Along with my great affinity for obsession with pens and all accessories that go with pens (including inks, paper, journals, wax seals), I love to write.
No big secret there. I’ve talked often about writing (NaNoWriMo anyone?). I journal (occasionally). Hey, I have to justify buying new journals somehow. And of course, I write blog posts. (Or at least I do when I’m not being a big slacker).
But there’s something magical about writing an old-fashioned, handwritten letter.
Recently, I have been mega-stressed, frustrated, and generally down. Being furloughed and not getting paid for 4 weeks because of the shutdown tops the list of reasons why.
Then as I’ve found, misery breeds more misery. Once you get on the misery merry-go-round, sometimes it’s hard to get off. When one major thing goes cattywampus for me, I then tend to find more and more things to get upset about. It doesn’t help that every time I turn on the television/read the news/scan social media, the messages all seem to be negative.
Miserableness, mega-stress, negativity are all bad for you. Bad for your physical health. Bad for your mental health. Bad for your emotional health. All of which cycles back into more stress, more misery, more negativity. It can be a vicious cycle.
It’s that time of year again! No, I’m not referring to PSL season (or really, pumpkin spice anything and everything season. It’s actually gotten a bit out of control IMO). And no, I’m not referring to the pre-pre-Christmas nonsense (why am I already seeing Christmas things in the stores?).
Tis the NaNoWriMo Prep Season! It’s the season to get ready to write like mad!
Ever have days where you “should be” doing something? And probably something “productive”? But instead, you engage in, well, nothing.
Then you read these articles about what successful people, like Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and Bill Gates, do before 7am. And you feel like a complete failure because you struggled just to get up and put pants on today. (And when you realize it’s Saturday, you grab the yoga pants instead.)
Ever feel like this?
That was my day yesterday. Continue reading
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
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
w00t! I made it! 50,100 words in 28 days! I officially finished last night in a flurry of words. Continue reading
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
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
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
