Category: April

Top Three Writing Tips

I can’t believe we’re in April. April, despite being the start of Spring and warmer weather, is always a horrible month for me. Not only do I have two birthdays followed by death days (yeah, those suck hardcore!), but there are several anniversaries of deaths over the last few years, birthdays of those who have passed on. April is just an awful month.

But! I am still here posting and doing what I can to make it better.

Today, it’s my top three writing tips.

1. Write “This is the shitty draft” or something similar on a blank page to get started.

A blank page is terrifying, especially compared to the perfectly curated image in your head. I used to panic and freeze and not be able to write because “it would never be as good as in my head.” Hence, this tip. It turns off the expectation for the work to be “the best ever” and lets it just be what it is: a first draft.

2. Let the first draft be as bad as it needs to be.

Similar to the tip above, let the first draft be bad. My first drafts are full of notes that make me laugh, notes that make me cringe, way too many parentheses with stupid remarks like this:

Not only does it keep the writing from being too serious, but it makes me laugh when I read it back later and helps me remember how much fun I had writing in the first place.

  1. Have fun with it and play!
    This tip is a little difficult if you’re hard on yourself like me. I’ve always been an anxious kid, and an even more anxious adult so play has never been easy. Writing was where I could feel free and play. I could ask the “What if?” questions and really find the fun in the story.

Overall, there are so many writing tips that might or might not work for you. Do what works and discard the rest. We’re all ultimately on our own writing journeys.

I’m sharing what works best for me. But I hope everyone finds what works for them.

What’s your favorite writing tip?

 

Taking it Easy in April

Usually, April is filled with a frenzy to get words and complete another writing challenge for NaNoWriMo. Camp NaNoWriMo takes place every April and July, but after the recent events around NaNoWriMo, just the thought of it makes me feel icky.

I held strong through November as one of the Municipal Liaisons, but as soon as December and January hit, I started to feel the disgust and shame in my body. The organization I once loved, the organization I put all my faith and trust and creativity into, no longer exists.

Usually, in April, I do Camp NaNoWriMo and attempt to work on a project. This month, perhaps even this whole year, I want nothing to do with NaNoWriMo.

I’ve put in my resignation as the ML for my region. The local chapter has moved onto being its own writing and critique group. I honestly feel so free after nearly a decade of being an ML and carrying the weight and stress.

What does that have to do with writing and my goals for this month? Well, first off, I won’t be doing Camp NaNo, as I said. Second, I’m going to be kind to myself this month and not overextend my time or creativity.

That means taking my time on projects. While I will attempt to meet the self imposed deadlines of posting here on the blog every week (along with substack and medium), I am fully aware and open to the chance it might not happen. April is a harsh month with birthdays and death anniversaries and a lot of other emotional junk.

I have a goal to finish edits this month, and I do intend to stick to that. I’m going to do my best to post and build here on the blog, but if it doesn’t happen, I’m going to take it easy on myself.

 

April Results and May Goals

This year, April wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. Usually April is my worst writing and creating month, but not this year.

This year, I decided to embrace the mantra of “Fun!”. I often stress too much about little things and things that don’t matter. Thinking like that has made me regret a lot of things and miss out on opportunities, so now I have decided to change my outlook and find the fun in what I can.

Here’s how I did in April.

April Results

Writing

Edit Another Arc of Book 1

April simply wasn’t the month for editing. Not because of the usual reasons of April being filled with grief, but because other projects demanded my attention and seemed more fun. I did as much as I could, but I needed a break from editing. With any luck, in May I’ll return to it with more gusto.

Camp NaNoWriMo/35K in book 3.

While I didn’t do really any work in the book I was supposed to be working on for Camp NaNoWriMo, I did manage to get more than 35K in all the projects I’ve been working on. I’m still counting it as a goal reached, because 35K+ spread through everything I’ve been working through this month has been spectacular.

Poetry

Poetry as a goal was hit and miss. I did finish my poetry class for my bachelor’s program and did write/edit a good grip of poems. I did work on a few poems at the beginning of the month and make decent progress, but in no way did I work on Poetry every day like I had planned. Still, some progress is better than none.

NYC Midnight

This goal is a double add on goal. I had the NYC Midnight 100 word Micro-fiction contest planned, but forgot to put it as a goal. That went well, with only 24 hours to write and edit 100 words and tell a story. Another competition that came back as a surprise was the NYC Midnight Short Story Competition. My submission from January got 5th place which meant I got to go onto Round Two. I submitted that story and had so much fun with it. Things are starting to get exciting in the writing world for me.

Personal

Exercise

Exercise was a little better in April. I started making a conscious effort to go out for a walk when I could and get some kind of exercise in. It was nowhere perfect and nowhere where I wanted to be, especially as the month wound down. When I did exercise, I did pick up the pace more and added a little jogging to my usual walks. It makes me feel a little better and so far it has seemed to help me reach my goals quicker. I used to hate running, and I still do, but not as much.

Journal

As much as I wanted to make this a perfect month, it didn’t happen. There were days where it was impossible to make it to the page for one reason or another. A few were travel related, another was work related. Overall, in April I missed 4 days. Hopefully, in May I won’t miss any.

OTHER NEWS

In other news, as I mentioned, I finished another class for my bachelor’s program. This effectively means I have two left. I’m getting closer to my dream and I couldn’t be more excited. I am looking forward to what the next few classes hold and possibly what might be coming after that.

I have a creative project in the works that is getting closer and closer to being done and being out in the world. I can’t say much right now, but once I can I will be shouting it from the rooftops and blasting it all over wherever I can.

My dental work is finally done, with the permanent implant in, so no more horrible plastic whole mouth fake tooth retainer. I could not be happier, even though my mouth still feels “naked” after weeks without the retainer. I’ll eventually get used to it.

I have picked up another creative hobby in singing and while I’m not as good as I was in high school with daily practice in the choir room, I do feel like I’m finally finding my voice and not trying to imitate others. That’s a big milestone for me. While no one may hear me for a while, I do enjoy singing in the car as I drive to and from work.

Word Count: 45,696

May Goals

Writing

Edit One Short Story

I have a massive list of short stories to be edited, even though I have done more than I thought with the last few NYC Midnight competitions. I would like to work through another one this month and add it to my list of completed works for the year. 2023 is the year of editing, even if I didn’t do much of it in April.

Edit An Arc of Book 1

May means it’s time to get back to the serious work of editing. I didn’t do much in April, for a lot of reasons, but now I’m ready to get back to it and keep the progress moving forward. With any luck I’ll be able to make it through a few chapters in May.

Finish A Project (of any kind)

I have a lot of open projects that I’ve had for a long time. I think the oldest project I’m working on right now I’ve been working on, on and off since 2015. I would like to get some of my older projects done and out of the way so I can start something new. Knowing my luck and the class I am currently in, the project I finish might be related to school, but I’m ok with that. It will be some kind of fiction. Perhaps I’ll even finish two or three projects.

Personal

Exercise

I feel like now almost halfway into the year, I am starting to build a better routine. While I haven’t been able to get out every day and exercise, I at least think about it and make a plan. I don’t always stick to the plan, but I’m hoping in May I’ll get out more and notice more positive changes in my body.

Journal

April was not the best month for journaling, but I hope May is better. I feel so much better when I get my thoughts out of my head and down on paper. There are several days when it gets repetitive, but the journaling still does help. I would like to not miss any days during May and then keep the trend going for the rest of the year.

March Results and April Goals

As I head into the hardest month of every year, I’m thankful March was so productive. It flew by in a blur of homework, work, and writing, but I’m glad I was able to accomplish as much as I did.

March Results

Writing

Edit One Short Story

I didn’t quite edit a short story in the way I wanted to. Another project landed in my lap to edit, and I couldn’t help it. I actually had a deadline for this project and the edits involved with it. I can’t say much about it at the moment, but stay tuned for more updates!

Edit 4 chapters or finish the current Story Arc

This goal took up my whole month. March was definitely the month for editing the novel and the story arc and it did not disappoint. The arc took me the whole month, and five chapters instead of four, but that means I have edited half of the proposed chapters for the current project I’m editing.

NYC Midnight Screenplay Challenge

This challenge goes into April too so I’ll talk about it then. So far, working on other projects has taken precedence, but tune in next month for a better update.

Finish a Short Story from 2022

This month, writing didn’t really come as easy as reading or editing. As much as I wanted to finish this short story, it will have to be at another time. I have a direction now at least, which is always better than no direction.

Personal

Exercise

Exercising wasn’t really my top priority this month. With the rain and the strange weather throughout March, I spent more time wishing I could exercise, rather than actually doing the work and exercising. Next month, I am really hoping to get back to a decent routine and stick to it.

Journal

I journaled every day but two in March. Things have started to move forward with certain aspects of my life and my health. A few days I got too swept up in it and completely forgot to journal. I’m hoping to keep up my streak next month and do a full month and full pages for my mental health.

Other

Reading a book series, or I suppose re-reading, sucked up a lot of my time in March. I can’t help it, I get sucked into a good book and it’s hard to claw my way out and write original things. I managed to read three books in the main series this month, which means once again, I will reach my reading goal waaaayyy before the end of the year. Now it’s time to read another trilogy I’ve been trying to read for a long time, but have always been distracted. That also means I need to update my reading goal for the year. Nothing too crazy, but I do like to have goals.

I also have good news coming, with any luck sooner rather than later now that the momentum is moving in the right direction.

Word Count: 34,786

April Goals

Writing

Edit Another Arc of Book 1

I’ve started to like the idea of editing my novel in arcs. It’s nice to work on a few chapters at a time, make them as strong as they can be, rather than slogging through the whole novel from front to back over and over again. I’m hoping to keep editing through a few arcs and hopefully have the novel fully edited by June or July.

Camp NaNoWriMo/35K in book 3.

I’ve been itching to finish book 3 of the series for months, especially since November and NaNoWriMo when I started book three was absolute trash. Slowly, I’ve been chipping away, but I’m excited to focus on it in April during Camp NaNoWriMo.

Poetry

I’m looking forward to working on some poetry in the upcoming month. The idea struck me toward the end of March, and with it being National Poetry month, why not?

Personal

Exercise

With any luck, the weather in April will be better than the stormy stuff we had in March. I am hoping to make exercise more of a habit and less of a chore, so we’ll see how that goes.

Journal

Journaling has been getting more difficult, more dragging, so I’m hoping I find more joy in it again this month. Or if not joy, at least a place to pour out my grief as we approach the month that sucks every year.

Hopefully the month of April won’t be too rough and I can actually get some decent work done.

What are your goals for the month of April?

March Results and April Goals

March has been absolutely crazy, with a lot of weird and bad news. It seemed like everything seemed to consipire against me completing my goals and making progress on anything really. The whole month of March was not a good writing month, or even a good school month, and I felt like I was just spinning my wheels and waiting for the next setback.

March Results

Write One Short Story

The short story started out so well at the beginning of the month. Then, I had my first non-writing day in 277 days. After that, the short story seemed to flounder and then stay on the back burner for school and work and anything and everything else.

Finish My 2021 NaNoWriMo Project

It wasn’t in the cards this month to finish my 2021 NaNoWriMo Project. With hectic schedules, more in-depth homework assignments and new stressors, it just wasn’t the month to finish anything. I’m hoping to take a break and come back to it fresh in the next couple months.

Attend a Writing Conference Online

This goal is actually one I have been able to somewhat complete. While I didn’t actually attend any of the live conference, I am able to watch the recordings and gain the knowledge from them. I am excited to gain more knowledge from this conference and learn all I can.

In March, I read three books that I honestly did not think would be my cup of tea, but pleasantly surprised me. I didn’t really think I would like spicy adult romances with smut in 90% of the chapters, but the story sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down. Unfortunately, it adversely affected my writing time, so I aim to find a balance over the next few months.

March was quite a tough month. I got some bad news regarding a beloved family pet, Hazel, and the last bit of the month was touch and go as far as everything goes. She turns 14 today, and I am hoping to give her the best birthday ever. Please, if any of you have pets, give them a nice cuddle or a treat and show them you love them.

Hazel

Word Count: 3,509

April Goals

Finish/Write One Short Story

I have to say, I really enjoyed the short story I was writing for March before everything went to pot. It is a really strong idea and I want to see it done, and possibly work on the second half of the story in April. I’m hoping to get back into my routine of writing daily again, especially since March was so hectic and not a good writing month at all.

Camp NaNoWriMo

This year, for Camp NaNoWriMo, I’m not planning on working on one project, but multiple. A short story, a memoir or two, poetry, edits. Anything and everything, I am counting toward Camp NaNoWriMo, and I’m hoping to have some fun with it.

Poetry

April is National Poetry Month, and I’m hoping to get a small piece of poetry written every day to encourage the habit of writing every day again. Who knows? Some of it might even be half decent.

NYC Midnight’s 100 Word Microfiction Challenge

I’ve signed up for the Challenge and I’m really hoping that at 100 words I can find some time to get it done between homework and all of the other creative projects I have going on. Here’s hoping I can make it happen.

I’m really hoping April is a better month than March was, for multiple reasons.