No Excuses. Just Write.

Come On An Expedition With Me

2011-08-20T17:29:00.000+01:00

When you read this I'll be in Scotland for a well deserved 10 day break from the day job and writing. I am thoroughly looking forward to the Edinburgh Tattoo, driving through the countryside and exploring ruins and lochs. There will be photos on my return!

But that is not the expedition I'm talking about. I'm talking about the Inspiration Expedition. I'm talking about the reincarnation of my blog to something that will give me a bigger playground to have fun in.

The launch will be 1 September with some introductory posts and my first ever competition with a real live book to give away. You'll be able to find it right here at www.kerrynangell.com and No Excuses. Just Write. will live through the transition at writingangel.blogspot.com.

See you on the Inspiration Expedition!

100 x 100 - Progress Post #7

2011-08-19T21:17:00.004+01:00

Life came along to hijack this challenge for me but I’m surprisingly okay about that. It happens, we write through it as we can, we move past it and all the while we write. - Me, Day 54 at the end of the 7,500 in 5 marathon.

I managed a little over 3,500 words this week and though it fell way short of the marathon goal I'm still really pleased with it. Watch out Day 75. I'm clearing my calendar and coming after 7,500 words!

I also finished my second short story for The End Is Nigh challenge which I'm thrilled about. I really didn't know if I'd get both of them finished before going on holiday but I have!

Days Writing: 55

Total Words To Date: 42,891

Average Words Per Day: 780 (697)

High Word Count: 2,155 words on 6th August

Days Missed: 2 (9)

Days Remaining: 45

Projected Total: 77,984 (69,674)

100 x 100 - Day 50

2011-08-14T21:37:00.000+01:00

I have had a completely inspired week! I continued to work on my Water & The Bad Boy short story I started in April and after not knowing how it was going to end I found a great ending that didn't compromise the characters. So now I've completed my first thing for The End Is Nigh challenge. I was so enthused by that story, the quality of my writing on it and the buzz from finishing that on my Friday off I began work on my second short story. I was just as pleased with the quality of writing on Water & Science Fiction and have already added another 2000 words.

We're halfway through the 100 x 100 challenge and I've already had a twinge of sadness thinking about what will happen after it's over. To mark the halfway point we're embarking on another 5000 in 5 marathon. Except that Merrilee and I have been fairly regularly writing more than 1000 words a day so it was suggested we try for 7,500 in 5. Hell, I'm game. In fact it has now spawned the following marathons to punch up our word count during 100 x100.

Day 50-54 = 7,500 in 5
Day 75-79 = 7,500 in 5
Day 96-100 = 10,000 in 5

Now what a way that would be to finish out the challenge. I can't wait!

Days Writing: 50

Total Words To Date: 40,299

Average Words Per Day: 822 (733)

High Word Count: 2,155 words on 6th August

Days Missed: 2 (8)*

Days Remaining: 50

Projected Total: 82,243 (73,284)

*The number in brackets is the days I've missed including my Friday's off. Though I wrote 1,008 words this Friday because of my fabulously inspired week. I'm also going to Scotland for 10 days from next weekend and it will be a holiday from writing as well.

100 x 100 - Progress Post #5

2011-08-07T12:55:00.005+01:00

For most of this week I set discipline aside, tried to write surrounded by distractions and was plagued by a migraine. On Friday I found a second wind as I read more of Finding Your Own North Star and on Saturday I did something I had never done before. I worked on the first draft of two different stories. I wrote 1000 plus words on one of my short stories for The End Is Nigh challenge and then I wrote 1000 plus words on my novel. I have a strong enough sense of each story and their characters that the differences were clear and I was able to switch between each with ease. Ending with a strong weekend I wrapped up the week having written 5,115 words.

Days Writing: 43

Total Words To Date: 33,250

Average Words Per Day: 773 (663)

High Word Count: 2,155 words on 6th August

Days Missed: 2

Days Remaining: 57

Projected Total: 77,362 (66,305)

100 x 100 - Progress Post #4

2011-07-31T16:31:00.005+01:00

This week of 100 words for 100 days has been full of achievements. The 5000 words in 5 days marathon ended with all four participants crossing the finish line. It was great to reach 5000 words in 5 days myself but it just as fun cheering Merrilee, Jill and Matt on and to see them reach 5000 words as well.

I have now written more than 75,000 words this year. I think I actually write 75,000 last week but no matter! Checking my total word count for the year now find me at 79,264. The next Merit Badger badge is for 100K and I can absolutely see myself reaching that before 100x100 is complete.

July has come in as my second best writing month so far this year. June, of course, with HalfNoC saw my highest word count in one month of 26,000 words. July has come into second place with a fabulous 20,078 words! I had set a goal of 20K for the month but didn't think much about it until Thursday when I had less than 2K to write to meet that goal. It just goes to show how the words can sneak up on you when you apply a little consistency.

Days Writing: 36

Total Words To Date: 28,132

Average Words Per Day: 781 (648)

High Word Count: 1,904 on June 28th

Days Missed: 2

Days Remaining: 64

Projected Total: 78,144 (64,768)

Sneak Peak - The Inspiration Expedition

2011-07-27T16:35:00.000+01:00

I've been playing at a new home for a good while now. It's been an amazing amount of fun to shape both the look and content of what will become my new blogging home. I'm working out the logistics at the moment but thought I would give you a sneak peak of what to expect.

100 x 100 - Progress Post #3

2011-07-24T15:30:00.003+01:00

We're a quarter of the way into the 100 words for 100 days challenge and it's starting to feel a little like entering the second week of NaNoWriMo. It's been all shiny and new and fantastic and now the reality of keeping on writing steadily like this for another 71 days is hitting home. This challenge, by the pure length of it, is more like a lifestyle. You can't put your life on hold for a third of the year like you can for a month. With all challenges it's not just a word count or finished story you end up with but writing lessons and life lessons. I can already feeling myself learning something about writing and it's place in my life but the lesson isn't quite over yet. I'll let you know when I know.

To keep our momentum going we've added a micro-challenge: 5000 words in 5 days. It began on Saturday and I think it will be the perfect thing to keep me going at 1000 words each day into the week which is when I usually drop down to around 500.

Days Writing: 29

Total Words To Date: 22,628

Average Words Per Day: 780 (607)

High Word Count: 1,904 on June 28th

Days Missed: 2

Days Remaining: 71

Projected Total: 78,028 (60,725)

Those of you following along will realise that my projected total has taken a gigantic leap forward. Those mathematically minded will have realised the problem with my projected total from the start. Needless to say my talent lies with words and not numbers.

100 x 100 - Progress Post #2

2011-07-17T12:09:00.003+01:00

It's been a very productive week for me over at 100 words for 100 days. With my growing habit of 15 minutes writing sessions guided by Focus Booster I've written between 500-1200 words every day. Here's how the numbers stack up half way through July.

Days Writing: 22

Total Words To Date: 17,984

Average Words Per Day: 817 (584)

High Word Count: 1,904 on June 28th

Days Missed: 1

Days Remaining: 78

Projected Total: 63,761 (45,561)

When putting these stats together it became more obvious that the last 5 days of HalfNoC were skewing my projected totals. I want the projected total to be a tantalising talisman of what I can accomplish if I keep doing exactly what I'm doing for the 100 days. So the figures in brackets for Average Words Per Day and Projected Total exclude my HalfNoC words.

100 x 100 - Progress Post #1

2011-07-10T17:04:00.004+01:00

For the past two weeks I've been participating in Merrilee's 100 words for 100 days challenge. It's been a great way to keep writing through the post-challenge lull. Merrilee posted a progress update today so I thought I'd follow her lead with one of my own.

Start Date: 26 June

Days Writing: 15

Total Words To Date: 12,895

Average Words Per Day: 860

Highest Word Count: 1,904

Days Missed: 1 (excluding Friday's as my writing day off)

Days Remaining: 85

Finish Date: 4 October

Projected Total: 41,150 (based on July figures to date, excluding HalfNoC word count)

I'm not going to get too attached to my projected total because I'll be working on short stories through August as well as my novel. I am still trying to write between 500-1000 words each day and I think I'll get more days at that rate than I have so far in July. I might just surprise myself.

More interesting was figuring out the date of Day 100. Now I just need to come up with something suitably celebratory for October 5th!

HalfNoC Winner!

2011-07-04T18:42:00.003+01:00

Day 25: 1,910 words. They were hard won today but totally worth it. T-5 days!

Day 26: 1,333 words today. Writing is a bit stuttered. I need to get a better idea of what happens next.

Day 27: 1,679 words today. Total for the month 20,982. I'm closing in on the HalfNoC finish line!

Day 28: 1904 words tonight. 2114 more words and I'll be a HalfNoC winner. Bring it on! :D

Day 29: 1486 words tonight and it's getting hot between my MC and her love interest. 628 words tomorrow and I'll be a HalfNoC winner!

Day 30: 1,652 words tonight to run past the HalfNoC finish line to make 26,024 words for the month. *bows*

This is the first challenge since SoCNoC 2008 that I have won. It's been a long journey to reach this point and I am absolutely thrilled with how I've grown in that time and recovered from the biggest setback of my writing career. It was a two week rush at the end but I proved to myself that I can focus, I can make the time to write and I can let the words flow.

Now it's a matter of keeping some of that momentum. There is the inevitable post-challenge lull and I was pleased that July 1st was a Friday, my honourary day off from writing. I'm also participating in the 100 words for 100 days challenge which is a great way to keep my focus on writing. I'm continuing on with my novel this month and looking forward to The End Is Nigh challenge in August.

HalfNoC Progress

2011-06-25T11:38:00.003+01:00

I can sum up my HalfNoC progress as a drought followed by a storm. Mid-month I was out with a cold for days and for five days straight my word count didn't move. When I finally resurfaced from a pile of tissues and Vampire Diaries marathon I realised I could still win HalfNoC if I continued for the rest of the month at SoCNoC pace. That meant 1500-2000 words a day would get me a shiny winners badge.

Day 19: 2,163 words... Success!

Day 20: 1,873 words... after a storm my MC gets to uncover the ruins of a colonial ship with her love interest. Fun!

Day 21: 1,516 words... only managed to have my characters walk to, around and fall into the ship.

Day 22: 1,604 words... a panic attack, a kiss and a century old safe containing jewellery and some very interesting deeds.

Day 23: 1,977 words... my characters got out of the ship. Now they have news of a funeral where my MC will be haunted by her past.

Day 24: A day off from writing to watch Glastonbury on TV and picnic inside while it's raining out.

Current Total: 16,060 words
Required Daily Word Count: 1,788

If you follow me on twitter this progress report won't come as a surprise. I'm thrilled at my progress and haven't consistently hit this kind of word count all year. In fact I've written more words this month than any other month this year. And after my writing session today I'll be able to proudly claim this badge from Merit Badger for the year.

A Book Can Be An Adventure

2011-06-13T15:10:00.000+01:00

"A book can be an adventure. It can show us the world from a perspective we never could have imagined. It can be a mirror, a microscope, or a telescope, reflecting the world, enlarging it, or carrying us away to far-off places." - Melissa Donovan, Journal Prompts for Bookworms.

And that is why I write.

HalfNoC Hopes

2011-06-11T18:34:00.003+01:00

It's June! I'm late to the party again but I've been writing and it's felt great. I've signed up to write 25,000 words to win the HalfNoC challenge of 2011. HalfNoC is the sister challenge to SoCNoC, Southern Cross Novel Challenge, over at Kiwi Writers this month. There are a bunch of great writers chatting and writing fervently over at Kiwi Writers. We've got new content on the blog including interviews and featured blogs. I'd love to get some word wars happening in the chatroom.

My progress to date has been all or nothing and looks something like this:

Day 1 - 670
Day 6 - 909
Day 7 - 532
Day 9 - 1484

My total word count this month is 3595 and to make 25,000 words by the end of the month I need 1127 words every day. It's totally do-able. I've done big days before and I can do it again.

I made great use of Focus Booster and Scrivener's full screen function to get my 1484 words in three 15 minute sessions. This is a winning combination and if I can just get over my fear of failure (maybe even a fear of success) and self sabotaging it'll be a piece of cake.

Dancing With Life

2011-05-31T21:13:00.007+01:00

Hello blogosphere! Nice to see you're still here. I am also still here. I have been dancing with life for the past 3 weeks. My husband came home after 5 weeks away, we had visitors staying with us for a week, I finished up one day job and began another, we drove around the Lakes District and Yorkshire for one weekend and got back yesterday from a weekend in Prague.

I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed? - Chastity, 10 Thing I Hate About You.

It has been a crazy, busy time but a really fun one. Through the whole time I had these moments when I felt like if it was me from a year ago I would have been completely overwhelmed by it all. Yet at that point I would get this strange perspective on things and had the strength to get what had to be done, done. There was no guilt for what I wasn't doing, there was barely a thought for it, there wasn't time to dwell on what I wasn't doing if I was to experience what I was doing.

Because I realize this is a temporary passing state, I’m giving myself permission to not have all my shit together. - Molly Mahar, Stratejoy.

I knew while I was in that frenzied dance with life that it was a temporary situation. I could see from my happiness journal, tracking my weekly goals and turning to morning pages that this is not the usual state of my life now. I could see that it was a temporary phase of fun, crazy adventure that I could choose to enjoy and experience the most from. I'm now out the other side, having taken a whole day to decompress. I'm still getting settled into a week day routine with the new job but week by week I'll be able to add the gym, and writing, and socialising into the mix.

The thing that surprised me the most about the past 3 weeks is that I haven't felt disconnected from my writing. I haven't neglected my muse or that part of myself, though I haven't made the usual tangible progress. I've kept talking (via email) and thinking about my writing. I've kept interacting with other writers. I've critiqued a couple short stories. I've brainstormed an idea for a challenge prompt and wrote a couple hundred words on it. All of that has kept me at a level where I can more easier regain the moment I had. I'm not daunted by the transition back to balanced. I'm excited to get writing!

30,000 and Counting

2011-05-11T17:01:00.000+01:00

This is the first year that I've tracked how many words of fiction I'm writing. Not just on my current WIP but on any story. I'm thrilled to say that I've written 30,652 words so far this year.

All the way to 30,652 and on my way to the next Merit Badger badge of 50,000 words. Congratulations to me.

#reverb11 - Spring Reveals

2011-05-09T15:33:00.000+01:00

If you participated in Reverb 10 during December of last year, are any of the things you wanted to manifest in 2011 revealing themselves? - May Prompt, #reverb11

Light.
I am feeling lighter. The weight of guilt and expectation bounces off my shoulders with barely a mark. I'm opening up to see the brightly lit possibilities of each day, no matter what yesterday held. I'm feeling that spark for ideas and writing, especially after my short story month in April.

Focus.
I'm still struggling with focus but I'm hoping some recent discoveries will move me forward on my quest. DIY MFA has some great tricks for creating a writing environment and routine. I recently discovered that when I'm lying on the floor or on the bed I invoke a more carefree, child-like perspective to what I'm doing, making it more fun and throwing off the adult expectations and worries. I've used timers successfully in the past and downloaded focus booster to try out. I've also got a better feel for my weekly routine and what commitment I can realistically make to focused writing.

Community.
I wanted to reconnect with the communities I'm already a part of in a maintainable way. I'm definitely working well at this but it's still a work in progress. I'm focusing each month on a different community to build a realistic amount of interaction for me. This month you'll see more of me on Twitter.

Guilt & Hesitation.
I'm successfully beating guilt into submission but my fight against hesitation is not going as well. I'm better at saying yes to the big decisions, like signing up for challenges, but the day to day decisions, like sitting down to write, are still getting the better of me. Must try harder!

Fun!
I realised last year that doing something just because it's fun and seeing the fun in things was the key to being happier. Doing fun stuff and making stuff fun is how my year has been so great so far.

Novel.
I started a novel as part of the New Year Novella and wrote through February and March to 23,000 words and the first major turning point. I'm picking it up again this month to get ready for a big word count push in June with HalfNoC. Most of all I want to keep my relationship with it light and fun.

Artist Dates.
I haven't gone on any dedicated Artist Dates but I have been adding 'creatively fulfilling experiences' into my life each week. At the moment these come in the form of ice skating lessons. Fun!

Happiness.
I've been keeping my happiness journal all year and I can say that I am absolutely more consciously happy. Give me more of the same. Give me more of me.

Flashes of Inspiration

2011-05-07T12:56:00.004+01:00

Something I've been cultivating this year is a sense of inspiration and wonder. I've found some great blogs that make me sit back and love the world, love myself and feel inspired on my writing journey. Here are some flashes of inspiration I've discovered this week.

by Emma Bradshaw, Climbing Trees and Dirty Knees.

I feel beautiful when I understand my purpose,
my desire to create, to serve, to do something
for me, for you, for all of humanity, for now, forever,
empowered by the light that lies within us all.

- excerpt from I Feel Beautiful by Tess, c/o The Bold Life.

Rise Up
Start Fresh
See The Bright
Opportunity
In Each
New Day

- text from Bright Opportunity image by Inspired Type. *

And if you haven't already please place your pre-order for the Tales for Canterbury anthology. All profits are going to the NZ Red Cross Earthquake Appeal.

* This is now my desktop background so please follow the link to be truly inspired.

Every Day Is A New Day

2011-05-03T20:56:00.003+01:00

by Pink Sherbet Photography

Every day is a new day. I may not have written anything yesterday but I can write something today. We don't need the start of a month or a year or a season or a challenge for us to decide to take today or tomorrow as a fresh day for writing, leaving behind the guilt and shackles of what we supposedly 'failed' to do yesterday.

Welcome to the 3rd of May. I wrote 806 words today on a short story about a cancer patient, a nurse's child, an evil doctor, a River Queen, water sprites and a little magic.

Waterski Across The Surface Of A Poem

2011-04-26T14:58:00.000+01:00

Over at DIY MFA we had A Day for Poetry which got me thinking about my love-hate relationship with poetry. I only ever read the odd poem, probably only reading a handful each year. Yet when I stumble across a poem where the words dance and phrases sing I absolutely fall in love.

Later she will walk
the dust, a scarlet girl
with her whole stripped skin
at her heel, stuck like an old
shoe sole or mermaid's tail

- excerpt from 6 August, 1945 by Alison Fell

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

- excerpt from Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins

When the sun
Shines through the leaves of the apple-tree,
When the sun
Makes shadows of the leaves of the apple-tree,
Then I pass
On the grass
From one leaf to another,
From one leaf to its brother,
Tip-toe, tip-toe!
Here I go!

- Twinkletoes by A. A. Milne

It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

- excerpt from Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Poetry will speak to each of us differently and that's part of the magic. It is a turn of phrase, a clash of images, a progression or repetition that sparks something inside us. I find images incredibly inspiring for story ideas and now that I've spent just a little more time reading some inspiring poems I realise they do the same. There are many ways that poems can be interpreted, joined with other ideas to form something new. Poetry can open our mind, our muse and our eyes to new thoughts and send us running and rolling down hill to something exciting.

I'd love to hear what poems you love and if you'd like to find more try Famous Poets & Poems and Best New Zealand Poems.

#reverb11 - Blossoming

2011-04-24T15:59:00.000+01:00

What's Blossoming? - #reverb11, April

I've pondered this prompt for a long time and couldn't come up with anything specific. My brain was clear and calm. That's when I realised what's blossoming is me. I am inspired by life. I am nurturing myself. I'm more relaxed and calm than I've been in a long time. I am confident. I am indulging my passions. I'm falling back in love with colour and bringing it into my life. Best of all I am writing and writing and writing. Maybe not every day but absolutely every week and that's good enough for me. Becoming the best me I can be.

The Scenic Route

2011-04-22T15:26:00.004+01:00

What have you learned by taking the scenic route? - Tough Question Tuesday, When I Grow Up.

Over the past couple years I've grown a strong belief that it's all about the journey and very rarely about the destination. We live on the journey. Our day to day life is more affected by the journey. The destination is momentary and fleeting. It's the journey of writing, scene by scene, the first draft of a novel and how we approach this journey that matters more to our productivity, creativity and happiness than having a completed first draft. There is always more to do and more to achieve. There is time for celebration and we often don't take enough time to celebrate reaching our destination before we are off on the next journey.

When we focus on the journey in our life that's when we choose the scenic route. When we choose to take our time, to appreciate where we are in the process and go after having as much fun and generating as much happiness as we can. That's when we can fully experience the scenic route. It's about noticing the world around us, seeing colours brighter, hearing sounds louder and tasting food stronger. The scenic route feeds our creativity, provides inspiration, encouragement and motivation. The scenic route and living the journey can provide a richer experience and appreciation of the destination.

Sure there are times when we can't take the scenic route. Deadlines are looming, life is taking over and emergencies arise. Simply shifting gears and shifting your perspective to see the journey and see that you can choose which route to take can make a huge difference to your outlook.

I'm choosing to take the scenic route with my writing. I'm writing a novel but have set it aside this month to write some short stories and practice brainstorming ideas. I'll go back to the novel, the main road, but in the meantime I'm enjoying the detour.

Short Story Writing for the Novelist

2011-04-19T16:00:00.000+01:00

I had always written novels. All my ideas were too big to be told in anything less than novel length. I wanted to have novels published, not short stories. I spent my time on novels. I branched out once or twice encouraged by the first Zing Thing and Search Term Challenge. Then I wrote the novel that was going to be “it”. The one that was going to get me published. I revised and edited, edited and revised until I had lost the spark, lost the story, lost my creativity and lost my confidence.

Short stories got me writing again. Short stories got me brainstorming ideas again. Short stories got me writing a novel again. Short stories got me my confidence back.

More...

Sunshine Ideas Blooming

2011-04-17T16:33:00.004+01:00

There is nothing that an hour out in the sun can't help you feel better about. Take three hours and the fact that you haven't blogged in ten days doesn't seem such an insummountable hurdle. You may even have something to say. Your readers might even be interested to know what you've been doing with yourself, other than sunbathing.

DIY MFA has been a wealth of information again and we're only half way! Iggi and Gabi have shared some great exercises for developing character and plot that are not only thorough but hark back to kids games. It showed me how to inject even more fun into writing and how to keep the seriousness of craft light in the way it's presented. My favourites so far are the Acrostic Character Bio and subway outline method. I'm looking forward to being able to participate more now that the craziness of life has eased of a little for April.

Despite the crazy I have been writing and I have to thank Toni for the added motivation. I've written a little over 2,500 words on my first short story for April and the Kiwi Writers Short Story Challenge. It's not finished but I really like the story and have had fun writing it so far. The combination of water and a bad boy came out in a nice fresh way for me. Since I've broken the 2,500 word requirement for the challenge I'm going to set it aside and start on another story. This time it's water and science fiction. While out in the sun this afternoon I brainstormed a little and have come up with an idea that includes colonising the oceans, humans with gills and an invasion of earth. Not bad for a gal who hasn't written science fiction before!

I love the April prompt from #reverb11 though I have yet to answer it myself...

What's blossoming?

Image Inspiration

2011-04-05T17:35:00.000+01:00

Homework: Find 5 additional images for your image. These can be postcards, pictures clipped from magazines or even images you captured with a camera or sketchbook. The important thing is that all five images help us find a character.

- iggi & gabi, Image File for DIY MFA 2.O

Images inspire me and connect directly to my creative well. I love colour. I love shape. I love light. I realised a while back that using images to inspire my writing and generate story ideas was so obvious that I had to do it right away. I began collecting images that interested me and dubbed it my very own wunderkammer. I use Evernote which has a plug in for Firefox where I can simply right click on an image I find on the web and select Add to Evernote. Any time I need some inspiration or just want to look at something to give me a boost I can browse through 112 inspiring images.

from Laini Taylor
I especially love her eye candy breakfasts.

from Susannah Conway
Who takes gorgeous polaroids and has a book coming soon!

from This Grandmother's Garden
A wonderful nature lover and chronicler of the seasons.

from Landscapes 2.0
Their are so many gorgeous landscape photos I could browse all day.

from Brandon Christopher Warren, found with FlickrCC
A search function over Flickr for images under creative commons licence.

Most of the images I collect don't include people. Perhaps that's something I could work on this month. In any case I find it easy enough to ask questions that conjure up characters. Every setting could have people inhabiting it or passing through it. Every object could be used by people or have been constructed by them. Every plant could be used by people to eat or heal or provide decoration. The whole world is full of inspiration. Sometimes it just takes us looking at it in a new way to realise it.

Experiments in Short Stories

2011-04-03T15:13:00.005+01:00

I've been working on my novel for the past three months and it's time that I took a look at new ideas and new stories. I'm not abandoning the novel and expect I will work on it a little bit this month but it's not my focus. One of the reasons I think I got so bogged down on my last novel was because I didn't do anything else creative. My well ran dry and the fumes dried up along with my confidence and the fun of it. My next experiment will be a month of idea generation and short story writing while my novel sits on the sidelines.

The Kiwi Writers Short Story Competition is challenging writers to produce four short stories in April of a minimum 2,500 words each. We're gathering a whole bunch of short story resources over there to help everyone through the month as well. I haven't written very many short stories and generally I don't think of ideas that would fit the shorter form. Merrilee's Creativity Workshop changed all that and though I didn't finish any short stories during the workshop it gave me a real creativity boost and excitement for exploring writing in ways I don't usually with my novels.

I want to explore areas of writing out of my comfort zone but I also want the stories to have some common link or theme tying them together. Though I'm an Aries I have a huge love of water and find it incredibly inspiring in all its forms. It was easy to choose Water as the common thread that will tie the stories together. Now that my muse has got hold of that idea I might even use the same body of water in all of my stories.

Along with writing short stories April holds the wonderfully inspiring and encouraging DIY MFA 2.O. It presents a fantastic balance of writing articles and thought-provoking questions covering reading, craft and ideas. This semester each week has a theme: character, story, mood and words. It is these themes that began to inspire what aspects of writing I would explore each week. Ideally they would be aligned so I could get the most out of applying the ideas presented in DIY MFA while still having fun.

For character I decided to write a bad boy. I've always had a soft spot for them in stories. There's just something about the damaged and brooding boy with so much potential if he can just be shaken in the right way. For story I went broader and decided to try a science fiction story. I've never written one before but have had a couple ideas previously. For mood I thought child-like wonder would fit well with the creative journey I'm on. Finally, for words I'm going to break from writing 3rd person and try 1st person.

It's going to be a great adventure and it's already started!

March 150 - Debunking the Write Every Day Myth

2011-04-02T22:59:00.007+01:00

March is well and truly over. I'm slowly transitioning into April and the excitement of DIY MFA 2.O and the Kiwi Writers Short Story Competition but first things first.

I learnt a lot from continuing my experiment through March and I'm really glad that I did. I don't feel as discouraged by the empty bars as I still expect to when I look at the graph. I wrote every single day for 41 days straight. I don't think of day 42 as a ginormous failure, which in itself shows amazing growth, but as the point at which writing every day stopped being realistic for me.

It really is a myth that you have to 'write every day'. This experiment has been all about finding out how I can work regularly and productively. To write every day is a huge commitment and one that is probably not allowing you to be as productive as you could. The benefits of a Day Off should not be underestimated. Not only does relieving yourself of the pressure to write every day reduce stress and therefore boost creativity but it gives you space to gain valuable perspective.

It's also a numbers game. Consider writing 500 words four days each week. Now consider writing 150 words seven days a week. You could take 3 days off and produce twice as much. I wish this had seemed so obvious to me two months ago but there is something to be said about working through the process. I now know that I can write every day but I also know what kind of productivity I get from writing every day. My minimum daily word count has to be realistic even on the toughest of days. That doesn't make the most of the days that aren't the toughest and they are much more frequent. I choose not to write every day. I choose to make the most of every day.

Do you choose NOT to write every day?

Seeking a Partner in Writing & Creativity

2011-03-26T13:48:00.003Z

My writing year this year is all about reconnecting with my creativity and my writing. I'm keeping the expectations light by taking an experimental approach to it. I have no lofty goals to complete a novel or submit any work. I need to relearn how I work best. I need to rebuild my writers toolbox to contain a tantalising variety of inspiration and methods. I need to redefine what it is I want out of my writing life so that I can go after it with determination and fervour.

Most of all, I need help.

It's all very well to spend time in self reflection and to work it all out by writing about it, whether it's online or in a personal journal or both. Nothing really beats hashing it out with someone who has a similar passion and is travelling a similar journey.

I am seeking a partner to travel this writing and creativity journey with me. I am seeking someone who is travelling their own writing and creativity journey that I can join them on. Someone to chat with on a weekly basis about how we're writing, what we're writing and how we're seeking and experiencing creativity.

If you're interested please drop me an email at kerryn [dot] angell [at] gmail [dot] com.

March 150 - Day 21

2011-03-21T18:19:00.002Z

You see, the problem with taking one day off from writing is that it's never just one day.

In my case it's been 7 of the past 9 days where my word count has been a big fat ZERO. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I felt guilty for a while, frustrated at myself because I recognised that it was my own fear, my own procrastination stopping me from sitting down for 10 minutes.

I've realised that the minimum word count each day keeps me connected with my story but it doesn't give me the excitement and inspiration that a longer period of writing does. With DIY MFA impending I've been reminiscing about my previous experience. I used each daily DIY MFA post as the starter to an hour of writing. The experience of writing for that hour is magic in itself and the feeling of accomplishment is motivation enough to attempt it again. To take this idea further DIY MFA is holding Saturday Sprints and a Writing Marathon to close out the month on May 1st. The Saturday Sprints are 1-2 hours. The Writing Marathon is 6 hours, or you can choose to do a half maration at 3 hours.

Yes, April is going to be a whole different writing experiment. But I'm not there yet. It's still March and I have 150 words to write.

Tales for Canterbury - Cover

2011-03-17T12:26:00.005Z

I'm really excited about this anthology and had to share the beautiful artwork Emily (from DesignEm) has produced for the ebook cover. Gorgeous!

The list of announced contributors is growing and it's going to be a great line up! I love the theme and can't wait to pre-order my copy.

March 150 - Day 15

2011-03-15T18:27:00.004Z

This past week saw me break my daily writing streak but I'm glad I did. It turned out that taking a day "off" had me doubly excited about the story when I returned the day after. Not only did a break 200 words as well as 150 I also spent some time brainstorming and developing both back story and future story.

One of the things I was concerned about when committing to a new project was that I'd get mired in one thing. That my creativity would be channeled down one narrow path when I want it to dance and grow and explore a wide world of opportunities. In April that channel will be widening and I will let my muse out to play.

I'm participating in the Short Story Challenge over at Kiwi Writers. It was inspired by Merrilee's Creativity Workshop and it's just that model that I'll be using to brainstorm a new short story idea each week. I might even ramp up to April 200 to help me get as close to 2,500 words each week as possible. It's funny how once you start doing something that works it seems to work in every situation.

Secondly, DIY MFA 2.O is launching in April. The first round this past September did amazing things in reconnecting me with reading and providing a point of focus for my writing efforts. I'm excited to see what iggi & gabi will have in store and hopefully use some of the writing prompts to generate short story ideas.

How do you keep your creativity alive and fresh while pursuing a major project?

March 150 - Day 7

2011-03-07T20:43:00.005Z

This experiment is proving entertaining, inspiring and surprisingly effective. After a thoroughly successful February 100 I've kept writing and now find myself seven days into March 150. I've written every day for the past 37 days and hereby claim the Merit Badger Writing Every Day badge.

Setting the goal at an achievable and realistic 100 words in February helped to form the habit and overcome my internal resistance and procrastination. When the story began to crawl to a familiar halt I found ways to keep it going. To have the story in my mind every day, even if only for a few minutes, kept my muse working away at it. When I needed to know what happened next it took only a short amount of pondering. It also became a pleasant daydreaming subject. At random points in the day I was able to bring my story to mind and play with ideas.

February 100 took me to that first level but there was something I had hoped would come from the experiment that I hadn't got yet. I hypothesised that once started I would get swept up in the story and write for more words than I had anticipated. After 100 words I rarely got swept away past 150 words. These first days of March 150 have been a whole other matter. Out of 7 days there has only been one in which I've written less than 200 words. Each writing session has been long enough for me to think now just what sentence to write next but what action, what beat of the scene. It is this that has taken me past 150 words and past 200 words so easily.

I'll have to see how the experiment continues but 150 words is more magical.

February 100 - Day 28 Success

2011-02-28T21:28:00.005Z

Happy February 100! We've come to the end of the month and with it I hope you've reconnected with your writing and storytelling in a daily habit that will take you through the rest of the year. I've managed to write every single day. It came easier than I thought it would. It has reconnected me with my creativity and boosted my confidence in my own writing just as I hoped it would.

I wrote 6,186 words this month. Mostly I stayed between the 100-200 word mark peaking over 500 words twice and over 1200 words once in the month. I know I can do better. It's a matter of putting my writing first so that I have the time to keep writing past my daily goal. I met my goal this month. I've formed a habit. Now I want to see how far I can take this concept.

I'm not skyrocketing things. I need to kept them realistic and achievable. I want to keep writing and to keep writing daily. Now that I've completed 100 words each day in February with ease I'm aiming for 150 words each day in March. Maybe I'll even try 200 words in April. I want to find that sweet spot of a minimum word count that's achievable for me each day AND I want to put my writing first to provide myself with the opportunity for more 500 word days.

How did you do in the February 100? Will you be continuing the daily writing habit into March?

Tales for Canterbury

2011-02-27T16:01:00.005Z

As many of you are already aware the New Zealand city of Christchurch was rocked by more earthquakes this past week including the most devastating on Tuesday 22nd February when a shallow 6.3 earthquake sent 1.0 G-Force through land, buildings and infrastructure. Needless to say, I have never felt so far away from my home country and through a busy social week I've often been moved close to tears as more and more information is revealed.

There is an abundance of information on the NZ news site like Stuff and NZ Herald. Andrea Eames has a list of useful information including many ways you can donate and contribute to the recovery effort. The NZ government has set up the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal to compliment the existing efforts being undertaken.

There is an amazing amount of support being given to Canterbury and I'm proud to know some inspirational writers who are putting together an anthology to raise funds and share stories of survival, hope and the future.

In an attempt to do something, anything, to make a difference, we are putting together an anthology of short stories loosely themed around survival, hope and the future. All profits of this anthology will be donated to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal, or another registered charity aimed at aiding those in need in Canterbury.

The purpose of this Anthology is two-fold—to help financially, but also, we hope, to provide entertainment and alleviation in a time of crisis. We hope that our words will help make a difference.

- Tales for Canterbury, edited by Cassie Hart and Anna Caro.

Give what you can, spread the word of Tales for Canterbury, and at the very least appreciate the stable earth you walk on today and the love of friends and family.

Buy A NZ Book Day

2011-02-22T17:23:00.001Z

March is NZ Book Month and it's a wonderful time to celebrate the NZ book industry.

"An annual campaign, New Zealand Book Month encourages Kiwis to celebrate books and reading.

Coming next March 2011, New Zealand Book Month is the perfect time to pick up a recommended read, share a favourite book with your friends and family, encourage colleagues to start a book club – and much more."

In order to support New Zealand authors, publishers and book stores, Kiwi Writers have collaborated with NZ Book Month to bring you Buy a NZ Book Day on Saturday, 5th March 2011.

You can get a $5 book voucher from NZ Book Month to spend on your NZ Book on March 5th as part of the Books Change Lives campaign. The vouchers are being distributed to children in schools and straight to homes. You can also collect your voucher from a Caltex fuel station or BNZ bank.

Before the big day you can help spread the word with images and the Buy A NZ Book Day flyer from Kiwi Writers.

February 100 - Day Nineteen

2011-02-19T17:38:00.003Z

We're past the halfway mark and have less than 10 days to go. February is always zooms by so quickly and I hope that your writing has found a little more regular slot in your life this month. I know mine certainly has. Since our last check in I've been reaching the daily count of 100 and squeezing past it by 10 - 70 words.

I've been able to write even when I don't fall out of the grasps of real life until 10pm. That's made me wonder if I can do more than 100 words, just by a little. Could I bump my minimum, realistic in every circumstance, daily word count to 150, 200, 250 words? I'm sure there would be a tipping point and a sweet spot. A couple times this week I've found myself running past 100 words and wondering how I got there so quickly, even at the end of a busy day when I should be sleeping. Perhaps there could be a March 150, an April 200? Needless to say, I'm loving this experiment and want to see just how far I can take it.

How's your February 100? Are you interested to see what your daily writing sweet spot might be with a March 150?

Priorities In Balance

2011-02-15T16:48:00.000Z

What are your life priorities? What are your writing priorities? How does each one affect the others? Are your writing goals in line with your life goals? - Getting Your Life & Writing Priorities in Order from Suzannah, Write It Sideways.

I struggle with priorities because that decides that exercise is less or more important than writing, or time with family is less or more important than time alone when really I need both, I need it all. As people we are a combination of our experiences and our passions. Our writing may be inspiredby our family and fueled by exercise and yet without writing we lose part of ourselves, we lose a little happiness and then cannot give ourselves fully to the moments with family or the dedication to health. It is a balance and a moving triangle wher one corner may pull away from ourselves but all are needed to keep us whole.

Relationships
Health
Inspiration

Those are my top 3 life priorities but they are all so interlinked that I can only fully commit and contribute to one if all three are in balance.

Seek inspiration and feed creativity
Read anything and everything
Write for fun and expression

Those are my top 3 writing priorities. When laid out like this it seems obvious that each one supports the other.

People inspire me and my relationship with people help me to feed my creativity. Being active and exploring new experiences like ice skating and salsa dancing improve me health but also feed my creativity. All of my writing goals increase my sense of self which in turns helps me to engage in my relationships and motivates me to live a healthier life. Writing helps me to express myself and in doing so I can more easily express myself in all other areas of my life.

Do you work better with priority or balance? Has looking at your top life and writing priorities helped you understand what you spend your time on?

February 100 - Day Thirteen

2011-02-13T17:22:00.003Z

We're almost half way through the month. Have you kept up with the February 100?

I've maintained the minimum of 100 words a day and have written a little over 4,000 words this month. I had a real high of a day on the 9th and wrote 1,292 words. The story is building momentum and yesterday it ran away with me to the tune of 566 words.

I love Merit Badger and I think there are a couple badges I'll be able to claim after this month. I have my eye on Writing Every Day, Word Count, Balance, Blank Page Conqueror and Making Progress. What Merit Badge would best fit your success this month?

#reverb11 - Living The Answers

2011-02-10T17:09:00.000Z

One month into 2011, what question(s) are you living? Are there any prompts/questions that arose during #reverb10 that are still resonating in your life? Are you living new questions?

There are so many answers to #reverb10 questions that I am living this year. It has absolutely transformed my outlook. At the end of #reverb10 I compiled all 31 prompts into a little ebook for myself and summarised each entry into a little action statement that I wanted to use as reminders throughout the year. Here are the answersI've been living in 2011.

Cultivate FOCUS.
Collect WONDER.
Reconnect with COMMUNITY.
Take ACTION.
Just WRITE.
Seek EXPERIENCES.
Gift PATIENCE.
Quality HAPPINESS.

There are several statements like 'Lose EXPECTATIONS' and 'Release GUILT' that I don't seem to need any more. Expectations and Guilt have been left in 2010.

There are still some other statements that I feel I need to build up to like 'Contemplate WISDOM', 'Value a MOMENT' and 'Rituation REFLECTION'. I think these things will come later in 2011 and build upon the statements I'm living right now.

How Rewards Could Be Sabotaging Your Writing

2011-02-08T17:02:00.001Z

The rewards process works the opposite way as well. So if you skip your writing session, you lose/skip your reward. - Day 30 of Better Writing Habits.

Most of the time when writers procrastinate and avoid writing we reward ourselves for it. We read blogs and books, watch TV and movies, browse facebook and twitter, and socialise with friends and family. Then when we do sit down to write it feels like we are depriving ourselves because we are rejecting all those rewarding, fun things. Even if we decide to "reward" ourselves with one of these things once we've completed our writing session it doesn't quite work. It's akin to being told you have to finish those yucky vegetables before you eat dessert when you were a kid. All of this sheds a negative light on the act of writing.

I don't know what the way out of this tangled triangle of procrastination, writing and reward is. The first step I'm trying is to rebalance how I think about writing and all those procrastinating activities. I enjoy writing as much if not more than most of those activities. I'm abandoning the idea of rewards for now and allowing myself to write amongst these other activities, not instead of them. Perhaps then the answer will be to make rewards something I gain and lose based on my writing.

Are you rewarding yourself for NOT writing? How can we get out this reward tangle?

February 100 - Day Six

2011-02-06T16:18:00.004Z

That's how my first five days of the February 100 have panned out and I'm confident day six will follow on from that. I've already begun to learn some new things about how I approach writing. For instance, I know I can write 100 words in 10 minutes. Almost every day I've played around with distractions until I only have 10 minutes left. If I do keep writing then it's usually cutting into bedtime. If I want to use the February 100 as a beginning to a writing session then I need to give myself the time to write. If I'm still not feeling it after 100 words then I can go do something else but I have to give myself the opportunity to continue.

Write It Sideways has a great article up this week about Learning to Say "No"to New Writing Commitments. It spells out all the questions you should ask yourself when presented with a new writing opportunity.

This week I've also fallen in love with Inspired Type especially the Motivation Series. I now have Imagination, Dream Big as my desktop image.

What are your February 100 daily numbers?

And... We're Off!

2011-02-01T06:01:00.003Z

It's the first day of the February 100 and the lovely Juanita has put together some gorgeous graphics for the event. Join me in writing a minimum of 100 words every day in February and share your Day 1 word count in the comments.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this challenge improves my writing habits. I've had a great time following along the Better Writing Habits series through January and I think their final post on banishing writing distractions is a great note to end on. While playing out the final days of my New Year Novella I caught myself creating barriers to writing. I had several pages of brainstorming for where the story would go next and yet when I sat down to write I didn't use them. I stared at the blank screen and struggled to find the character, struggled to write each word. The next day I read through my notes and not only did they show me what to write next but boosted my confidence and excitement to tell the story.

Through January I kept track of my daily word count (fiction only) to see how I fared through the month. I find it interesting to note that if I had written the minimum 100 words on each day I wrote nothing I would have an extra 1,500 words on my total. I'll be keeping the same scoring method through February and I'm tempted to try keep it up through the whole year to see just how many words of fiction I write in 2011.

Total Word Count: 11,673
Number of Writing Days: 16
Number of Days Where Word Count Broke 1,000: 4
Lowest Word Count on Single Day: 2, "Deborah Blake" on first day of NYN.
Highest Word Count on Single Day: 1535, when I employed the 'write to 500 words on the hour every hour' method.

When You Don't Want To Promote Your Writing

2011-01-31T15:56:00.002Z

How do you promote your writing on the web? What social media outlets do you prefer? - Day 29 of Better Writing Habits.

I made a conscious decision this year to focus on my creativity, on my writing and NOT on promotion.

There is a huge amount of information and advice for writers that they need to build a platform and get their name out there. We should all have a blog, visit other writer blogs, comment on posts, guest post and venture on blog tours. We should tweet and have a page on facebook and join communities to run contests and giveaways.

The first problem with all of this advice is that it uses the toxic word should. The second problem is that it takes up time. This time, as with all time, could be spent writing and creating the things that we are trying to promote. It's no use if people know who you are but you have no stories for them to read or share or buy. The purpose of promotion is so easily overlooked when we have shiny new websites to join and fun people to meet and interact with.

Promotion has a place, so does networking and tweeting and all that good stuff. You need to make sure they you are getting the desired result from all of this activity. When you are striving to reclaim your creativity, to write and produce stories that is the time when your networking and activity should be geared towards gaining encouragement, feeding your creativity and getting the words on the page.

I have my lovely corner of the web here on my blog to connect with writers, share my journey, keep my accountable and connected. I have a twitter account but very rarely make the time to spend tweeting among the trees. I do love how twitter can connect me with writers and advice and resources so I am maintaining my low presence there with the help of twitterfeed. I'm keeping my writing community activity to Kiwi Writers and a small selection of blogs. I've made these decisions to support my writing, my creativity and myself as a writer.

What is your writing focus this year? How are you using social media to support that focus?

Magic Words

2011-01-30T15:20:00.005Z

What toxic phrases are your removing from your self-talk? What are you replacing them with? - Day 28 of Better Writing Habits.

Can't
Should
Have To
Impossible
Need To

I divulged myself of toxic words like can't and impossible many years ago. I honestly believe that anything is possible, it's all a matter of how much you're willing to do to make it possible. Most people when they say something is impossible really mean that they're not willing to do the hard work or make the sacrifices to make it possible. It shows a choice they've made and that's great but it doesn't make it impossible.

Those other toxic words: should, have to, need to. Those are the ones that pollute my thinking. I've begun working at banishing them, releasing the guilt and the expectations that seemed to cause them most often. Now that I'm beginning to commit to writing again and take up challenges I have to be more careful than ever that I don't fall back into old habits. Old habits of when I should be writing, the word count I have to reach and the challenges I need to win.

What is really driving my desire to write, to reach word count goals and win challenges is the fun of writing, the enjoyment and happiness I get from creating stories. I want to write and the act of just replacing one of those toxic words by saying: I want to write, I enjoy writing, I have fun writing and writing makes me happy. Now those words are magic.

Thinking Up A Storm

2011-01-26T15:45:00.006Z

Brainstorming badge from Merit Badger.

Along with my Happiness Diary I discovered a way to use the concept of a Resolutions Chart. I knew that if I set myself daily tasks to mark off it would hinder rather than help me. I've always done much better with weekly goals and reviewing the writing goals for 2011 I noticed that most of them fit this weekly schedule. One or two were monthly or quarterly and so a built my chart around this. Now each week I can give myself a shiny star for meeting each goal.

One goal that I hadn't met until last week was my goal to brainstorm for 1 hour. It was well timed for I had reached a point with my New Year Novella where I didn't know what was to happen next. I had reviewed the scenes I had written, writing down as many questions as I could. It's been said that the answers are in the questions. When brainstorming with all the question laid in front of you that is how you make new connections, creative and insightful connections from what you already have to provide the answers that appear so clever to the reader.

I sat with a pen and notebook, the questions swimming in my mind and I let myself make connections. I suggested answers, asked more questions and wrote it all down. I danced down tangents and made myself dizzy spinning in circles. For an hour I played with possibility and it was after fifty minutes I found the path that fit. In a rush of wind I felt the lightening strike and at the end I sat laughing with joy at the answers I had found.

I still don't know every detail of the story and I wouldn't like to. I do have my next scene, the next beats and a clearer view of the conflict in the story. It also gave me a renewed excitement for the story and that was possibly the most beneficial of all.

Have you earned the Brainstorming badge? What did you learn from your latest brainstorming session?

February 100

2011-01-21T19:35:00.008Z

How do you make writing a priority in your life? - Day 20 of Better Writing Habits.

Keep The Balance
It's no good if you carve an hour out of every day for your writing if the rest of your day is an overwhelming mess. You need to keep your equialibrium so that your creativity can flourish. My happiness project and reconnecting with evening pages are my way of keeping the balance and giving my creativity the best possible environment to flourish.

Be Challenged
A great way turn the spotlight on your writing is to commit to a writing challenge like NaNoWriMo or those hosted at Kiwi Writers. Not only do you get a writing goal but a great support network to support you and infuse you with excitement when you're flagging. My participation in New Year Novella challenge has got me writing 11 of the past 19 days in a more consistent manner than I have in a long time. I'm a little off 8,000 words and though I might not reach the 20,000 word goal on time I know what I need to work on to keep writing consistently.

February 100
Now that I know what I need to work on I can turn my balanced and creative self to a challenge of my own. For every day of February I am challenging myself to write a minimum of 100 words. It's a small enough number that I can reach it even on the busiest days when I'm too tired and too distracted. It's a small enough number not to be intimidating and, most importantly, to start me writing. It's been the easiest thing during the New Year Novella to not begin writing when I think I want to reach 700 or 1000 words but when all I need to reach is 100 the pressure is off. Once I've started writing it's enough to keep me writing and for those days when 100 words is enough I'm still moving the story forward and keeping it fresh in my mind.

Do you want to join me in my February 100?

Evening Pages

2011-01-20T20:05:00.005Z

Have you ever attempted Morning Pages? What was your experience like? - Day 18 of Better Writing Habits.

I've written about my morning pages experience before and recently about my little sabbatical. Thanks to Merrilee's comment sharing that she does her pages before a writing session got me thinking. When do I most need a moment to myself? A moment to rebalance. A moment to gain perspective. A moment to vent. That time happens almost every day when I transition from the workplace to home and have an evening ahead of me full of potential. I need to own that potential no matter what I decide I'm doing with it, whether I'm feeling productive or just having fun, both are as worthwhile as the other.

Yesterday I began writing evening pages using the same method as morning pages but at a different time in the day. It's a time where I think I will benefit the most from them. I'm doing them longhand with my pink ink Parker pen and I love the scratch of the pen across the page. I've tried typing my morning pages but there's something about it being just you, paper and ink that is more organic. It helps to strip away the trappings of the world and focus on what I'm thinking and feeling. I'll report back in a little while and share how my experience with evening pages goes.

What time of day would you benefit from a moment to gain perspective?

Notebook Trio

2011-01-15T22:24:00.000Z

What types of notebooks and journals do you keep? - Day 10 of Better Writing Habits.

There are three notebooks Jennifer talks about in Better Writing Habits that writer's should always have. The first is a Morning Pages Journal. If you'd asked me a year ago what morning pages were I wouldn't have been able to tell you. That was before I discovered The Artist's Way and began employing Julia Cameron's techniques in April. I wrote morning pages longhand until I realised it would result in having to trek a dozen notebooks back to NZ. I typed morning pages at 750words.com and in Scrivener and in Word. And then I stopped. I stopped after the morning of December 8th. I don't remember why I stopped, if it was a conscious decision, a snubbing of the activity or a natural lull in the need for them. I'm certainly not a morning person and have found my happiness improved by getting up early and getting to work early rather than writing morning pages and getting to work later, therefore feeling as if I am already on the back foot. Do not suggest that I get up earlier. I am not a morning person and 6am is as early as I get on a regular basis. I like the idea of morning pages. I like the ritual of them, the expression in them and would like to find the place in which they would fit into my day.

I keep a writer's notebook and it happens to be portable enough to be a pocket notebook too. It's smaller than A5 but almost an inch thick. My attraction to large handbags also improves portability.

Today’s Challenge: Treat yourself to at least one new notebook, and commit to using it consistently this year to help you focus your writing and ideas.

I treated myself to my happiness journal at the beginning of the month and have been ritually acknowledging the things that make me happy each day with shiny stickers. Gold star, anyone?

My Happiness Project

2011-01-14T18:42:00.011Z

My Happiness Project came as a delightful surprise out of #reverb10. I had come across Gretchen Rubin's blog a few weeks before but it wasn't until I took advantage of the Kindle Sample of The Happiness Project that I was struck by the inspiration to form my own happiness project.

The key to it all was to emphasise, reward and focus on the good things that happened every day. I want to give myself a gold star to mark the events and activities I'm involved in that make me happy. One of the simplest things Gretchen says is that we know when we're happy and we know what makes us happy. By taking a moment each day to acknowledge these moments of happiness I'm enhancing the light that they shine on my life and that light is banishing the shadow of negative thoughts and influences.

The first thing I needed was a diary for 2011 to keep track of these happy things and it had to fit the use. I went through all sorts until I found the one that just made me giggle.

First, it's Mickey Mouse and who doesn't love him? If you don't, don't tell me. I don't want to know. Second, he's blowing a raspberry! I like to think that he's blowing a raspberry at all my bad habits and negative thoughts that threaten my progress in pursuing the happy.

This is how my first week turned out. I have stars of all colours and smiley faces winking at me and giving me thumbs up. This week I've introduced some sparkly words that I gift myself. I wanted to note what the happy is so that I can build and reinforce the activities that do make me happy that I may not be used to thinking of in a positive light. By the end of the week I realised that the goal is not to be on a constant happiness high but to minimise the impact of negative emotions and increase the speed of recovery and capability to deal with negative emotion.

This is the back cover of the diary and that is how I want to feel every day, about my writing and ultimately about my year. This embodies the energy and action and excitement that I hope will appear more often by acknowledging the happiness I experience every day.

No Excuses

2011-01-13T21:01:00.005Z

What excuses do you use for not getting your writing done? - Day 12 of Better Writing Habits.

I'm too distracted to write.
I'm too tired to write.
I have writer's block.
I'll write later.
I'm too busy to write.
I don't have any ideas.
I don't know what I'm doing.

That's the order in which the Top 7 Excuses Writer's Make affect me. The trick is that I already know what to do to combat writer's block and if I don't have a ready idea. I've got over the fact that I don't know what I'm doing because I'm allowed to suck, I've done most of it before and it's the challenge of the unknown that I love about writing. I know that if I think I'm too busy to write that I'm really just procrastinating because I take full responsibility for making the time to write. I'll write later is blatant procrastination and usually avoidance.

The ones I fall into most often are 'I'm too tired to write' and 'I'm too distracted to write'. If I'm too tired to write it's because I've given into procrastination. I've chosen to do other things instead of write. If I'm too distracted to write then I'm choosing to do something other than write which is distracting me from writing or I'm allowing myself to stay in an environment that's distracting.

There are plenty of motivational phrases I've coined through #reverb10 that I can use to help me avoid these excuses: cultivate focus, release guilt, be bold, take action, create extraordinary, gift patience. Do you want to know the one that is most powerful of all?

Just Write.

Let go of yourself. Clear your mind of everything but the story. Conjure words and gift them to yourself on the page. Just write.

Achievable & Realistic Goals

2011-01-09T08:40:00.001Z

Go through your list of writing goals and evaluate them on the SMART scale. How do they measure up? And if you’re ready to publicly commit to making that SMART goal happen, please share it in the comments below. - Day 2 of Better Writing Habits.

I hadn't planned on setting writing goals this year. I was scared that some point in the year they would turn from bright sparks into heavy anvils to squish me. That was before I realised that it was how I set them and how I went about achieving them that really mattered. I've been pretty good at goal setting except for the Achievable and Realistic parts. Here are the goals that I started with:

Writing a 20,000 words novella from January 1-31st.
Reconnect with the writing community in a maintainable way both online and offline.
Write a novel.
Go on Artist Dates.

The novella passed the SMART test and my goal to write a novel was easy to adjust.

Write the first draft of a novel (50,000-100,000 words long) by the end of 2011 with the assistance of SoCNoC and NaNoWriMo where necessary.

One huge step for me was not extending the goal to win at least one of SoCNoC or NaNoWriMo. It will be exciting just to participate in either of them again and the buzz that always surrounds them will be fantastic encouragement to get the ideas flowing and write.

When I started to look at what I wanted to get out of Artist Dates I saw that it was a symbol of filling the creative well. There are three ways in which I feed my muse: with words, with images and with experiences. With this insight I was able to set goals that will keep me inspired and entertained.

Read 3 books each month and respond to one of them within the following month.
Establish a Wonder Cabinet of images by the end of January 2011 and add to it each week following.
Partake in one creatively fulfilling experience each week.

I'm already rediscovering my love of reading, of words and of story. I'm taking full advantage of samples from the Kindle store and am having a lovely time reading word by word as Francine Prose recommends. I learned last year that images zap through all my mental barriers directly to my muse and a Wonder Cabinet is just the type of thing that will inspire me. There are all sorts of creatively fulfilling experiences that I have lined up including Salsa lessons and an Applique workshop at the Arts & Crafts Centre. I don't even really know what Applique really is but I'm excited about it.

My goal of reconnecting with community was inspired primarily by my lack of activity on Kiwi Writers and the binge and purge relationship I've had with writing communities. I needed to figure out how I wanted to reconnect with the communities and how much would be realistic to allow it to be maintainable.

Focus on reconnecting with one community each month by participating in challenges, posting one new topic each week and replying to two topics each week.
Each month evaluate the membership of the chosen community and be prepared to say no.

The first half of the year will be consumed with Kiwi Writers and NaNoEdMo as I work behind the scenes as well as in the communities for New Year Novella, NaNoEdMo and SoCNoC. The second half of the year should provide the opportunity to reconnect with other online communities. Then there's just the one last aspect and that's to connect with writing communities offline.

Attend one offline writing event every three months.

This will be perfectly compatible with my resolutions to seek new experiences instead of waiting for them to present themselves to me.

SMART Goal Advice: Ask yourself why you want to achieve your goals. Then test whether achieving those goals will fulfill the real reason you're setting them.

My Writing Space

2011-01-08T15:25:00.000Z

If you don’t have a dedicated writing space, decide on a spot in which you feel most inspired and comfortable for writing. Create a simple plan for how you will make that space your own, and how you will tailor it to your personal needs. - Day 5 of Better Writing Habits.

I've had to adapt my writing space and my writing tools significantly over the past year. Moving temporarily around the world and from a three bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment forces some adjustment. My basic writing tools have been my ever faithful laptop, Tammy, a notebook and pen with the recent addition of my Kindle.

The great thing about these tools is that they're ultra portable. All of them, including Tammy, fit into my handbag, perfect for toting to the library, bookstore, coffee shop and any other writer friendly locations. They've never really made it there but that's another challenge. It also means they are ultra portable around our apartment though with only two rooms it's difficult to get away from distractions unless I'm home alone.

However, there is one corner of our bedroom that I've coveted as a writing space ever since we first saw the aparment. It's more of an alcove than a corner since it has three walls all to itself. I've stored a box of writing "stuff" in there, stacked my books along the walls and even stuck up a collage I did on the wall. It's never really been functional for me to actually write there because it was just a patch of floor.

The other challenge is temporarily living in the UK. Even if temporary is 3 or so years we still don't want to collect unnecessary, bulky or expensive items. Thus it wasn't practical to splurge on a desk and chair. It wasn't until I read How To Create A Writing Space On A Budget that the perfect solution came to me.

The most comfortable writing place I had found in the apartment was curled up in the arm chair and I used to own a fluorescent green blow up chair when I was younger. It was fun and comfortable and so the solution presented itself to me: an inflatable chair. It's quirky, fun, portable and comfortable. Win!

Make Time

2011-01-04T21:43:00.005Z

Begin to face the truth that you do actually have time to write. If you make time, that is. Today, make some time in your day and write. - Day 4 of Better Writing Habits.

I'm a strong believer in personal responsibility and personal choices. I know that if I want to do something or achieve something badly enough then I can make the time to make it happen. It's all about priorities and it's okay to prioritise life ahead of writing but you have to take responsibility for that choice and the results of that choice.

I've been pretty good at making time to write. Or I should say for writing related activities. I read blogs, I browse forums, I blog, I post to forums, I reply to email, I play word games. I'm out of the habit of just writing and I need to build my confidence up so that the blank page doesn't seem so intimidating.

Yesterday I committed, nice and publicly, to write 1,000 words on my New Year Novella with the help of #1k1h today. I can proudly say that I made the time to write. I wrote 1,000 words. I wrote for 1 hour. In fact, I wrote 1,480 words in 1 hour.

It feels so good to write, as it always does. I had noted down the next four or so beats of the scene and when I began writing it didn't take long until I had some flow. I'm still a little unsure of myself, a little wobbly, but the words are there. The story is there.

Jump Start

2011-01-03T22:20:00.016Z

Before you go to bed tonight, list one to three things you will focus on during your next writing session. Tomorrow, do nothing else until you have accomplished the items on your list. - Day 3 of Better Writing Habits.

zoompict via cc

Clear the clutter. I think this is what I've been working on since the beginning of December. I've been clearing my emtional clutter while clearing the physical clutter and the mental clutter. I've been brave enough to start and maintain a to do list. I've been checking things off and enjoying them. I've cleared a lot of the writing tasks that aren't actual writing but mostly out of avoidance. Not even procrastination, pure admitted avoidance.

Get into focus. I've read a few places to only have a daily list as long as 3-5 items. It's certainly a restriction that I think will benefit me. I can certainly pull my focus in really tight to one thing, not even three!

Write 1,000 words on my New Year Novella.

Set a time limit. Since I heard about #1k1h I thought it would be a good fit for me. I can usually write 1,000 words in 1 hour and if I'm really flying I can get closer to 30 minutes than 1 hour. To keep going until I have 1,000 words and have writte for 1 hour is sure to get me more than 1,000 words almost every time.

Worst Writing Habit of 2010

2011-01-02T11:28:00.009Z

Identify your worst writing habit to be overcome, and devise a game plan stating exactly what you will do to break that habit in 2011. - Better Writing Habits.

Throughout 2010 it became more and more obvious that I struggle to adapt to change. I'm not talking about big life changes like moving countries or jobs or homes or making new friends. I'm talking about little changes like staying late at work or watching an extra TV show or running unexpected or forgotten errands.

I'm a girl who loves order, plans, schedules and to do lists but I also love the freedom to do what I want when I want. I spent a silly amount of time deciding the best way to fill my evenings with working out, cooking a healthy dinner, writing, relaxing and doing something just for fun while keeping up my commitments to other writing community projects. If the class I was planning to go to at the gym is cancelled or I work an hour late or forget to pick something up to make the dinner I was planning I almost always just chuck the whole evening in. Instead I end up veging in front of the TV until I finally drag myself to bed unable to ignore another impending work day. Worst of all this lack of activity one evening affects the next evening because I haven't spent any time preparing myself for it.

So, here's my game plan for 2011 to increase my ability to adapt:

Abandon perfect. I am constantly trying to achieve the perfectly productive evening so when one thing varies from my concept of the perfect evening I give up on the evening all together. "Don't let perfect get in the way of good." - Gretchen Rubin. I would rather have a good evening than a perfect one every time.
Say no. This is something I've already begun to work on in 2010 by picking the projects that would benefit and not burden me. During 2011 I will continue to balance the projects I take on and I will evaluate what I've already got on my plate. I will say no to others but I will also say no to my own expectations. If I have less to squash into an evening then I will have more slack for the unexpected.
Don't hesitate. There are a lot of little things that I hate doing, like ironing, that would make me better prepared to achieve what I want out of each day and give me more slack in the day for surprises. Taking 5 minutes to do something that could save me an hour of procrastinating will make me happier.
Get more sleep. I am a horrible tired person. I lose perspective on everything and revert back to bad habits and bad behaviour that I have worked at and am working at to change. An early night is usually upset because I'm trying to do more in an evening than I'm able. This will be a good measure of how all of my game plan tactics are going as well as improve the whole game.

New Year Novella Update
My word count is sitting at 2: Deborah Blake. She is my main character and I have the first scene slowly forming in my mind. I'm aiming for a whole sentence by the end of today. The trick is to have enough to begin with that it starts the story ball rolling and you have to keep writing.

#reverb10 - Light

2011-01-01T13:34:00.009Z

What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world? (Bonus: Consider your reflections from this month. Look through them to discover a thread you may not have noticed until today.) - December 31st, Core Story by Molly O'Neill.

Light.
A gleam or sparkle.
Mental insight; understanding.
Makes things visible or affords illumination.

Wonder.
Speculate curiously.
Strange and surprising.
Filled with admiration, amazement, or awe.

Connect.
Join and unite.
Share a common attitude.
In harmony with another person.

Different.
Seperate or distinct.
Exhibiting variety or diversity.
Assortment of experience, background or influences.

Happiness.
Contentment and joy.
Appreciate; live up to a good life.
Whole end and aim of human existance.

Appreciate the wonders of the world. Share the inherent good and beauty in people. Spread curiousity, understanding, light, love and happiness.

#reverb10 - Patience

2010-12-31T10:55:00.000Z

This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What's the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year? - December 30th, Gift by Holly Root.

I'm more than ready to look forward to 2011 so I'm going to rephrase this prompt to ask: What gift am I giving myself in 2011?

Patience.

There has been a lot of change and growth in my writing and creativity in 2010. This will continue through 2011 and I have to be prepared to stumble along this new path. It's not as well trodden but I'm hopeful I'll take the right turns and not fall off a cliff to be able to continue. I understand now that growth takes time, that I need to allow myself that time and space to play and try things out, to experiment and to fail so I can ultimately succeed.

I will give myself the gift of patience. I'm trusting my instincts again. I have belief in what I'm doing. So now I must be patient and let myself continue to grow.

#reverb10 - Pebbles

2010-12-29T21:55:00.001Z

Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year. - December 29th, Defining Moment by Kathryn Fitzmaurice.

There have been so many of these moments for me this year. I've already hit on all the big ones and most of the littler ones in past days of #reverb10. With only two days of December, #reverb10 and 2010 left I'll be really sad to finish this daily ritual. In fact, I think #reverb10 has been a series of little events that have allowed me to move into 2011 in a positive frame of mind. I was under threat of burying all the amazing growth I've had this year under the most recent little tumble I had taken. Now I've got my perspective back, I've gained some stronger philosophies and I'm ready for the New Year!

#reverb10 - Sunshine

2010-12-28T17:22:00.005Z

What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today. - December 28th, Achieve by Tara Sophia Mohr.

Just last night I had downloaded the sample chapter of Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project to my Kindle. In reading that one chapter I unlocked the answer to how I can motivate myself without letting the failures overwhelm or discourage me. The answer really comes from trying to live the journey that is life. Gretchen's asks it as, "What do I want from life, anyway?"

In 2011 I want to be happier. If I achieve this then it won't just be a pay off at the end I will have improved how I live my life every single day. I will feel happier (obviously) but I'll also feel content. To be happier I need to change not what I do but how I do it.

Have fun.
Appreciate the wonders of the world, big and small.
Share experiences with people you love.
Connect with people through common interests.
Measure each moment of happiness.
Reward each activity taken in happiness.
Trust my intuition and instincts.
People don't notice your mistakes as much as you think.
Take one singular action at a time.
Take only the next action.

And today I am feeling happier.

#reverb10 - Extraordinary

2010-12-27T17:11:00.001Z

Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year? - December 27th, Ordinary Joy by Brene Brown.

Doesn't the fact that we experience profound joy make the moment extraordinary? Does a foreign location, a sunset and a wedding anniversary sound ordinary? Does sitting down to a home cooked Christmas dinner, crackers cracked, paper hats on and bad jokes said just as the Queen does her Christmas Day speech sound ordinary? Is a walk to work ordinary if you spot an orange poppy, a ladybug and a magpie?

It's these little wonders and coincidences that make an ordinary moment something joyous and in that moment it's extraordinary.

#reverb10 - Berries

2010-12-27T10:20:00.000Z

What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul? - December 26th, Soul Food by Elise Marie Collins.

I ate fresh berries for all the months of summer and a couple months after. I've never had them so accessible and so cheap. Raspberries and strawberries and blueberries and blackberries all grown and ripe and rosy and full of life. The delicious taste of them bursts on your tongue and you have to be quick to stop the juice trickling down your chin. To me they represent the brightness and fullness of summer.

#reverb10 - Blue Skies

2010-12-26T21:36:00.007Z

Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you. - December 25th, Photo by Tracey Clark.

My hubby took this picture of me at the Llechwedd Slate Caverns in Wales. The blue skies, the shine off the slate, the natural resource and efforts of industry, history meeting today's demand and me, happy, smiling to have seen it all for just one day.

#reverb10 - Nature

2010-12-24T21:46:00.007Z

What was the best moment that could serve as proof that everything is going to be alright? And how will you incorporate that discovery into the year ahead? - December 24th, Everything's OK by Kate Inglis.

The answer for me is always one of perspective. When I need to feel like everything's going to be okay it's usually because lots of little things are going wrong, I'm mired in the detail and it's making me crazy.

One of the moments this year that has really grounded me was standing on the Cliffs of Moher. There's something about standing on an historical site that has seen the passage of time like we can never see. It's even better if there's an aspect of height or depth to the site like seeing how tall Stonehenge stands or how big Newgrange is to hold such a small chamber. It puts into perspective not just the time that we have in life but the physical size of us compared to the earth and architecture.

#reverb10 - What's In A Name?

2010-12-24T08:44:00.000Z

Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why? - December 23rd, New Name by Becca Wilcott.

I've worked so hard to figure out who I am, to be comfortable, confident and proud of myself, that I don't think I'd want to introduce myself as anyone but me. In a lot of cases I think we grow into our names or that our names become merged with who we are the longer we use them. Names represent a link to our family, identification of who we are and a sense of belonging.

I pondered this question of What's In A Name during the Creativity Workshop and came up with a story idea that practically told itself. Names certainly are powerful as any writer trying to name a character will know. I think writers have the privilege to play with names and personality and identity with every idea and every story.

#reverb10 - Travel

2010-12-23T20:16:00.004Z

How did you travel in 2010? How and/or where would you like to travel next year? - December 22nd, Travel by Tara Hunt.

The distinction of HOW did you travel rather than WHERE did you travel is an interesting one. I travelled by car, by train and by plane. I travelled for adventure and discovery, for nature and history. I travelled to York, Blackpool, Chester, Holmfirth, Liverpool, Dover, Canterbury, Brighton, Bournemouth and Bath. I travelled to Paris, London and Dublin. I travelled to Kilkenny, Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway. I travelled to Llandudno and Caernarfon.

In 2011 I want to travel by boat as well as cars, trains and planes. I'm planning trips to the Upper Nile in Egypt and the Edinburgh Tattoo and Scottish Highlands. There are whispers of sojourns to a sunny European beach, to the Loire Valley of France, to Italy and Belgium and Germany. Where ever I end up going in 2011 I'll be going somewhere I've always dreamed of going.

#reverb10 - Experiences

2010-12-22T21:34:00.000Z

Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? - December 21st, Future Self by Jenny Blake.

Have fun! Make the most of everything that is happening around you in the real world. Travel! Seek out experiences and opportunities that wouldn't be available in New Zealand and make the most of them. This is your time to experience new cultures, new people and new events a world away from New Zealand.

This really shows me what my priority should be and I was quite taken aback by the insistence that I seek out experiences as well as take advantage of the ones that come my way. There have been plenty of fun things I've heard about on the day or after the fact and wished I'd known about earlier. To be fair I haven't been looking and to make the most of my time in the UK I should be seeking these things out.

#reverb10 - Artist Dates!

2010-12-22T08:24:00.000Z

What should you have done this year but didn’t because you were too scared, worried, unsure, busy or otherwise deterred from doing? (Bonus: Will you do it?) - December 20th, Beyond Avoidance by Jake Nickell.

Artist Dates.

I made every excuse to avoid going on Artist Dates. I was too scared, too worried, too unsure and most of all too busy. I prioritised Artist Dates so far down my list that they never happened. Despite saying it was important I couldn't take that extra step and actually take time just for myself and my creativity. An hour at the library was too much for me to manage. A half hour at the art gallery was too little to bother with. There was just one time when my guard slipped, my muse fought her way out and I indulged myself.

In 2011 I want to go on Artist Dates. I want to acknowledge that time for me and my creativity is important enough to make happen.

#reverb10 - Recovery

2010-12-21T17:21:00.000Z

What healed you this year? Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011? - December 19th, Healing by Leoni Allan.

For the first half of this year it felt like I was living with all these injuries I didn't realise I had. I was doing everything I usually did but it was hurting more and more. Slowly I began to see my injuries and in seeing them I could begin to heal them. I've talked a lot about how I've grown in past year, letting go of so many things that were weighing me down. Now I feel like my injuries are healed but I'm no longer in the same condition I was. I need to build up the stamina and confidence I had and that's what I'll be working on in 2011.

#reverb10 - Vanquish Dragons & Save Magic

2010-12-21T04:33:00.001Z

What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn’t go for it? - December 18th, Try by Kaileen Elise.

I want to try and write a whole book. I want to write a story that I find enchanting in every way. I want to be in love with the characters, enchanted by the setting, surprised by the twists and turns of plot and proud of the execution of it all. I want to play with ideas and plot and banish my fear of failing. I want to write my come back novel. I want to come back to writing and regain my confidence. I know it will be hard. There will be dragons to vanquish, slippery snakes to snare and quick sand to get out of. There will also be carnivals and laughter and magic and most of all there will be fun.

#reverb10 - Fun. Just Because.

2010-12-20T16:53:00.000Z

What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward? - December 17th, Lesson Learned by Tara Weaver.

The best thing I learned was to have UNPRODUCTIVE FUN. Or what I like to call having fun just because. What better reason should there be? Do something that makes you happy because it makes you happy. Do something fun because it's fun. When this concept was first presented to me as unproductive fun I had to sit and take a moment. I was so driven in everything I did to reach some goal, some expectation or obligation I'd set myself that I wasn't having fun. Even the things that should have been fun weren't.

In 2011 I want to make time for fun and I want to throw my whole self into it. No guilt to hold me back, no thoughts on what I should be doing. Just fun!

#reverb10 - Friendship

2010-12-20T07:35:00.000Z

How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst? - December 16th, Friendship by Martha Mihalick.

There hasn't been one friend who has changed my view this year. All of my friends have. I'm living on the other side of the world to most of my friends who are living their lives and enjoying the parties and holidays that I would usually be a part of. They are having babies and getting married and being promoted and having birthdays all without me to celebrate along with them. What's precious is that our friendships remain and every time we talk I have a new found appreciation for who they are and what they mean to me.

I've made new friends this year and shared birthdays and promotions and holidays with them. There's something magic about connecting with people and having an absolute blast of a time with them. It's scary to throw yourself into environments where you don't know anyone but I think that there are people we are always meant to meet in our lives. It is almost certainly sharing experiences with others that can bring us the most happiness.

#reverb10 - Moments & Epiphanies

2010-12-19T21:18:00.001Z

Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010. - December 15th, 5 Minutes by Patti Digh.

I want to remember all the little moments where I appreciated the world around me. Seeing a ladybug, a single orange poppy, a lamp post covered in vines, a canal iced over, snow falling, standing on the Cliffs of Moher, lambs with long tails, the history of a piece of granite, crumbling ruins that held thousands of lives, a sunny blue sky, the ocean rolling into harbour, dancing through pine trees, the darkness of a movie theatre, fresh cut flowers, a shiny necklace and purple winter coat. There is magic all around us and I don't want to forget how much happiness can be drawn from small things.

I want to remember all the epiphanies I've had this year. I have discovered so much about who I am and how I deal with situations and I don't want to go back. I have let go of expectations, I'm ridding myself of guilt, I'm looking to activities that make me happy and don't bind me. I want to remember that it's about the journey, about enjoying as many minutes as we possibly can and that I don't ever have to do anything that is making me miserable out of obligation. The only obligation is to my happiness.

#reverb10 - Appreciate

2010-12-19T12:35:00.000Z

What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it? - December 14th, Appreciate by Victoria Klein.

My husband. Through all my crazy this year (and every year) he's been right there to support me and worry about me and be patient with me. He always catches on long before I do that I'm over doing it and need balance. When I do catch on he gives me the cutest 'duh' smile, often rolling his eyes and I know it's out of relief and love. He wants me to be happy and I want to share that happiness with him.

#reverb10 - Action

2010-12-17T21:07:00.001Z

When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step? - December 13th, Action by Scott Belsky.

I like how this is phrased, "It's about making ideas happen." I think that is even more relevant for writers as the whole process is about making ideas happen. It's the how that sometimes eludes us. Here's how I'm going to take action in the New Year.

New Year Novella
The annual challenge to write a 20,000 word novella in January over at Kiwi Writers is a great way to break in your writing for the new year. I'm going to pick a completely new idea to work with and try to stick within the 20K novella limit. However, so long as you write 20,000 words you can call yourself a winner no matter if it's on an existing novel, short stories or a non-fiction project.

Better Writing Habits
Jennifer from Procrastinating Writers and Suzannah from Write It Sideways are hosting a 31 day challenge through January to help set writers up for a great year. It looks like a great follow on from #reverb10 for us writers. I'm looking forward to the How to Create a Writing Space on a Budget and The Truth About Finding Time to Write articles. I think I need the reminder about writing time and I'm seriously craving a writing space.

#reverb10 - Dance

2010-12-16T08:57:00.001Z

This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present? - December 12th, Body Integration by Patrick Reynolds.

Dance.
I love to dance.
I love to hear music and to feel music.
I love to move and sing in response and expression.

Whether it's in a club on a night out, in Salsa or Rock n' Roll lessons or a dance class at the gym. Put music and movement together and I feel simply alive and present in that one moment.

#reverb10 - Guilt & Hesitation

2010-12-15T16:37:00.002Z

What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life? - December 11th, 11 Things by Sam Davidson.

Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt.
I will not allow myself to feel guilty for choosing not to do something. If I choose to spend my time doing something else then I must own that decision. It's my time. My time is valuable to me and no one but me can influence how I spend that time. If what I'm spending my time on does not reflect what I value in life then I have to change. Guilt is self-indulgent and unproductive. It is not something I value and so I will not spend my time on it.

Hesitation. Hesitation. Hesitation. Hesitation. Hesitation.
Now that I'm pursuing different things, wonder-filled, happy things, I find myself hesitant and putting off until tomorrow what I could be having fun doing today. I find myself falling into old ways of thinking that keep me within a comfort zone that wasn't all that comfortable to begin with. I don't want to spend time hesitating when I could be spending that time having fun.

#reverb10 - Wisdom

2010-12-15T09:15:00.001Z

What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? - December 10th, Wisdom by Susannah Conway.

The wisest decision I made this year was to part with Family Trust. It was like a turning point in a character arc when the character realises that they can't go on as they have been. They must venture out into the unknown and try to deal with life in new ways. We try to give our characters tools to help them along their new path. The tools I found were The Artist's Way and wonderful community.

It felt like a failure at the time but I'm more and more proud of myself for making the break. It took courage and has set me on a much stronger path. It's a path full of so much more wonder than I could have imagined. I have a new understanding of myself and with it a new confidence with which to enjoy life.

#reverb10 - Laughter

2010-12-14T21:05:00.003Z

What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. - December 9th, Party by Shauna Reid.

...and laughs with you!

There hasn't been one particular gathering this year that standards out above the rest. What does stand out is the people I have met since moving to the other side of the world. I absolutely love it when I meet people who I instantly click with, can instantly chat and laugh with. It's so much fun to discover the same passions, the same sense of humour and fun, and to laugh about the same silly things. To have that kind of relaxed fun to share with new friends is such a delightful surprise.

#reverb10 - Beautifully Me

2010-12-14T05:17:00.000Z

Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different - you'll find they're what make you beautiful. - December 8th, Beautifully Different by Karen Walrond.

To consider what makes each of us different we must compare ourselves to others. We are all inherently different to each other and that's what makes each of us, well, us. We are all made up of such a variety of experience and backgrounds and influences that we will all be different. The challenge is to be comfortable in ourselves, to live the life that we want to live and be the people that we want to be.

I'm more comfortable in my skin than I've been in a long time. I'm exercising and eating for all the right reasons. I'm dressing for fun in brighter colours than I ever would have before. I love that I'm a little bit crazy and a lot silly. I don't try to be adult and serious when it starts snowing or the streets are lit up with Christmas lights. I enjoy them for the simple beauty that they hold.

#reverb10 - Community

2010-12-13T16:45:00.000Z

Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011? - December 7th, Community by Cali Harris.

I honestly cannot thank Merrilee and Gabi enough for the community I was introduced to through the Creativity Workshop and DIY MFA. After letting go of my expectations and my definition of a writer's life these online courses helped me to keep thinking like a writer and keep recognising myself as a writer while opening new doors and windows. I met lovely people through these courses which I like to think of as part of my online writing family. I also met the lovely Alisha and was introduced to Stratejoy which has been a font of encouragement. And I was encouraged by DIY MFA to seek out writing community offline, which I did and had a lovely chat with writers at the Manchester Literature Festival. I managed all of that in half of 2010 which gives me a lot of encouragement for 2011.

I can really sabotage myself when I get so involved in community that I feel I have an obligation to be active. Mostly this comes from wanting to be a person who is accountable. I see community, especially writing forums, as a place where there has to be give and take. If I am getting something out of it then I want to give back. The trouble is I've never been able to figure out just how much is enough to give back. When I don't keep up with topics I feel guilty. All the topics I haven't read or replied to add to the weight of all the things I should be doing.

I want to reconnect with the writing forums I'm already a member of in a healthy, maintainable way and I want to get out into the real world writing community.

#reverb10 - Make

2010-12-10T07:40:00.000Z

What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? - December 6th, Make by Gretchen Rubin.

The last thing I made were Coconut Fudge biscuits which I hadn't made for 2 years but have always been a staple in my family. I never used to need the recipe and could do it all on the fly with barely a measuring cup to aid me. Needless to say this first batch in so long did not come out as I had hoped. The biscuit was too crispy and the icing was too stiff to spread cleanly. They tasted good but the execution needs a little finesse.

I want to make a million things. I want to cross-stitch and knit and cook Christmas Dinner. I want to paint and paper-mache and arrange flowers. One of the things I've rediscovered this year is that I love to make things. I get silly excited about arts and crafts. Friends of mine made a house out of Tim Tams and chocolate icing. How much fun would that be? I remember playing with construction paper and boxes and empty milk bottles and dozens of popsicle sticks. The options were endless and resulted in hours of fun.

I think I have another goal for 2011: Make something every month just for the fun of it.

#reverb10 - Let Go

2010-12-07T21:35:00.007Z

What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? - December 5th, Let Go by Alice Bradley.

This year I let go of my own expectations.

It may sound obvious but before starting on the Artist's Way journey I had to live the picture of a writer's life that I had built up. I had to submit work. I had to write 1000 words every day. I had to be active in the online community. I had to blog every day. All these had-to's came from my own expectations of where I expected myself to be after pursuing writing seriously for 5 years. It was all about the milestones, the goals and the results. If I didn't have a novel to submit then I had failed. That novel was Family Trust and I stubbornly revised it for 2 years before being able to accept that it was broken and I didn't want to fix it. Accepting that I wouldn't be a writer submitting a novel after 5 years of working towards that goal and believing that this was the novel to do it is the hardest thing I've had to do on my journey to publication. Once I was able to see my own expectations and see where my fear of failure had taken me I was able to learn how to make writing fun again.

Once I let go of those expectations I had to build up a new picture of what my life as a writer is. In fact, it's only writing these words -- right now -- that I'm understanding the magnitude of the task I've set myself. For the past 5 years I've been living a writer's life as I had defined it. That definition only worked for so long and now I need to figure out what my writer's life will be. Luckily I've already caught on to the importance of living the journey.

#reverb10 - Wonder

2010-12-07T21:31:00.002Z

How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? - December 4th, Wonder by Jeff Davis.

This is one of the biggest things I've achieved this year. I was always rushing from one thing to the next with my head in a book, at work, emailing people and blogging and writing without ever stopping to look at where I was right then. I was always rushing towards something. Everything I did was about getting to the finish line instead of enjoying the journey. We spend a lot more time travelling the journey than we do celebrating the success.

To really live each and every day with a sense of wonder we have to live the journey. We have to hear the crunch of snow beneath our boots, smell the fresh cut pine trees, see the sparkle of lights in the trees, feel the warm furry blankets and taste the brandy custard on your Christmas pudding. Each and every one of these things and a thousand more are worth a little pause in our day to smile and appreciate the world that we live in.

One of the things that helped me find a little bit of wonder in every day was to start a 101 Fun Things list. Here are some of my wonders in Wordle form.

#reverb10 - Alive

2010-12-06T21:29:00.000Z

Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). - December 3rd, Moment by Ali Edwards.

I can't decide on a single moment but all the moments I considered had the same thing in common. I had travelled to somewhere new. I was surrounded by nature and history. I stood with my husband living a dream that we had built together.

We were in Wales, in Scotland, in Ireland, in Paris. We stood on land that had seen battles and births, land that had witnessed some of the turning points in history. We've walked the fields of the Battle of Hastings, the corridors of Churchill's War Rooms, the passage into a neolithic tomb and the tunnels of Victorian coal mines.

Surrounded by so much history, by an ever growing landscape and the lives of so many that have passed before us I've felt more connected, more in awe, more appreciative and more alive more often this year than any before.

#reverb10 - Distracted

2010-12-05T17:05:00.011Z

What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing -- and can you eliminate it? - December 2nd, Writing by Leo Babutu.

Each day I am distracted. It honestly doesn't matter what it is or whether I'm choosing to take time away from writing. I lack a certain focus. Even writing this blog post I've jumped between reading blogs, beginning to write content for Kiwi Writers, playing with Rainlendar and watching TV. It's very rare for me to focus on one task from beginning to end without being distracted. Right this second I'm tempted to surf over to Popcap.com and play Plants vs. Zombies.

I've released myself from a lot of expectations this past year and I've lost the guilt that comes from "not writing". I know that when I lose the distractions and force myself to focus on one task at a time I am not only more productive but I feel more productive. If I'm jumping around doing five things over an hour I don't feel like I've made time for writing even if writing was one of those five things. I think I've found my first goal for 2011.

Cultivate a focused way of applying myself to one task at a time.

#reverb10 - Balance & Light

2010-12-02T18:11:00.007Z

The lovely Alisha is participating in Reverb 10 and it sounds like just the thing I need to keep me accountable to my creativity. The purpose of Reverb 10 is to reflect on the year that is quickly coming to a close and to prepare for the year to come by manifesting what we wish to experience.

Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you? - December 1st, One Word by Gwen Bell.

The connection that this first prompt had with the beginning of 2010 really resonated with me. On January 2nd I blogged about one word that I wanted to focus the year for me. That word was CALM.

I almost laughed when I read that but after a moment of contemplation I realised that it was in the search for calm that had sent me on this creative recovery journey. Looking back on the year now I wouldn't use the word calm to describe it but the word: BALANCE.

I have been seeking balance between writing and life, between creativity and words, between exercise and eating well, between all of the balls I skip across on a day to day basis. I've learnt a lot about my relationship with each of these things, with the value I put on my time and the time required to relax and be calm. The changes I've made through this year have set me on a new path and one line from my January 2nd post has really stuck me with me.

This year, perhaps to start the decade, I'm doing something completely different!

We have begun a new decade and it's put the progress of one year in perspective. It's setting me up for 2011 and each year will build on the next and each will hold it's own challengs, it's own changes and it's own happiness. And so for 2011 I want LIGHT.

I can take things so seriously and I need to lighten up. I've begun to let go of the guilt, from the self-imposed expectations and limitations. I want to be free and bright, to reflect on the wonderful things in my life and have colour shine back. I want to be nimble and to dispell the shadows that stop me living.

As a Word Wonk I looked up the definitions of LIGHT and I absolutely love what the word represents.

–noun
1. something that makes things visible or affords illumination.
9. a particular light or illumination in which an object seen takes on a certain appearance.
10. a device for or means of igniting, as a spark, flame, or match.
13. the state of being visible, exposed to view, or revealed to public notice or knowledge.
16. a gleam or sparkle.
18. spiritual illumination or awareness; enlightenment.

20. mental insight; understanding.
21. lights, the information, ideas, or mental capacities possessed.

from dictionary.com

Live Creative - Take One

2010-11-28T16:09:00.007Z

The past few weeks of near blog silence have come from the first fail of my Live Creative project. I have my subjects, I have my classes, I have my structure. I got caught up in the excitement and fell into old habits. I set my expectations too high, my schedule was too demanding and my structure held no room for flexibility. In fact whenever I failed to meet a goal it reinforced the failure rather than allowing room to recover.

My Live Creative project is structured over 10 weeks following 7 days of the week. Each week has one day for each of my five classes, one day for catch up and one day for review. And yet it only took one week for life to collide with my well laid plans and another week for me to abandon those plans.

No writing schedule survives first contact with life.

I have been shown this lesson many times but this might be the time that I actually learn it. My schedule cannot be tied to days of the week or even weeks of the year. It needs to be flexible enough for me to work at it when I make the time and still be there after I've made the choice not to work at it. I know what I want to achieve in each season. I know what I want to achieve in each "week".

Now I shall try again and if I fail I will fail better.

Live Creative. Take Two.

Life Crises

2010-11-18T17:46:00.006Z

There are times in your life whether it's in your twenties or when you're nearing forty or anywhere before, inbetween or after when you might experience crisis. It's a point at which things in your life culminate to a point where you must decide to change. You might need to change your job or where you're living or what you do with your spare time. You might need to change a habit or behaviour or a long held belief. Many will choose not to change and it takes a certain courage to brave the unknown, to fight yourself and aim for the prize.

If you hadn't noticed I'm going through a bit of a change at the moment. I'm challenging my behaviour and there have been some really grounding and reassuring blogs and people out on the web. Here are a few of my staples.

If I hear one more person say that the Quarterlife Crisis doesn’t exist and that Gen Yers are whiny, self-entitled little babies I may just snap.

Do you know what I think when I hear that? I think: What did you miss out on? What dream did you never fulfill that you now hate people who strive to do what they love?

So I want to address some of the arguments people have presented regarding the Quarterlife Crisis.
...
I found this quote by John Adams in 1780, which has a much more positive spin: “I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.”

- Marian @ Strategjoy, No Such Thing as the QLC? Bite me.

There’s a card in the tarot called The Tower. Although tarot decks vary, The Tower is one of the illustrations that offers the least variation. Almost always, you have a tower, the top of which has suffered some horrible calamity, causing it to break off, and as the Tower tumbles, you see people jumping off, trying desperately to get to safety. Typically… it doesn’t look good for them.
...
Like the beginning of a country western song, the book would start with her losing everything she held dear – family, friends, and career – and would chronicle how she rebuilt her life from there. In the book, the main character, Carly, ends up in a community of psychics and artists, where she is then told that this horrible experience she has had, her entire life falling apart, is a universal experience, and it is called ‘Being Towered.’

- Lucy March aka Alpha Betty, 506. Being Towered.

There's also a new site that I've discovered that looks very promising called The Happiness Project. This has some great suggestions of things that you could cultivate as little bubbles of happiness.

Life really is about the journey so take notice of where you are and what's around you!

Balancing Unproductive Fun

2010-11-15T21:26:00.007Z

I've been on quite a journey these past six months. I can't even recognise the broken creative person I was back before iggi U and Creativity Workshop and The Artist's Way and the Betties. I've grown creatively but more importantly I've gown into a person who embraces all aspects of a creative life.

The smallest things can bring a light and joy into the day. The smell of grapefruit handsoap, the colour of autumn leaves, a new purple coat. I have introduced so much more colour into my life, not just in what I wear but how I see and appreciate the world I come into contact with. Do you remember collecting shells at the beach or smooth stones or sand-blasted glass? These are the details that can bring a story to life. They're also the things that can bring us to life. How can we show a vibrant world in our writing or in any artistic pursuit if we don't see the vibrancy of our own world?

It's not just about the writing. It's about the writer. It's about spotting a lamp post enveloped by vines and wondering if this is what C. S. Lewis saw once upon a time before including it in Narnia. It's about smiling and feeling a little bit happier for seeing that lamp post, feeling that rock, smelling grapefruit or hearing a favourite song.

I've begun to cultivate and collect little pockets of happiness and compiling them into a list of 101 Fun Things. I have no doubt that the list will run longer than 101 but it's an exciting reminder of not just (or only) the good things in life but the fun things. The phrase that really set me free was...

Unproductive Fun

As writers we are forced to make the most of our time, to shuffle work and family and chores and friends to make some time, any time for our writing. By putting such a value on our time it only follows that we want to put that time to the best use possible, to the most productive use. We have prioritised our life and our time down to the n'th degree and in the process made two fatal mistakes.

We have prioritised down our creativity.
We have made writing work.

(...and by we I mean me.)

For us to know that we have been productive we must be able to measure our output and we must define what volume of output we consider productive. For all the over achievers and perfectionists like me this is kryptonite. We begin to set writing goals, demanding more and more of ourselves. We assume that we can run at 100mph for months on end and that we have a wide open, straight road ahead of us instead of the bends and hills and flooding that life inevitably throws at us.

By putting the same pressures on our writing as we do our other responsibilities we gain the same guilt, tension and resentment. Originally these negative emotions came from the resposibilities that stole time from our writing. Now they are coming from our writing which is focused solely on results and is taking away from the fun and creativity of the journey and the act of creating.

Balance

This is a pattern of behaviour that I have followed ever since I began pursuing writing as a career. It is a pattern which I have shattered over the past six months but these patterns are strongly engrained in my psyche. I have begun to build a strong creative foundation to my life but just as I'm beginning to operate within this fortified castle I find all the loose stones. I got carried away by the fun of the project and although it might look like what I want I've cut corners and reverted back to my old behaviour in order to get there quicker. Now I'm getting tricky with myself and it's not as easy as knocking the whole thing down and starting again. It's like a story where the main character has a personality disorder you never meant to write in and now need to cut out. I have to untangle my thinking and rebuild those pieces stronger than before.

So while I'm not blogging I'll be rebuilding. My Live Creative project will live and I will live a fun, creative life.