Free Write - Hope
Welcome to Free Write Day!
I will be adding an image every week 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!
Ideas I am pulling from this to get you started are….
Do you ever go through life looking for signs?
How obvious are they for you?
Write a story about seeing this sign.
Monday's Mug 24
I am sitting down with my mug of hot chocolate tonight to just share with you a few of my thoughts. First, I would like to say Happy New Year! I am so happy that 2020 is over and we didn’t start 13/1/2020. I felt great on the 1st day of the new year and had a lot of hope for what the future could hold. It was also snowed that day, which was terrific.
But maybe you are not feeling great about 2021 right now, and I know what that is like. For the last 3 years previous years, I have struggled with hope. It was a big reason I took some time off. I knew that if I didn’t work on myself and get through some of this crap, I was never going to be the creative I was meant to be.
Community
I started to heal myself was by reaching out to friends who were real friends, and it took me a while to find them. I knew I needed people in my life that would allow me to talk because when I need to process things, I need to talk.
Many people don’t know how chatty I can be once I start to open up. I had been hiding who I was for so long I needed to be authentically me, not the one with a cloak or done up face. There was no need to perfect, and with that came the ability to cry or laugh or just be random.
Are any of these people living within a 100-mile radius of me? Nope. I think you can find friends all over the world, but I would stress to be cautious. I am not advising you to be friends with everyone you met online.
YouTube, TikTok, and Books
The second way was working through The Artist Way. I had an accountability partner for the duration of it this time, so I would be sure to finish. I told them what chapter I was on and the parts that were speaking to me.
I attribute a lot of my success to the morning pages that have transformed themselves and me over time. I continued to read books in the areas I struggled with, like self-discipline.
YouTube is a great place to find motivational speakers like Tony Robbins, Tom Bilyeu, or searching for inspirational videos. TikTok has a lot of great videos as well. Just search for inspired, positive, or affirmations. What these videos can do is give you positivity when you might be surrounded or talking to yourself in a not so lovely way.
Where do I find community?
So as we come into this new year, there are many places to look for the community, especially for writers. Not only are there podcasts, YouTube videos, social media accounts, and tons of positive people on TikTok, there are groups out there forming.
NaNoWriMo has writing groups all year long.
StoryADay has a community on its website and has a membership that opens at the end of April.
Stop Writing Alone has Facebook groups and usually hosts a Happy Campers group during Camp NaNo in April.
The Accident Inspirationalist has a Patreon for the community as well as workshops.
Let me know if there are any another writing communities you would like me include on my site.
(This blog has affliate links and as Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Monday's Mug 023
Hello, Writers of the World.
Welcome back to Monday’s Mug! I always love to be drinking from my mugs daily, but Monday is the day I like to catch you up on what has been happening since we last talked. Tonight I am drinking hot raspberry tea. I have enjoyed the cold chill in the air lately. Things have been pretty peaceful this last week, but I will share about my quiet week.
While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you I had been experimenting with soups lately. I love soup and made taco soup for the first time ever. I can’t handle many spicy foods, so it was the perfect opportunity to make it to my family’s taste. A wonderful mom that became a friend over soccer practices this year shared the recipe with me. While on this subject of food, I made pumpkin bread and cupcakes this last weekend for our treats. I watch The Great British Baking Show and enjoy baking as well as learning about it.
While we sip from our mugs, I would share with you my Artist Way progress. Morning pages are becoming more of a priority for my life. While I have been handwriting them for the last two months, I will be typing them in November. I have been pushing to make my writing more of a priority. Writing is essential to me than I realized, and being a writer is far more important to me as well. Through my morning pages, I have worked through some religious beliefs and political frustrations. These pages allow me to vent and get everything off my mind to start my days fresh. Due to our recent time change, I am waking up earlier to do writing in the morning. I never thought this would be possible for me because usually, I am a late-night writer. While my creativity does still peak in the evening, I find the morning time great to relax and get my writing groove on.
Would you like to refill your mug?
While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you I have been thinking a lot more about my writing, in general, this week. I was able to be part of a sprint this last week. It was only 30 minutes of writing, but I can accomplish my goals last week by getting that 30 minutes in. I have also decided to do NaNoWriMo this year. While this has been a more challenging year for my writing, I finally feel like I understand what I am doing. I think I am seeking out the creative life I have been looking for and encouraging friends to thank for it. This is a way a writing community can change your life. This is how your life changes because you let people in and allow them to speak life into your problems.
Just keep writing.
Free Write - Knight Shoe
Photo by James Pond on Unsplash
Welcome to Free Write Day!
I will be adding an image every week 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!
Ideas I am pulling from this to get you started are….
Does the knight die?
I will this shoe…
The giants are back….
Who Has Time to Write
I hear myself saying I don’t have a lot of time to write. Yes, my life is crazy busy like everyone else, but so? I say over and over, “there are not enough hours in the day.” I have an endless to-do list just like anyone else. I can’t seem to possibly focus on writing for any amount of time without being interrupted. There are too many people needing things from me to keep me from doing one thing I want to do.
I’ve been dealing with this problem years before Covid-19 and all the 2020 craziness. I don’t say no often enough because I love helping people and teaching them. A year ago, I started to lose hope. There was one year in there where I struggled to have any hope at all in life. I was frustrated by my lack of motivation and the overwhelming feeling of not getting enough done.
I started watching YouTube videos about self-care and reading blogs about it. One of those books, videos, or blogs had Mel Robbins in. I honestly didn’t even know who she was until a few years ago. Thank god for the YouTube black hole of information. Robbins is a big believer in morning and night routines. I have never been a person who had either, but I know I like a rhythm throughout my day. There are times I like to work on specific projects. I wanted things to change in my life, and I felt the best way to do this was a night routine.
I have a few minutes before bed for myself. During this time, I hadn’t been doing anything consistently. Sometimes I would read, watch TV, or journal. So I decided to think about the thing I wanted to change the most in my life: writing more often. I hadn’t been consistently writing for a while. The story and book ideas have been there, but no stories were getting on paper. So I set a timer for ten minutes to write.
I know for the first few weeks, I couldn’t believe how long ten minutes took! I was continually looking at my watch. Soon I realized just how much I was getting done in the 10 minutes. Stories were finally reaching the page, and I was allowing myself to dream again. Dream again of finishing the novel and of getting stories published.
I was starting to create. I found when I was trying to edit; I did it faster the next day. If I allowed the writing to sit for sleep, then I could see my mistakes easier. If I know I am having a hard day or my night will be longer, I move my 10 minutes up to lunchtime.
Now I find more often than not; I can get a lot more done by writing, even just a few minutes a day than I was before. I now have a morning routine of walking now. It is a beautiful way to start my day. I even wake up early on the weekends so I can enjoy this quiet morning time. There are days when it rains and storms, but I move the time of my walk or mediate day if I can’t get out. When I was walking, I have found a way for me to clear my mind and move. Meditation allows me also to clear my mind even when I am not able to do everyday movements.
Instead, on those days, I have a dance party in the living room, turn on com crazy music, and just dance it out. There is nothing better than movement, meditation, and a timer for my writing routine. If you have days, you get stuck its s okay. Talk to a writing friend that day or a writing community. If you have signed up for NaNoWriMo, you can have groups that can talk all year round. Just remember to give yourself 10 minutes. So much can be done in just a little amount of time.
It is so much better than being overwhelmed by everything.
Just write 10 minutes.
Monday's Mug 022
Hello, Writers of the World.
Welcome back to Monday’s Mug! I always love to be drinking from my mugs daily, but Monday is the day I like to catch you up on what has been happening since we last talked. Tonight I am loading up on my pumpkin spice coffee. Yes, I am a lover of fall and almost all things pumpkin. The weather here has been all over the place. It is hot, and it is cold. The only thing consistent is the lack of rain. The family is picking up black walnuts and hoping to get them turned in by this weekend.
While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you I had to take an extended break again. It has always been difficult for my mental health when I take time away from writing. I picked up a couple of websites and social media accounts I am running. These have been an excellent experience for me outside of my comfort zone. These different accounts also took away some of my writing time until I got the hang of posting regularly on the sites. The busy times for these businesses are winding down, so I am also excited about the slow season.
While we sip from our mugs, I would share with you, I started doing The Artist Way. For those who do not know what it is, you know how exciting it can be to complete this book. For those of you who may not know what this book is all, it helps you heal yourself as a creative. There are ways the author gives you to work through creative blocking emotions. It took me a lot of time to finally do The Artist Way. I read many blogs about morning pages because when anyone talked about the Artist Way, they mentioned them. Morning pages seemed to be the only thing people focused on. This book is deep and makes you do some serious reflection. My process, though, hasn’t always been easy, but I‘m excited about writing again. I am doing the morning pages as well. These pages have helped me implement the work personal work I needed to do. Morning pages become like a friend and are a great place to experiment with your creativity as well.
Would you like to refill your mug?
While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you I have been thinking a lot more this week about my novel. I have decided after this partial book has been sitting for almost two years, I am ready to start writing on it again. I am starting work in November. Currently, I am reading through my draft. Soon I will create a reverse outline thanks to the help of a friend’s advice. I have been going over different novel structures and finding a plan I would like to follow. I don’t like the idea of a super structured outline; however, this will help me stay focused.
Just Write Today.
Free Write - Smell the Sand
Photo by Atlas Green on Unsplash
Welcome to Free Write Day!
I will be adding an image every week 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!
Ideas I am pulling from this to get you started are….
What happens when you try to smell sand?
When the camel and I became best friends…
Can you feel that….
Your Weakness is Your Strength
I remember looking down at my spelling test, not seeing 100% but 80%. The tears began to bubble up inside me and come out in front of my classmates. Eye rolls and cry baby chanting began, and in these moments, I was labeled as too emotional. At first, I saw this as a plague because it was linked to the high exceptions I had for myself. In general, I expected to “be the best” and “change the world.” This was not a simple feat for my 7-year-old self.
As I fast forward my life to my middle school and high school years, I still found my emotions challenging to control. When I had disappointed myself or not been the best in a classroom for my role model teachers, the tears came. If I got low grades, I mean anything less than a B because I had a least lowered my standards to a B, I would cry. There was no one there willing to help me with the amount of anxiety I felt. I was always told I was making something out of nothing and calming the hell down.
Throughout those teenage years was when I really began writing without the influence of anyone else. I wrote little stories and poems to get me through my hard days when I knew no one would understand. I knew that if I told anyone what I felt, I would cry and be embarrassed. Friends would tell again to calm down and chill out and still offered no help or solutions. I poured myself on the page because the page didn’t tell me I was too emotional or too sensitive.
During this time was when I trained myself to be the sounding board for others. I would ask people all kinds of questions until I knew them better than anyone else with offering up any of myself. These talks kept me focused on others instead of my terrible days. I never vented or spoke of my terrors. The focus on others buried these events deep. They no longer existed when my energy was going to help someone else.
It wasn’t until after I was out of college that I had seen the benefits of being too sensitive, even just a few years ago. Granted, most of my relationships start with I’m a crier. I cry when I’m happy, sad, tired, and angry mostly. If you can’t handle crying, please move on because it will happen, and you cannot fix me. This is who I really am. Hence, I am still single, but I understand using this gift of emotion to help me as a writer.
When I have gotten critics back about my work, perhaps they ask for more details in my setting. There might be a little something about brushing up my dialogue. However, readers always have felt whatever emotions I invoked in them. Emotions make readers care about the characters and draw them in on their journey throughout the story.
There are so many things that people will call out a weakness in you. There is so much within you that you can use for good and your benefit in life, and stop letting others stop you in your path. Today I may have cried with every show I watched, but it was because I felt connected with these characters at my very being. If I am crying while I read your writing, consider it a compliment.
Monday's Mug 021
Hello, Writers of the World.
I always love to be drinking from my mugs daily, but Monday is the day I like to catch you up on what has been happening since we last talked. The weather last week was still hot, but it is still summer here, and I should expect nothing less. Why do I talk about the weather because I am a farmer? If you didn’t know, it always makes it important? Things are dry here, and we are hoping for a little rain. We want to get more hay put up before fall hits, but we don’t control the weather, so we wait and see type of game.
While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you I am trying to savor this last week before school starts. I have not missed the buzz of the school season. However, I do love to shop the stationery. There is always homework to be done, papers I am trying to remember to send back, and things I am trying to remind my child of. Even though it has been hot this summer, we have been spending time outside, at least an hour, if not longer, hanging out in the swing or the hammock. I feel like it is important to be in the moment when I can.
While we sip from our mugs, I would share with you, and I have been closing myself off this week. My social media project is in full swing, and I am finding it is taking a lot more energy than I had originally thought. I am trying to get into a routine of posting on socials. When there are so many things going on in life, socials are some of the things I let slip.
Would you like to refill your mug? I need more water today.
While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you ideas around mindset have come up again this week. Podcasts and Youtube videos are continuing to cross my path about this. I have been things in particular about the ideas of productivity versus rest, especially this last week. Although I have been taking the time to spend with my child during the week, I don’t allow myself time off on the weekends. Not only are the weekends when I run a lot of errands weekends are typically when I am working on side projects as well. I am doing housework and planning for the following week. I tried an experiment where I did absolutely nothing on Sunday except fed us. It was great and something I felt my body and mind needed, but I was kicking myself Monday because I had so many things to catch up on. Perhaps next time I will no more Saturday.
While we sip from our mugs, I would share with you, I haven’t been anywhere, and it is driving me crazy this week. Of course, I do not travel like I used to, but I miss it so much. I love living in the country and have learned to sustain myself for weeks on end without leaving. I miss people said the introvert shockingly lol. I miss being around the good friends I have in my life and going to the museum. Okay, I said it finally. Now back to business as usual.
Until next time just write.
Free Write - Building in Beirut
Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash
Welcome to Free Write Day!
I will be adding an image every week 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!
Ideas I am pulling from this to get you started are….
who lives here
what is a day in the life of someone living there
if I grew up here how would I feel about it now
Top 3 Things to Revive Creativity
When I am in hustle mode, I overwork myself. I have given too many yes to projects because I have interests in so many things; it is hard to say no. Then it happens. I sit down to write and my creativity back. Exhaustion is likely because my projects keep me up late or take up any downtime I might squeeze in. I get in a funk, and my creative well is empty. I have written down these top things to do when the well is dry, and I need a fast pick me up.
1. Online Art Museums
One of the fastest ways I get inspired is by going to an art museum, but the closest museum I have is an hour away. It is not too far to go, but when I am on a deadline, or I cannot go places, I turn my computer into my very own museum. You can search online art museum exhibits, and it will bring up pages of results. Pick the top 3 to visit or refine your search.
I take a few deep breathes while I look at the images. Then I allow myself to think if I were telling a story about this object, what would it be. It is a great prompt to get the writing going again or just your mind to flow again.
If you feel this will take too much time, then go to YouTube and search for art museums.
The search and exploring should take a max of 30-45 minutes.
2. Netflix Shows
I know that Netflix can be a dangerous place for anyone because you can quickly lose track of time, but sometimes in a creative desert, it is wise to give the mind a break for a while.
In this case, I recommend two ideas, either watch an interesting documentary one that I recently got into was Down to Earth. It got me thinking about different parts of the world and societal changes.
The other idea is a show you know you will get lost in. Allowing my mind to let go is a more difficult task for me. I recently found myself taken away by the Umbrella Academy because I am more a sci-fi, dystopian, and fantasy type person.
Only watch one episode do not exceed 60 minutes.
3. READ
Reading should be a given to any writer, especially, but sometimes it is challenging to get yourself in reading mode. If you are not already in the middle of a current book, then I would suggest short stories or poetry. Either of them can pack a creative punch to the dry wells.
I go after 100-word stories or poetry if I just need a little shot of creativeness. I will read three or four poems or micro-fiction stories. Don’t make it hard. You can search for hundred-word stories, best short stories, or poetry.
If reading is still not doing it for you, I recommend going to YouTube and typing in spoken word poetry.
These are my top three things I do to help get myself back into a creative mode. I recommend setting the alarm or timer for each of these because it can be easy to get lost on the internet.
There are always seasons when the creative wells run dry. It is important to get rest. If you find yourself zapped more often than not, it might mean you need to offload projects or take some time off.
My favorites to get you started.
In the meantime, just write.
Monday's Mug 020
Hello, Writers of the World.
Welcome back to Monday’s Mug! I always love to be drinking from my mugs daily, but Monday is the day I like to catch you up on what has been happening since we last talked. Tonight I am drinking mint tea with honey. I love the refreshing smell of mint. The family spent a lot of time outside this last weekend, getting the farms slicked up again and mowing the yard. I pulled weeds out of a flowerbed, and I’m trying to get it ready for planting. This evening was mild. We spent time outside again tonight playing with our cats and dogs. I has been a good week, and I am still hoping for a little cooler weather. What is your favorite thing to do outside?
While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you I don’t remember a lot about last week. In fact, there were a lot of things I forgot about last week. I forgot errands, events, and what other people were doing that would affect my day. I’m a severe planner and write everything down. There were some minor things I couldn’t recall. I think a lot of it has to do with journaling. I haven’t been journaling as much, and it helps me empty my head daily. Do you enjoy journaling?
While we sip from our mugs, I would share with you, and I am continuing to build relationships with other writers. Not because I am expecting anything from them but because it is nice to have some writers in my life. It has been fun getting to know them better, some for longer than others. I find myself opening up more to the writing community, much like a kitten coming out from under a hiding place, wondering how safe it is. I am finally a few more steps out now that I have started to interact.
Would you like to refill your mug?
While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you I have been thinking a lot more this week. I’ve been listening to different podcasts this week. I have been jumping around a lot. I used to listen to podcasts the way I watch a Netflix series. I had the impulse to listen to the podcasts in order. I quickly gave up on the order mindset and even more recently decided to look at it like reading. I have started dozens of books but never finished because I didn’t want to go any further. I feel this way about listening to podcasts now. I will only keep listening if I am really interested, not because I think I need to finish it.
While we sip from our mugs, I would share with you, and I am trying to celebrate my life more. I have been influenced a lot by the StoryADay podcasts because their theme this month is a triumph. I haven’t been good about celebrating in any way my life aside from a couple of birthdays. This stems from my high expectations concerning my work and how it changes the world. However, slowly I am still trying to celebrate my writing. I am celebrating my downtime too. I say yes to many things and, at times, more than I should be, so I’m celebrating when I complete tasks as well lately. I have to say it has been helping me get out of my COVID funk. I am excited to see what celebrating my life long term will mean for my joy. What are you celebrating?
Until next time just write.
Free Write - Red Woods
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!