My Writing Journey #3: Ten Ways to Find Inspiration Everywhere!

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Day #2 Blogtober coming at you! 

One of the greatest feelings in the world is being inspired to do something. Whether that inspiration leads you to blogging, writing, traveling, or a new adventure, it doesn't matter, the important part is that it made you feel and make that change or volunteer as tribute sorta speak. I'm lucky to say I am surrounded by a great support system of family and friends whom inspire me daily.

Keeping with my Tuesday theme documenting my writing journey, I try to find inspiration for my writing projects everywhere. I know, can I make it a little more specific? I can and I can't. Simply put, keep your eyes open, ears listening and bring a notepad and pen wherever you go. If you can't fit a notebook anywhere, notepad apps on your phone work best too! Trust me, the inspiration is out there, you just have to uncover it!

Thursday Thoughts

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Today I need to hit the ground running...literally. I have a lot of work to do at my day job, we are hoping to find out the results of the blood work on my cat Angel to see why she could have gone blind, I'm off tomorrow for doctor's appointments, and I have to be out of the office today by 5:30pm. Yup, a little crazy Thursday to finish out week.
 
 So here's a quick little Thursday Thoughts post about some things I'm doing and using until my favorite blogging day - Friday! 

 

Blogging Tip: 
Canva

If you've been blogging for a while you might have heard of Canva. Canva has free images, fonts, layouts, and a variety of other usual tools to create pretty, crisp, and appropiate images for blog posts! Using Canva has completely changed my blogging life, eliminating the stress of taking that perfect picture for a blogpost during the day, especially when you are an almost daily blogger. It's very user-friendly too. Did I also mention its free? You can choose to upgrade to a paid account, but I'm very content using the free services. There is enough variety of free things to use if you hold out on the paid one.

My Writing Journey #2 - Following Guidelines & Waiting...

Hello Tuesday! 

"Is it raining in there? It's raining in here, too." 

I always loved that scene in Winnie the Pooh. It's raining so much in South Eastern NY, my phone alerts have gone off three times this afternoon.

I've never been good at following directions. Maybe that's why I'm not the greatest cook? lol. At least I can bake a good cupcake. But I can't skirt around the rules this time. In the current part of my writing journey it is crucial to follow guidelines and wait for the outcome.

For now, I have decided to pursue traditional publishing and I do not have an agent. Through my copious amount of research, I discovered it was possible to submit my work to publishers who don't require an agent. And I gave it a shot. I found publishers who accept my genre of manuscript and followed their submission guidelines.

I re-formatted, queried, proofread, over-analyzed, closed my eyes, took a deep breath and hit the send button. Quickly, I re-read the email over and over again to make sure I did it right. Then proceeded to freak out that I sent my erotic contemporary romance out into the world. Luckily the freak out was brief and I patted myself on the back for taking the initiative and finally submitting my work. 

Then you wait for a response...

Even if you have an agent you have to wait...

Even if you self-publish you have to wait...

Even if your Young Adult, Romance, Non-Fiction, Sci-Fi, or Anything...you have to wait...

Yup, waiting is inevitable...

 I don't exactly feel like Blake Lively in Shallow where she is clinging desperately to a buoy while a shark is circling her bleeding body, but I do feel like Saturday at NYC Comic Con, trying to claw my way through the masses of people trying desperately to get that limited edition prize only a few will get to win. It is a series of mixed emotions and definitely a different journey for every writer. 

The most crucial lesson I learned from this part of the process is that YOU MUST FOLLOW ALL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES or else you are short-changing the potential future of your hard work.

Let's dig in deeper...

My Writing Journey #1 - Five Helpful Writing Youtube Channels

Happy Rainy Tuesday everyone! Down here in Southern New York were getting the last of the lingering effects from Hurricane Florence. I don't mind the rain. It always makes me want to listen to The Lumineers, The Shins, & other soft rock artists. Also, it gives me the perfect excuse to stay in and write. 

Over the past year and half I completed my first novel. It's still crazy to me to say the words out loud. I wrote a book. It's a dream I've always had since I was a kid and damn it was hard. I'm not exactly sure if I would be considered a "Pantser", but I did take an initial scene and spiral out from there letting the story take me where it wanted to go. About 50k words in...I had to start outlining and writing plot points down and backstories to the characters, when I realized I had a lot more to go. I guess I'm a hybrid of Pantser and Outliner...a P.O. without the box...lol.

I would never have been able to finish my hybrid work without watching fellow writers on Youtube, giving out extremely helpful tips, trying to keep their meowing cats out of the camera frame, battling the dreaded show vs tell argument, and most importantly relating to the struggles of becoming a writer. We all took high school English, but seriously listening to these amazing ladies has helped so much.

Writing A Novel Hurdle #3 - Finding The Time To Write

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday or Hurry Up and get here Tuesday so Monday can be over!

I've been thoroughly enjoying this little series I've started "Writing a Novel Hurdles". In no way am I trying to re-invent the wheel or even become a copycat because there are much more qualified published authors who give amazing advice to help you on your journey. My intentions are to share with you the tips and missteps I'm learning as I go along listening to our people's tried and true formulas. 

Writing A Novel Hurdle #3:

Finding the Time to Write...

Writing a Novel Hurdle #2: Four Ways to Self - Edit Your Writing

This part of the writing a novel process will be my ultimate downfall. I'm sure of it.

Over the past 3 months I've read over my entire novel 10 times at least. I've never been a big fan of editing, but I'm stuck on this one. I have to do it before I send it out to a professional content editor and it's hard to know when to stop.

 I'll admit I did a lot editing as I went along. I would write a scene and then read it over. This works for some people, others it doesn't. Maybe it's making these read-throughs harder because I feel like I did it already? I'm not sure, but this is definitely hard part of the process for me. 

 I need to do it regardless of what I think I've done already. 

New York City Book Con 2018 Recap!

I came, I saw, I conquered Book Con 2018! Woohoo! 

This weekend Saturday and Sunday I went to Book Con 2018 at the NYC Javit's Center. I have to start out by saying once you've gone to a New York City Comic Con almost every other convention is a walk in the park. I went into this weekend with absolutely no expectations because I've never been and it was so much fun and rewarding that I can't wait to go again next year. 

Writing a Novel Hurdle #1: Letting People Read Your Work

Why is it so hard to send out my work??

Lack of Courage? Low Self-Esteem? Judgement? Anxiety? Uncertainty? Shyness?

Each emotion plays a big part in this process for me and frankly it can be hard to see past it. Putting yourself out there is scary. People reading your words and your thoughts is so crazy! I never thought I would get this far. I'm actually doing my dream I've had for so long. I have to see past these road blocks and push forward!

 

E.L James had to send out "Fifty Shades of Grey" in all it's telltale ripping of the condom glory.

Margaret Atwood had to let people read "Handmaiden's Tale" and dive into Gilead headfirst.

Stephen King must have sent out "Carrie" catapulting people into the worst prom ever.  

I Wrote My First Novel...Now What?

This is exactly what I typed into Google and am currently diving into the madness head first. Did I mention madness? Sea of options? One of the most important turning points of my life? All of the above and then some. And more madness...

But first...

I can't remember a time where I didn't have a book in my hand growing up. I read at family events, finished my summer reading a week into summer, packed book after book for vacations & car rides, got excited for the Scholastic "book orders" in school and spent most of my time on the bus devouring R.L Stine Goosebumps & Christopher Pike horror novels. I had a library card the second I knew I could have one. This priceless and valuable hobby I cherish has opened my eyes to endless possibilities.

 Now it's my turn...

About Me: A New Notebook for a New Normal

The Mermaid Journal via The Paper Source

Did I really say this weekend was going to be slow? Did I really? 

Well I was wrong. I'm sitting here writing this post and I can't believe everything that happened. Ladies Night w/ In-Law gossip, Deadpool (yes, again), dinner for a friend's bday, watching Creed (excellent movie), almost finished Fuller House, had brunch w/ Craig and his mom, went to an Open House, caught up with my mom, made our Easter/Anniversary Plans, visit to grandma in the nursing home, supermarket shopping, AND The Walking Dead AND a mini trip to the Paper Source. Whew. I'm tired and this week is just getting started. 

Writing...A Fresh Start

 

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Last Friday, I made a bold statement admitting things I'd like to embrace & attempt in the next few months. Read such daring post here. One of the things was finish a novel.  

*Take a deep breath*