Productivity

I have formed a new habit around my writing. I suffer from insomnia. I used to get up and watch TV or YouTube when I couldn't sleep. 

Then I moved and unpacked some books. One of them is the one in the photo. It's a textbook. The chapters are super-short, but they are dense. The exercises are challenging. 

As of right now, I'm mining some memoir material based on these exercises.

I have also joined a writers,' group. These two things should keep me busy!

Update: We're Moving!

Photo by Helena Lopes from Pexels

"Moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches..." If you remember what song this is from and who wrote it, then you know approximately how old I am!  ;)  Yes.  We are moving!  As I write this, I am sitting in a hotel lobby in New Jersey.  We're on our way to Vermont, where we'll be staying with my in-laws while we look for a house to buy in Massachusetts!  We are looking for a moderately sized house with a lot of land!  We have about six or seven houses picked out from the web, and I'm sure our realtor has more for us to see.  We'll be up there for about a week and a half.  Our house is under contract, and it looks like this one will stick, so we need to be ready to move into our new house soon!

We live in the country now, on a pretty private five acres. We are looking for even more  privacy.  It's not that we don't like people.  We are just both introverts (I mean, hey--I'm a writer, after all!)  We are also homesteaders.  You can read about that on my personal blog. 

The past couple of months, I have not gotten much done on this front.  I've been working more than I have wanted to, and when I wasn't working, I've been resting and recovering.  My fibro has been off the charts.  Now that I've ended my job and stepped away from the whole house-selling fray for a bit, I'm feeling a little more relaxed.  As an early riser, I count this time as precious.  I will be designating my mornings as writing and meditation time.

I've noticed that a lot of the writings I am transcribing (stuff from the 90s, mostly) has a real YA feel to it.My intention was not to write YA, as I'm not particularly a fan, but I'm going to keep an open mind and see where this all goes.  I would eventually like to write horror, but first I need to establish a habit, get these pieces transcribed, and see where it all goes. I will probably take some writing classes and/or join a writing group once we've moved and settled.

All I know is that I love words. Words shape our reality.  They connect us to other people.  Whether I end up publishing and seeing any success or not, I know that my words will affect someone, somewhere, some day.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Inspiring Words: James Baldwin, Stephen King

I am not familiar with James Baldwin's work, other than to know that he was prolific and that he was a genus.  As I am making my way back into the struggle and toil that is the writer's experience, these words were just what I needed today.

I have been a Stephen King fan since I was a child.  At first, it was all about his horror stories and novels.  (I'm a big horror fan, and let's face it: No one can write a short story like The King!) As I have grown up and grown older, I have read other work of his that is not horror, and I have come to really appreciate him, just as a fellow writer.

Project: Memoir

Photo by LSD for Society on Unsplash

I've been going through my typing folder. Tonight, I came across several college essays. Different episodes from my life.  Opinions. I have created a folder just for this project. Tonight, I started collecting my stories into one document.  Notes for my memoir.  They're not really even chronological right now.

I have wanted to write a memoir for a  while, but I'd convinced myself that my story isn't that good.  I'm not done writing it yet, so there's no way to know how it will be.  I don't need a central theme to compile notes, and maybe the materials I'm using will spark something.

More as this project progresses.

Medium Post: Psychology of the Magus

Back in the 90s and early 2000s, I was very active and prolific with my spirituality.  I'm just now starting to get back to it.  This is what I think was one of the better articles I've written, so I pulled it out today, dusted it off, and published it on Medium.  You can read it here.

(Please limit comments to the concept of writing. I do not wish to debate life choices and religion on this blog.  Thanks.)

Snippets: Self Love

"Snippets" are excerpts of my writings. I will not be sharing complete works on this blog, other than via links to where they are published online.

This was an essay I wrote some time back about the moment I learned to love myself.  To give some background, I was in junior high, and my friend and I were both bullied pretty badly.  One day, I had had enough...

**

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Sandy started to say something, and that's when Tammi drew back her tree trunk of an arm and punched her dead in the face. The next few seconds hung in the air, as if no one knew how to respond. Sandy went to the teacher and was excused to go to the nurse's office. I don't recall whether Tammi faced any consequences right then. I sat out the rest of the class, because frankly, I was afraid I would be next. Tammi had never been physical before!

Something inside me shifted that day, as I sat on the sidelines while my classmates finished out the period. This was bullshit! Nobody has any right to treat another human being with anything less than the respect they deserve. People shouldn't be putting their hands on each other, especially for such minor mistakes as uttering a cuss word. I was sick of being bullied, and I was sick of Sandy being bullied. I was going to do something!

I write.

I write.  Sometimes, I do it well.  Other times, I struggle, as do most writers. I have goals.  I have work I'd like to publish, some of it not yet created or completed. I needed a space to share my journey, so here we are.

I am a poet, a blogger (I have five now, including this one,) a comedian. I've been a stringer, a section editor, an editorial liaison, a citizen journalist. I've written all kinds of things.  The only area where I struggle is in fiction, so I will be working on that.  I have a desire to write a memoir, and I'd like to write horror.

This blog is meant to be a space where I can share anything and everything related to my writing journey, from exercises, to snippets of  original work, to relevant articles.  I hope that you will join me on this journey, and I hope that you enjoy it. I can also be found on Medium, though I am slow to post there.

Peace.