggets, it’s November 1st!

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For me, fall is all about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), with the prep happening in October (and even earlier for those super planners) and the writing occurring in November.

Yesterday I wrote about the three types of NaNoWriMo writers—planners, pantser, and plantsers. Where planners and plantsers spend the month of October prepping for November. And pantser spend October thinking they have plenty of time before November 1 and then panic on the actual day.

Despite my wishful thinking and good intentions, I remain a pantser.
Continue reading →

Perfect on Paper

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When writing about yourself, your story is just that . . . your story. You script your life to meet whatever end you need. You can neglect the bad, highlight the awesome, and accentuate the funny.

In other words, you can be perfect . . . at least on paper.

Or you attempt to do the above but fail . . . sometimes spectacularly so (and sometimes crash and burn amidst the bad grammar).

This is especially true in dating profiles. Continue reading →

Pumpkin Spice, Ghosts, & Novel Writing

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It’s that time of year.

No, I’m not talking about PSL* time at Starbucks . . . and every other place that sells coffee or pastries or really any food product that pumpkin flavor can be added. (Really, Trader Joe’s, pumpkin flavored tortilla chips?) The pumpkin spice craze has gone a bit too far IMO, but I digress.

And no, it’s not that fall has arrived. Or that it’s the season of all things paranormal with Halloween right around the corner. Or that it’s the start of the countdown to the Christmas holidays.

Nope. It’s NaNoWriMo Time!  Continue reading →

It’s an Alice-in-Wonderland Kind of Day

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Today wasn’t a day that I fell down the rabbit hole (although I have had days that felt like that). No, today was more like when Alice cried after taking the “Drink Me” bottle:

“Come, there’s no use in crying like that!” said Alice to herself, rather sharply; “I advise you to leave off this minute!” She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).

And like Alice, I gave myself good advice, then didn’t follow it.

Continue reading →

A New Year & A New Blog

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I still haven’t caught up to the fact that this is 2017. (I swear parts of last year fast-forwarded because they went by in such a blur.) But here we in another new year (and almost one month done of this new year). But where I would normally write about making resolutions on how I plan on eating healthier, organizing better, walking more, or keeping a diary, prepare for a shock. I didn’t make resolutions <gasp!> this year.

Every year before this one I have made resolutions. And then subsequently failed to keep every.last.one. (I think I failed to meet the diary-writing resolution every year since 1986). I not only made resolutions, I wrote them down, made check-lists, and used other goal-achieving strategies. I joined groups, tracked progress, and told others about them (for the “accountability”). But I still failed. Usually by March.

And failure sucks.

Continue reading →