Free Write - Alien Cow
Photo by Bruce Warrington on Unsplash
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wander creatively into new stories.
Set your timer for 5, 10, or 15 minutes and write!
Have Fun!
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.
Free Write - Snow Dog
Photo by Valentin Salja on Unsplash
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wander creatively into new stories.
Set your timer for 5, 10, or 15 minutes and write!
Have Fun!
Poetry Camp for NaNoWriMo
Hello April! I hope everyone is as safe as they can be. I am here to talk a little bit about Camp NaNoWriMo this year. This year is the first camp with the new NaNo website makeover. It was difficult for me last year in November to get the hang of what we were doing and how it all worked. I have since played around more with the site, and I am enjoying my camping experience.
The best update I see so far on the NaNo website is that the cabins we had during camp have been turned into permeant writing groups. It certainly doesn’t mean you cannot leave the group you are in if you don’t like it. However, it does mean you have instant access to the buddies you have been writing with twice a year in November too.
There were some other updates to the projects and goals I have not been as excited about. In the past, I used the hourly timed options as my goal when it comes to my writing. It was a way to build up my writing time during April and July. There are only options for the number of words now. However, you can make your project a little more specific now with drafting, editing, and publishing options as well as the type of writing you are working novel, short story, poetry, nonfiction, and more.
While I miss the hourly goals, they have made two websites now one, and they more useable all year round. Just being able to talk to your writing group year-round is an exciting thought. If you wanted to track projects with word counts and dates, it is also a valuable tool for free. I think this was a brilliant move on their part to make Camp and Nano more uniform and user friendly.
I have decided to join a couple of different writing groups this year. I am with my regular group this year. I have been a part of my regular cabin for two years now and a new writing group to expand my writing community. I have been getting to know new writers and chatting with my regular group since mid-March. I recommend trying out different groups if you have never attempted camp before, and it is such a great way to find new people to interact with in the world.
This year for the camp, I am writing poetry. Poetry was how I started writing. I didn’t write short stories or a novel as a child. It was poetry that came out of me. I couldn’t figure out how to express the emotions running deep in me, so the way they came out was in the written word. For me, it was oral before it was written while I bottle-fed baby calves in the barn. Poetry was dancing in my head and then out of my mouth like a song I always knew but had never heard. I have missed poetry; she was always my first love. It was the thing that understood me before I understood myself.
Poetry has been something that has trying to get out of me for years now after I tried to silence it. Poetry has been all along bubbling under the surface. I decided to let out this lion inside me out for a solid month to see what I could produce. I am not sure what will happen, but I hope it will help me process my life as my writing often does. I hope to see you in the CampNaNo world and if not…Just write.
Free Write - Moon Church
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wander creatively into new stories.
Set your timer for 10 minutes and write!
Have Fun!
Free Write - Couple's Highs
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wander creatively into new stories.
Set your timer for 10 minutes and write!
Have Fun!
Free Write - Home Edge
Photo by Cindy Tang on Unsplash
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wander creatively into new stories.
Set your timer for 10 minutes and write!
Have Fun!
Free Write - Astronaut Field
Photo by Jonas Verstuyft on Unsplash
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wander creatively into new stories.
Set your timer for 10 minutes and write!
Have Fun!
Free Write - Snail Home
Photo by Sarah Trummer from Pexels
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wonder creatively into new stories.
Have Fun!
The 73 Questions
I was nominated by my writer friend Tammy for this challenge inspired from a Vogue Magazine Series which interviews celebrities and other public figures. The questions are designed to allow you know more about my likes and lifestyle. Who doesn’t love to answer fun questions?
1. What’s your usual Starbucks order?
I like to change it up, so I usually try out all the seasonal drinks. When I have tried them all, then I got back to my vanilla latte with coconut milk.
2. What does your workstation look like?
I have one of those desk cabinets from the 90s with doors. It usually has my computer and stack of books and papers I am working on.
3. Favorite food?
Sushi is the best thing ever!
4. Favorite authors?
Two favorites this week are Davis Bunn and Pam Jenoff.
5. What do you think of open relationships?
I think they are not for me.
6. What is your favorite video game?
Duck Hunt!
7. Guilty pleasure treat?
Cheesecake
8. Favorite movie?
Pride and Prejudice the 2005 version
9. Favorite book?
Children’s: The Story of Ferdinand (always)
Grownup: Educated by Tara Westover (this year)
10. Twitter, or Instagram?
11. Desktop or laptop?
Laptop or paper.
12. Best advice you’ve ever received?
You can do whatever you set your mind to.
13. What project are you working on right now?
I am working on short stories that are sci-fi.
14. Favorite color?
Purple
15. Did you get good grades in school?
Yes, I did.
16. Dream job?
Writing full time
17. Play any sports?
No, I used to play basketball and danced.
18. Do you have a degree?
Yes a couple
19. Nationality?
German, Irish, and French.
20. What is your favorite kind of blog post?
A day in the life or list.
21. What do you like to collect?
Marbles, books, and purses.
22. Describe yourself in three words?
Honest, quiet, student
23. If you were a rapper, what would your stage name be?
Smilie Geez
24. Who was the last person you DM?
Someone about blogging for a website I run.
25. What’s on top of your wish list right now?
A writing retreat
26. Sorting house?
Ravenclaw
27. How many tattoos do you have?
Zero
28. What are you most grateful for this year?
My family, job, and home.
29. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you this month?
I got to spend some quality time with my family.
30. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you today?
I laughed so hard at work.
31. What’s the best thing ever?
Love
32. Favorite season?
Fall
33. Favorite holiday?
Thanksgiving because I like all the food and there is not the pressure of gifts.
34. What fictional character do you relate to most?
Whichever one I am reading — I am always looking for similarities to myself.
35. Do you like surprises?
YES!
36. What’s the biggest surprise you’ve ever had?
Finding out I was going to be a mom.
37. Which surprise made you cry?
Being a mom because I was excited and terrified.
38. What’s the best surprise you’ve given somebody else?
Surprising my family with a takeout meal.
39. Do you like muffins?
Yes, blueberry.
40. Do you cook often?
I do not cook often, but I like to bake a lot.
41. What’s your favorite dessert?
Chocolate covered strawberries.
42. Is there a dessert you don’t like?
Haven’t met one yet.
43. Cake or pie?
Pie
44. What’s your least favorite food?
Spicy because it doesn’t like me.
45. What’s your favorite condiment?
Ketchup
46. It’s 4 am on a random Saturday. What are you eating?
I cannot eat that early, so I drink tea.
47. If you could teach a college class, what would it be called?
Apocalyptic Fiction
48. Best animated film?
Everafter
49. What has a guy done or said to impress you?
Bought me lilies and took me out to eat.
50. The best thing to do on a first date?
I love long walks and coffee.
51. The worst thing to do on a first date?
Hanging out with a ton of people at a bar.
53. Best comic book character?
Wonder Woman
54. Name three things which can always be found in your purse.
Pens, book, notebook.
55. Favorite drinks?
Water and Dr. Pepper
56. If you could play a historical character in a movie who would it be?
Catherine the Great I did a paper on in college she seemed interesting.
57. Kittens or puppies?
BOTH!
58. Favorite sushi roll?
Kissy Kissy roll
59. What lipstick do you use?
Lip balm that is a light shade of pink.
60. What foundation do you use?
The Body Shop
61. Blow-dry or air dry?
Air dry every day. I will even wake up sooner to air dry.
62. Who is your fashion icon?
Katherine Hepburn always
63. Favorite Disney Character?
Cinderella
64. What are you doing tomorrow?
I will work and write.
65. Movie you laughed the hardest through?
The Book Club
66. A movie that made you cry?
Avengers Endgame
67. If you could sing a duet with anybody who would you choose?
Frank Sinatra
68. If your life was a song, what would the title be?
Don’t Worry Be Happy
69. What’s your favorite animal?
Llama and tigers
70. Favorite artist?
Claude Monet
71. The person you want to have coffee with?
Jesus
72. What country would you like to visit?
Germany
73. Best way to decompress?
Cleaning
Thank you!
Free Write - Woman and the Blade
Welcome to Free Write Friday!
I will be adding an image every Friday to free write with.
It is a practice to allow your mind to wonder creatively into new stories.
Have Fun!