Tag: writing

A Collection Of Memories: The Steady Practice Of Journaling

April 24, 2023

As a kid I never thought the practice of writing my thoughts and memories down on paper would be such a significant part of my life and routine. TV sitcoms in the late 80s and into the 90s would kind of poke fun at young teen girls who would keep diaries, starting each entry with “Dear Diary” as if that was a requirement for anyone who decided to write in their notebook. While I kind of bought into the idea of being one of those girls who kept a diary, or journal as I call it now because it sounds more mature, it surprisingly became a constant ritual I kept doing into my adulthood.

Continue reading “A Collection Of Memories: The Steady Practice Of Journaling”

Writing Through It: When A Scene Doesn’t Come Together

February 6, 2023

Any writer will tell you that the process of writing can be equal parts exciting and frustrating. When you’re writing your own story, you’ll encounter moments where everything feels seamless. The words come easily to compose the right dialogue between two people, or a breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist. And then you’ll have those days where writing a necessary, but hard to construct scene, will feel like a slog to get to the end of it.

Continue reading “Writing Through It: When A Scene Doesn’t Come Together”

New Year, Same Goals

January 2, 2023

A brand new year means a new beginning. A chance to start over and do something differently. If you’re the type of person to believe in that sort of thing. Maybe what isn’t so different are the goals or intentions you set for the year. The common ones are usually lose weight, eat healthy, or quit bad habits. How successful you are at actually accomplishing these things depends on your motivation and commitment. Why else are these the usual ones people start off saying they will do only for it to fall by the wayside after a month?

While the above aren’t the type of goals I set for myself in the new year, mine are more of the same ever since I started doing them a few years ago. Why change them when it has been easy to achieve year after year, right?

Continue reading “New Year, Same Goals”

Dear Diary: The Interesting Perspective You Gain When You Re-Read Old Journal Entries

October 31, 2022

I’ve been a life long journal, or diary as they were called growing up, keeper from the day I was given a Mickey Mouse diary as a gift from a friend of the family when I was maybe about 10 or 11-years-old. It had a fancy lock clasp and keys to hold all the “secrets” or my most private of thoughts from prying eyes. At least whatever my kid brain thought was well worth keeping tucked away for just me.

The habit of journaling stuck, and it has tracked every stage of my life from adolescence to young adult to now. A book shelf is filled with completed journals of thoughts and memories that mattered most to me at the time. Recently, I decided to take one of those books off the shelf and began thumbing through the pages. What I found within those pages was a girl who was and wasn’t me.

Continue reading “Dear Diary: The Interesting Perspective You Gain When You Re-Read Old Journal Entries”

When You Know, You Know: The Ending Of A Novel

April 25, 2022

Writing any story, especially a full-length novel, is no easy feat. You have to know how it starts and how it will end. A writer needs to figure out how to map out a character’s journey so that when the end finally appears on the horizon, their character arc is wrapped up in a way that feels satisfying.

After spending the past few years diligently working on my YA fantasy novel, I’m edging closer and closer to what instinctively feels like the end of the story.

Continue reading “When You Know, You Know: The Ending Of A Novel”

Coping With Uncertainty Through Hobbies

March 21, 2022

Having so many interests can be both a blessing and a curse. When the pandemic first started and everyone was asked to minimize social interactions and only go out to buy your essential needs, it wasn’t a difficult adjustment for me to make. Being more introverted than extroverted, it was easy to stay inside and keep busy with what I had at my disposable. TV, books, video games, and writing had kept me occupied for the last two years and made weathering the uncertainty of a new virus we knew nothing about easier to manage. With plenty to do at home, the hard part was figuring out how to make equal time for each hobby.

Between the constant reminders of our ecosystem on the verge of collapse and the horrifying conflict currently happening between Ukraine and Russia, all these unknowns can be crushing and devastating if you don’t have something to distract you. No matter how temporary it is.

Continue reading “Coping With Uncertainty Through Hobbies”

Word Count Goals: Why This Targeted Writing Method Isn’t For Me

February 14, 2022

Writing the first draft of my YA fantasy novel has gone through many stops and starts over the years. There have been a lot of trial and error to figure out what writing practices worked and didn’t work for me as far as getting the bulk of my story written. A common piece of advice given by writers is to create a word count goal.

Continue reading “Word Count Goals: Why This Targeted Writing Method Isn’t For Me”

Staying Motivated To Write…By Writing Something Else

January 31, 2022

Since the start of the new year, one of the things I would like to do is finish a full draft of my work in progress. I have been consistently writing in some capacity for the past two years, the pandemic making it easier to keep up a regular weekend schedule, and have gotten further with my story than I have in a really long time since I first came up with the idea. But as eager as I am to complete the draft, it has been a struggle to continue with my novel, often not knowing where to steer the plot or how to get to a cohesive and satisfying ending.

When this happens I would take a “break” from my novel by writing something else.

Continue reading “Staying Motivated To Write…By Writing Something Else”

New Year, New Goals

January 3, 2022

One of the things I love about a new year is the chance to start fresh. There’s an opportunity for things to be different and to change aspects of your life that could use a little upgrade. That may sound very Pollyanna but I’ve always been an optimist at heart even as time, experience, and the state of the world has made me a tad cynical over the years. I like to hold onto a bit of hope during these tough times.

Now that it’s 2022 here are some of the goals I’m looking to achieve in this new year.

Continue reading “New Year, New Goals”

One Is Never Enough: Collecting Journals

September 27, 2021

The first time I kept a journal was back when someone had bought me a Mickey Mouse diary. Back when girls called the records of their innermost thoughts a diary, and began each entry with “Dear Diary”. I was around middle-school aged and it was the type of diary that had a lock and key to open it. I didn’t know it at the time but opening that diary for the first time and seeing the blank pages within, waiting to be filled with my own thoughts, gave me a thrill before I even knew writing was something I would come to enjoy as I got older.

I’ve obviously since graduated from Mickey Mouse diaries, and the kind of words I put in journals now are a lot more thoughtful and meaningful than, “Matt said something funny today.” But what hadn’t stopped from the first time I was gifted that diary all those years ago was my love of collecting beautiful new journals for writing.

Continue reading “One Is Never Enough: Collecting Journals”