Spring Writing Community

I finished up Camp NaNoWriMo with flying colors this year. I got another 30,000 words written on various projects throughout the month. Sadly I didn’t get as much poetry written as I had hoped. There were other short story projects I was experimenting with, and even though I had left poetry behind, it was what I needed right now.

I have already started my participation in the SuperStars at StoryADay. This group writes a story every day in May. I am a prompt addict, so I love this challenge and have participated for a few years now. 

 I can’t tell you how much this group of people have changed my life and how I look at writing. I have forged really great friendships and community within StoryADay. I love May because there can be so much interaction, and each year we get to meet new people. The growth is impressive as I look back on my experiences over the few years of being with StoryADay I have blossomed and grown so much. 

My writing habit lately has been suffering this year. I have taken on a new project for people and their social media, so it has been a little bit busier than I expected. 

This week though, I have been buckling down to write even just a little bit each day. What do I mean by a little bit? I mean, if I get one sentence on the page for me, it is a win. 

Do I want to do more yes, and do I usually yes? But there are days when the exhaustion hits me, and maybe I am just getting a few words out, or perhaps I am just journaling today because I have too many things on my mind today. I believe writing in any form or feeding that creativity helps you be a better writer. 

This weekend is also the NYC Midnight 100 word microfiction challenge.  I have decided to participate in this contest.  I enjoyed the short story challenge so much in January I thought this might be a great way to get my feet wet in Flash Fiction. 

Flash Fiction was not something I was taught about in college. Still, thanks to the age of the internet, I have found many resources to help me navigate the flash fiction world. A writer friend recommended Kathy Fish, and can I say her classes on Skillshare were great for this art. 

I have been learning a lot on Skillshare, brushing up on my German, which I have been doing for the last six months now. There are many drawing classes and just writing courses in general. I am not going to say every class is quality because it isn’t to me just like you are not going to like every book I like. 

This month has a lot of promise, and I will be excited to share with you next week how I have been getting out of my reading funk. 

Don’t forget, just write. 

Monday's Mug 008

Welcome back to my Monday’s Mug where you will hang out with me for a little bit, and I will catch you up on what has happened. I am drinking some tea tonight because I just like the warming feelings and it makes me feel like fall is closer than it really is. Would you like some tea as well? Let's go out to the deck and sit for a while there is a gentle breeze tonight. 

I have been doing StoryADay for September you may have heard me talk about them previously. This is an event that happens in May and September, but we keep in touch all year round in the SuperStars group. I have been writing short stories consistently for the month. I will have a lot of stories to go through and revise. It has not always been easy nor have all my stories been the length I am used to writing in college, but it is progress. I think growth is what matters.

I am looking forward to editing a chapter of my book and sending it to a writing friend of mine. It has been a couple months since I have looked at my book and worked on it again. I have the first draft completed, but I am not sure what else should happen in the story. I will be doing a full edit of it December. Though my writer friend does not know yet, she will be getting a chapter, I hope she won't mind. I had promised her a paragraph months ago, and I still haven't gotten one to her. I think maybe I should send a paragraph first to be fair. 

I have another story I am editing for some other friends to look over about a talking cat. I usually don't write about animals talking, but it was a fun experiment, and I am out of my comfort zone. I need more opinions about it. It has been a long time since I have been through these types of workshopping groups, and I am a little nervous. However, no one has accomplished anything in their comfort zone, and I am throwing my zone out the window. 

I'm grabbing some more tea would you like some more? I will get a blanket as well it is getting cool tonight. 

I am working out a plan for the last few months of the year. It is a break down of what I need to finish top priority (revisions) and what I really need to get completed in this last quarter (outline and new novel). There is a 30-day plan I will follow for character and plot development for my new book next month, so all my ducks are in a row for NaNoWriMo. Then, in November, when I will be cranking out my novel. In the fall and spring are when I feel like I do my best work, perhaps in the world of transition. I want to send a few things out to publish as well. I have messed up and gotten off my plan for sure this year. However, it isn't the number of times you fall down but that you get back up again.

This has been an exciting time for getting to know people in my writing community even though I am quieter than most I have enjoyed my time this year with the StoryADay community. I would advise you to get involved in NaNoWriMo is you are a writer even if you don't want to write the novel. It is nice to have a community when you do something that usually is a solo adventure. 

Don't forget to just write.

Monday's Mug 004

Hello again. Thanks for joining me for another Monday’s Mug. I have one of my favorite mugs I got from a local craft fair full of water. Today has been busy and this week will be as well. I am sitting outside again because I love being out here the summer. 

I would like to tell you about my week last week. I had struggled with a blog for a couple of weeks, and I had it written. I had even edited it already once, but for some reason, I didn’t like it. There are times when I feel like it just isn’t the right time to publish a blog. Like there is something inside of me that says not yet. Then a week or two later I get the post it now buttons pushed inside me. I don’t know where this comes from or why. I wonder if you ever get the same feeling about writing or something in your life?

I will continue with my mug of water tonight and tell you last week had its ups and downs for sure. I have been working on taking my reading up a notch and also my productivity in general. I have become a little planner crazy right now I am working out of two. I have a Happy Planner everything is in, and then I carry a bullet journal that has my daily two do lists. Now that I am managing three sites, it has been more intense. 

I did Story A Day again this year. I did write a lot more than I ever thought I would get done because May is a full month for me. It is a month full of social events, deadlines, and most of all, my joy for writing. I allowed myself to miss days this year. I have gotten much better about not beating myself up about not finishing a story every day and just moving forward. It helps to have Julie Duffy’s voice in my head. If you have not checked out her podcasts, they are, and her voice is so soothing to me. She does not know I am talking about her. Julie’s podcasts can be found at Itunes and also directly on the StoryADay website. 

I got to have a meeting with my online writing group tonight. It was great to talk to them, and even though I am quiet, I like listening to what they have to say about what they are reading, writing, and submitting. I have not reached the submission process yet because I am a little afraid, but I also know I need to revise a bunch of stories. Revision is probably my least favorite part of the processes. I am still looking for ways to make it more fun if you have suggestions leave them in the comments. I think it is just like doing laundry though because I enjoy wearing the clothes I just don’t want to have to wash them and put them up.

I have been embracing working on my short story pieces more these days. Short stories were my emphasis in college because it was fun to me. I wish I could find the stories I wrote in college. I am sure that would give me a good laugh and maybe inspire something else. There are times I am hard on myself for taking so many years off from writing, but I am also happy to be where I am now meeting the friends I have through this process. 

I hope you have a good evening and the rest of your week is full of little stories.