Writers Need Other Hobbies, Too!

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Pictured I colored and sent to my Mom, lol 😛

Slept in super late this Sunday as per usual, and made pancakes and bacon for brunch. Got some stuffed pepper soup stewing away in the crock pot, and here I am sitting here at my desk spending some quality time soaking in my light box’s rays.

Sundays are usually lazy days for me lately, and today I am feeling creative. I have not been the most diligent writer as of late, but I must not let writer’s fear get me down.

All my activity in the kitchen this afternoon, reminds me how important it is for us writers to have other hobbies besides writing.

You need to give yourselves a chance to be creative with everything.

Lately, I’ve been coloring, working on a cross-stitching project and baking more in the kitchen. Although, sometimes I use these activities to procrastinate on writing projects that I should be working on instead, I feel a sense of freedom on working on other things.

Expand your horizons – be open to new ways of creating.

Chefs are creative when they are in the kitchen; painters dabble with different textures, different colors; bakers create freshly baked masterpieces of flaky, buttery bread and crusty goodness.

Athletes create different exercise routines, different ways of pushing themselves to the next level, of knowing what they can and can’t get away with when it comes to their bodies.

As writers, we have to get used to thinking about things in a different way.

If you just stick to what you know, or if you stick to one thing, you may become an expert at that one thing but you will limit yourselves when it comes to creating.

Writers know that the more you know the more knowledgeable you’ll become and the more useful your writing will be to others.

Never limit yourself as a writer, or as a creative person. Craft, paint, hike, climb, explore, taste and try new things.

We never know what will spark that next great inspiration. What do you like to do to stay creative?

Happy Writing!

 

A Spooky Writing Prompt: Halloween Poem Challenge!

halloween-1702521_1280I had a thought while I was at work today: a Halloween poem challenge!

Well, basically this is just a writing prompt.

What if we all decided to write a Halloween-themed poem to be posted on Halloween? And I would love it if we could tag each other and share them!

They can be as spooky as you want them or not spooky at all, any style, rhyming or not…as long as they are Halloween-themed in some way.

I came up with a list of words at work today to get us started. These are some of the things I think about when I think of Halloween:

halloweenMaybe this list will get us started! And if you decide that you want to do this on your blog, let me know I’d love to read them!

What do you guys think?

Poem: Inhuman – Some Westworld Inspired Poetry

You’ve given them human words

and human faces

You’ve painted them up

with souls and races

You’ve donned your hats

and laced your boots

You’ve built a world

with thrills and roots

If you can kill a face

That can cry or bleed

Have we fulfilled

your every need?

 

Wrote this one late last night in my phone. Been watching Westworld on Sundays, because of course we need something to fill that Game of Thrones fix until it comes back on!

But it is definitely worth a checking out and it asks some interesting questions. I, of course, feel sympathy for the robots…it feels wrong for something so human to be treated in such a way.

Anyway, it is a good show so far! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Happy Writing!

Poem: Sick

Home alone

and sick in bed

fan is blowing

on my pounding head

 

Michael out with

friends downtown

too wiped out to go

but feeling down

 

Eh…that’s all I got. 😛  Had a good Saturday overall, despite feeling like I got hit by a train. I don’t know…caught some kind of virus. Was out and about this afternoon at the Apple Festival around here, but then had to come home and take like a three-hour nap.

Last Saturday, I actually wanted to party. This one…I’m wiped out but trying to keep myself entertained. Not working so well. Hope you guys are having a better night!

Happy Writing!

 

My Thoughts During a Work-day-Wednesday

cat-1101867_1280We writers think really bizarre thoughts sometimes. Thoughts that jump from one random subject to the next; pondering how life works, what our characters might be thinking, wondering if the hum of the fluorescent lights is actually harmful to your health. (I think it is!)

Maybe it was in Jennifer Lawson’s Furiously Happy that inspired this internal monologue. It might have been. Anyway, here are some of my crazy thoughts from being bored at work today:

A weird article I read: Man Rescued at Sea Was Suspect In Grandfather’s Slaying. Turns out this young man owns a boat named, “The Chicken Pox,” and his mother who was going to inherit millions of dollars from said Grandpa, was mysteriously lost at sea. ***Feel free to use this one for a story idea.

Asked a women on the phone how she was and I get back: “I’m okay, I have a family.”  Is this an expression somewhere I don’t know about? Except, she seemed so sad when she said it to me.

I. Hate. Small. Talk.

Dead silences make me nervous…and sleepy.

Note to Self: Look up weather, it’s going to rain five days straight.

On that thought, seasonal depression might set in early. Remember to research insurances and psychiatrists in the area.

Space cowboys are kind of an awesome thing.

OR, maybe it’s the hum of electronics that you hear in the silence that makes me nervous…no one around but THE MACHINES.

I think I would have added more, but then I got distracted by story-planning and actual work helping customers.

How was your day? Happy Writing!

Do You Use a Novel Writing Software?

home-office-336377_1920Was having a thought the other night…maybe I should start using a novel-writing software to help organize this story I’ve been working on lately.

Googled some last night and got a few ideas, but I have no idea which one to choose. There are a few online options: Litlift and Novlr. But not sure those would work for me.

I downloaded a free program called ywriter5 last night and it doesn’t take .docx files and that won’t work considering I write in Microsoft word.

Just need something to help organize my thoughts.

Any suggestions? Do you guys use one?

A Lesson in Peach-Eating From J. Alfred Prufrock

peach-863349_1920I bought peaches the other day. And every time I think of eating one, lately, I can’t help but think of that poem by T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

If you don’t know the poem I am referring to, I found it here on this website. Most of my English teachers throughout the school years had us read the poem.

Mostly because of its evocative language. You can tell the way the narrator feels by the certain words he uses. The poor guy really does paint a sad picture. Anyway, the peach eating.

In the poem, the narrator questions:

“Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.” (T.S. Eliot)

What is up with this peach eating business?

Well…peaches are messy. If you are going to eat one and have the juice drip down your chin and elbow, you better do it with confidence. Especially if you are wearing white trousers.

But all I can think about is how sad the speaker sounds. He describes himself as something scuttling across the floor in some dark, deep, sea. A bottom feeder?

Poor J. Alfred Prufrock. He doesn’t think very well of himself…

And neither have I lately. That’s probably why I keep thinking of this poem.

But enough of that.

I ate a peach tonight for dessert actually, and it was fabulous.

I sometimes think I am the only one who actually liked reading this poem when they made us dissect it in school.

What do you guys think?

Little Free Library – Which Book Would You Share?

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I am currently obsessed with this little free library in my new neighborhood. The idea is to take a book and share a book. I’ve already taken a book – Water For Elephants, by Sara Gruen and left one of my own in its place – Ember in the Ashes, by Sabaa Tahir.

I think it’s so neat and people definitely use it, because every time I walk by there is something new in there.

Lately, I’ve been plagued with the thought that there are so many great books out there in the world and not enough time in the world to read them! Does anyone else have this anxiety?

I guess what I’ve been thinking about the past few days: Which book would you share? And why?

Happy reading everyone! (And writing!)

Writing Prompt # 147: ‘Sorrow croons for love…”

Looking for a little inspiration tonight. Liking the new location, but still struggling to become comfortable with new surroundings and this is very important for us writer-types. We need to be able to find our writing voice anywhere, and I want to make sure mine is still there alive and kicking.

Got this prompt off creativewritingprompts.com because the book I usually use is packed away somewhere and I haven’t opened all of my office boxes yet…whoops. Not sure if its supposed to be a short story? A poem? Where it goes, nobody knows…

(Oh, and it totally isn’t # 147 on the website, I lost the number when I clicked away from the page. Oh well, it’s somewhere!)


Sorrow croons for love lost

tomorrow is another day

today is an opportunity

The young woman closed the book in her lap with a snap. “What a bunch of hooey,” she muttered.

Love wasn’t an opportunity for her…far from it. She grabbed her black shoulder bag where it was squashed against her legs on the concrete. She stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes. Like it would matter. Her skin crawled and her head ached. Her dirty-colored blond hair fell in tangled waves around her pale face.

She walked on. The streetlights cast the street in a strange green type of glow. The road looked like it was full of molten lava, all cracked and glowing as cars rumbled over the potholes.

The librarian she’d met while she was rummaging through the library’s trash bins didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Here, honey,” she’d said. “I was going to take this home and shelve it…but you have it. You look like you could use a little love in this life.”

She’d taken it with numb fingers. She’d never been one of those people to remember gloves. And the old woman had looked so clean and smelled of lotion. The kind that her mother used to wear before she’d had thrown herself out of the window after Daddy shot himself.

She wasn’t sure if she had even said, ‘thank you.’

The woman had given her a weak smile and then had shuffled off. Like she knew already that Sarah didn’t have the words to say what she should have.

Sarah found a more comfortable place amongst the moss and the concrete, and the trickles of water underneath the red bridge which cut across the only dirty water-way in her not-so-small town.

She opened the crinkly pages, ran her fingers over words that were clean and very old but brand new to her. She pondered that for a brief moment, how words were never the proper age to anyone. They were always becoming something new, meaning something different to anyone. Somewhat…timeless.

A frog jumped and she with it, and the croak he left with a splash gurgled across the empty spaces, the cool night, the sound of concrete rumbling, cars and artificial light.

“Words are timeless,” she read.

age is but a number

crawls across space

and time, and I with it

“Don’t be just another number,” she continued, eyes glued to the page.

be the delicate words

you are reading so much about.

 

 

Saying Goodbye to My Office

So, Mike, the other half, and I will be moving to a new location this coming weekend. While, the change is a much-needed one and nerve-wracking and hopefully the start of new adventures and story inspiration, I can’t help but be sad by it all.

img_20160806_143819072_hdr.jpgOur new location is smaller, but in a better location, but I will no longer have an office. At least…for now.

So, this is me packing up my books in boxes, lovingly stroking their covers, feeling sad like I’m packing away old friends. Thinking in my head: I’ll come back for you…this is only for a short while.

Already missing my collection of Knickknacks, my odes to Star Wars, and squeeze stress cow.

img_20160806_143902592_hdr.jpgAlready missing all of the more memories and story planning and writing I could have done here…but.

But.

It took me a long time to feel like I even had the words to say to even justify me having an office. It’s no joke that this gal here has struggled with a terrible writer’s fear after college.

Back then, I had the words to say in my head and my writers voice would just go and go and sometimes went even when I was supposed to be doing other things.

img_20160806_143830415.jpgAfter graduation, it felt like that voice was buried under a thick sludge of self-conscious. I went to the page with fear in my heart and self-doubt. I started a blog, I wrote, I stopped, I wrote again.

And then somewhere along the years of this, I discovered that I was being ridiculous. Oh, the fear is still there, of course. I feel it now wanting to creep it in, but I won’t let it.

I didn’t need an office to validate me as a writer, although having one is certainly a perk. Being a writer is something much more than that; and even though I’m sad I’ll no longer have this place to call home, I feel like, home is where the heart is.

My writing home can be the same way. It’s like a state of being. It’s where I most belong…I just have to make it so.

Happy Writing Everyone!