How AHA moments changed A Study of Ash & Smoke
We all have little aha moments while writing. Those moments… Read More »How AHA moments changed A Study of Ash & Smoke
Inspiration
Just Publish it Already
We’re back to reality today, after a week-long break (if… Read More »Just Publish it Already
One of Those Days
Some days, I have zero direction. As you probably guessed… Read More »One of Those Days
Write by the Rules
I read an article this morning about why you should write romance novels only in third person point of view. In the past few weeks, a few people made comments on the writer’s groups I belong to about writing in a certain point of view and being criticised for their choice.
I gag a little in my mouth every time I read something along these lines.
Help a Blogger Out
Here’s an interesting turn of events. I don’t know what to blog about.
At first, I couldn’t understand what the hell this caused this sluggishness. Sure, blogging is difficult sometimes. I’ve been doing this for six years and I know ideas dry up at some point. That’s why the blog changed its direction even before I moved here from the Couch. Still, I was on a roll a while back, so this drought is both unexpected and seriously annoying.
Motherhood and Guilt
Now, my generation is a weird one. In South Africa, our… Read More »Motherhood and Guilt
Uninspired
Some days, it’s difficult to get inspired. I’m having one of those days. I talked about this problem on Friday too, so you’ll know about my predicament if you’ve been around the blog.
The recap version? Today, I have no idea what to blog about and I don’t have the drive to put in any real effort. #yayhonesty This is me winging it.
A quick Google search on ‘how to find inspiration’ offers some basic results. Take a walk, read a book, listen to music. You get the general idea.
Being in the Moment
A while ago, a friend suggested that I write something on this topic. Yea, I’ve been trying. Do I have a nice, glowy outcome planned for this post? No. Not at all. #idontknowwhatimdoing
All I know is that this is something I struggle with immensely, especially when I’m obsessing. As in now.
Being in the moment is difficult enough in our day-to-day lives. I mean, we’re bombarded with things to consume from all angles. We can access anything from our phones, which means from anywhere we have wifi reception. So checking Twitter while at a coffee date with a friend is totally doable, and also kind of the norm.
You Are What You Make
I’ve been watching Tessa Violet for around two years now and she’s become one of my favourite YouTubers. Why? Well, she’s what I’m not. 🙂 She shares, openly, all of her thoughts and fears, and even rethinks some of her older video topics. If she’s evolved, she’ll explain how she’s learned to accept parts of herself that she previously denied or disliked.
I find that both brave and admirable. Sharing so much of yourself on the internet is (IMO) a scary choice, but it’s also a great way to document growth. And that’s what I’m attempting.
To continue Monday’s tone, I’d like to share some of my thoughts on handling creativity while dealing with angst, in a kind of late reply to a video of Tessa’s. Hers is specifically about creativity and depression, but I find many of the core ideas are totally relatable even when measured against mental issues other than depression.
Sympathy
In a way, this is a continuation of my train of thought from the stigma post. Maybe you want to click there before you continue. 🙂
For the most part, this post focusses on someone who suffers in silence, but the general message can be applied to anyone who is hurting – even when they freely talk about it. With that said, let’s get to it.
On Excess
We entered 2017 to a chorus of whistles, glittery explosions, pops and sizzles. Fireworks. Hours and hours worth of fireworks.
Just to keep you in the know – in South Africa, fireworks are pretty much illegal. The minority of people still shoot these pretties to celebrate the new year, but on the whole, it’s a big no-no where I come from. For the greater part of my life, I only saw fireworks on special occasions, and then never on a large scale.
You can imagine how weird it was when we came to Germany. Here, tradition dictates that you shoot away all the bad things from the last year, so that you start the new year with a clean slate. The fireworks start when the first early watch says it’s midnight and pretty much continues well into the next morning – this year, it was about 6 o’clock on January 1st.
Soldier Through It
The thing is, it’s tough sometimes. Last year was a… Read More »Soldier Through It
Story Cube Challenge – Week 10
Hi there!
I’m happy to report that I’ve broken the 10,000 word mark for this week. Coming up for air to type this post feels strange, as if I’m going to be struck by lightning for doing anything other than work on my book. This isn’t even really coming up for air, because I’M STILL TYPING! Good grief, I’m strange. I think this is the problem anyone with a naturally obsessive personality will face. And also, that obsessive personality is going to make me hurry this, so I can get back to work. 😛
So, this our hero this week:
Story Cube Challenge – Week 9
Hello there.
You may have noticed that things look a little different here. This is due to a bout of website-altering creativity that took me by surprise during the week. I was never completely satisfied with the way things looked on the website, but I’m glad to report that I feel a lot better about all of it now. So, please, jump around the site and let me know what you think, where it can improve and what you like. Also, stick around to the end of the post for some announcements.
Week 9’s hero looks like this:
Story Cube Challenge – Week 8
Hello there.
So, this is week 8 of the #storycubechallenge. Once again, I left my story to the last possible moment. I don’t know why I do this to myself, but in my defence, it was a crazy week with a sick 2-year old. At least I wrote something.
I’m also working on a short story that I plan to submit to an anthology and I got back my editor‘s notes on The Physician’s Apprentice. A lot of brainstorming and prep for a new round of revisions have been happening. Watch this space.
If you missed the place where all of this began, here’s week 1. Also, week 7 and the Pinterest board for the story cubes.
Here’s our hero for week 8:
Story Cube Challenge – Week 7
Hello there, friends!
So, this is week 7 of the #storycubechallenge already. This week, I actually wrote something. Yeehaw for schedules. The cubes for this story certainly made more sense to me than those ones did last week. 😛
If you’re new to this, here’s where it all started. I also have a Pinterest board for the cubes, check that out here. If you’re participating in this challenge, please use the #storycubechallenge on social media, and I’ll go have a look and thumbs up!
OK, this is how our hero will look in week 7:
Story Cube Challenge – Week 6
Hi there.
So, this week I didn’t manage to get a story from week 5’s cubes. I tried, but I couldn’t connect the dots there. I think it was the alien. 🙂
I’ll try again next time.
Here’s the hero for week 6 :
Story Cube Challenge – Week 5
You’re not going to believe this.
This week, I actually wrote the story cube story on Monday. No, not so late last night that I couldn’t focus on the keyboard anymore, on MONDAY. What’s happening? I feel like I don’t know myself anymore.
I don’t want to jinx everything by saying that writing all of this getting easier with time. Especially not after seeing the cubes for week 5.
Good. Grief.
Not to discourage you, or anything. 😛
These are the hero cubes for week 5.
Story Cube Challenge – Week 4
Hello there. It’s that time of the week again!
I seriously hope someone out there is doing this challenge with me, because I don’t have anyone to complain to. 😛 It’s challenging, that’s for sure. But it’s also kind of fun. It is getting easier to get the story going, once I have a basic idea of what the story should be. My husband has been an incredible aid in working out that part. He comes up with the story and I just write.
In case you missed it, click here for last week’s cubes.
This is how our hero looks this week.
Story Cube Challenge – Week 3
Why do weeks move so quickly when you’re supposed to be writing for a story challenge you created yourself? I find myself doing anything BUT working on the cubes, until the night before. I really need to time manage better and procrastinate less. In the words of my friend Charlie Brown. Good. Grief.
Before I get to the cubes, I’ve created a Pinterest board for the challenge, because a reader asked me to. You can follow the board if you want to, so you’ll have all of the cube photos in order and in the same place. You know, without having to search through all of my random waffling. 😛
Here’s what you’ve missed if you’re new.
Please remember to use #storycubechallenge if you’re planning to upload your story somewhere, then I’ll have a look and give it a like.
Create a hero :
Story Cube Challenge – Week 2
Well, that was more interesting than I anticipated…
Here we are in week two of the story cube challenge. I’ll just say that this thing lived up to it’s name. Making a story out of pictures was challenging, but heck, I did it! Woot woot! Did you? Please link me to your story, I’d love to see what you got out of it!
If you want a recap of last week’s cubes and the rules, here’s the link.
This is what our hero looks like this week:
Story Cube Challenge – Week 1
This year for my birthday, I wanted something different. When Jan spotted Rory’s Story Cubes on Amazon, I was immediately sold.
You think I’m mad, don’t you? What would a 31-year-old mom want with story cubes? Well, inspiration. I find, as a writer, that the writing prompts online are few and far between, and the ones that are available are so, so tired.
So, I got story cubes for my birthday.
