When it came time for me to start blogging again, I found myself paralyzed. I was trapped by the belief that my blog had to be unique, that it had to have a defined theme, and that it had to be appealing to everyone. After some time scouring Google for advice, I realized that if all I did was worry and plan, I would spend forever worrying and planning and never get to writing.
From that realization, I've decided to display my blog writing guidelines here for everyone to see, but especially for me to see when I come here to write.
~1~
Blog about what is appealing to YOU.
Don't worry about anyone else.
~2~
Allow yourself to WRITE!
Don't restrain yourself to one voice, one writing style, one genre, or one topic area.
~3~
Throw out the fear of maintaining a consistent theme.
Blog about your passions, interests, fancies, inspirations, opinions, musings, curiosities, ramblings, and loves.
~4~
Explore, experiment, and have fun!
So, this is my solution. A blog about anything and everything that sparks my interest.
The title is inspired by the quote at the bottom of this introduction. Everything you love, even for a short time, becomes part of you. Our experiences and perception of the world is colored by those things we love and have loved, whether those things are or not. This blog will be a place to house those passions and curiosities. Please enjoy!
"It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them, and every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are."
-Anonymous
I signed up for PPC but a year long commitment is hard for me. Especially since I get distracted and forget. Good intentions won't get me through. And prompts that don't inspire don't help. So far? I'm good. Ask me again next May.
I wrote quite a bit in April but not for contests. And apparently I didn't impress anyone with my writing either! So ... May. I'm hoping to do "The Art of the Letter" as I only found out about it today. Since I write postcards, especially when traveling, it's just something I do.
Is your address updated at Snail Mail?
I've been in the same place for over 12 years. I dread having to move.
I made a list of writing goals in February and did quite well. My March goals are 'front-loaded so I need to write today.
I wrote a 1 star poem and then realized it didn't really want to be that bad. It's based on a mathmatics text and I could rework it into something experimental. Then I took on Cupid...
So... this was cringeworthy imho:
Roses blush red
your heart bleeds black.
In your pants, Stu-
pid. Put it back.
I like lists mostly because I hate remembering things My lists remind me what I want to do, but I also know I don’t HAVE to do them, so I try not to get stressed
I made a list and did most of it. Won one, placed in a couple. It exhausted me. But, it was mostly worth it.
I'll focus on my "Space Cadet" stories for NaNoWriMo but hope to enter some of the contests, especially the Second Time Around as I had high hopes for one particular poem that didn't impress the judge. I still have hope.
I will dito all of you. It's so amazing. I'm still reeling. If I didn't have this teaching day job getting underway, I'd be on her more than I already am!!!
What ditto are we at now, triple ditto? As you probably know, on mobile, your portfolio icon is in the top right corner and I keep having to do a double-take because that can’t possibly be my icon. I couldn’t have turned blue with a more awesome bunch of people either; I’m so excited!
July was a huge success for me. First, I paid off a big chunk of my student loans so I only have about $4,000 left to pay. I also got a raise at work, lost 10 pounds, and wrote A LOT! I mean ... WAY more than I normally write in a month. The things I wrote in July are listed below Looking back, I wanted to reflect on how and why I had managed to write so much more than I’m normally able to write in a month. I think the partial answer is that I’m trying to catch up with the Contest Challenge, but also I’ve honed in my poetry writing process so it is easier for me to start a new piece. I always find it interesting when others share their writing process, so here’s a quick overview of mine (for poetry only, stories are a whole other beast).
First, I open my little book, grab a pen, and write the prompt or topic of the poem. Whatever it is that I’m supposed to be writing about. Then, I start doing some word association and word vomiting everything the prompt makes me think about. Often, interesting phrases emerge in this stage, but nothing concrete. When the word vomiting is finished, I read through the random phrases I’ve jotted down and underline things I think are good. Sometimes I’ll draw arrows between different thoughts that might connect. Then, I’ll usually write the lines I liked on a new page in my book and add more structure to the thoughts. If new phrases come to me at this stage, I include those as well. Usually, at this point, the theme and story of the poem starts to emerge. I’ll start writing numbers in the margins to indicate if the line should belong at the beginning of the poem, middle, or end. I’ll also draw arrows and add more connecting words to start stringing the poem together. At this point, I’ll rewrite all the lines again in their new order and including the additional words. Now, the poem is nearing its final stage. I’ll type it on my computer, adding line and stanza breaks where appropriate and punctuation. Usually, I’ll let it sit for a while (few hours) before coming back to re-read it. I’ll edit my punctuation and word choice at least twice before posting to WDC. With this method, I feel less pressure at the beginning and it allows me to start writing even if I don’t know what I’ll write about. It is also a fairly fast process, quite different from how I used to write, laboring endlessly over a single line to make it perfect before moving on. How I write now allows the full picture to come out first and then find order on the page. And it’s working! Here’s what it helped me write in July:
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