Author. Reader. Mother.
Between late night feedings, tantrums, and saying “don’t eat that!” for the umpteenth time, I wondered how authors balanced their careers with parenting. So I googled (“is writing and parenting possible?”) and regretted it.
Not only is this rarely talked about, it’s believed to be impossible in some circles 1 .
But it’s absolutely possible 2 !
Continue reading “A Letter to Writers who are Parents: Writing and Parenting is Possible (my guest post on NaNoWriMo)”
A shaded balcony Chlorine wafting from the pool like a Siren's song Children's laughter Scrape of colorful chalk, tattooing concrete Flowers in bloom Red petals dancing in summer's light Cyclist meandering by Wheels cracking and spokes creaking Wind in grass Dried morning trimmings blanketing the walkway Peaceful observer
Written for d’Verse ~ Poet’s Pub poetry challenge: MTB/Poetry Form: The Eleventh Power & More.
Funny story: I accidentally locked myself on my balcony while I was drafting this.
I thought of the future, and spoke of the past.
~Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Three Stories
My son, forgive me I tried to show my angels But taught my demons
Written for dVerse ~ Poet’s Pub‘s 11th year celebration prompt: Poetics ~ Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
I used to complain about not having enough time to complete personal goals or work on creative projects. Oddly enough, my new abundance of time isn’t motivation enough to do these things. Good thing there’s several writing and reading events happening this month. Events that I’m participating in! (And, who knows, maybe these events will keep you busy too?)
The OWLs is a Harry Potter themed reading challenge hosted and created by G from Book Roast. Participants complete courses (reading challenges) for a particular career to qualify for their NEWTs in August. If you complete both challenges, you get a cool diploma! Some careers you can “study” for are Alchemist, Astronomer, Mind Medic, Broom Maker, and others.
This is my first year taking part in the event, and I’m studying to be a Writer or Journalist (shocker, right?). I’m reading A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab for my “History of Magic: Witch Hunt” course. I’ll share my tbr in a later post!
Camp NaNo is a lax version of NaNoWriMo where you can choose whatever writing goal you wish to complete during the month. Mine is to work on Retaliate. It’s in the “drowning in a pit of despair” (aka editing) stage of the writing process and desperately needs some love.
NaPoWriMo is like NaNoWriMo, but it’s poetry centered and ISN’T run by the nonprofit. Participants can write whatever poetry they like and the host provides prompts for those who often find themselves stuck (like me). I’ve completed one prompt so far, but the goal is to do as many as I can and share them here on the blog.
Perhaps taking on all three of these events at once is too much for some, but I want–no I need–to fill my April in creativity due to stagnation. Maybe you feel the same way and want to join me in one (or all) the above events? After all, its not too late.
Cover photo by Daria Shevtsova from Pexels
…to write a work of genius is almost always a feat of prodigious difficulty. Everything is against the likelihood that it will come from the writer’s mind whole and entire. Generally material circumstances are against it. Dogs will bark; people will interrupt; money must be made; health will break down. Further, accentuating all these difficulties and making them harder to bear is the world’s notorious indifference.
Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
Writing is hard and it gets worse when Life grabs you by the throat and throws you around like some wild animal. This happened to me during my first two weeks at my day job. It was difficult to juggle my new schedule, college, and writing. I did something horrible and I stopped working on my writing projects because I believed I didn’t have the time to.
But there’s always time! All I had to do was change a few things in my routine.
I needed to be honest with myself. How bad did I want to write? Pretty freaking bad. What was I willing to give up? Hmmm…two hours of sleep?
Yep. I did something I NEVER thought I would do. I started waking up an hour or so before I needed to get to work and used the extra time to torture my characters. I felt pretty good about myself afterward. I’m not too sure what that says about my mental health, however.
Whenever a good idea pops into my head, my inner self says, “You don’t need to write this down. You’ll remember it.” Then, four hours later, the only thing I can remember was how awesome the idea was. Content be damned.
This is why I started using OneNote to jot down ideas or freewrite. I don’t have the luxury to write during my working hours, so I usually do this during my breaks.
Like any other introverted weirdo, I feel mentally exhausted when I come home from work. All I want to do is kick back on the couch and rest my eyes for two seconds…which somehow turns into a three-hour power nap.
My art is important, so I do my best to push through the exhaustion and write anyways.
…Or that’s what I would do if I was a responsible writer. Instead, I work on my projects after I take my power naps. Don’t judge me!
I know. Days off are sacred! It’s a time to relax, party, binge watch a new Netflix series and etc.. However, it’s a waste to squander a free day. So before I start a six-hour gaming session, I invest some time into my projects because they’re important to me.
Now, these are the strategies I use to work some writing time into my life, but it may not work for you. I suggest analyzing your day and habits. What can you give up / limit? Where can you squeeze some writing time?
Whatever you do, the most important thing to remember is that there’s always time.
Dear Fear,
You’ve always been there for me. Always made sure I was safe. Always kept me alive. Always looked out for me.
…Until the day I dreamt.
I’m done letting you control me.
Remember that day? When I had the audacity to believe I could be more. When I thought I could spend my days bathing in my creativity. When I was stupid enough–your words, not mine–to believe I could actually become a self-sufficient writer.
Remember?
You ought to. You poisoned that dream with paranoia, paralyzed me from achieving it and, worst of all, brought me down when I showed the slightest inclination to defying you.
Guess what? I’m done letting you control me.
I’m not completely abandoning you (you’re necessary to some degree), but I’m limiting your influence on my dream. You will try and stop me, but this time…you’re not winning.
Sincerely,
A Dreamer
Picture: Person Sitting On Couch via Pixabay
Credits
For this year’s Camp NaNo, I decided to challenge myself to be creative. My goal is to write a piece of flashfiction (maybe post some and submit others), work on my neglected WIP(s), and brush letter for a 1hr and 30mins every day.
Now I made up this goal on a coffee high, so I wasn’t in my right mind. A whole month? Everyday? Do I have the motivation for that?
Then I started thinking: July is just another month on the calendar. I’m going to face the same troubles as I would any other month: writer’s block, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and etc.
So I decided to write this post as a preemptive measure whenever I’m not feeling motivated to write. Maybe my words of wisdom will also help you during your NaNo-ing adventures and beyond.
Whenever you’re not feeling motivated, remember to…
Honestly, this is going to be your default all through your writing life. Just shut up, sit down, and start working.
A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper
E.B. White
Grit, like most of the tips in this post, will only take you so far. You have to keep in mind why you decided to start writing in the first place.
Before you go to bed, sit down and plan out what you want to do the following day. Don’t set yourself up for failure with unrealistic goals (ex. “Outline the whole novel in a day” isn’t realistic).
SOMETHING will always get in the way of writing time. The trick is knowing how to be flexible. Plan for interruptions by creating make-up days or lightly scheduling your week.
It’s ten times easier to write when the majority of the household is asleep. No one will interrupt you, meaning you can finish your work early and go about your day guilt free.
I know, sometimes the pillow is more comfortable than sitting in an office chair. Just crawl out of bed when you can and find a quiet place somewhere. There’s always a quiet place.
Pull yourself away from things that’ll distract. If you have to hide your devices in the sock drawer or unplug the internet modem just to stay off social media, do it!
It happens. Just dust yourself off, get something done before bed (no matter how small), and plan to do better tomorrow.
Good luck wrimoes!
I have a nasty habit of setting a repeat goal only to not complete it. During the summer, I decided to break that habit by taking on an accountability challenge.
And it was an experience!
The objective was to make a list of goals for the summer quarter (June-August) and then complete half of them by September 1, 2016. Then, to keep myself motivated throughout the quarter, I have to publicly announce my successes and failures to you guys.
That’s what today’s post is about. So, lets see how I did.
I set a total of ten goals, so I need to complete FIVE for the summer to be successful. They were…
Oh I edited Ruin alright. Edited it, rewrote it, and edited it again, but am I done? No.
I still have a few continuity and structure errors that I’m working on, so I’m counting this one as a loss.
Have I laid the sequel out scene-by-scene? No, but I do have a rough idea of the major events that’ll take place in the sequel. I just need to fill in the blanks.
I didn’t get a chance to work on this project at all since I was waaay to busy with Ruin.
A win, finally! I probably read more than I wrote (oops!), but that’s okay. I spent my entire spring semester reading critical texts and classics, so some modern fiction was a nice change of pace.
You can check out the reviews for two of the four books I read via these links: Joe Gollem and the Drowning City and Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t.
Yay, another win! I wrote a total of three shorts (1000+ words) and two flashes (100+ words). I’ve never completed a short story before, so this was an enlightening experience.
Lesson: writing a short story is just as difficult as writing a full length novel. Go figure!
I wrote a piece on criticism that Luther M. Siler from Inifintefreetime was gracious enough to post on his blog. You can check it out here.
Nope. I fell apart at the beginning of August. 🙁
I set out to be moderately active and I did. Woot!
I can start recording episodes at this very moment! I have the editing software, microphone, and a recording strategy all set. Alas, I’m going to set my podcasting ambitions aside for this quarter.
Yay, 5 out of 10! Not bad for my first time.
The end of the year is almost here, and I don’t want my biggest 2016 goals to spill into 2017. With that said, my goals are…
I love being an English major. I get to read tons of critical texts and write about them (yay!), but I also like modern fiction. Managing two books this semester should be enough to keep me from wanting to bang my head against a table.
That and I really wanted to beat my Goodreads challenge this year!
The idea is to post once a week (preferably on a Wednesday), but I doubt I’ll have a stellar record this quarter especially during midterms and finals. Writing a total of 12 posts should be enough to keep my blog alive while I stress over my GPA.
I got an idea and I can’t wait to do it! Be on the look out.
This is it. This quarter is when I finally finish editing Ruin—no excuses!
I can do it, I can do it, I can do it…
Retaliation is a sci-fi novel that I’ve been working on since 2012 (yes, that long! One of my biggest flaws as a writer is that I’m constantly rewriting my work). I’m hoping that I can do this during October so that I can…
I love NaNoWriMo! It’s like a holiday for writers.
I didn’t compete last year so I’m going to do it this time around with Retaliation.
I know, I know. I have a short list of goals this time around, but that’s only because I have to make room for my studies. Hopefully I can complete all six, but the goal is to finish three by December 1st.
Wish me luck. 🙂
I was scrolling through my WordPress reader one typical morning and found this blogging tag on Sophie Dishman’s The Journey Begins. I thought, “This would be an interesting post to do” but never did it because of…you know, procrastination.
Since I’m bogged down with my writing projects (hence why there wasn’t a post last week…oops), I figured writing a fun post wouldn’t hurt.
The way this tag works is that I have to answer the twelve questions below and then “tag” another blogger.
Alright, so here’s the questions:
On my laptop (sometimes on my kindle). I don’t have a place dedicated to blogging—or writing for that matter. Simply put, I write wherever I’m comfortable which may be at my computer desk, living room couch (or floor), garage, and etc.
That’s a question that not even I know the answer to.
Sometimes I get ideas from other writers and writing communities that I follow via social networking sites (that’s how I got the idea for the post you’re reading and this Bookshelf Tag!).
If I see something online that I think is interesting, than I’ll dedicate a post to it (for example: Is YA Fiction Becoming Repetitive? or Basing Your Reading Habits off of Reviews is so…Grade School!).
Honestly, I think the biggest inspiration is my life. If I’m having troubles with something or have something to share, then I’ll write a blog post about it (for example: Backhanding Procrastination When Camp NaNo isn’t Motivational Enough and Fight the Monday Blahs!).
I don’t get blogging ideas as easily as I do fictional ones unfortunately :(.
It depends on how busy I am. Sometimes it can take me an hour to a week.
I use to! I stopped recently in favor of focusing on my fiction (which is why things have been a bit haphazard lately).
I use to plan out five posts for the month and outline what I wanted to write. Then, I’d spend each week getting one post ready (writing, editing, and formatting) for a set due date.
If I ever decided to take my own pictures, I’d probably use my kindle, laptop, or Nintendo DS camera. Nothing fancy.
Inkscape or Canva.
I put my ideas in a dedicated folder on Scrivener or OneNote. Sometimes I jot them down on whatever I can find. It’s not a pretty process and I can loose most of my ideas if I’m not careful.
I use royalty free stock photos for my blog.
Two types: motivational posts because I like to help people and personal updates because they don’t take a lot of research or preparation (you just write!).
My family knows. They may browse around every so often. Oh, and you guys!
Messy. Very very very very messy. I’m not organized and I don’t plan them.
But that’s the beauty of blogging! You get the real, imperfect, me.
I read my posts over multiple times before I publish them to make sure there’s no typos or silly errors. Problem is, I usually find some seconds after publishing a post! It’s so irritating.
Sometimes I edit them, but most of the time I get into the “screw it” mood.
And that’s my messy blogging life!
I don’t want to impose anything on anyone, so if you feel like doing this tag—go ahead. Don’t forget to link your post back to this one so I can check it out.
Small announcement: Inky Tavern is now on Bloglovin! Yay 🙂
It’s Saturday?! When the heck did that happen? I thought for sure today was Thursday until Cortana kindly corrected me. Whoops! Anyway, if we were having coffee, I’d tell you that…
Okay, maybe not “a good chunk of the week” since I lost track of time. I probably spent three or four (?) days filling in plot holes.
Ruin and I have an unhealthy love-hate relationship. One moment I’m smitten, thrity minutes later I’m pulling my hair out thinking, “this is the worst thing I’ve EVER written!” That’s why I decided to let it rest for a few days which somehow turned into two weeks.
A family member got wind of this and pointed out that I was slacking (it’s kinda hard to get upset over a piece of criticism that’s true). I went back to work and made a ton of progress because of them.
I guess you can say I needed rest, but I think I needed the encouragement more.
I’m not going to lie to you and say that I wasn’t a tad bit disappointed. At the same time, I felt an odd sense of triumph.
Writers, like you and I, work in a very subjective field and subjectivity isn’t all that bad. It means that at least one person is going to like what we do! We just have to find them. This is why I wasn’t too disappointed.
I’m thinking of editing (once I get the critique) and submitting my piece somewhere else. OR I’ll turn it into a short story and self publish it on Amazon.
Haven’t decided yet, but I’m gitty over the possibilities!
I’m excited(!) and freaked out at the same time.
I mean…do I have to dress up for this? I hate dressing up.
The Fall semester is starting back earlier than I thought (it’s in August). College and writing have always vied for my time and it’s an intense competition. I’ll attempt to blog once a week but don’t expect a stellar track record (especially during midterms and finals).
I don’t want Inky Tavern to be inactive for too long and I want to give back to those who have given to me (thanks for following and commenting 😇). With that said, I’m offering guest posting opportunities. You can talk about anything that enriches someone’s life so long as it follows these guidelines.
You can write your post in a blogging fashion (like you see here) or as a piece of creative non-fiction. Let me know if you’re interested or have questions!
That’s my life right now, how’s yours?
Also, if you want to participate in the “If we were having coffee…” community you can do so by simply writing one and tagging it #weekendcoffeeshare on twitter. Go to Part-Time Monster’s blog for more information.
