Character Development, Blog Block and Learning New Stuff

March 21, 2025 / ccsocialcreative

Welcome back and Happy Spring folks! If I haven’t said this before, I really am so thankful to those of you who bear with my inane ramblings every week. Especially when I’m on a ‘ramble roll!” Every week I swear to myself I’m not just going to keep typing, but then, I just keep going. So to all of you who stick it out with me…THANK YOU!

It’s pretty much been the same old stuff this week. I’ve been enjoying a new book that I got at our library’s bookstore, I binged a few shows, (all ones I’ve watched before) and have made progress on my writing. It is seriously crazy how much more I’m writing now that I have the new keyboard! I just like it so much and it is very easy on my hands which get worse with each passing month. And frankly, I love the sound of it as well. Even when I’m not using it, I still find myself pressing the keys just to hear it. My own personal ASMR as it were. Speaking of, there are a few ASMR YouTube channels I love to watch where all they do is type. Crazy? Maybe, but I find that not only is it awesome background noise and not only does it jumpstart something in my brain for my next chapter to write, but it also helped me decide how I wanted my own keyboard to sound. So I looked up a few things and got one and now I’m writing a lot more than I have in some time. I call that a win-win-win! (Plus ASMR rocks and tapping stuff puts me to sleep.)

The funny thing is, even though I have been getting more motivation for writing the sequel to my first novel, when it comes to this blog, sometimes I just have no clue what to write about. The last couple of weeks, I have been trying hard to post more regularly (that is how you build a following right?) and I do enjoy it once I get started, but that is the issue isn’t it? Just getting started.

That of course is the biggest issue with anything in life. I had always wanted to write a book but it took me until I was almost 50 years old to buckle down and get it going. Sure I have a ton of ‘started’ books, but none more than a few chapters and they could easily morph into short stories. But to actually finish something that was hundreds of pages long? Well, that took a lot longer and what a sense of accomplishment it was when it was done!

A blog, well, that’s different. First off, no characters have to be created. A lot of people over the years have said that I am quite a character myself, but in most cases, I’d rather they talk about me than me talk about myself. Besides, this time of my life has been rather uninteresting, except for all the medical crap and frankly, sooo done with talking about all that with anyone who isn’t part of my 10 doc team. So that leaves just me.

A few years back, I had a life, I had fun, I had great stories of times with friends and past jobs. But at this point of my journey…eh, I’m just here. I spend all of my time in bed, literally. I can’t work for anyone else because day to day my situation changes so I can’t meet deadlines. So I pour myself into books, both writing and reading. They are my escape and one I’m happy to have. (Ok, so I also watch tons of documentaries on Cults but that’s for another post. lol)

“Blog block” is a term I have been using lately to describe how hard it can be sometimes to come up with a topic for this site. I know others have the same issue and all we hear about is, ‘putting out consistent content is what helps you grow as a creator’. Am I trying to be the next big influencer though? Why no, no I am not. I’d like a following of course and maybe make something from my posts to help with bills, but do I want to be someone who documents every facet of their everyday life for all to see? Hell no! I worked in social media and at one time, that was a goal. I wanted to be an influencer for content creators. I was building up a great network of similar folks out there and had a lot of freedom in doing so in my last job. It looked like it was going to be fun and this was pre-TikTok era (and pre illness as well). When I got sick and everything came to a halt, I watched as those I had been online friends take off with their brands. While a part of me was jealous as hell, I also saw the work they put into everything plus sharing maybe too much of their daily lives and there was no way I would’ve been able to keep up with that. Maybe the old me would have, but this post 2016 me? It makes me tired just thinking about it.

Not that I’m not ambitious. I have dreams. I have things I want to do. I’ve said in a previous post how I sell vintage and estate jewelry and have for 26 years. I’ve enjoyed it and have collected some wonderful stories from my buyers over the years…widows who found I had something similar to a piece their late husband had given them but they’d lost…a cancer patient who came out the other side of years of treatment and wanted to treat herself to something nice…a Hollywood costumer who needed a pair of 1920’s earrings for a period show she was working on…a comedian who was going on tour and needed some more sparkle for his wardrobe…seriously amazing people have crossed my path doing this eBay thing and I will be forever grateful for that. It’s all been nice and fun but I have months where nothing sells and I’m stuck having to borrow money and that feels horrible. I work very hard at what I do but this is a tough time for many and jewelry over eggs really isn’t a priority for most. (Although these days, jewelry may actually be cheaper!)

I also like to work on designs for my second business of stickers, bookmarks and stationery. I really want that biz to take off. I watch countless videos from others in similar businesses and have been learning so much from all of them. Most are by women half my age who are just killing it and all self taught! These are true workhorse hustlers who know how to get it done and I mean that in the best possible way. I make a point to watch several of these videos daily and take notes like I’m taking a master class in keychain and Cricut makers. I pay attention to what equipment they have, how they inventory their supplies, what they use for storage, any little thing that I think could help me down the line. Of course the main issue is having the money to invest in much of what I want to do, but that’s ok. I have been allowing myself the time to grow slowly so I don’t get overwhelmed. As much as I’d like to be successful at this particular type of creative business, I couldn’t handle some of the sales these other folks are doing. When I see videos of hundreds of shipping labels being printed out at once because a sale they were having on their site went better than planned, my first thought is always, “how the hell can one person handle shipping all of that out themselves?” I’m not afraid of success, I’m afraid of being able to keep up. So in the meantime, I learn new art techniques, I create new designs and I play with printer settings to get my stuff to look as good as it does on screen. It’s what I can handle right now and I tell myself, that’s ok. Because it is.

I also find that while I’m creating, say, a bookmark design or taking pics of a vintage brooch and trying to get the lighting just right, my mind frees up for my writing. I used to go for walks for that, but since walking and I are not on the best of terms right now, I need busy work to do the same thing. Writing a sequel/series is not something I ever thought I’d do but I am thoroughly enjoying it. It’s giving me some freedom to develop the characters a bit more and I find I really like the people I write about. When I have a little block though, I put it away for a little bit. Not too long or I lose momentum, but as an example: I recently got in some new vintage pieces. I am vigilant about learning all I can about something before I post them for sale. While doing the research, cleaning a piece, doing the pics for the listing, it keeps my mind occupied. Strangely, it is mostly when I’m cleaning them that I start to get some ideas going. Maybe it’s the water or the polishing, who knows. But I could be doing something as simple as that and suddenly my book pops into my head and it’s “omg she needs to be doing that next!” And then I have to write it down so I don’t forget it. However, even just that one thought can bring about the next chapter or two and many times the ideas flow so fast now that the block is gone that my fingers can’t keep up with my thoughts! I really wish I was one of those people whose mind gets freed up while cleaning. My house would shine from top to bottom!

Characters whether in a book or in real life all have a backstory that makes them who they are. I know for myself, as strange as my life has been, it is the culmination of what I’ve gone through that has made me, me. In a story however, we have to create the backstories and that can be tough. In my own writing, I can picture the backstory of a character in my head and know how they got to where they are at this point of their lives. It’s getting it across to the reader that is the challenge. Now, I love a good challenge. I just wish sometimes that I could record my thoughts as they are happening so I can just say to a future reader, ‘here, this is where I was headed with that because this happened to them a long time ago.’ Alas, that technology hasn’t happened yet. 🙂

So I write what I can. I ramble when I do. I learn something everyday to keep on top of things and hopefully use what I learn in the future. By the way, that goes for my writing as well. I am constantly reading about publishers, self publishing, agents, query letters, submission sites for short stories, hours every day trying to learn more and more about this writing thing so I can be, well, not an influencer, but rather a writer worth reading and reading about. Would I like to be part of the #booktok world down the line? It would be nice. In the meantime, I will keep developing my characters and living in my fictional worlds while selling my jewelry and bookmarks. Why? #becauselife

One more quick note…as you may have noticed, I try to never inundate you with affiliate links and the like in my posts themselves. If I do talk about an item, or something I’d like to suggest to you like a current read, etc, I will add the links to the end of my posts. I do keep some links permanently on the sidebar of the blog as well, the are to my own shops and things I’ve designed. Also this past week, I’ve added a mini-shop to my linktree and you can, if you want to, purchase things directly through them. I will also add that link to the bottom of my posts as well, but I will never overwhelm you with linked products in my posts like many others do. That’s just how I roll.

Thank you again for hanging with me for a bit this week and hope you have a fabulous weekend! Until next time…

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Current read: California Girls by Susan Mallery

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Linktree for this site: Linktr.ee/Promosocially

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My StuffWeFind for VIntage and Estate Jewerly: Linktr.ee/StuffWeFind

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My links for StuffWeMade stickers, bookmarks and fun stuff: Linktr.ee/StuffWeMade

Too Many Ideas, Stories From Nowhere and Thoughts to Fingers

February 27, 2025 / ccsocialcreative

Photo credit: mohamed_hasssan on Pixabay.

How are you all doing this week? These past seven days have been a whirlwind of reading, writing and medical stuff. But I won’t bore you with the latter (this time).

As the month of February comes to a close (and my how fast it has gone compared to the endless hell that was January), I am proud to say that I have almost reached my final goal of reading all nine books of a series for my Read Every Day in February Cancer Fundraiser! I wish the donations would’ve been better this time around, but I still have a couple of days and there is at least some money there, so that’s something. However, my personal challenge was one I honestly didn’t think I could do.

Reading and I have been on a roller coaster my whole life. I was reading at a 2nd grade level in kindergarten and then as I got older, somewhere along the line, it all came to a halt. I have been such a slow reader for most of my life and it wasn’t until about 8 years ago I was diagnosed with a mild form of dyslexia. Quite a revelation for someone, who, at the time, was in her late 40’s! It really explained so much and for someone who only, again at the time, read nothing but non-fiction-mainly-histories, helped me to understand why one book would take weeks or even months to finish. I had no retention of what I was reading unless I wrote notes down which frankly took away from the enjoyment of the books unless I was reading for research.I have one book in particular that has been my white whale. It has taken me years to finish and I made a promise to myself that this would be the year I do it! However, once I figured out taking a bookmark and reading line by line and hiding the rest really helped my focus and retention issues. I do this for non fiction and extremely detailed histories and what an enormous help it has been. And because each line is so deliberately read, my retention of facts has been so much better.

Now, having said that, once I brought fiction into the mix? For some reason, I can fly though them! Especially the more lighthearted/escapist type of books. No bookmark trick needed for them, except to keep my place of course. Thus my going through the series I’m reading now so quickly. I think they have been an excellent distraction from real life and I’ve very much been enjoying being in another “mental space” while I read. I mentioned in previous posts how I’ve actually been learning from these particular books as well as the author has been sneaking in some great tips on publishing, book marketing and other creative processes for writing their own manuscripts. So all in all, this series has been a wonderful vacation/teachable moment for me.

I also find that when I’m reading a book that grabs me, I get inspired even more with my own writing. The idea for my first novel came to me while reading another book. Not that the stories were anywhere near similar but something struck a chord and the next thing I knew, I had my first six chapters written before I had finished the one I was reading! Apparently the current books I’ve been into have also upped my creative flow, as during this month I have been working a lot more on my own material. It has been the most productive month I’ve had in that respect in quite some time. I once wrote an article for LinkedIn called Creatives Inspiring Creatives and that is exactly what I am talking about.i

You have to understand something here, with all of my medical issues, I am on a lot of meds, many who’s side effects affect my train of thought. So to be in this more steady zone of building story vs editing has been a fantastic and long overdue journey!

This past week alone, I’ve edited five chapters of the first draft of my completed novel; written two more chapters of the sequel and written two chapters of another story that popped into my head. In my files, I have started to write so many other books because new ideas keep coming to me. I always assume they will just be short fiction stories that I could submit to journals and such. But then the stories keep flowing and the next thing I know, I’m several chapters in. In the meantime, I am more than determined than ever to get my first two manuscripts out because I have worked for years on the main story and am pretty excited about it!

I don’t know if you have the same problem where you could be in the middle of working on something that you’ve been so passionate about and then suddenly another idea pops into your head and won’t let go. Until you get it out, you cannot focus on your original idea. Thus, these stories/songs/art pieces, whatever is your own personal medium, from absolutely nowhere need to find a place outside of your head. Once they have? You can go back to what you were doing and all is right with the world.

A big issue I have as well, as do many, is trying to get your fingers to move as quickly as your thoughts. As fast as I do type, my fingers don’t move as precisely as they used to so I am constantly fixing typos along the way. A perfect example is that the last sentence. As I typed, it was filled with incorrect words and letters and it took me twice as long to complete it because I’m constantly hitting the wrong keys. Some of that again are medical issues, some, this particular week, is still getting used to my new keyboard (and now new keycaps!) and some, is that getting my thoughts to my fingers can be tricky. There is a constant disconnect between the two that makes my hands hit the wrong keys and the frustration factor is off the charts. I’ve always been a fast typist, but to express myself through writing can come out like stuttering when speaking. Brain works too fast, the execution, not so much. Sometimes I think it’s a pain and yet other times, I feel it is a wonderful issue to have. I say this because many creatives have so many ideas flooding their thoughts that sometimes the brain doesn’t know which to physically get out first!

I was at my neurologist’s office this week and one thing discussed with him is that I have trouble finding words when I speak. It can sometimes take me a while to get out a sentence during a conversation. My head knows what I want to say, but I can’t find the words to express the thought. So I go blank. I always feel bad for the person I’m talking to because they can see my wheels turning and know that what I want to say is right in front of me. They can see me searching for my statement like I’m looking for a cue card that someone is holding up next to them but of course, is not there. The same thing happens when I’m writing. But oddly, only when I’m doing something like this.

When I’m writing my book or a new story, it just flows. I don’t even know where it’s coming from and it’s like automatic writing. I’m often surprised when I go to read it the next day to see what I came up with. But when expressing my own thoughts and words in something like a blog post? Ugh. Each sentence is a challenge. The thought is there, but the errors and mistakes are constant and it takes me twice or even three times as long to finish a post than it should. I wish I could slow down just a bit, but I’m not hardwired that way so I just have to go with it.

Which brings me to what is the first point in this post’s title, that having too many ideas can be both wonderful and a curse! Having trouble focusing on one idea at a time is already a challenge for many, but when your mind is constantly going, well, the fingers fight back and cause you to constantly hit the backspace button to erase the mistakes you have made along the way.

You know what? That’s ok. That’s what life is, isn’t it? Making those mistakes, learning from them and for us creative types, it’s creating something you didn’t even know you wanted to do. Sometimes those typing errors may be thoughts that you had that have been trying to get out and they think that it’s their time to shine. For an artist, they may paint something they hadn’t planned to, but it seems to work in the piece they had been working on. For a musician, those extra notes may strike the chord that they had been searching for and for the writer? It is finding out that the words that come out may just be the hook that has been hiding in plain sight all along.

We may not be able to control the mind, (or the fingers) but we can embrace the mistakes. We couldn’t be who we are without the mistakes we’ve made along the way in life and your work wouldn’t be what it is without them either. It is all in how you deal with them and how you begin to learn that sometimes, those things that go the most wrong, can turn out to be the ones that are the most right.

Have a great weekend all! Until next week…Cheers!!

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Interested in reading the LinkedIn piece? You can find it and some of my other past works on: this page

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Come check out the Nantucket series beginning with book 1: The Nantucket Inn

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Looking for a new keyboard? While I got mine in pink, it does come in other color schemes. The new keycaps are perfect for Spring but there are so many fun ones out there to customize your aesthetic to how you like it. You spend so much time on your keyboard, make it more you! Actually, the keycaps came from Temu, but I found extremely similar ones on Amazon here. Keyboard link.

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Links to Amazon products on this site are affiliate links and help support the site. Thanks for making a purchase, any purchase through the links. It is greatly appreciated!