Tag: #Blog

  • Oops… No Writing Yesterday

    I didn’t meet my goal yesterday, which was writing. I was able to journal, but I didn’t complete a blog, nor did I work on any fiction.

    But I spent a huge amount of time with my kid. We made chicken stock in the morning, and read books together in the afternoon. We were able to go to the playground, and draw pictures together while drinking hot chocolate. In the evening, we made dinner, and watched “Star Wars.” It was a very fulfilling day.

    Being locked at home al the time, I get in my head that I should be making huge strides, and racking up enormous word counts daily. And maybe I should if I want to have a career.

    But I don’t want to miss this time with my daughter. I mean, I’m teaching her to read. Helping her sound out words and become confident with her ability to learn. It really is a gift to be with her at this time, and to learn how learning works.

  • I Missed a Day of Writing

    So… When I started working on this blog back in July, I decided that I was going to do things differently. in the past, I wrote something when the mood hit me, which meant that this blog was rather infrequent, lots of ebbs and flows of inspiration. The choice I made in July was to write at least one blog a day during the week, with the exception of holidays. I was going to treat it more like a job, a job that I enjoyed, but it was a job that I had to accomplish each day of the week. Large or small, I had to write a blog.

    Yesterday, I missed it.

    There was a window for me to get it accomplished, but I kept letting myself get pulled sideways. We are trying to get Covid tested, and then there was making the Thanksgiving shopping list, and it was a nice day out, so I wanted to make sure the kid got lots of park time, and then I got sucked down a Twitter-hole of checking on Trump’s efforts in Michagain.

    In that same vein of thought, It has been close to a month since I have worked on any of my fiction. At first I chalked it up to the coming election, as that was and still is dominating a great deal of my mental space. But it has been three weeks, and I think it is time to admit that I have fallen off the writing wagon.

    It is a matter of self discipline. I am lacking it, and also staying focused. This isn’t meant as a pity party, but more a matter of recalibration. We are still a long way from normal, or even a normal schedule, but I have to find a way to work within this situation.

  • What Have I Learned This Week?

    This has been a very political week for me, blog wise. I woke up this morning with the intention of not writing about anything political, and then I saw that Trump and the First Lady have tested positive for Covid.

    Proving that 2020 is the year when anything and everything will happen.

    But as it is Friday, maybe some self-reflection is needed.

    What have I learned this week?

    First, school teachers do not get the credit and pay that they deserve. I have said that many times before, but two weeks of home school/video chat has proved that to me, in a very crystal clear manner. I will commit now, and for the rest of my life, to ensure that teachers get the respect, pay and resources they need and deserve to do their jobs.

    Second, if doing the home school thing is my lot for the next eight months, then I have to come to terms that I will only have about an hour a day to write during the school week. And if I want more time, that will have to occur on nights and weekend. Just a fact.

    Third, as we enter October, I also have to come to terms that I will not being able to relax until the year 2020 is over. I thought 2016 was bad (except for the Cubs winning the World Series) and 2018 wasn’t a good year either. But, 2020 just won’t let up. The anxiety I have every day is relentless, and I don’t think I will be able to relax until the election is over, and a vaccine is out. I know there are a million other issues that 2020 has brought us, but I need those two things to happen.

    Here is to trying to have a good weekend…

  • Cowardly Writer

    A friend of mine, who I haven’t spoken to in over a year was awarded a grant so she could continue on her novel without having to look for a job at the end of the world. She is super talented, completely deserves it, and I’m very happy for her. The thing that piqued my interest was that my friend gave thanks to another author, who had informed her of the grant, when they had first meet at a writing symposium.

    As in all things it’s who you know.

    I know I have to have material in the first place; finish the novel, finish the story collection

    But, I think I know people. But I can’t bring myself to ask for advice or help.

    This is cowardly, but I think I’m afraid of my friends hating my work. I know I’m not in a place to share, but I can’t stay this way forever, as in my work will never see the light of day. I will never grow if I don’t open myself up.

    The journey is getting a little uncomfortable now…

  • New Thought: New Blog

    As I have been playing around with this blog, and thinking about earning an income from writing, I keep running into the same advice; write about what you are passionate about.

    Sometimes, easier said than done.

    But I don’t think the advice is inaccurate.

    I like writing, clearly as I am doing it as we speak, but writing about writing is not something I am passionate about. Writing is like breathing; I will be doing it no matter what, and rather involuntarily.

    But what to write about, say, in a blog form, that I can come back to day after day, if not at least once a week, that I could earn an income from?

    This blog serves the purpose of being limited in the number of words per post, and subject matter is open to just about anything. Confessional and Personal? Yes. Informative? Not so much. And following the rule of good marketing, the product has to be either the “best.,” or the definitively “only” source of said product. My personal blog is not the “best” blog, nor do I hope that it would be, but it is definitively the “only” source of me.

    What does that leave me with?

    An idea!

    As far back as March of this year, I was still working in the world of theatre, but being that the world has come to a crashing halt, that no longer is possible. Not only me, but a great number of other people. Also, because of the end of the world, a huge number of theatre artists have moved out of The City. And this is one of the few cities in this country where you can make a living in theatre. It stands to reason that at some point it will be safe to go back into a theatre, right? Theatre will begin again.

    My corner of the theatre world was puppetry and object movement theatre, and it will start up again. I know that to be true because a good number of people who do it, are still in New York, waiting for things to become safe. What if I were to blog about the puppetry and object movement community as it starts up again?

    An idea, that I don’t think anyone else is doing.