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Write, write more, write better! |
Strange to start my second daily blog at Writing.com. It means I closed the first one "Blog @ Work" ![]() A lot has happened in my first year and a half at WdC. I am a preferred author now, thus a yellow case. I am a published author & a Rising Star! A three times Quill Awards Nominee 2016 even. Not a newbie any longer, I have to step up to the plate. Fast-forwarding six years, I am still blogging. It's my lifesaver! It's what I do almost every day. “Not only will giving up cigarettes put more money in your pocket, your body will thank you for it.” ― Auliq Ice For my other blog "Infinite potential" ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This blog will be another reflection of daily scribbles and prompts. To get my Muse going. “10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer Write. Write more. Write even more. Write even more than that. Write when you don’t want to. Write when you do. Write when you have something to say. Write when you don’t. Write every day. Keep writing.” ― Brian Clark Thanks, Elisa, Stik of Clubs ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Note ▼ |
Write a short story (500 words) about the use and misuse of ChatGPT for writers. Is the tool a menace or blessing for writers? This is what AI answered: "Once upon a time, there was a group of writers who were struggling to come up with new and interesting ideas for their stories. They had hit a creative block and were desperate for a solution. That's when they stumbled upon ChatGPT, a powerful language model that could generate text based on their prompts. Excited by the possibilities, the writers decided to give ChatGPT a try. They quickly discovered that the tool was a blessing for their writing process. With ChatGPT's help, they were able to generate a wide variety of ideas and plot lines for their stories. The tool also helped them to flesh out their characters and dialogue, making their stories more dynamic and engaging. However, as the writers became more reliant on ChatGPT, they began to notice a few downsides to the tool. For one, they found that they were becoming less creative and less able to come up with their own ideas. They also noticed that their writing was becoming more formulaic and less original. Worried about the impact of ChatGPT on their writing, the writers decided to take a step back and reassess their use of the tool. They realized that while ChatGPT was a great tool for generating ideas and helping with the writing process, it was important to use it in moderation and to not rely on it too heavily. In the end, the writers learned that ChatGPT was not a menace, but a blessing that could help to improve their writing when used correctly. They continued to use the tool to generate ideas and to help with the writing process, but they also made sure to put in the hard work of developing their own ideas and writing in their own unique voice. The tool became a great companion for their writing journey." Make up your own mind! |
These are dark times. These are the darkest times. Because of the energy crisis the prices for gas and electricity are going through the roof. This week they will pass a bill in parliament to create an energy border. For people with variable energy contracts, it is a blessing, for people with steady contracts, it is hell. I have a steady contract. I thought I was in the clear for yet another year and a half before the shit hit the fan. It is not. Estimations are that I have to pay more than 600 euros for my energy per month. Now it’s 170 euros. Simply put: I cannot afford 600 euros per month. Come next month I cannot pay my energy bill any longer. ![]() ![]() |
Natural by Imagine Dragons 'Cause you're a natural A beating heart of stone You gotta be so cold To make it in this world Yeah, you're a natural Living your life cutthroat You gotta be so cold Yeah, you're a natural’ Wow, what a song and what a hallucinating video. About surving in this world, being rather the hunter than the prey. About being cold to get by, a product of today. ![]() ![]() |
I feel the urge to create something, write something, and make an effort to push myself into the flow of writing. So, I am writing for 10 minutes non-stop, without editing or questioning myself. I just write. ![]() ![]() |
Are you following the media coverage since Queen Elizabeth passed? 96 years, 7 decades as the Queen. That in itself is remarkable. How do you feel about having Royal families as part of your culture? I am very sad about the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, my neighboring Queen. She had always been on the thrown since I was born so, I never knew another Queen of Great Britain. ![]() ![]() |
Celebrate good times, it’s all right, come on! It was the year 1980 when Kool and the Gang came out with their Celebration. I was 19 at the time. I just started living together with my then-boyfriend and celebrated my first year on my first job at an insurance company. I had to research people who put in a disability claim. It was a good job, very interesting and I learned a lot that year. It was also wonderful to give people their money if the research told me so, it was painful to reject others who didn’t qualify for some reason or other. |
Prompt:Do you cook and bake like Rachael Ray, Ree Drummond or Martha Stewart? Or do you just cook and bake your own way? The first 5 members who do this prompt will get the new Sweet Merit Badge. I don’t know those three cooks, so that leaves me cooking my own way. I have the ingredients for a cottage cheese cake right now in my kitchen, but because I first have to do the dishes I didn’t come to it yet. First the cleaning up and then the baking. Tomorrow is the plan! |
Prompt: “Where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever.” Emily Giffin, Where We Belong Is there a place where you belong in your heart even if you don’t live there or even if you haven’t ever been there? Perhaps this sounds a bit like I am exaggerating but I belong to a writer’s community called Writing.com. My heart belongs there. It’s the place I feel utterly at home apart from home. It’s where my soul can thrive and I can do what I long to do, write and be part of the site. ![]() ![]() |
We're in the last quarter of another year. Have you accomplished the goals you set for yourself or are you scrambling now that it's the last quarter? Do you have any goals specifically for this time of year? Or are you going to simply enjoy each day as it unfolds? I don’t have long time goals for this year set up, just enjoying the day-to-day. It’s a busy week with the WdC’s 22nd Birthday Party going on and me being involved in a blog event and a month-long auction to raise funds. ![]() ![]() |
Prompt: Literature: "Literature is the art of discovering something extraordinary about ordinary people, and saying with ordinary words something extraordinary." Boris Pasternak How do you define literature? In my country, in my younger years, there was a real distinction between Literature with a capital L and Reading. For a long time, Reading included Romance novels, Thrillers, and the like. But that shifted during that time, for instance, Agatha Christie wasn’t considered Literature, but I think that now she is. Although I am not sure. Literature was considered heavy, difficult and something completely different from ordinary Reading. Some say: Literature is when you read a novel more than once, but I’ve reread thrillers more than I have reread Literature, so I am not sure about that definition. I think it’s a difficult distinction, although there is definitely a distinction. Oxford dictionary says that literature is “Written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit.” The keywords here are lasting artistic merit. Literature can overcome Time. Reading will soon be forgotten. So, it solely depends on the people who receive the work. If they decide it has long-lasting merit it is defined as Literature. ![]() ![]() |
OMG, I am an idiot. Why? I barely survived the heatwave of the last weeks with over 35 degrees inside the house and no fan. So, I thought! But today I looked at my electrical heater ( a small table model) and discovered a button for the fan. Apart from the heating buttons. So, I have a fan. I immediately switched it on at my desk and lo and behold, sweet cool air is vibrating towards me. The weather forecast is telling me that this week the temperature will be rising again to 25 degrees. I can handle that now thanks to my newfound fan. ![]() ![]() ![]() |
“Deep down I believe my year was a special year: it produced me.” ― Ned Vizzini What's special about the year you were born? January 20 – John F. Kennedy is sworn in as the 35th President of the United States. January 31 – Ham, a 37-pound (17-kg) male chimpanzee, is rocketed into space aboard Mercury-Redstone 2, in a test of the Project Mercury spacecraft, designed to carry United States astronauts into space. February 9 – The Beatles at The Cavern Club: Lunchtime – The Beatles perform under this name at The Cavern Club for the first time following their return to Liverpool from Hamburg, George Harrison's first appearance at the venue. On March 21 they begin regular performances here. March 11 – "Barbie" gets a boyfriend, when the "Ken" doll is introduced in the United States April 3 – Eddy Murphy is born in the US June 16 – Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev requests asylum in France, while in Paris with the Kirov Ballet. July 28 – Petra is born in the Netherlands August 4 – Barack Obama, who in 2009 will become the first African-American president of the United States, is born in Honolulu, Hawaii September 7 – Tom and Jerry make a return with their first cartoon short since 1958, Switchin' Kitten. The new creator, Gene Deitch, makes 12 more Tom and Jerry shorts through 1962. October 5 – Breakfast at Tiffany's (film) was theatrically released by Paramount Pictures, to critical and commercial success. October 18 – West Side Story is released as a film in the United States. December 1 – Netherlands New Guinea raises the new Morning Star flag, and changes its name to West Papua. December 11 - Adolf Eichmann is pronounced guilty of crimes against humanity by a panel of three Israeli judges, and sentenced to death. |
Prompt: Creative Writing Day. Write about anything you want for your Blog entry. Creative Writing Day today! So, I have to write something, anything on this sacred day. What if nothing comes to mind? What if I don’t have anything substantial to add to my blog today? As my writing mantra keeps saying: Just write. "Write more. Write even more. Write even more than that. Write when you don’t want to. Write when you do. Write when you have something to say. Write when you don’t. Write every day. Keep writing.” ― Brian Clark So, I try to write for ten minutes without editing. Perhaps that will stir the Muse! I just gave out 8 MBs just for fun. It was a good gesture and made a few writers happy so I was content. My Wake Up MB is a real hit! Today was a slow day. I slept through it most of the time because I was busy last night. I have to be careful not to flip night and day. Not that it matters a lot, I have the time to myself, but it’s healthier to just sleep at night and work by day. Just saying. I have to convince myself to go to bed in an hour, then it will be almost 1 am. A good time to go to sleep. I did read the 4 chapters for the Personal Essay workshop, and I managed to write a little about a childhood memory, so that was okay. Will explore more this coming weekend. I always thought I had a bad memory, but with the right kind of probing of my brain, memories will come. I am glad! I think I have blocked out a lot of stuff because my childhood wasn’t the most thrilling time of my life. With this workshop and the assignments, they will surface once more. Furthermore, I am a lazy writer and I usually just write stuff upfront without editing much. This workshop on the personal essay will hopefully change that. There is a lot of work involved in creating a good essay. I hope I will change my attitude and explore the aspects that make an interesting essay, worth reading and perhaps one-day worth publishing. The books I ordered are flooding in. Still a few to come. I hope I will find the time to start reading more. Next month will be a busy month anyway, with my blog event and the auction. I hope I didn’t overstep my boundaries and I will organize it in such a way that it’s doable for me to handle. First time for everything! ![]() ![]() |
The middle of the night. I woke up and couldn’t sleep any longer. Thought to write a poem, but hey… I already did that in "This night, this poem" ![]() ![]() |
There is a tradition in the Netherlands of population screening for cervix, breast, and colon cancer. This year they add lung cancer to the list. People in the age range of 60-79 get an invitation letter with a survey. If you are a smoker or an ex-smoker they choose you to do the test. They expect to test 400,000 people. ![]() ![]() |
Tonight, after a very good day, I am feeling grumpy all of a sudden. There was one thing that didn’t go well, I downloaded something with a wrong outcome, but that’s far from important. Nevertheless, I am grumpy. I never, or rarely am so this is new to me. At the same time, I think this is hardly an interesting topic to blog about. So there you go, another reason to feel even grumpier. So, snap out of it, woman…pull yourself together. I’ve made a to-do-list for tomorrow: 1. Doing dishes! My kitchen is a mess again, I am a slob. I try to do the dishes forever now and I keep procrastinating up to a point it no longer is funny. I have to make a start at least because I can’t cook in a filthy kitchen. 2. I have to do a load of laundry. And hang it out to dry. After that put another load in the washing machine. 3. I’ve had this wonderful in-depth review on my contest story from The Review spot. It’s time to edit and adjust the story. 4. Keep track of my blogging event and fundraiser. 5. Try to create a meaningful blog entry again. 6. Create another Ovi poem. 7. Start reading the workshop book on personal essays. 8. Read the introduction page of The Art of The Personal Essay. 9. Do my grocery shopping online, delivery on Saturday 10. Keep moving because it’s going to be another hot day tomorrow. 11. Water plants Thus! My list is done. I have no reason to feel grumpy again. It’s out of my system. I am going to listen to some music for a while. ![]() ![]() |
Today I had my mosaic workshop. Creating a colorful vase. It’s getting along very nicely, I love working on it every Friday morning in Wapati’s art workshop. Ingrid’s place is a small room stuffed with art and near the window and in the middle tables to accommodate us. It’s a small group of people creating their art. Today there were only 4 adults and 1 child. It was great to see the kid getting enthusiastic by the minute when dealing with this craft. It’s 31 degrees today, in the middle of the heatwave. My dog has gone to sleep in his crate in my bedroom, the coolest place in my house, I am huffing and puffing behind the desktop in my study. But it’s doable. The weather is great so I won’t complain. It’s almost the weekend. I have a lot of dishes to clean, laundry to hang to dry, and poetry to write. So, tomorrow morning, first thing. I am a master in procrastination, I know. ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I’ve just been to the dental hygienist for cleaning my teeth with sedation. Now I am facing three hours before the sedation wears off. Weird face, swollen jaw, difficulties eating and drinking (and smoking). But it’s been done and next week another appointment.
I can’t create any more books or blogs. I am maxed out. That means I have to consider taking a premium account shortly. I have had an upgraded account for more than six years, perhaps it’s time to expand. At more costs obviously, but I am on this site every day, so it’s worth it. For now, my current account is sufficient. ![]() ![]() |
It’s been 14 months now since my beloved dog Arie passed away. The farmer’s fox-terrier of 16 ½ years had been in my life for 15 years. I have written about him during his life in "Doggie Time" ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Used a white lie this morning. I won’t go into any details but it was a minor thing and totally unnecessary. But I lied nevertheless and didn’t even feel guilty about it at the time.
Tomorrow I will clean my house, hang up laundry and do the dishes. Yes, all of them! ![]() ![]() ![]() |