Day 10, 2013--What Does Writing Mean to You?

This week, the children have been home and we have stuffed the days with cleaning and playing and gardening and visiting and reading and crafting and going to the fair.  My priorities have not included "me" time, which is what blog-writing is, so I missed a couple of days.  I don't feel particularly guilty about it, but I do find myself analyzing the reasons why.

I think that caused me to fall off of writing I'm Not Hannah and writing in general was that for years, it was a job for me.  Or it was the thing I thought I would do to have a career or make a name for myself.  And now that I've found a career that isn't writing, it feels weird to write without a plan or endgame.  I love the written word and I LOVE to write, but that isn't to say that writing isn't a time-consuming, sometimes difficult endeavor and in the life I have RIGHT NOW, I'm not sure how it fits in.

I also know that I spend a lot of time THINKING about writing or THINKING of blog posts or character bits and that falls by the wayside when I get on the computer for a non-photography-related portion of my day.  I've thought of writing as a job for so long, it's hard to think of it as a pure pleasure.

I'm not sure how to translate this observation into change:  I WANT to blog and write a novel, but I don't know if I CAN do that any more.  Writing has changed for me, and I don't know what to do with that change.

What about you?  What does writing mean to you?   Why do you blog and what do you think you want your writing to mean to others?

Day 7, 2013--What Day Is It Again?

Soooo...it's Monday, but it's Fall Break here and even though I worked, it feels Fridayish.  We had a big bonfire with P and G and the kiddoes complete with hotdogs, s'mores, and hard cider (for me.) This is not a Monday kind of event and so I'm very confused about the whole thing.

It could be the cider.

I'm not sure.

How are you doing with your days?  Do you have specific days you blog about specific things or do you just fly by the seat of your pants?

Whichever your style, hope the writing's going well.

Day 6, 2013--Something New

Today, I got a new iPhone 5C.  It was time for us to renew our contract and Best Buy was having a good deal, so we went with it.

I have to be honest, though.  I LIKED my old phone.  I liked the feel of the Otter Box (that makes me feel dirty all of a sudden) in my hand, I knew where all the stuff was...

This phone feels weird in my hand (no purple Otter Boxes for the iPhone 5C?  Really?)  It runs on iOS 7, which feels very 1980s to me.  It is smaller and lighter and...just weird.

These are first world problems, I know, but they bug the stew out of me.  I'm not big on change.   But change is good, yes?  Yes.

I've realized in doing NaBloWriMo again that something has to change about my interweb habits.  I say it all the time, I've said it before on I'm Not Hannah, but I spend too much time frittering and not enough time DOING what I need to do online and on the computer.  It puts me behind on everything.

So I've resolved again (for the 90th time) to change my evil internet ways.  We'll see what happens.

NaBoWriMo teaching (or reteaching) you anything?

Day 5, 2013--What to Do When Things Get Busy

Life?  Gets in the way.  Today I got up early to edit, went to work, worked LATE, got distracted (and almost killed by) the Georgia game, and was visited by my aunt and uncle.  Now it's 9:02 and I haven't done my I'm Not Hannah blog OR this one.  So...what should I do?

The easy thing is to write a give away blog:  a few lines where you say, "This is a short blog.  Because I'm busy.  Give me a break."  I'm all for blog posts like that.

You can also find a few links to stories you find interesting, pictures you find fascinating, blog posts that provoked your thoughts.

Sometimes I'll write a few lines about a favorite memory or song, just to connect with my audience.
Sometimes, I don't write anything at all.

Remember that the point of NaBloWriMo is to connect with your writerly self, other writers, and have FUN.

Hope y'all are all still having FUN!

Day 4, 2013--Share the Love

Friday is here and...yesterday I missed my I'm Not Hannah post.  I'm not entirely too worked up about it.  After all, I posted on THIS blog and yesterday I was buried in work and house stuff.  A few years ago, I would have lost my mind over it, but now it's like, "Eh."

I DID take the time to read and comment on a few of y'all's blogs.  So enjoying learning about you and yours and reconnecting with old friends.  PLEAAAASSSEEE take the time to pick a few blogs from our list and visit them.  Put down a comment or two.  Bloggers LOVE comments and the whole point of NaBloWriMo is to encourage a writing COMMUNITY.

It's an all-caps kind of morning.  I think I need more tea in my life.

Y'all have great days!!

Day 3, 2013--Loose Ends

Good morning, petunias!

A few things before I get off this couch and do my living thing today:

1. I know that some of you from last year are writing for this year and you aren't on the roll yet.  I'm going through last year's writers right now to try to get it all sorted out.  If you are writing and I'm missing you, let me know by commenting here or on the FB page.  
2. The prompts are being collated and I'll get them up ASAP.  I know that some of you need them.  Feel free to look through the ones from last year if you need to in the mean time.  I promise we won't hate on you for using stale prompts.  ;)
3. I find that I'm blogging reallllly late at night and that, perhaps, it would be a good idea for me to blog earlier.  Ahem.  When are you doing your blogging?
4. Do you find the FB page helpful?  I sometimes wonder if the reason my blogging has fallen by the wayside is because I spend a lot of time chatting it up on FB.

Anywhoodles, have splendid days and write your little booties off whenever you find the time.

Day 2, 2013--Off to a Great Start

Looks like we're off to a great start--at least writing-wise.  I'll be working on getting the prompts up after the Biscuit goes to school and then getting a list of writers together.  Please be patient, as NaBloWriMo, while dear to my heart and good for my soul, is about 236th on my list today.  ;)

I haven't been able to read everybody's stuff, but I'll be trying to as the day goes on, as well.  It's so much fun to get to know everybody and to catch up on what's happened over the last year.  Soooo many changes for some of you!

I'll be posting every day on FB, so if you want to put a link on the page when you get your daily post up, try to comment on that day's post.  This keeps me marginally more organized.

Marginally.

In the margins.

Have fantastic days, my loves!

Day 1, 2013--Welcome and Some Info

Let me be honest.  Writing a blog post every day for a month was not a priority for me this year.  I am slammed by work, buried under the load of laundry I face every day, feeling worn out, blah, and lacking any creative spark whatsoever.

Blah.

Blaaaah, I say.

But...

Here I am.  Here WE are.  Blogging.  Every day for a month.

Today is a weird day for America.  We are divided and conquered by our own government.  We are stressed and worried and angry.

Today is an awful day for my hometown.  One of my childhood friends lost his daughter yesterday and we are reeling from it and anxious because he is so far away and the pain he must be feeling is hard to bear for some of us.

There are a million tragedies and losses and little worries and big frustrations and assorted blechs in this world.  If we let them soak into us, they fester and burn, and they need to be let out.

We can write them out.

There are also, thank whatever god you feel like, a million hopes and triumphs and joys and little smiles and moments of rest that should be celebrated.  If we spread them around the world, maybe they'll multiply.

We can write them into the world.

NaBloWriMo is, for me, a time to start again.  To reconnect with my writing self, to reconnect with my blog friends.  It is a time for me to make new blog friends, to explore different paths.

The basics are simple:  you write a blog post every day for the month of October.  Your posts can be long or short.  They can have pictures or not.  You can tuck in your favorite poems, sayings, and assorted nonsense.

If you do write a blog post, share it with us on our Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/NaBloWriMo/203905936342372

There will be a list of bloggers on this site as soon as I can get it up.  I'll also have a few buttons ready.

I'm collating a list of topics, but if you are stymied, one good one to start with is:  Why are you participating in NaBloWriMo?

What else?  (The girl child is getting ready in the background and I'm worried about the state of her hair.)  Oh!  If you haven't signed up and would like to write with us, visit the Facebook page and sign up.  Then blog.

This month is going to be...good.   Can't wait to read what you write.