Ready. Set. WRITE Week 3

How I did on last week's goals:  Last week's goals were ambitious, to say the least, but I did a little bit of what I wanted to get done. I did in fact write! I didn't map out my characters or work on my beginning but I wrote, and that's what counts!

My goals for this week: Write more. Stop being lazy and tired, work harder. Create a habit of writing every day because that is what I really need to focus on

A favorite line from my story: I actually have two lines that I really like from what I wrote this week:

"I was worried that jumping from one person to the other was a bad idea, that I need time to “discover myself”. But I’ve got it all wrong; this is about me, this is exactly what I want and exactly what I need. I love her selfishly."

"I’ve spent so much of my life focusing on being happy that I never realized how unhappy I actually was." 
 
Biggest challenge this week:  Juggling time, staying focused, and remembering what's important. I've felt really lost lately, and I'm not sure why. Everything in my life has been going so perfectly, but I can't seem to figure out who I am. So writing has been difficult because it can be really hard to focus.

Something I love about my WiP: My WiP hits very, very close to home for me. As in it started as a nonfiction piece and I changed it to fiction in order to be more flexible. So the characters are people I hold very close to my heart. I love the honesty of the story most of all.

I hope every has been having an awesome week and here's to the start of another one!

Ready. set. WRITE! Week 2

1. HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS

I did not complete any of last week's goals. Well, I did write about 400 words of a random part of my manuscript (BIBT), so that was something I'm pretty proud of! I guess there aren't really any real excuses, but I was interning every day for an Audio Fiction Festival and it was very time consuming and my head wasn't really in the writing place (although it should always be).

2. MY GOAL(S) FOR THIS WEEK

This week I hope to get back into the swing of things, relax and get out of work mode, and just write. I want to work on the beginning of BIBT and try and finalize some character/plot details that I haven't really decided on. It's about time I just sit myself down and decide. 

3. A FAVOURITE LINE FROM MY STORY OR ONE WORD/PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I WROTE/REVISED


"She smiles at me, and it’s as if my heart expands to the rest of my body, like it swallows the rest of me whole and I’m just this naked, pure, beating heart." - this was from the random excerpt I wrote and it is by far my favorite line from it!

4. THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK

The biggest challenge I faced this week was not stressing out about my internship, juggling my time between the internship, my sister who is in town visiting, and the fact that I do not have a car to get around. Also, money. And because of all this I couldn't even think about anything else, especially writing, therefore I struggled with writing. I feel relieved that the temporary internship is over and I'm at my regular internship now, and I have loads more time to focus on writing and my general overall sanity that I lost for a little while there.

5. SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WiP  

Something I love about my WiP, which is BIBT (Believing In Better Things), is that I'm actually treating it like it could be a real thing. Everything I wrote before this, I never thought I would sit down and think about publishing and editing, now I actually love my story and characters and it feels so natural compared to anything I've done before.

I'm Back

So, I don't really know where to start.

I pretty much quit blogging for this entire last semester, but I've recently been thinking a lot about picking it up again. Mainly because I'm not as busy anymore, and I miss it. Last time I tried to start blogging again, I very vaguely tried to come up with some excuses, but that was pretty pathetic. I've thought about it, and if I can't be candidly myself on my blog, what's the point in keeping one?

So I've decided to be more candid and honest, because what have I got to lose?

A lot has changed and I'd rather not put a long rambly post about everything because that would probably be incredibly boring to someone else, so I'll just jump back into things as best as I can.

I mostly want to reflect on quotes, discuss my writing progress/process, and anything that inspires me. I want to be more personal as well, so hopefully overtime I'll share more about how my life has changed compared to when I last blogged.

I hope that I can jump back into this as wholeheartedly as I can!

Ready. set. WRITE week 1

So I'm a little late onto this train, but I figured better late than never! I haven't been blogging at all lately, so I figured this is the best way to get back in the game.

Week one is about setting goals for myself that I'll (hopefully) keep throughout the summer. All of my goals pertain to my current manuscript BELIEVING IN BETTER THINGS (title is subject to change, probably).

My goals for this week: 

• Write once a day (I already haven't been very good at this but I'm trying)
• look over revised papers/chapters from last semester
• finish answering my composing questions

My goals for the summer:

• Get a solid grip on my character development
• create a storyboard
• share with others and EDIT
• print my work out and revise by hand (I always find this helps me a lot)

I am both nervous and excited and I'm trying to stay hopeful! I can be very lazy about my writing but I feel good about this, so the support will definitely help. 

where I've been

So, although I don't think there are very many of you who regularly read this blog, just in case there's one lone soul out there who was curious as to where I disappeared to, I'll acknowledge the fact that I have been AWOL.

I don't really have any excuses, I really just became busy with school work, friends, life and all that. I also just became unmotivated to write in general, both my novel as well as this blog. There was a huge turn around in my life in the last couple of months, that really consumed all my energy and thoughts.

I won't dwell on it too much, because I've talked/wrote/thought about it far too much, but it's really inspired me to take a new turn in my writing, and I've started a small non-fiction project. It feels so promising and I'm extremely excited.

Back to this whole "life change thing". In short (if it's possible to put it in short), in late December I made the decision to leave the relationship I had been in for almost 4 years (for many, many reasons) and pursue things with someone who I've met at my college. I mean, that really is the most vague and short way to put it, because it's way more complicated than that, and maybe one day I'll blog about it, but for right now I'll keep it simply as that for the sake of everyone involved, including myself.

This was probably the most evolutionary decision of my life for many reasons, and it really felt freeing, to be in control of my life and the choices I've made. I am not the type of person to shake things up in my life or initiate any sort of change, but it got to the point where I couldn't deny myself of the happiness that I knew I deserved and needed, and choosing to make these life changes has brought me that. I'm glad that I came into the new year with this positive energy and happiness that makes every day so much brighter.

Coming back to this blog was extremely spur of the moment, literally I decided 10 minutes ago to post something. I just didn't have it in me anymore, I have been journaling constantly and felt like I was getting my creative outlet in other places, but there was something so thought provoking about this activity, and I think that's good for me.

I don't know if I'll keep up with the daily blog posts, that was pretty time consuming, but I will as frequently and avidly as I can with my courses I'm taking this semester. I hope I still have this motivation tomorrow, because I really did decide this less than 30 minutes ago, and I tend to be a stop and go kind of person. Regardless, I feel as if I have a lot to say to the world right now, even if the only people who read this are my friends who I sit down and force to.

MUSIC MONDAY #3

Some songs I've been digging lately, I couldn't pick just one so here's a few.

• When I'm With You- Ben Rector 
• Everything about this song is perfect; the drums, the guitar, the vocals, the lyrics. I listen to it when I walk to class in the morning because it makes me feel really happy.

• Let's Talk About Your Hair- Have Mercy
• I love the lyrics in this song. They're so raw and emotional and they make me sad and happy and angry all at the same time. (listen if in need of angst) 

• Shut Up And Dance- Walk The Moon
• Just shut up and dance to it. 

• Back Together- Jesse McCartney 
• It's like throwback jesse music, except it's not a throwback.

• Over You- Graffiti6 
• VOCALS.

• Why Try- Ariana Grande 
• She's such a powerhouse with her vocals and her lyrics in this song really get to me; this song gets me going. 

• Skinny- Pegasus Bridge
• such a feel good song from the very first note.

home

“Home wasn't a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together. Not a place, but a moment, and then another, building on each other like bricks to create a solid shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go.”- Sarah Dessen

While I've been away at college, I've been thinking of what defines 'home'. I've thought about this every time I ask my roommate, "When are you coming home?" or when someone asks me, "I'll drop you off at home" or, "Hey, I just got home!"

It's weird to think that I have more than one home now, that I'll probably have more than one home for the rest of my life. I don't know if I feel at home here just yet, but it's becoming more and more comfortable each day, and I don't think it's my body adjusting to it. I think it's more than familiarity that changes what you call home. It's people. I wouldn't feel at home if I had never made friends.

And it's odd to think that anywhere in this entire world can be my home. I'm at this weird life-limbo, where I can end up anywhere at this point, depending on where life drags me. I like that while at the same time, it scares the hell out of me. 

Maybe I'm thinking about it too much, maybe I don't need to define everything in my life so quickly. I feel that way about a lot of things; defining my career, my friendships, my passions. I always feel like I need to be 100% sure of everything, when that's just not possible when you're 18 living on your own for the first time. 

But back to what I was saying about home. Like the quote above says, home is a moment. I feel at home when I'm laughing until I feel like I'm going to pee my pants with my best friends. Home is when I hug someone I haven't seen in months. Home is where my family is, but it's also where my heart is. And maybe I'm just too sentimental of a person, but I feel like I keep the places I go in my heart all the time, and build this 20 story building of homes in my heart, and I keep it all there. 

I like the idea of that; I'll always have somewhere to call home.