Category Archives: Writing

Pretty Close

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I came close to my goal of having a name for my character. I’m not quite there yet. I have it narrowed down to two, and I’m hoping that as I do a little work getting to know her I’ll figure out what her name is supposed to be.

This part, figuring out whose story I’m telling, always gets the excitement building in me. I can feel that buzz in my stomach, and I’m starting to see images of scenes. I can’t wait to start the planning on this one!

I still have some work to do on my NaNo planning class, but I am far enough along that I can say it will be ready to start on the 24th. And I will have a registration page tomorrow. So that goal is pretty close to met, too.

I didn’t have as much time as I expected for working on all of this because I got a three-week sub job! I was not expecting that so early in the school year, but I’m really happy it came along. I may have to readjust my schedule a bit, but it’s so worth it. I am so glad to be back in the classroom!

For now, though, I’m going to go out and enjoy this sunny and warm-but-not-hot beautiful late summer day. Happy writing everyone!

Stirrings of Fall

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I love fall. I think I’ve mentioned this a million or so times before. But this time of year hits, and I come alive. I have ideas, I’m ready to do things. And one of the things I do in the fall is NaNoWriMo. This year, I’m taking part in their fun Instagram challenge in September. Today’s prompt was “cover art,” so I made this for my horror story.

I’m also gearing up to teach my “Plan Your NaNo” class after a couple of years off, so most of my writing is centered around updating and touching up the materials for that. But I also made a cute graphic for it (apparently this week is for making graphics). I’ll share that below, because I’m kind of proud of it.

So not a lot of writing is happening, but there’s a lot of writing-adjacent activity. But after a really droopy summer, I’m feeling like things are moving again, and that feels very good.

I got a new idea for NaNo just over a week ago, so I need to get moving on fleshing it out. I’m going to set a goal of having a character name and some background on her by Sunday. See you then with an update!

Checking In

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I don’t really have anything to report, but I haven’t written a post in so long. I figured now’s a good time. Job hunting and the inherent stresses of that and of being unemployed are weighing on me. I do some writing practice, I do some MuseCraft™ work, I do things around the house.

Sometimes writing doesn’t get to be the priority. Sometimes there’s just not enough brain power and mental space for it. I feel like this is an important message, so I’m just reminding myself and maybe you, too. The writing is always there. It will be there when you can make space for it again. We’ll do just fine. Don’t worry.

Unstructured

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I have too much time on my hands. I’m not getting anything done. There’s no structure in my life right now, and it’s making it hard for me to settle down and do things. So I don’t really have much to report for ROW80 this week. I’m just making a report to touch base and maybe build a little bit of my own structure. Being unemployed is annoying. And I have so many things I would like to do. But I can’t seem to pick one and focus and do the work. At least it’s Sunday. Let’s call this the start of a new week. I’m going to make a list of things and try to get some sort of rhythm going in my world.

Breakthroughs and The Beatles

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Photo by Mink Mingle on Unsplash

I’ve been revamping my MuseCraft™Â website, getting ready to offer some new classes and coaching options. And I really got hung up on the “about” page. I’ve been trying to write it for over a week, and I had little phrases and half thoughts and not much else to show. So yesterday I took my notes and my laptop to my writing group to work on it some more, and I was not doing any better than I had been on my own. And then a new CD came on. The Beatles. I didn’t notice it until halfway through the CD and most of the way through actual, coherent and cohesive copy, but my focus just dialed in as soon as that music came on.

I usually write with the TV on. Reruns of things I like or movies I love, things I’m really familiar with–never anything new that I want to watch. Something about the TV playing usually helps me write (except in the case of that “about” page, but everyone knows those things are special and troublesome). Usually, music distracts me, because if a song I like comes on my attention is immediately drawn to the song and away from my writing, and instrumental music doesn’t offer enough of a distraction to my internal editor to let the writing flow.

Maybe because the Beatles songs are so familiar they get my editor singing along (internally–I promise I didn’t inflict my singing on anyone!) so the writing can progress unimpeded. Whatever it was, I’m planning to get that album and add it to my playlists for when I need a little more focus.

I hope everyone else is making progress and having some breakthroughs, too!

ROW80 Goals–Round 3

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I can’t believe we’re already heading into Round 3. We’re also fully into summer. School ended last week, and I have weeks stretched out in front of me needing to be filled. I’m limping along, trying to get some summer work, and if I’m not careful I’ll paralze myself with shoulds and wishes and end the summer stressed out and with nothing to show for the time spent.

Summer used to be one of my favorite times of year, second only to fall. It was my time to reset and reinvent myself. I always filled my summers with goals for exercise and better eating and writing and projects. And it kept me engaged and in motion, and I need that right now. Substitute teaching has ended, I don’t have solid summer work, and I don’t know if I’ll have a teaching job in the fall or if I’ll have to move on to some other work. This all feels like things that are out of my control, so I need a few things that are in my control.

I’ve been feeling pulled to return to my coaching work. I love working with writers and creatives and helping them move forward and keep moving toward their goals. I put it on hold when I moved to a new house and then immediately heard that my office was closing and decided to renew my teaching license and jump into substituting. All of that has kept me busy, but I really miss doing the coaching work and teaching creative writing and doing all of that fun stuff.

So my goals for Round 3 are going to be a combination getting MuseCraft up and running again and continuing with my personal writing practice.  I need to make sure the foundation for MC is sturdy and then start building up the blog and some offerings (see, just like that picture up there–a foundation and then one thing and then the next stacked up).  And I need to keep doing writing practice because my brain and my heart both need that, plus my writing is better when I practice.

Round 3 Goals

  • Write copy for a new landing page
  • Write new “about” copy
  • Work on essays for the new non-fiction book that has bloomed in my mind; get at least five of them done this round
  • After the landing and about pages are done, start blog posts at least once a week
  • Continue writing practice at least three times a week

Time Stretches

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I thought I’d do a blog post to check-in since it’s been a while. I thought I’d be taking a break for a week, maybe two, but time has pulled away from me, and even though it’s a month later I find I still need the downtime.

I’m in the midst of trying to find summer work and looking for full-time work for the fall. Writing is haphazard and solely focused on writing practice right now. I am still in Lull mode, resting, trying to do what I need to do. Reminding myself that I will have more writing time after I take care of the employment stuff and get all of that sorted. For now, writing practice and resting will do.

Rest and Relaxation

Quote

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After last week’s epiphany, a few more story details clicked into place pretty much effortlessly. And now I find myself in resting mode, thinking, letting story ideas play in my head, just sitting back and watching them.

In Kaizen Muse Creativity Coaching we talk about Lull, one of the Muses. She’s very important for letting things brew and settle and reset. I am visiting with Lull this week. It’s a pretty good place to be right now.

 

Two Steps Forward

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Hoping to skip any steps back… I finally had an epiphany yesterday that had me moving scenes around and adding new ones that made sense after the shuffle, and now there are fewer holes in my plot. I still have a gap that I am working to fill in, but it’s much smaller, and it’s just the one instead of three spots that really weren’t working. Definite progress!

I credit this jump forward to being able to see all of my scenes laid out in Storyline Creator (I’m really loving this tool!) and to this blog post from K. M. Weiland. I spent days reading over my scene descriptions and reading various articles and sections of writing books, and then the sun broke through the clouds and I could see my way. Hooray!

Wishing everyone a great writing week and breakthroughs where you need them!

Quick ROW80 Check-in

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I’m still moseying along in my plotting for “Haunt.” I’m trying to work through things logically rather than getting hung up on setting and meeting a deadline right now. I keep having to remind myself that I’m trying to really learn these novel planning steps, though. I want to race! But that’s not the way to cement my understanding of how all of these steps work together. I have a few more scenes listed with their basic summary sentences, so there is progress.

I’m really enjoying working with Storyline Creator in this process. I like how easy it is to move back and forth between the sections so if I have a thought about a scene (mostly right now it’s “what needs to happen before this to make this make sense?”), I can just switch over to the notes section and write out my ideas and questions, and then shift right back to the scenes list. It’s very smooth, very simple, and it makes sense to me when I look at it. I’m very glad I found this.

I hope everyone’s stories are moving forward, slowly or otherwise. Happy writing!