Blogging About Blogging

Deb Ng from Freelance Writing Jobs wrote a little piece over at Performancing (great place, btw) on getting your blog ready for the new year. She mentioned several points, but I really took away these three to put to use over here at LWAOT.

1. Create specific activities to occur on certain days of the week. I've already been plotting this one out. From Mon. to Fri. each day will have a theme, topic, or what-have-you.

• Monday - Book Reviews/Writing News
• Tuesday - Random Thoughts
• Wednesday - Whiny Wednesday
• Thursday - Article on one of the topics for the month (See below)
• Friday - Writing Wrap-up/Friday Snippet (maybe)

2. Create an editorial calendar for your blog. You know, like the magazines use to tell them what topic or area to focus on that month. So, I started jotting down ideas that sort of tie together for each month. For example, for January, I jotted down the following ideas: Resolutions, Weight Loss, Exercise, Quitting smoking. For my Thursday article, I can use these to build some writing samples.

3. Use your date/time stamp to let you work ahead on your material and have it appear on your blog when you want. I don't think blogger really supports this capability, as I've yet to find something on it. Wordpress, however, I believe has some code junkies out there that will let you do this. So, I'll see what I need to do.

I think these things could really up the content of my blog, which I've wanted to do. We'll see how it goes. Things don't always work the way I want them to.

Not Doing So Hot on This Posting Thing...Or Writing For That Matter

Things have been a bit nutty. They always are this time of year. It's when I become a widow to the deer hunt. This holiday weekend was the longest ever. It just wouldn't go away. Normally I'm all for the paid time off from work, but Piper just wouldn't quit. No naps until an hour or two before bedtime. Stripping all her clothes off and peeing on the floor. Honestly, it felt good to go drop her off at my mom's for work yesterday. The whole plan for the weekend: Write when Piper's sleeping. It just never happened. I swear I have bad luck or bad karma. Bad something.



Then there's is this personal thing that I've been going through. I think it's a quarter life crisis. I don't know. It's just that I've realized that you only live one life, and, well, I want a job that makes a difference in someone's life. Even if it's just to make someone's day go by a little easier. Plus, I really want to run my own business. Have for long time.



This current job I'm now is supposed to be the big after college job. But I don't feel that great about it for a lot of reasons. Most of which I won't mention here because they are private. It's not the first time that I've felt that I'm not right for the corporate world, though.



So I've decided that I want to start an errand business. I think it's an unfilled niche to this area. I also think it won't take off right away, so I'd like to supplement with freelance writing. I suggested this to my dad and the response was less than overwhelming. I knew better than to mention it to my husband.

Then I pitched the idea to Miss Michele's Tarot, the lovely alter ego of Dawn Allcot. The reading? Basically, I will be successful, but it will take work and there will be obstacles. Story of my life. I've always been a fan of hard work to reach what you want. It builds character. But that reading also meant that in order for this to start happening, I'd have to talk about it to my husband. Which scared the crap out of me.

I walked around for many days with my stomach twisted in a knot, and tears leaking down my face. Finally, this weekend, I got the nerve to say something to him about what I wanted. His response, very typical for him, was something about how we couldn't afford it right now. Well, I don't mean right now. I'm thinking of a launch in a year or year and a half or so. Huge planner, right here folks.

So I'm going to put together a plan, get my foot in the door freelancing, and do this thing. I don't know how much time that will leave for fiction writing, but I want this. I really want this. So I'm going to try very hard to achieve it.

Finding Time for Me, or Incorporating Realistic Writing Goals

I sat the other day reviewing the things I've wanted to do in terms of writing. It's been hellacious in this house lately, and I feel like I've put myself on the back burner. I'm past exhausted, and it's starting to show. But, what better way to energize myself than come up with some simple and completely achievable writing goals? Feeling the failure from not reaching other goals, I picked a slow, steady pace. So in no particular order, here are things I'd like to be doing.

• Novel - Write 500 words or more every morning. Shouldn't be too hard for me so long as I'm not stuck on it. I can spit out words pretty quickly.
• Short Stories - Reserve Tue & Thu evenings for working on shorts. Doesn't matter if I'm writing, editing, or submitting so long as it's shorts.
• Blogging - Reserve Mon, Wed, & Fri evenings for blog entries. Also, I plan to take my posts to the next level and up the content a notch.
• Saturdays - Planning, research, and similar tasks. All those little things I need to do wrapped into one day.
• Sundays - Extra writing time and the Flash Fiction Challenge every Sunday.
• Freelance - I'd like to dabble in freelance, building some writing credits and making a little extra money every month. Problem is that I'm waiting for clearance from work. They have to approve all for-profit work outside of the company.

I'm hoping that I'm not overloading myself here, but in theory, I'm thinking that each evening will have a half an hour or so devoted to writing. We'll see. It's worth a shot. I've been feeling like I'm neglecting myself, and it's making me unhappy. I need time for me.

Brave New Adventures

So, it’s my turn to participate in the AbsoluteWrite Blogchain #9. Following a wonderful post from Andrea on the pushing outside your comfort zone, it got me thinking to when I really started pushing outside of my comfort zone.

I’ve always been a tad bit stubborn. Only a little, I promise. I know that I gave my mom a run for her money when I was little. It’s just how I am. And I’ve always been a bit of a thinker. Not many children read from an encyclopedia just because, or to gather information. I’ve be hoarding information since I could grasp it.

So what makes me push boundaries? I’ve always had a knack for that, too. Question after question until I wear someone out. But, I like to know the intricacies of things. Is what your currently doing the best option? Are there better ways out there? If you’ve tried X before, what made it fail? Can you improve what you’re doing?

I’ve always liked to try new things within reason. Which means maximizing safety and minimizing stupidity. No, I’m not going to hang on to the hood of your car while you drive around the parking lot. Yes, I will learn to use a gun, even if they scare me, because it can be useful and I can go hunting with you.

Common sense is a wonderful spice to add to life, and I don’t like to make decisions lightly. But some things don’t affect us all equally. So, I tried to make a list of things that push my comfort boundaries. A couple of things that stuck out:

I start a new job a week from Monday. I just starting feeling like I was really comfortable in my current position, and now I get start from scratch again with people I am not sure will like me.

I’ve been encouraged to post more of my writing at AW. I don’t often like to attract attention to myself, and right now I don’t have anything polished enough to let others lay eyes on. I can’t bring myself to do it because I see so much weakness in what I have. I probably should polish up something to post for crit.

With that enlightening post, I shall leave you to how you feel about your comfort, and what activities factor those changes. Next up in the blogchain is Niteowl at http://www.periodically.org/.

AbsoluteWrite BlogChain #9

Virginia Lee: I Ain't Dead Yet!
http://blog.cathsmith.com/
hunt & peck
Life, Writing, and Other Things
periodically.org
Food History
A View From the Waterfront
Organized Chaos
Willibee
The Road Less Traveled
awchain

Poked, Prodded & Pushed Around

Now, Jenna Glatzer is giving me a hard time.

Okay, so not really a hard time, but she prodded me to keep posting. I've been thinking that I should, but nothing's really going on.

I'm putting all the finances in order a laptop from the Dell outlet. Good prices, but I watched my picture perfect computer get snatched up this morning. So, it's in the works, but nothing yet. As I get time to fix the desktop, I will. It's a nice computer really.

Job interview first thing in the morning. Ugh. I have to get up & leave super early if I don't want to miss any time this week in my current job. They will be having kittens if I leave, I think. But this job I'm interviewing for will use both of my majors and they seem excited to have me come in.

I don't know if it is stress or what, but I've not been writing as usual. I'll snap out of it. It just seems like there are times when I have great plans and disaster strikes. It gets a bit depressing. But, life goes and I'll get over it.

Falling Off the Face of the Planet

So I've disappeared for a bit, given all the computer difficulties. I have to figure out a way around the problems I keep having, and I'm not sure how that's going to happen, but I'll get there. What I am debating right now is whether I want to order a cheap laptop, and whether I should tell the husband before or after it arrives.

I've wanted a laptop for a long time, and this a great time to get one. I can back up all the data from my desktop and wipe it, while enjoying the comforts of still having a computer to use. Not to mention I can write while sitting next to the husband on the couch while he watches some TV show that I can nothing about.

And a thanks to Frank Baron for posting a comment and here, which prompted a comment to myself along the lines of, "Hey Dummy! Yeah you. The blog is feeling neglected so get over there and write."

Changes to the Blog

I've finally add some of the elements that I want to the blog. I think it looks pretty nice, but I'm not finished yet. I have more stuff to add, and the colors might change before I'm done. I haven't quite decided.

What I really love is the WIP bar. Over there. You see it? That thing is moving slowly but surely, and I'm back to working on my novel. At the same time that I'm working through the Create a Character Clinic by Holly Lisle. Great stuff that Holly has. I'm also reading Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer by Jenna Glatzer.

I'm also doing some other stuff, so it feel like everything is falling into place, and I'm starting to feel excited about all of it. It's good stuff.

Playing Hooky from My Blog

Soooooo…

I have all these plans and then Poof! I disappear. Well, I still have plans, and I have been doing things, so it’s not a total wash.

Since my last post, I have been crazy busy. Our peeps next door moved out and we’re getting the place ready for new people. The daughter has been a royal handful as well. And I’ve decided to pull all the crap from the house that we don’t need that’s clogging up space or that needs to be in a garage sale. So basically, that means there’s stuff everywhere until I get it over to my dad’s.

In good news, I submitted a contest entry over at the AW Freelance Board, which means that I wrote an entire freelance article. In my book, it’s progress toward that my freelancing goals.

I opened up my WIP yesterday and added new words! Queen of Legends currently resides at 3,632 words so far. I’m putting up a mock finish goal of 100,000 words, but I have no clue how many words I’m headed towards, but considering there are six main people and two primary points of view, I have a feeling it will be huge. But I’m getting excited about it again.

I’m reading Holly Lisle’s Character Clinic as I’m getting back in , so I hope it helps a bunch. Actually I love all of Holly’s stuff because her writing is clear, clean and resonates with me. Ten people can explain it to me, but it always seems to click when Holly adds her voice.

I really want to get started on book reviews soon. *Glances over at stack of books awaiting reviews.* Okay, I really NEED to get start on book reviews soon. I’ll be adding them to the mix soon, but I figure I should stir the bowl as I slowly add ingredients. Then I be the writer I want to be.

Blog changes are still pending. I’m compiling ideas and such. When I get a bit of the housework caught up, I’ll work on the blog. Until the next time, take care.

Sleep Will Find Me Soon (I Hope)

This has been one exciting and busy week. I interviewed on Tuesday for one position and received a call to interview next week for another.

But as a result I'm exhausted from Tuesday. Three in the morning is not the best time to get up. So I went to bed earlier last night, and had the weirdest night. I woke up at least 4 or 5 times and every time I woke up, I thought I had slept through the alarm and was late for work. Piper ended up in the bed with us, though I believe it's because the thunder and wind woke her up.

So, essentially I'm brain dead until I sleep in Saturday morning. And sometime this weekend I'll be doing some stuff with my blog.

Blog Layout and Changes

So now there are some neat layout features to Blogger, and so I’m deciding what nifty things I want to put on my blog. So far, these are the ideas I have:

1. Sites that I Love
2. Blogs that I Visit
3. 5 books I’m reading or are in the TBR pile
4. WIP Bar to track progress on my novel.
5. And maybe something on current writing projects, once I get them organized and moving forward again.

It’s just so hard to decide what to put on there, and what might interest those people that bother to read my blog. So I guess if any of you have some ideas or suggestions, feel free to comment.