Use It Or Lose It

I am a blogging addict. I admit it. I have upwards of 18 blogs. Some of them I write for more often than others, but it's still a lot of blogs to maintain.

I don't write here as frequently as I like, but it doesn't mean I am not writing. I am either writing for my other blogs or I am writing on other projects, such as my novel. I also write as the Fitness Walking Writer for the Examiner and I have an article on family fitness that will be published at Beverly Hills Child Magazine in September.

I don't make a lot of money for writing for these places, so why do I take the time to do it? The answer is easy; I do it because it's practice. Even though my novels and my children's stories are fiction, so a different type of writing than the writing I do for my blogs and other places, I still get a ghreat deal of practice in my writing by writing for these different subjects.

Before starting my blogs, I went for many years without writing much of anything. And when I finally started writing again, I found it incredibly difficult to get started again. I had gone too long without practice, without using my creative mind to do what it is meant to do - CREATE!

Writing for my blogs keeps my mind on writing. It keeps me thinking up ideas. I need to come up with fresh content to write about and I have to do it regularly in order to satisfy my readers. And because of this, the ideas just flow from me. I'm thinking up new writing content ideas while walking the dog. New ideas come to me while I'm making lunch for the kids. Ideas come to me while I sleep or when I'm in the middle of a conversation with my three year old. (Three year olds are GREAT for inspiration.) Ideas come to me at random times and more often than they did when I wasn't writing and had let my writing voice atrophy from disuse.

It's similar to physical exercise. If you haven't done any physical exercise in a long time and then decide you need to get in shape, at first your muscles are stiff and unwieldy. They don't move gracefully and easily in the exercise movements, and when you are done with the exercise, your muscles are sore and achey. It takes a while for your body and your muscles to loosen up and to take to the exercise more easily and with less suffering. And then, eventually as you continue to exercise, your body becomes so used to it that you start having to challenge yourself with different and more challenging exercises in order to get the same results.

By using my creative thought processes and my imagination regularly, I keep my mind in good shape for when I really need it for writing my novels. By using my mind, I keep it sharp. By writing often, I keep my ability to do so fresh. Practice makes perfect, but I'm not even looking for perfection. I'm just making sure that I've found my voice and and am keeping it ready for when I need it.

Is it sometimes a chore to have to crank out an article for one of my blogs or for another project when I feel less than inspired? You bet! But is it worth the trouble? Definitely!

The Summer Funk

My kids are home from school for the Summer. I love my children. They are beautiful and creative. They are full of energy and exhuberance for life. They are sweet, funny and loving. They are also noisy, demanding and distracting.

I am finding it difficult to concentrate on any of my writing, whether for my blogs or for my children's stories or for my novels. And I miss writing. The thought that it will be another 4 weeks before the kids are back in school and I can find the time to write again is not a pleasant one.

So I have decided on a plan. That plan involves me fighting past any and every procrastination technique I ever use in order to get as much writing done in the evenings as I possibly can. That plan involves me making sure that my daily chores are done before my children go to bed at night so that I have that time to write in relative peace and quiet. That plan involves me deliberately setting aside a specific amount of time and time of the evening just to write.

I will get out of this Summer writing funk.

Drawing - First Attempt - Fairy

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to try and teach myself how to draw, so that I can illustrate the children's stories that I have written. I also said that I would be sharing my drawings here as I attempted them.

Today's attempt:


My 7 year old daughter draws better than this! I have no concept of how to shade the drawing, so I didn't even attempt that yet. I'm not sure I succeeded in making the fairy look as though she is sitting with her knees pulled up in front of her. She is much more simplified than I intended her to be (as is the tiny dragon in the picture). I made her smaller on the toadstool than I meant to, so I didn't have a lot of room to really draw her face properly. I did not get the proportions correct. The list of my failures in this attempt at drawing could go on and on, but at least you can tell my fairy is a fairy.

And I will improve.

Illustrations

Three of the stories I have written are for very young children. Those stories need illustrations. At first, I thought I would be able to get my husband to illustrate the stories for me, as he is very gifted at drawing and at creating computer graphics. However, having him illustrate the stories for me has not worked out.

Now I have two choices. I can either pay someone else to illustrate my children's stories, or I can illustrate them myself. I may, in the end, have to resort to having an artist illustrate my stories for me, but first, I am going to try and illustrate them myself.

There is one problem with this plan. I am not very good at drawing. In fact, I am so terribly awful at drawing that it would be fair to say that my drawing resembles what it's meant to be as much as a bee resembles a dog, which is to say, not at all.

So what am I to do? Should I just give up? Maybe. But not without trying first. Children's illustrations do not need to be complicated. Simple but cute drawings can sometimes be just as enchanting to a child's eyes as more complicated and elaborate artwork. I just need to do a little learning (I hope).

I am going to spend a little bit of time each week attempting to draw. And I will share those drawings here. Hopefully, each drawing will be an improvement over the last. And hopefully, those of you reading this will give me honest (but not cruel) opinions on my progress.

I recently read an article that stated that, because drawing uses a different part of our brain than writing, even if we are not very good at it, the act of drawing helps to stimulate our creativity. Maybe doing a little drawing will help inspire me to write a bit more of my novel, as well as hopefully giving me some illustrations to use for my children's stories.

It's never a bad thing to learn new skills. And, no matter what happens with these attempts, it's never a bad thing to try something new.

Back To Writing

My story's characters are getting to be really annoying. They keep nagging me to get back to writing about them. You see, I've taken a little bit of time off from writing my story in order to work on some other projects, and now all I seem to be able to think about is my story and how much I need to write the next chapter.

New ideas keep coming to me for the storyline, and my characters are getting antsy to live out the rest of their story. So they are nagging me. They are calling to me. I take my dog for a walk in the park and he starts barking at what appears to be nothing, and I immediately (in my head) start placing a similar situation in my story to introduce one of the new villains. I watch my daughter playing with another young kid who starts getting a little rough with her, and, as I watch her put him in his place with skill and confidence, I picture one of my characters behaving in a like manner. No matter how hard I try to set aside my story, the characters in it won't let me leave it. They're even invading my dreams at night!

So enough time has passed now, and I know I need to get back to the story. My other projects can be set aside for a bit and now my story will get my attention again (even though it never lost my attention, just my actual writing of it).

So what makes you keep writing your book? What is it that keeps you from setting it aside and getting on with the rest of life?

Having The Courage To Dream

(also posted at Skinny Dreaming because the content is relevant to all types of dreams)



Empowerment

What does the word mean to you? I’m not asking about anything related to electricity or turning your washing machine on. In regards to you as a person, what does the word empowerment mean to you? Do you feel empowered? Or do you feel weak and helpless?

The reason I am asking this is because so many of my friends seem to be embracing the idea of being powerless about making changes in their lives. They have dreams, but they feel as though everything is against them achieving those dreams and that they have no say in whether or not they can make those dreams a reality.

I hear from them, over and over again, phrases such as, “I wish...”, “I can’t...”, and “If only...” I never hear positive phrases such as “I will...”, “I can...”, and “I am...” But in speaking in the negative tones that they speak in, they are, in fact, ignoring any power they have over their own situation. In not even considering the chance that they can do something to change things, they are making themselves helpless. But they don’t have to be helpless, and neither do you.

What is it you want from life? Is it to lose weight and get fit and healthy? Is it to write the next blockbuster novel? Are you unhappy in your current career and want to change it? Do you want to earn a better income or take a trip across the world? Nothing is out of your reach! What do you dream about doing? Tell yourself that you are going to do it!
Wouldn’t it be great to empower yourself? Wouldn’t it be great to feel strong and capable and in control of where your life is heading? Wouldn’t it be great not just to have the courage to dream but to have the courage to grab for those dreams too? The only things that stand in the way of your dreams becoming a reality are the limits you place on yourself. And you can remove those limits with nothing more than a thought!

The first step is to have the courage to dream. Make a list of the things that you really want in life. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Write it down! Have you always wanted to take a vacation in Ireland or Hawaii? Have you always wanted to own your own house? Do you want to lose weight or build up muscle? Are you a banker but always dreamed of being a teacher? Write it down!

The second step is to believe that you are capable of achieving that dream. Sounds simple, right? The good news is that it really is that simple. Believe in yourself. Believe in your abilities. Tell yourself you are strong, capable and even fearless if the need arises. You can do this. You will do this. You will make your dreams come true. Get rid of that negative little voice in your head that whispers to you that you can’t do it, you’re not strong enough, it’s too hard and all of the other negative words. Just ignore it. You know, deep down, that you can achieve your dreams, so follow that deeper inner voice and believe in yourself.

The third and final step is to decide what steps you need to do to achieve your dreams and then take those steps. If you’re dreaming of becoming a novelist, then you need to start writing. You need to set aside time every day to write. Maybe you need to fine tune some of your writing skills so taking a class would help. If you’re dreaming of being a teacher, then you need to get the requisite training and degrees, even if it means taking classes after work while you continue your current job. If you dream of taking a trip to Europe, then you need to find out what it will cost you and start setting aside money from each paycheck. If you dream of owning your own house, then you need to clear your debts, clean up your credit history and save up the deposit. If you want to lose weight, then you need to find out what diet and exercise plan will work for you and you need to start doing it. Fit in exercise every day. Eat less junk and more healthy food. For whatever your dream is, you need to start working in the direction of making that dream a reality. Stop defeating yourself with negative thoughts and empower yourself, not just with positive thinking but with your actions.

You might be asking yourself why I care whether or not you reach for your dreams. I care because I used to feel powerless. I used to feel like all of my dreams were just out of my reach and that there was nothing I could do about it. I used to feel as though I wasn’t strong enough or good enough or capable enough to make my dreams a reality. But all along, I was deceiving myself into inaction. And I don't want anyone else to go through that, to live through feeling helpless when there is no need for them to feel that way.

When I finally started to take charge of my own inner voices, when I started to tell myself that I could achieve my dreams and when I started taking the steps that were necessary to get to my goals, I began to empower myself. And one of those dreams has already come true as a result. And now that I know that anything is possible, that I am capable of making my dreams come true, look out World!

Do You Journal?

Do you keep a journal? I used to, but I haven't written in any sort of personal journal in a really long time, unless you count my many blogs, but my blogs are public and others can read them, so I cannot be as open in them as I used to be in my private journal.

It was really carthartic for me, whenever something was troubling me, to write in my journal. In my journal, which was for my eyes only, I could vent at people who made me angry, think through problems that needed to be addressed, brainstorm ideas (no matter how silly), make to-do lists and write about the things that made me happy.

If you journal, do you find it helps you? Does it make you a better writer in other ways? Does getting all of your random thoughts and feelings written down in your journal free you up to write more eloquently with your more creative endeavors?

10 Ways To Inspire Your Child To Write

1. Read to your child or make sure he or she spends time reading every day. Not only does reading help her get used to using her imagination, but it also improves her vocabulary by introducing her to new words.

2. Tell your child made-up stories. Seeing you using your imagination to come up with interesting stories for him helps inspire him to do the same.

3. Play story-telling games with your child. Start by saying one line of a story, and have the next person continue the story by coming up with the second line, and the third person has to come up with the third line. If this proves too difficult, each person can come up with a paragraph instead of a line each. This is a great way to stimulate your child’s creativity and get her thinking about the things that make up a good story.

4. Have your child and some of his or her friends write poems and make it a contest. Make sure they don’t put their names on the poems, and then collect the poems into a pile. Read the poems out loud, one by one, and tell them all they can vote for one poem, other than their own, that they thought was the best one. Then tabulate the votes and the winner gets a treat, like a candy bar, a sticker or a new notebook (depending on what you can afford to give and how old your child is). Do this once a week, at the same time each week, because knowing that it is coming up will have them all thinking about their poem throughout the week.

5. Get your child a library card. As in the first point above, reading is important for your child if she is going to develop the ability to write. Reading a variety of stories and books, as a library card will allow, will help her to become familiar with different writing voices and styles.

6. Self-publish his stories and drawings so that he can hold a physical book of his own creation in his hands. This can be done through places like Amazon’s CreateSpace, Lulu.com and Blurb, Inc. Or you can create the book by hand using your printer and the right materials. If you are completely lost on how to create the book, use a service such as Your Kids’ Creations. Having a physical book of his own words and drawings that he can hold, read and share with others inspires a confidence in his own writing that is hard to capture in other ways. This confidence will inspire him to write more.

7. Do some writing yourself. Seeing a parent take writing seriously and spend time writing emphasizes the importance of writing in a child’s mind. It’s a case of leading by example.

8. Have your child write and illustrate a poem. This helps show your child the connection between the beauty in words and the beauty in the world around her. It helps to make the connection that you are painting a picture with words when writing. As an extra step, you can even put her masterpiece on a mug, poster or magnet at Zazzle.com for her to keep as a physical reminder that she can create beauty with her writing, or just to show her how proud you are of her work.

9. Help your child create a newsletter. Let him take pictures of his friends or other things with a digital camera, or provide him with pictures if a digital camera is not available, and he can write stories about sports he loves, games he plays with his friends, or just interesting news about his friends and family that he’d like to share. Help him put it all together in a newsletter format. Print up several copies and he can hand them out to his friends and family members. He can even let his friends participate in the newsletter by contributing stories to it.

10. Let your child have his or her own blog or use other social media outlets. With the proper supervision, writing for her own blog or keeping in touch with her friends through other social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook can really help inspire your child to reach for even greater creativity. Using a blog source such as Blogger.com makes it easy for her to choose a template and set up her own blog (though, depending on her age, she might need your help), and you can set it to not allow comments or to only allow comments after they’ve been moderated by you. She can share her writing of stories and poetry as well as her drawings and even simple journal entries in her blog. The blog can be set to private or public and you can monitor it to the extent that you think is necessary. Facebook and Twitter accounts can also be set to private and you can only allow them to authorize friends you know, but this frees them to chat freely and be creative with their friends.

There are many ways to inspire creativity and a love for writing in your child. Even as simple a thing as writing a letter to his or her grandparents can help bring out the creative writer in your child. It’s up to you to encourage your children and to lead by example in their lives. If you put importance on writing in your life, your child will see it as important too.

Struggling To Keep The Dream Alive

I am determined to finish my novel this year. But despite my determination, I have not continued to write since NaNowriMo back in November. Even my writing in this blog has fallen by the wayside.

I've let other concerns take precedence. I've let my family's needs take over, and, as many of my children are still small, this has to happen for now. But I've also let other things get in my way. My dedication to taking the steps towards my writing goals has waned.

Maybe what I need is to make a schedule. Then I can care for my family and spend time with them, get the housework done, fit in my daily exercise, and still spend time writing.

Whatever it is I need to do to start writing again, I need to just get on with it. One of the designs in my shop states, "Just Write," and I need to listen to that advice. I need to just get on with it.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated and working towards your dreams?

Happy Once-In-A-Blue-Moon New Year!

This New Year's Eve had a blue moon. A blue moon only happens once every 2.75 years, but a blue moon falling on a New Year's Eve only happens once every 19 years. Even more unique, a blue moon only falls on a New Year's Eve at the turn of a decade once ever 410 years or so! So last night's blue moon was a once in a lifetime event!

I'd like to think that it means we are all going to have a wonderful year in 2010!

This year is the year to believe in your dreams and to work towards making them a reality. Don't just write down your goals for the year; write down the steps you need to take to reach those goals and then take them!

Have an "impossible" dream? This Blue Moon Year is the year to go for it!

What Have You Done Since NaNoWriMo?

Have you finished your NaNoWriMo novel yet? Have you started editing its content yet? Have you done any writing on other projects?

Or have you, like me, started working on other, non-writing, projects that were neglected while you feverishly wrote during NaNoWriMo?

I have had the best intentions. Although I surpassed the National Novel Writing Month challenge of 50,000 words, my novel was far from finished. I was so thrilled with how the story was going and so involved with the characters that I just knew I would keep writing, if less than the 1,667 words a day required for National Novel Writing Month.

But I was wrong. I had so many othe projects that I had set on the backburner while I wrote for National Novel Writing Month that I still haven't caught up with them, and as a result, my novel writing has fallen way behind where I would have liked to have been with it by now.

I am still thinking about my novel, and I am still excited about it. And I will definitely start writing again after the Christmas craziness has subsided.

NaNoWriMo FINISH!

Okay everyone! The totals are in! How did you do for NaNoWriMo?



Here is the status update for the finish of NaNoWriMo.

moonduster: 51,822/50,000
MrsEvilGenius: 51,718/50,000
BodogSivana: 50,020/50,000
lyricalb: 31,254/50,000
Ghostlove: 0/50,000
tangledeutopia: 0/50,000
Kryptique: 0/50,000
wheezeybouncer: 0/50,000

These are some pretty good totals! NaNoWriMo is reporting that they have made a 19% win rate this year, which is a record for them. We managed a 37.5% win rate all by ourselves! And we almost had a 50% win rate! With three people making it to 50,000 and one person making it more than half-way there, I think we all did brilliantly!!!!

Congratulations to NaNoWriMo winners and everyone who participated!

Yes, some of you will have some small prizes sent to you, but not until January because I'm broke right now. Oh, and I need you to e-mail me your mailing address if I don't already have it. As long as you participated (i.e. had some sort of word count total uploaded to NaNoWriMo and joined us on this blog), you will get something in the mail.

We even had some NaNoWriMo Young Writer's Program winners!

AmericanWriterGirl: 11,752/10,000
WritingSpider: 3,605/3,000 words
gabbykitten: 610/1,000 words
tinkerbella: 293/1,000 words

Please take a moment to tell these kids in the comments section what a great achievement they have managed to accomplish! AmericanWriterGirl is 15 years old, WritingSpider is 7 years old, gabbykitten is 7 years old, and tinkerbella is 4 years old.

Anyone want to share something they've learned from participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Hit us up in the comments!

NaNoWriMo Status Update - Week 4

This is week four of National Novel Writing Month.

How do you think you're doing for National Novel Writing Month?

Here is the status update for our fourth week of NaNoWriMo.

moonduster: 50,011/50,000
MrsEvilGenius: 47,663/50,000
BodogSivana: 43,338/50,000
lyricalb: 31,254/50,000
Ghostlove: 0/50,000
tangledeutopia: 0/50,000
Kryptique: 0/50,000
wheezeybouncer: 0/50,000

I know some of you are writing but haven't uploaded your word counts yet. If you get them in quickly enough, I'll come in and edit your numbers here.

TWO DAYS LEFT! Hurry up and get that writing done!

I'm so excited! This is my first year doing NaNoWriMo, and I've won! I already reached 50,000 words TWO DAYS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE!!!! WOOHOO!!!



I am so happy that I committed myself to doing this and I did it! Some days, I really didn't feel like writing, especially because the only time I could find to write was after the kids were in bed, and by then I was tired and just wanted to sit on the computer and play or watch tv. I really didn't want to have to think.

But I've really enjoyed this! My story has taken me in directions I never expected to go, and my characters have grown and changed over the course of writing this novel.

50,011 words is not my complete novel by a long shot. There is still a lot that needs to happen in my characters' lives before my novel is complete. And it's going to take me quite some time to edit my novel and make it presentable. But I have come so much further with it than I ever have before! It's really a great feeling!

Been Writing

Sorry I haven't posted much here this month. I've been busy writing my novel for NaNoWriMo. Monday is the final day to get the 50,000 words verified, and I am now at 45,083 words. Almost there!

NaNoWriMo Status Update - Week 3

This is week three of National Novel Writing Month.

How do you think you're doing for National Novel Writing Month?

Here is the status update for our third week of NaNoWriMo.

moonduster: 38,011/50,000
MrsEvilGenius: 31,827/50,000
lyricalb: 31,254/50,000
BodogSivana: 18,713/50,000
Ghostlove: 0/50,000
tangledeutopia: 0/50,000
Kryptique: 0/50,000
wheezeybouncer: 0/50,000

I know some of you are writing but haven't uploaded your word counts yet. If you get them in quickly enough, I'll come in and edit your numbers here.

I'm so excited! This is my first year doing NaNoWriMo, and I'm actually heading into the fourth and final week ahead of schedule! I might actually succeed at this!

NaNoWriMo Status Update - Week 2

This is week two of National Novel Writing Month. I meant to update our word count numbers yesterday, but I'm a day late.

How do you think you're doing for National Novel Writing Month?

Here is the status update for our second week of NaNoWriMo.

moonduster: 27,013/50,000
MrsEvilGenius: 21,279/50,000
lyricalb: 20,070/50,000
BodogSivana: 17,993/50,000
Ghostlove: 0/50,000
tangledeutopia: 0/50,000
Kryptique: 0/50,000
wheezeybouncer: 0/50,000

I know some of you are writing but haven't uploaded your word counts yet. If you get them in quickly enough, I'll come in and edit your numbers here.

NaNoWriMo - Week 1 - What I've Learned So Far

This is my first year joining NaNoWriMo. In just the first week, I've already learned quite a few things!

1 - I can write more than I thought. I didn't think I would be able to manage the time necessary to write 1,667 words a day, but on most days so far, I've written even more than that.

2 - If I want to do something, I have to make it a priority in my life. After years of "wanting" to write but saying that I couldn't find the time, I am finally writing! All it took was for me to decide that I was going to spend a certain amount of time writing every day and then sticking to it.

3 - I can write well. I often lack confidence in my writing, and I have let that lack of confidence hold me back for a long time now. But in reading over what I've written so far, I can see that I do have a bit of a gift. Don't get me wrong; most of what I've written is rubbish. But there are enough gems of writing there to make the story workable if I decide to go back and edit it later. And the story itself is interesting and captivating.

4 - If I stop making excuses, I get more done. Before NaNoWriMo,I was always making excuses for not writing. The thing about NaNoWriMo is that there are no excuses. Either I finish it or I don't. And without the excuses, I'm getting a lot of writing done.

5 - Competition is a great motivator. This is true even if the competition is only with myself. But it's even better when I'm competing against others. I have a buddy list at NaNoWriMo, and while I want everyone on my list to succeed and I am ever-so-happy when they achieve their targeted word counts, I find myself checking their total word counts to see how I am faring against them. If they are ahead, it gives me a little push to write more.

So let's hear it. What have you learned from National Novel Writing Month so far?

NaNoWriMo Status Update - Week 1

Well, the first week of NaNoWriMo has come and gone. Those of us who are participating have probably learned a bit and expanded our story ideas since beginning this writing journey. (I know I have!)

How do you think you're doing for National Novel Writing Month?

Here is the status update for our first week of NaNoWriMo.


moonduster: 13,141/50,000
MrsEvilGenius: 11,010/50,000
BodogSivana: 6,200/50,000
lyricalb: 0/50,000
Ghostlove: 0/50,000
tangledeutopia: 0/50,000
Kryptique: 0/50,000
wheezeybouncer: 0/50,000

Now, I happen to know that some of those above who are tallied at zero words so far have actually been writing, so I'm assuming they just haven't updated their word count at NaNoWriMo yet. I will update their numbers here when they do (and I'll re-tally these numbers later tonight anyway), and next week we will have a new tally to see how we are all doing for the second week.

If you'd like to join us for next week's progress report, just comment below with your NaNoWriMo user name. I'll add you to my buddy list there.

If my finances allow, there may even be prizes awarded to some after the final tally on December 1st!

First Day of NaNoWriMo!

50,000 words in 30 days means I have to write about 1,667 words a day. I have accomplished 1,788 words today! Yay me!

I honestly wasn't sure I could do it, but I am so pleased that I did! And it's shown me that I CAN do this! Yes, what I've written so far is probably rubbish. But it's written.

And it's more writing than I've done on my novels in a long time.

How are you doing on Day 1?

National Novel Writing Month Begins!

NaNoWriMo starts today!

I have eight of you added as "My Buddy's" at NaNoWriMo so far.
tangledeutopia
skeeterfish
lyricalb
Ghostlove
wheezeybouncer
Kryptique
MrsEvilGenius
BodogSivana

As we go along, I will post a weekly tally of our efforts at writing our novels.

Goodluck everyone!

Ready For NaNowriMo?

National Novel Writing Month begins the day after tomorrow. Are you ready for NaNoWriMo? Have you signed up to join me in my quest to complete it?

This will be my first year joining NaNoWriMo, and I'm excited about it! I have no idea if I'll be able to complete that much writing in 30 days, but I'm looking forward to trying!

What about you? Are you ready to give it your best shot?