author life

Accidental Routine, Caffeine and Editing as a Learning Process

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: StockSnap on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! First things first…I’ve been working on the site here and there. This week’s little addition and subtractions can be found in the sidebar to your right. I’ve decided to create a shop for the site that will have fun merch featuring my own designs that cater to writers and readers alike! So I took down the other shop icons and hope you’ll check out the new one. I am still building it with new designs and importing some other ones, but do have a couple up there now. Just click on the design to see all of the cool stuff you can find for gifts and yourself. I know I don’t normally push any kind of shopping or affiliate links on you guys until the end of my posts, but I’m excited about my Dashery shop!

Ok, enough of that, let’s get to it shall we?

I read a ton of stories and watch lots of videos from fellow writers trying to learn from them. Everything from their processes to how to publish and so much in between. One thing that seems to be a recurring theme is that many have a routine for their writing. I personally never did this. I write when the story needs to come out. When my creative juices are flowing. I couldn’t understand how others could just ‘write on command’. I can’t tell my story, ‘look, at 6pm, I’m going to sit at my keyboard and write you.’ It’s just not me. And if you’ve read my previous posts, you know that authority and I do not get along and that is how it felt to me. Like everyone was telling me that I ‘had’ to do it this way or else. So, I didn’t.

Imagine my surprise when just this week, as I was setting a cup of tea down and grabbing my keyboard to lay down a new chapter, it hit me. Shit, I did this at the same time last night…and the night before. I really started to think about it and yes, somehow, I ended up with an accidental routine! How the hell did that happen?

It’s sad but true, I have apparently caved. Happy to say though, it’s not because anyone told me to do it! (I have to maintain some of my dignity damn it.) I have become so focused on routines lately. For example, when I have dinner or how I get myself ready for a binge reading session…it’s not because I am a boring person. Ok, I may be just a little bit these days, but I started doing this because of my memory issues. If I fail to follow a routine for some things then I miss a step and then I’m just lost. Crazy? Maybe, but it’s how I roll.

By the way, allow me to just state for the record that I wasn’t always like this. I used to be spontaneous, fun and out every night! There was never a set in stone time. I didn’t have to do things one by one with a mental checklist to make sure everything was taken care of. I’d go for spur of the moment day trips, stay out until after closing time and there was no such thing as binge reading. I just went out and had a blast. (I miss those days!)

To now have designated times where I get myself ready to type something has me baffled, but you want to know the punchline? It works!

I have been very serious about this new book I’ve been writing. I always thought my draft of my other story would be the one to get out to the public first. But the more I write this new one and the more I get involved with both the story and the characters, the more I’m thinking that this one is the one I may want to present first. I’m having fun with it and I can’t wait each night to get to it. The strange thing is that I have lots of time before my ‘keyboard appointment’ happens to get it started early each day and yet, it never feels right when I do. I need it to be at the same time every night so that I can involve myself back into where I was the night before. And thus, my routine was born. I grab some kind of caffeinated beverage, my iPad, my keyboard and get myself comfy for a few hours of writing. With the exception of just a night or two here and there (I’m fighting a brutal respiratory infection as my parting gift from Covid back in early March), I have been loyal to this system and in the last two weeks have written eight chapters.

One major change I’ve been doing with this book that I didn’t my first time around is the whole ‘editing as I go’ process. I think when I wrote my first story I was so determined to get it all down that I wrote first and then went back to edit later. Which is a big reason why it is taking me so long to do. This time however, I fully edit the previous chapter before writing the next one. I do not allow myself to write any new words until I have slashed, corrected, moved around and in one case, completely rewritten an entire chapter. It is only then that I print it out.

By doing this, it not only lets me put my best work forward, but it also familiarizes me with the story thus far. Where did I leave off last night? What was that detail that one character dropped? Did I mistakenly mix up a date from chapter one? Asking myself a million questions is vital; keeping a printed hard copy next to me so I can quickly reference between chapters is super helpful; I also keep my trusty notebook to write down any ideas that come to me for the next chapter…this is a major tool for me. 

Just last night I thought I had finished writing my latest chapter and it was perfect timing as I got incredibly tired and my eyes and fingers were just on fire. I was about to congratulate myself for doing a whole one in like 3 hours when I realized something was missing. I looked at the notebook and sure enough, there was a major passage I had handwritten out that I wanted to include in this scene. So ok, I didn’t officially finish. At least I know in advance where I’m picking up tonight! I didn’t do this at all with book one or its half of a sequel that I’ve started. Why? I have NO idea. This has been incredibly helpful and it has been making this story flow much easier as well. 

Writing, like anything, is a constant learning process. I’m proud to say that I not only I have not only been learning from other authors but I have been learning from myself as well! I feel that I am growing as a writer the more I get done. My hope is that at the end, when this book is finally out there for all to see, it will be well received. (Please please please let everyone like it!)

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for hanging out with me again  and until next time…

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Just a reminder, if you like what I’m doing here, I invite you to subscribe to my blog. Hit the blue ‘follow’ button in the right sidebar (towards the top) and you’ll get updates on my new posts!

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Amazon big book sale still going on until April 28th. Don’ t miss this, there are some awesome deals going on right now.

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Find me on social and my linktree shop: linktr.ee/promosocially

Thanks for making it this far. See you in the next post! 🙂

Identity Crisis, Thank You and Quick Back Story

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: Vilkasss on Pixabay.

Hey all, welcome back! I will start off with super quick but VERY sincere thank yous all around to those of you who made my numbers jump! I was more than surprised to see how many came to visit here over the past few days and I guess the saying is true, ‘if you build it, they will come.’ Or at least, I hope that’s the reason. Anyway, thank you all and I hope this means I am on the right track here. 🙂

I do have two quick apologies: The first, I am having all kinds of trouble accessing my comments and have no idea why. I cannot see them nor can I respond to them (just like twitter so go figure) so please do not think that I am not interacting with or ignoring anyone. The other is for the url debacle going on. Yes, you can officially use my ccsocialcreative.com domain but there are name server issues on godaddy’s side and that is also being dealt with as well. Alrighty, now that I feel better, let’s do this…

I have never had the issue that many writers, actors or directors have had where they say something like, “I hope to be the next Bette Davis/Paul Haggis/Jane Austen.” Nope. I just wanted my work to stand on its own and make a name for myself. When I was much, much younger and doing more journalistic pieces, I studied the different writings of sports and news columnists to true crime authors, with the mindset that I could take a little from column ‘a’ and a little from column ‘b’ and develop my own style that wouldn’t fit into any specific box. I didn’t want my readers to pick up something thinking, ‘yep, a chick wrote this’ especially since my main focus through high school was to become an investigative reporter. I wanted to create a neutral voice so that the subject matter was the main focus of the piece.

I had started writing for school newspapers young, including the first elementary class in our school to ever create their own paper! As I got older, I took political science classes and history extra credit courses and learned not only of the time periods and of course the facts, etc, but I also really paid attention to how these stories were written. Yes, I still did want to write the next great novel, but I was young, foolish and by high school, went off the rails quite a bit as far as the whole academic thing. I began being the angry news writer. My columns were directed at fighting the system that just suspended me again for cutting class or whatever my offense was that particular week. Good to know that my fallback position was a nice ‘steady’ theater dream that made those around me wince at the slight mention of it. (Although, not my parents, go figure!)

It was during those earlier years that I discovered my love for non-fiction. I wanted facts over fake. I wanted depth vs naivety and I wanted nothing, NOTHING to do with Shakespeare. I was somehow able to avoid the Bard somehow in both my writing journey and my theater work. As badly as I wanted to become a writer, I was never into the classics. I never read Jane Austen, but I will admit that I saw a version of Sense and Sensibility once! Damn my crush on Hugh Grant!

I had always loved the show Kiss Me Kate, we even did in high school. Once, when a PBS showing of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew was on (for which the musical is based), my mother thought I’d like it, sat me down and I got through maybe three minutes then asked if I was being punished for something.

Later, I had lost an opportunity to go to American University as a journalism major and fell back on something steady, like theater.  I was able to avoid Sir William’s work yet again and would opt not for monologues from say Romeo and Juliet but more from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I stopped writing for a number of years, a couple of decades really, then reemerged as a journalist with my own site. I coverered area events, wrote about local history and proudly earned my press badge, not working for anyone else but rather, myself. I then turned that into a job working for a tech company. With the creative freedom I had there, I loved writing for them. Unfortunately life took the turn that brought me here.

As time went by, I started to look back and see that I did still have the dream that I had as a kid. Write a book. But as we all know, the older we get, the less time there is to do things such as acting on our dreams. I say this, be careful what you wish for.

Quick backstory for the new folks…If you read my ‘about me page’ (see link in the top menu bar), you’ll understand my story a little more. My health took a header in 2016. I had to quit my job and the last 8 1/2 years (as of this writing) have been a roller coaster ever since. I went from being highly social and out all the time with friends to staying in bed 24/7. With the exception of a few months here and there when I actually felt good and got out and could walk the dogs and even run a little and play some wiffle ball, it would always follow with brutal setbacks. Each one gets worse and I end up back in my room. For almost a year now, that’s pretty much where I’ve stayed. However, having said that, from this bed, I’ve been able to create two businesses (nothing big and successful yet, but I keep trying!) and more importantly to me…I’ve finally had the time to write!

But write what? 

I’ve always been creative for which I am truly grateful. But decades of reading only histories, autobiographies and the like left me little room for storytelling. Just for the hell of it, I was searching on amazon to see if anything would strike a chord with me in the, dare I say, fiction section?! They say never judge a book by its cover and I didn’t. However the title intrigued me and for the hell of it, I hit the ol’ buy it now button. When it arrived, I couldn’t put it down. What was stranger still was that as I was reading it, a story of my own emerged.

That first draft took forever to finish. I was so sick in between chapters, it would literally be months before I could even look at it again. I’d have to go back and reread what I had already written to refamiliarize myself with the story, characters and setting. I had many setbacks during that draft and only finished the entire thing in early Fall of 2024. It…took…years. But my goal of finishing it was achieved and I literally cried when I printed the entire thing out to edit and that pile of paper was staring back at me.

As I also used this time in bed, the last two years in particular, to read dozens and dozens of books, more ideas have come about. Between current waves of illness and editing frustration, I’ve now also written half of a sequel and then put that down (writer’s block issue) and began to write the first 7 chapters of the book I’m currently working on. One that I am really excited about! This led me to yesterday…

After doing an Amazon search earlier for some new titles to throw into my save for later for the big book sale this week, I was thinking about how to search for what I wanted my next reads to be. This got me thinking about the future. How will folks search for my own book? I don’t want to be known as the ‘next’ anyone. My stories can run into different genres and each one has its own arc. However, I don’t think I’d mind seeing, say for a romance, “if you like Emily Henry then you’d like…” or something along those lines. Look, I’m not trying to be someone else. Just want to be a (successful) storyteller in my own right and be proud to see my name among those whose books I’m loving these days.

It’s funny,  thinking about it now, I don’t think that subject has come up in any of the author events that I’ve been to over the last few years. The question of pen names has, or the usual, “what gets you inspired?” But never, ‘do you mind being compared to anyone else?’ Maybe it’s out of fear that the author in question will then leap off the dais lunging directly at the person asking, then proceeding to stab said person with the end of the microphone? The world may never know. 

What I do know is this…I’m currently a 54 year old thinking she is still 35 and that’s enough of an identity crisis for me. I don’t need to prematurely worry about whether or not someone will call me the ‘next’ anyone. If anything, I should just be flattered if they read my work and think I’m as good as the established authors who are already killing it out there! They are the ones who have paved the way for myself and others and I thank them all for their work…including Shakespeare.

And that folks, is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for joining me here again and as usual, any relevant links will be below. I’m still trying to find the sweet spot for post times so I appreciate your checking back to see I’ve done so!

Until next time…Cheers!

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The book that reignited my writing journey: The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson (now on sale!)

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Amazon’s Big Book Sale runs from April 23rd-28th. It’s an annual sale so don’t miss out on this years deals!

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My links above and in the right side bar can be clicked to find more great deals as well as my shops. You can also find my social links for this site and more at: linktr.ee/promosocially

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New site updates coming soon and I just thank you for having made it this far. See you soon!

Moments in Time, Why Trolls Why and Chapters vs. Painkillers

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: StockSnap on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! I only kind of slacked off this week with the posting having posted here just once on Monday, I did however make up for it by creating some extra freebies for my Facebook followers…so in one sentence I apologized AND gave a not so subtle hint that you should go and follow my site on FB as well. How’s THAT for an intro?! Btw, you can either click either the sidebar link or the link I’ll post below to access it. Just sayin’. 🙂

Anywhoo, here we are again and I’d like to officially start this post by letting you know that I have happily upgraded this site! So no more intrusive ads that I haven’t had control over on here and the new url is: ccsocialcreative.com

So happy that it is finally done and I’d like to give a special thank you shout-out to the complete stranger who posted a 50% off coupon code for WordPress that I used on this endeavor. (Something else I’ll add to the bottom of this post.) Truthfully, I’ve had the domain for a few years, but I didn’t want to commit it to a designated site until I had committed to it myself. Now that I’ve been doing that, the timing seems to be perfect and lo and behold, the new phase of this site has begun. Where is it going? I have no idea but I just hope you will be along for the ride! Now let’s get to the ‘actual’ post, shall we?

I don’t know about you, but I love a good routine. I think in my case it’s more because I have memory issues and by sticking to a routine, I can make sure I do every step. It’s something my neurologist thankfully told me is a good idea and doesn’t make me all kinds of OCD. Well, in this case anyway. I do have my moments. There are some designated times in my day that I stick to, mental checklist and all. My favorite time is when I’m making my dinner. I use the time for my nightly tea to steep and my food to cook to get in some book time. The fact that I sing ‘book time’ to myself is completely irrelevant and yet, still felt the need to share it here.

As big of a coffee lover I am, I had discovered this tea that now, I can’t have a night without. It is my personal ritual. My moment in time every day that I truly look forward to. I can escape into my reading while I steep to death my happy cup of tea. It is the break from the day that is all mine. No social media, no looking at notifications, no phone even near me! I leave it in the other room so I won’t be tempted to look at it. It’s 25 minutes of escapism that not only gets me back involved with characters I didn’t come up with, but also starts to get the creative juices flowing for my upcoming writing session later on. It both clears my head and entertains me all at the same time. And no matter what kind of day I’ve had up until then, it can shift my mood considerably. Tonight for example, I went into my ‘book time’ angry about something that I had kept turning over in my head. But once the whole routine had begun, once I finished reading one more chapter and once I had finished my cup of tea…my mood was lifted and I was able to get to work. Moments in time for ourselves are so important. Don’t miss out on yours.

So what gets this seemingly neurotic individual angry? Well, lots of things. But the last two days, I did what you are not supposed to do…I let an internet troll get to me. 

I hate reading comments on social posts. There will always be that one moron that has to stir things up and for some inane reason, I am not built to let it go. Whether I comment or not, just the fact that I read this person’s response, a total stranger mind you, can make me furious. So you can imagine when, in this instance, the anger hit when the comment was made directly to me! A complete stranger decided to jump on something I had said and was so incredibly rude I couldn’t believe it. All I did was comment on a video, of a kid mind you, a simple line like ‘way to go!’. Oh the horror!

The way this individual had ‘talked’ to me, all condescending and nasty? Had me seething. I have quite a temper when it’s released and frankly, it’s been a while since I’ve let someone have it. Therapeutically, it honestly would have helped since we went back and forth a couple of times. But alas, the internet. I had decided that since these were public comments, I’d kill him with kindness. I laid it on thick. I called him out in the nicest way possible and then closed with a simple, ‘have a nice day,’ when in my head I was dropping f-bombs left and right. Now, I may jinx this, but I’m happy to say, while his other two responses happened almost immediately, after my last comment, I have not heard back from him. The happy ending though? I received a notification just before I started typing this post that someone had apologized for him and told me that I was so nice for encouraging the boy in the video the way I did and that I shouldn’t let that guy get to me. It is very good to know that there are nice people out there who still stick up for others and who still take the time to make someone feel good. So to that person, I say thank you for restoring my faith in humanity.

As usual, this post has taken a turn I wasn’t expecting. When it comes to this blog, I tend to start out with an idea in mind and then just let my fingers type what they will. Ok, so I also write my characters in much the same way. I will, however, post here with a clear mind. My books? Well…

I’ve been pushing myself a little too hard over the last week which isn’t good with my medical stuff. It takes nothing for a setback to happen but when I do feel good, I like to use that to my advantage. To get things done I normally can’t do. I always pay the price for it the next day though which happened twice this week resulting in the need for the ‘good’ painkillers to make an appearance. 

Now cut to me getting work done on the new book. Staring at the screen as I type a million miles a minute thinking it’s all working. Until I reread it the next day, horrified as I do. Let’s just say, my imagination on these pills is scary. Not to mention, I had two pages of ONE sentence! As determined as I am to sit each night and churn out a new chapter, my biggest mistakes happen when I think I can ‘outrun’ the meds’ effects and try to write as much as I can before they take hold. But once I’m on a roll, I can’t stop. So half of the chapter will make perfect sense to the story. It will flow naturally and the writing is where it needs to be. Then, as I am rereading it, I can tell the exact word where the meds kick in. After that, it’s a free-for-all. Forget not even keeping with the story, but inventing new characters I had no intention of creating. The location suddenly jumps to another country or the story takes a turn that as I’m reading it, I suddenly burst out loud saying, “what the hell was that?!” 

I will admit that I find it comical to the point that I end up laughing at what I’m like on these things. (And so grateful no one else has actually witnessed such behavior.) While the other half of me then realizes, shit. I now have to go back and rewrite everything from say, page 5 and I’ve just doubled my workload. Ok, yes, I’m still laughing while I’m doing it because wow, my imagination is something ‘special’. But let this be a lesson for the kiddies out there…don’t write impaired. Or do and then EDIT like your life depends on it!

And that is where I will leave you for today. If you’ve made it this far, as always I thank you and I’m sure you are wondering if I wrote this particular post on the meds. I’d love to say that yes, I had taken them. But nope. Just a double ramble session because I only posted one other time this week. So thanks for reading my rambles!

Ohhhh before I forget! The BIG annual Amazon book sale is coming up! I’ll put the info below for you. 🙂

As usual, I will post all relevant links below and I welcome you to the ‘new’ ccsocialcreative.com! Thanks for being here and here’s to what the next chapter holds.

Cheers guys…until next time!

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Monday’s post can be found here

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All social links, as well as the tea I was talking about above can be found in my linktree and linktree shop.

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The Amazon Annual Book sale runs from April 23-28th but you can find some early deals now. It covers books, some devices and more so don’t miss out and be sure to stock up for your summer reading TBR now! You can click my link here for deals and to help this site when you shop with it!

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The WordPress 50% off coupon code I used to help me upgrade this site is: SPECKYBOY50

I have no affiliation with the person or company who posted this, I also do not know when it expires. I found it doing a google search and gave it a shot and just thought I’d share it here.

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you! 🙂

Absolute Panic, Brainstorming and Challenging Myself

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo Credit: LMSunday at Pixabay

Hi all and welcome to a new week! I had planned on posting this a little earlier today but I lost the Bluetooth connection to my keyboard and freaked out for a bit. Thanks to this internet thing, I found the manual and all is right with the world again. Silly issue? Possibly, but since I use this thing constantly, yes, an absolute panic was had for a good 45 minutes.

But I digress…

I have been really churning out the pages on this new story I came up with last week. In a matter of about four days, I’ve typed over 20,000 words over several chapters and this morning, my brain decided that wasn’t enough. Just as I was going to sleep, I came up with a scene that I needed to jot down fast or I’d lose it. (With no short term memory, having a note pad next to my bed is vital for times like this.) The funny thing is, I was giving my fingers a bit of a break yesterday by refraining from any typing and yet, when I went to write down these scene ideas, I ended up handwriting 9 pages in my happy new notebook. At this rate, I’ll be needing a new one every other day!

Having a brainstorming session with myself is surreal. I don’t know if anyone else goes through this, ok, I’m almost positive you all do…but when I get an idea I have to get it out. Clear the mind so I can move on. This is how this new book started in the first place! As I’ve mentioned previously, I was working on the sequel to my first novel (while editing that one) and an idea struck me. When this happens, everything else gets put on hold until I can get the idea out of my head. Once I get a lull or something strikes me for my original plan, I can abandon what I’m currently working on. I don’t know if any of that makes sense but it sounded good in my head!

However, this current story is really exciting me. It’s like nothing else I’ve written and I wanted to see if I could write in this genre. I love challenging myself. I really do. I find I do it a lot with life stuff and medical stuff. Getting me into an MRI took some doing now it’s just like, ‘ok, let’s get this over with’. Yet a challenge means so much more when I think I can’t do something. Or, I see someone else truly succeeding in something and wonder if I could do it so I decide to try it out. It’s challenging me for me. It doesn’t have to mean prizes at the end, or ribbons or cash rewards (although that would really come in handy right about now) but just being able to try it out and then finishing it? That to me is the prize.

When I wrote my first book, it took years to complete. Mostly because of medical issues. I had to keep stopping and heal up before I could write again. I was frustrated because I had written the first six chapters in less than a week and I thought it was going so well. Then I’d hit a health setback and it would be months before I could pick it up again. By then, I’d have to reread what I had written to remember the story lines, the details, hell even the character names! This cycle went on for quite some time but when I finished it and printed it out? I cried. I really did. Because I was so determined to finish it. Even if I didn’t get it published, I was so happy I completed it. (Of course it is getting published, are you crazy?)

I know I tend to repeat myself on this blog and I apologize for that. I used to think I was doing it so folks new here could catch up, but you know what? Sometimes I feel the messages need to be repeated. So here is my message for today…It is OK to challenge yourself! It is ok to put down a goal and strive for it even if no one else knows that’s what you are doing. Other people don’t need to know everything about you, no matter what social media claims. You can actually go out for dinner without posting pics! (Really, you can!) And just like that, you can write that book or that song. You can paint that canvas and try to get it in a show. You can learn a new language, instrument or skill. You can run that marathon or 5k. Whatever it is that means something to YOU, go for it!

The year before I got sick, I worked my ass off training for a 5k. I found a list of upcoming events in my area and found one that was still several months away. I had never participated in a race like this so I didn’t want to make an ass of myself doing it. And I certainly wasn’t up to doing a full or even half a marathon. I was never a runner and I was going to walk it, but I wanted to cut my time per mile down. I was always a big walker. Walked 15-20 miles a week minimum. But for a race? A leisurely stroll wasn’t going to cut it. So I started literally in my bedroom. It was still cold outside, so I’d walk in place (no treadmill) with my step counter and pick up the pace until I could do two miles under a certain time. As the weather warmed up, I would go next door to the elementary school and use their parking lot for laps. I had a playlist that kept a great pace and I walked every single day for all those months cutting my times bit by bit until it was race time. I was using old sneakers with almost no padding and I hurt my knee during training. This came back to bite me in the ass as about 30 seconds into the actual race, my knee flared up and I still wouldn’t let it stop me. Not after months of prepping for it!

When I first started my quest, I was over 21 minutes a mile and by race time, I clocked under 15:30. I was so damned proud of myself! I couldn’t believe it! I finished the race. I didn’t win, I didn’t even come in 20th. I was one of the last people to cross the finish line (but not the last so hey, personal win) and I wanted to scream out ‘I DID IT!!!’

I had only my mother there to cheer me on which was great and she proceeded to yell and scream as I walked past her, (I pretended I couldn’t hear her over my earbuds, but I think they could hear her in the next town over lol) and it was great.

Because I had only told a few what I was doing, sure I was hurt that I didn’t have more folks there cheering me on. Plus, I had one friend call it my “little walk thing” as in, “oh your little walk thing was today?” Which, I’m not gonna lie, still stings today. I mean obviously that’s why I mentioned it. But that’s ok. Because I wasn’t out to challenge anyone else. THAT’S the point. I wanted to challenge MYSELF. To see if I could do it and I did! So now that that particular bucket list item has been checked off, I went to the next one and then the one after that.

Now that I’m a little older, I can look back on my life and see that I really have checked off a whole lot on my list. Sure there’s always more stuff I’m adding to it, but adding them up in my head now? I’ve done a whole lot and I’m proud of myself for doing it. For TRYING. Did I always succeed? Hellllll no. But I tried and I hope you do too.

So that is your message for this week. Keep trying. Even if what you write sucks. Even if your painting is a splotch. Even if the song you write may never get into the rock and roll hal of fame, it’s ok!!! Keep trying. Keep motivated. Keep creating. It’s ok.

And that is where I am leaving you tonight!

Thanks as always for putting up with the rambles and until next time…

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If you’d like to catch up on my earlier posts, please feel free to click the ‘new posts’ link in the menu bar. 🙂

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If you’d like to catch up with me on social, you can hit up my linktree: linktr.ee/promosocially

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If you’d like to check out my links in the side bar to shop with me, it would help me out and support the site. I do hope to upgrade this blog soon, get my domain connected and monetize this a bit more. I hope you’ll bear with me as I work to get there and thank you all for getting this far in the post. I’ll see you soon! Cheers. 

Rainy Weather, Word Count and Late Friday Post

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: ProfitRN on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! I’m a bit late in posting on this rainy Friday. I take solace in the fact that I am going against my own time table instead of a more structured one. Plus, I posted twice this week already…so really, I’m giving all the excuses. 🙂

It has been cold, rainy and windy here in the Northeast and you know what? I’m ok with that! I love the cold weather. I love reading and writing in the rain and if it delays Summer a bit longer, I’m happy. Sorry warm weather people, I am not someone for the heat. However, I do like Spring a lot and am anxiously waiting to see the flowers around here start to bloom. But how can you beat sitting with a good book, a cup of tea/coffee/cocoa (or whatever your hot beverage of choice is) with the windows open and hearing a good rain fall outside? It’s one of the things that makes life happy. And if it’s not your thing, that’s ok. As long as you have something that makes you happy, then go for it! (I do like to blast rock music when I know there’s no one around in any of the apartments around here when I need a good scream session. I’m not all books you know.)

Anywhooo, as I sit here cozy on my bed typing this, I’m watching my Yankees lose on a dreary night down at the stadium where they all look cold as hell. I’ve been to a few games in this type of weather and while it may have taken weeks for the chill to go away afterwards, to quote my father, “spending hours at the stadium in the rain is still better than not.” So there you go. I used to go to games all the time, but my last baseball game was 9 years ago. Went with friends, PERFECT weather and got some great photos from that night that I framed for my father. Because even if you can’t get to your favorite arena of choice doesn’t mean you can’t look at it every day!

So here I sit, writing for you and for myself. Actually on that front, I’ve done more writing this week than I have for a while and it has felt good. I posted twice here earlier in the week, which I’m thinking of doing more of. No more once a week posts, will try for a minimum of two a week going forward…if not more. And I am happy to say that I’ve been working on a new story.

NEW story you ask?

Why yes. Because my brain has decided to take a vacation on the books I’ve already been working on and while the writer’s block has been insane on that front, it did give me an idea for another one. Unfortunately this happens to me a lot and because of this, I now have about five other started novels. Some going as deep as 10-11 chapters! Once I get an idea, I have to get it out. Clear it out of my head so that I can go back to my original book which I have GOT to finish editing/rewriting so I can get the damned thing published because I really really really want to get it out there! 

I’m done. Sorry. Writer freak out.

I mentioned in a previous post this week that I’ve been reading a book about writers and have really taken note of their processes and daily life, etc. I was especially interested in their daily word counts. (Which is pretty funny considering it’s a romcom.) I talked about how the low numbers baffled me because I write as fast as I talk. I can’t stop until at least one chapter is completed and most times, my word counts are really up there. In the book, they talk about counts as low as 500 words for the day because of their own struggles with writer’s block. I get that. We all do our thing differently after all. Everyone works at their own pace. And if you have stuff going on in your life, that can also make it a challenge to get the words on the page.

This new story idea I’ve had this week though, boy has it wanted to get out. It actually started to come to me as I was writing my last post here! All of a sudden, I couldn’t type fast enough to get that post out before getting myself set up to begin writing a whole new book.

The first night I wrote chapter one in a few hours and my word count was 7568 words. The second night, I was at over 4500 and wanted to keep going but my fingers wouldn’t let me. (I have a lot of issues with my hands so I have to stop when they tell me to or else I would just keep going.) This day broke me because I am quite OCD about finishing a chapter before calling it quits and I had to stop short of finishing chapter two. But you can see by the counts how much I do when I’m on a roll. Again, this is just me. I appreciate that I am probably in a minority for such numbers and to me, even getting five words on a page is an accomplishment. Now imagine how I am when I talk! Lol

One of the reasons my usual Friday post was posted so late was because of all the writing I’ve been doing. My plan was to knock out chapter two and then write a post here. But after all the typing and hey, the sun came up, it was time to rest. I know I’m not on any kind of schedule here, but I put myself on one. So while I may have disappointed myself in that regard, I’m really excited about this new story and waiting to see where it takes me. Like any writer, the story is playing out in my head as I type this. As I sleep. As I have a conversation. As I make my coffee. It is never far from me and now I just have to get it down and hopefully soon.

I’ve been loving writing for this blog though. I’ve had this site for a few years but never truly dedicated my time to it. Now that I have and I see that folks are coming back time and time again to read it, it really is getting me inspired to keep going. It is because of YOU that I keep doing this and as I’ve said many times here, it is keeping me accountable for my own writing. Like having someone watch over me to say, ‘hey, you keep talking about it, keep DOING it.’ So I keep doing it.

By the way, if you’ve missed any of my recent posts, you can hit the ‘new posts’ tab on the menu bar. They will always be here. And you can always subscribe in the ride sidebar to get emails when new posts are up!

And that is where I am leaving you for today. If you’ve gotten this far, I thank you. I thank you for continuing to hang with me here and hope you keep coming back!!

Until next time…

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Come check out my social links and my linktree shop as well. I have the keyboard on there I currently use that has really helped my hands. If you have issues with arthritis, contracture, etc, this has a nice profile, hot swappable keyboard that is perfect for hands like mine: linktr.ee/promosocially

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Have a great weekend all! 🙂