Blizzard – Edits – Learning on TikTok

February 26, 2026February 26, 2026 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back! So since the last time I was here with you all, we got a ‘little’ snow. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that we in the Northeast US were inundated with a bit of flakeage. I gotta say, it was really something to watch.

I’m a snow person. I really am. My inner kid still looks to see if there will be school the next day and a huge part of me wishes I could go out and play in it. Instead, I made a big cup of cocoa and watched overnight as the winds picked up and the snow got to white out conditions…and I enjoyed every damned minute of it. Part of it was that the Olympics were over and I had nothing to watch anymore, so I dove deep into the intensity of the storm. Nature is incredible and should be respected and watching this storm? Reminded me of just that.

As fierce as the winds of that storm were, when we received even more snow yesterday, it was a much different type. Heavy but quiet. The kind that highlights every tree branch making the outdoors look like an Ansel Adam’s black and white photograph, creating light and shadows where there were none before.

One of my favorite things about snow is the quiet it creates. Nature’s own insulation from the noise of life. The only sound you hear are the flakes landing onto each other creating a blanket of silence. It is peaceful. It is somehow warm despite the cold. It is a time to stop and reflect and look at the new vision it has created…a wonderland of white that reminds us that nature…is…beautiful.

Having said all of that, while kids had the days off because of the weather, I was here toiling away at my manuscript. I approached it a bit differently this time after learning a few things from an editor I follow on TikTok.

Let me just say this, I love TikTok. I know many think it’s just a place for silly dance challenges, crazy people doing crazy things for attention and of course, there is a part of it that is like that. However, there are SO many other ways to use the platform.

As a former social media specialist, I would have killed to have this platform available when I was working. I didn’t like doing videos back then. As someone who doesn’t like to be on camera herself, I felt limited. However, it is such a different atmosphere now, that you don’t need to be visible and the creativity of TikTok alone is endless.

I started using it with my small businesses as a free way to promote my products, send out updates and better yet, meet other small business owners. I learned so much from these folks, I really did. When I decided to start a creative business (stickers, cards, bookmarks, clothing, etc) I looked to these folks both on TikTok and YouTube to find the best ways to start out with little money. To find out where to get some things made and find discounts share and swap tips and we even buy from each other.

When I began getting deeply serious about my writing, I decided to start a #booktok. For those of you who don’t know, booktok is a subdivision of sorts of the main platform dedicated to readers and writers alike.

From the reader standpoint, I’ve discovered new authors to read, popular books I might be interested in (as I’m always looking out to add to my TBR) and then came the best discovery of all…author profiles.

I’ve connected with other authors, both beginning and established, as well as publishers and editors. One of the best things about finding other authors from around the world? Finding out that many of the struggles we face? Universal. We are not alone in doing the crazy things we do, including having astronomical word counts.

Recently after posting a video of my own with my current read, my feed brought up an editor I honestly forgot I was following. She shares quick tips that are so damned helpful, it’s like taking a master class for free. When this particular tip played, I watched it several times to let it sink in. I then went to my own book and started from the beginning again.

That one fast tip helped me cut almost 5000 more words from the first 20 chapters alone! Something so simple yet I wasn’t seeing it. Sometimes, that’s what we need whether we realize it or not. Another perspective to push you in the right direction.

I’ve read my own manuscript upwards of a dozen times. I get lost in the story instead of the cuts I’m supposed to be making so often, I’m convinced this is one of the reasons it is taking me so much longer to figure out how to get this done. This one editing tip out of hundreds I’ve watched both by her and others, woke me up. Opened my eyes to something I was doing over and over again and never even realized it.

Once I paid attention to how I was saying something in dialogue or description, it clicked. I was yelling at the screen about how often I do this. How there is no need for over describing a scene, or explaining laughter when the reader should experience it for themselves. As someone with an editing background herself, I should be more than aware of this. Again, perspective.

After the first few cuts, it got so much easier. I was a madwoman on a mission. I was going through the chapters much faster cutting this, cutting that and soon the word counts were getting lower. Make no mistake, I still have hundreds of thousands to get rid of, or move to the sequel, but to see the progress move along this much faster than it has been in a while? The relief is real.

Now I’m not saying the book will be ready to submit next week. TONS of work still left to go. But at least I have a new starting point of how to do my edits. And because of this, I’ve also been rewriting scenes that are making the book take shape in a new way. Adding more depth to the characters that should have been acknowledged long ago while also decreasing the word count.

So I say, if you think that TikTok is just a doom scrolling time waster? Sure. It can be that. I’ve certainly spent hours escaping life watching cute animals and other stuff as well. It can be a fun app. But there is so much more to it and learning from others and supporting one another? These are the added bonuses of social media in any form. I am personally grateful to those I have learned from and look forward to more lessons that will help me get out of my own head and make the progress I know I can make.

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for being here and I hope some of this resonated with you! Until next time…cheers!

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you! It means so much that you spend some of your time here with me. Stay safe and warm folks! ⛄️

Slackin’ – Distractions – Snow Days

January 27, 2026 / ccsocialcreative / 1 Comment

Hey guys, welcome back! So sorry that I missed last week, but I gotta tell you, it’s been a time. However, it’s good to be here and hope you haven’t given up on me! (I know, I’ve been saying that a lot lately. Oops.) I also hope that this year has been treating you well so far!

Anywhoo, with all the life stuff of both dr appointments and medical tests, I’ve just been kind of…here. Whatever this illness is that I have (that still has not been diagnosed as of yet), it’s just making me tired all the time. I have no energy, I just want to sleep nonstop and yet I have trouble actually going to sleep. My hours, which were never ‘normal’ to begin with, have gotten way off the charts. However, life goes on and so do I!

I have, of course, been working on my book. I am on yet another re-read and I have so many ideas now of how to condense the original story into something that get me within the word count I need to submit it somewhere. The problem unfortunately then goes back to the previous paragraph. The more I think about what I want to do with the book, the lack of energy I have at the moment is holding the actual new writing back. Every night I sit and read through a few chapters, edit more and then mentally drift off somewhere else. In other words, I get so lost in the reading of the story, that when it comes time to change things around, I just kind of sit there.

To say it has been discouraging is an understatement. The last read through I did, I made so much progress. I had rewritten chapters and cut thousands more words and felt like I was really making a lot of progress. Now here I am, at chapter thirty-something again and I think last night, all I did was change some grammar and an apostrophe. Woo-hoo.

I’m trying not to get down about it. I just don’t want to lose the momentum and excitement I’ve had. I lost a few days of not working on it at all a couple of weeks ago and I promised myself I wouldn’t do that again. I’ve been working so hard on this since last April. Now here we are, with January almost over in this new year and while I’m not physically working on the book in front of me, I’ve been dreaming about where I want the story to go, how I want it to read and came up with new paths for the characters to go.

Of course, getting all of this from my thoughts to the page is something completely different. Keeping me focused instead of flaking out is a challenge and it takes nothing to get me distracted these days.

Speaking of distractions…how about this snow huh? Ok so maybe it hasn’t snowed where you are. But here in the Northeast, the snow/frigid winter we’ve been having has been reminding us that Mother Nature is indeed in charge of things. Personally, I love snow. Even though my hatred of the month of January is well known, I still love snow. It makes everything magical and even though I am nowhere near school age anymore, I still look for the school closings like a kid. I don’t think that will ever leave me either. I used to love snow days as a kid. Meeting my friends at the park to go sledding or have massive snowball fights. Of course the walk back home was always rough. All the enthusiasm of the day was replaced by cold, wet clothes and having to walk uphill to my house with a sled was brutal. But there was always hot cocoa waiting for me and layers of blankets to snuggle under.

During this past storm, I sat with both the book I was reading and my keyboard to work on my own book, a hot cup of tea and watched as the snow poured down on us. I was up in the early morning hours as I always am and it was so peaceful and quiet, that for a bit, I forgot I was doing anything and just watched it come down. There was no noise. No sounds of the nearby highway that I’ve become so used to. No sounds of people starting their cars to go to work. No kids trudging early to school. Nothing. Just complete and blissful silence that let me hear the occasional snowflake hit my window.

Snow muffles life. Not just the sounds, but it literally halts our daily routine. I may not go outside a whole lot anymore, but it still brought me to a standstill watching it. It made me take a break. Made me sit back and reflect and for a little bit, also make me just let my mind go blank as I watched the flakes come down. I love trying to focus on one particular snowflake as it descends from the sky. Trying to see if I can follow it all the way down to its landing place. Not just because I find it hypnotizing, but also because for a brief shining moment, I don’t have to think about anything. I can just be.

Snow quieting our world is a great metaphor for what we all need to do now and then. While everything else in life is happening, we all need to take a step back now and then and just quiet ourselves. Many can do it when they are going to sleep. I am not one of those people. I am the kind that replays everything that has ever happened in her life just before it’s time to close her eyes. So to sit and watch the snow fall, it was like erasing my mind for a bit.

No amount of meditations or ASMR videos on YouTube could do what a half hour of watching the snow the other morning did for me. A complete clearing of the mind. A reset if you will. Now I just need it to snow every day…or have Fall leaves falling from the trees. I’ll take either. (Although I’ll always like Fall best.)

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for putting up with me as always and I apologize again for skipping more than a week of posting. I’m still here and still trying to entertain, well, I hope I’m entertaining! Hate to think I’ve lost my touch!! 🙂

Until next time…cheers!!!

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you and will see you soon!! ☺️

Trying – Sleeping – Random Inspiration

January 12, 2026 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back. I know, I know, I’ve already missed a week and it’s only the first two weeks of the new year. Well, life is crazy stuff sometimes and that is what it is for me right now.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I’ve been sick for many months. Well, it continues and right now, we are still trying to figure out what is going on. I’ve had more dr appointments and this week I’ve got more tests to get. In the meantime, my sleep schedule is even more erratic that it already was. I slept through the holidays, literally. I slept all Christmas Day and New Year’s days and then three days after, only being up for a few hours here and there. I slept almost this entire past weekend and trying to stay awake is a real fight. However, I’m still here!

With all of this being said, I’m trying so hard to stay focused on my book. The waking hours I do have, I dedicate to both reading and editing my manuscript. (And streaming Brooklyn Nine-Nine, because the show makes me laugh out loud.)

As dedicated as I’ve been, I actually went days without touching the book. That doesn’t happen and it bothers me that it did. I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t open it up to read it, I just couldn’t go near it. When I can’t work on it? That’s when I know that I can officially say, I’m not well.

I am happy to say though that the time I have put into it? I’ve cut almost 4000 more words! I’ve been cutting full pages, full paragraphs and reworking/rewriting the story so that it will embrace the time of year I’ve switched it to which has been fun.

I’m still trying desperately hard to figure out just how to keep so much of what I’ve written, without having to break this particular origin story in two. I’ve talked about making this a series in the past, but I really want a lot of what is already done to be a part of this first book. The stress I’m putting myself through about it though, needs to stop. Can’t afford that right now. So as I get through this latest read through and cut and cut and cut, I remind myself that yes, I can indeed put some of this into it’s sequel and to calm the hell down. (I yell at myself a lot when I’m working…sometimes I wonder what my neighbors think is going on over here.)

I think one of the best things I’ve done to help the editing process along has been taking it ten chapters at a time. Honestly, it gives me such a sense of accomplishment when I’m done with a set of ten and seeing just how much I’ve cut from them. How much I’ve changed them. Doing it all as a full document was making it rather overwhelming. Doing it in stages? Well, I should have been doing it this way all along!

Someone on a video I watched on YouTube once said, ‘if you are feeling overwhelmed by a task, try breaking it down into small pieces.’ Well damned if they weren’t right about that! I couldn’t recommend this process more. This is my second time going through the book doing the ten at a time method and it has helped tremendously and I’ll continue to do it this way until I get it just the way I want it.

Whether it’s a video on YouTube or talking to a friend, attending a seminar or hell, watching a tv show you like, advice can come from where you least expect it. The video I watched? Had absolutely nothing to do with processes or writing. It was just a random sentence that popped up and I latched onto it. Always keep your eyes and ears open, for inspiration can come from anywhere! (Including your friendly neighborhood blogger.) 😬

And that is where I will leave you today. I hope you got something out of this post!

Until next time folks…cheers!!!

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you so much! See you soon. 😊

Holidays – Stress – Holiday Spirit

December 21, 2025 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back! I hope everyone is doing well and I want to say a giant thank you for continuing to come back and see what I’ve been up to. While it’s never anything too exciting, hopefully I’ve been doing something right here.😉

I don’t know about you, but the holiday season is making me lose my mind. Trying to work on the book has been interesting during this last week. I’ll be in the middle of a paragraph and suddenly remember I forgot to order something for Christmas. Then of course, the Amazonian doom scrolling happens and two hours later, (and after adding lots of stuff I’d like to get after Christmas to my save for later), I go back to the book, forgetting what I was doing.

However, one of the good things about this time of the year, is that I know I’m not alone. No matter what you are celebrating, or not celebrating, the end of the year brings about high blood pressure all around.

Being a one to strictly celebrate in a secular manner, I’m usually a total goofball around Christmastime. I watch all the specials (all hail Rankin/Bass), tv episodes with holiday themes and movies, (no hallmark, come on). I love to check out the holiday lights and LOVE to shop for gifts. This year has been tough for me to get into the spirit of the season, especially being in bed almost 24/7, however I’ve been working on it. Hell, even the year I had chicken pox as a kid, I was all about the holiday!

Many years ago, when I was still learning the internet and how to create a webpage, I created a Christmas website. It started as one page for kids and ballooned to something that to this day, I’m still proud of. I was completely self taught. I learned how to code it, design graphics for it including those for the two advent calendars, became an early affiliate (which was so new back then) and was even listed on top 50 sites around the globe. While several things had to be taken off as time wore on and some old links no longer worked, I still updated it last year and made sure to keep it going. I’ll link it under this post if you’d like to visit Eggboy’s Christmas Celebration…just please remember, it was created in the late 90’s and the graphics are as such.

One thing that’s been helping me get in the holiday mood are the old school gems I’ve found on YouTube. Retro specials and old holiday tv ads that I used to look forward to every year. I’ve started to watch those and the memories have come flooding back. I’ve also been watching more shows and stuff and with just days to spare, the spirit is seeping in. Oh and of course, I have a stack of holiday themed romance books next to me that I’ve been working though and will continue to read them well past the holiday season to keep me in the spirit a bit longer.

The next days will be filled with the usual mayhem of wrapping presents, trying to squeeze in as many silly things to watch as I can and gearing up for my favorite night of the year, Christmas Eve. No other night of the year compares for me. I keep an insanely strict schedule that night to savor every second. I do the same things every single year and even though I haven’t been a kid for quite some time, you bet your ass I’m still looking out the window every now and then to see if I spot a big guy and his sleigh. I even follow both the NORAD and Google Santa Trackers! (Because why not?)

I’ll be missing out on some writing time this week and that’s ok. I need to clear my head a bit for the next steps. I completed the latest read through tonight and think I finally have a handle on how this book is going to move forward. I am quite upset that I am missing my self-imposed deadline for it to be finished, but I’ve finally decided that it’s ok. It was one I put on myself. I have no one to answer to right now and if I was to declare the book ‘finished’? It would be a freaking train wreck. Not only is it still entirely too long, but if I was to just cut things left and right to only focus on the word count? It wouldn’t make sense. So as much as it hurts, I’ve learned to accept that it will get done when it gets done.

I was on a great path for it to be finished by now, but life is funny stuff. I wasn’t expecting to be sick for more than 80% of the year and the last few months have just kicked my ass. Maybe this was a way for me to slow down and look at the book as a whole. To figure out what is important to the story. To rearrange things, change the timeline and time of the year. I live by the rule that ‘things happen for a reason’ and I gotta think that maybe I was getting ahead of myself with the writing when I got sick. This slow down time, while frustrating as hell, has given me a new perspective and I can only hope that I will finish it with a much better all around story than it is right now. So am I close to being finished? No. However, that’s ok. It is what it is. Instead, it’s time to focus on the holidays and the things done that still need to get done. Santa only comes once a year and I want it to be special for him. 🎅🏻

And that is where I will leave you for today. As always, I thank you SO much for being here. For following my journey and for the support that I’ve been shown by so many of you. (Especially for reading the posts that were obviously done after the meds have kicked in. LOL)

I’ll be back before Christmas, but for those celebrating holidays right now, enjoy, be safe and may they be incredibly wonderful.

Until next time…cheers all!

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Made it this far? I thank you! Hang in there and let’s find the fun this holiday, ok? The way this year has gone, I think we all deserve a bit of fun. See you soon. 🥰

December – Milestone – So Distracted

December 2, 2025 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back! Hope everyone who celebrated had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was nice and quiet and I think it was the most food I’ve eaten in months. (And I’m ok with that.)

Now here we are in December and there is just so much going on. I’ve been in full holiday shopping mode while trying to create some new things for one of my online shops (and failing miserably) as well as still trying like hell to shake the illness that has been plaguing me since August.

I’m also a huge holiday movie and tv specials kind of girl. Even as a kid, I couldn’t wait to get a tv guide and a highlighter and search for every version of a Christmas Carol and crazy animated special being shown on tv. These days, I look online every single day and make a list (check it twice) and then see what I can squeeze in to watch when I can. As I’ve said many times here, I’m a five year old in a very much not five year old body and this time of the year really brings it out in me. It’s the stuff like this that keeps the kid in me alive though. I still sing to the Grinch and Heat Miser and all the fun shows they only show this time of the year.

I also went a little crazy between Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. I’m a shopaholic at heart and during this festive season, I go nuts. Yes I got some books for myself, the sales were just too good!) Hopefully everyone will like what I’ve gotten and that my inner Santa has worked its magic.

All of this is to say…I’ve been distracted as hell from working properly on my book. I mean, I still have been putting the hours in, I really have. However, I’ve been fading much earlier while working and most of that though is due to the fact that I just haven’t been feeling well. Plus, the meds and the fevers have me a little loopy. Not that there is much of a difference than how I normally am, you can ask anyone who knows me about this. lol

I am, however, proud to say that I have hit a major milestone of words cut so far. Ready? I’ve cut just over 20,000 words! Ok so I still have hundreds of thousands to go, but still, this is a good chunk taken out and it is definitely a good start.

I am nowhere near the internal deadline I put in place for myself and that is bumming me out. But seeing this number appear tonight was the big shot of confidence that I needed. Just knowing that I hit that and that it’s truly showing just how hard I’ve been working? Huge. Really, really huge. So as distracted as I’ve been, I really am seeing the progress that I’ve been making. For someone like myself, this is so important.

This book has been an even larger undertaking than I ever imagined. I knew of course it would be the hardest work I’ve ever done. I’m not blind to that. But when I saw how high my word count was and what I’d need to cut in order to submit it, my old self would have given up and started work on a new one. I’m completely dedicated to this manuscript. It invades my thoughts 24/7, including my sleep time. Seeing actual proof that I’ve been making this dent has me excited knowing that yes, I CAN do this! I WILL do this! I will also get multiple books out of this story and I think knowing that, is a big bonus that is also keeping me going.

Even now with the holiday season upon us and all of life’s distractions, this work is keeping me going. And I truly mean that. Every couple of days, it feels like labor, can’t lie about that. Again, I think it’s just because I haven’t been feeling well. All that aside, once I sit and really get into it every night, I know it’s where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to be doing. To keep it festive, I got myself holiday themed keys for my keyboard to keep me on track because that’s the kind of grown up I am!

And that is where I will leave you today.

Thanks so much for being here and please remember, if you’d like to help support my website and get some holiday shopping done? You can do so by clicking on one of the links around the site as well as the links below. Unfortunately, text links here are NOT underlined so be sure to hover over links if you’re interested in something. Thanks for understanding.

Until next time all…cheers!

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If you’ve made it this far, thank you SO much and I’m done pushing my shops for now. 😉See you soon! 🥰