Category: blogging

Hooray For Boobies!

Photo by Estúdio Bloom on Unsplash

Contrary to the title, this is not a music review for the 1999 album by the Bloodhound Gang. Sorry fellow music enthusiasts. 

Now that I have your attention, this week, we’re talking about the breast cancer awareness meme popular on facebook every October. The confusing one where women used to post a random fruit, or cryptic phrases like “I like to do it on the garage floor”. Yeah, those ones. The attempt at cyberactivism, like several other attempts (see: ALS ice bucket challenge), doesn’t quite reach the level of activism and donations it should. 

According to the textbook, “Humans want to do the right thing, and if the call is to simply ask you to push a button to “like” a status, we don’t mind obliging”. The accuracy of this statement really hits home in the cyber age where most things online we can get done with the push of a button.

So let’s dissect it and see what makes it so successful and where it tends to fall short. 

Why so Viral? 

There are several reasons why memes like the breast cancer meme (and so many others over the years) go viral. The secret is in the subtlety and vagueness of its nature. It’s the same idea as if someone posts something like “Nothing lasts forever”. We, as humans, are curious about what the message could possibly be about and depending on how interested we are, could fall down the rabbit hole of “deep research” into that person’s profile. 

The viral breast cancer meme brings up the same idea. A vague post where it brings users deeper into “What could it mean?” and more importantly: “What important social media trend am I missing?” 

So the viral urge is there, and the call for cyberactivism has spread quickly every October when the mysterious posts begin showing up. Everyone engages with or posts their own version. No matter the format, whether it’s which fruit corresponds with your breast size, where you put your purse, or the color of your bra. Every year, the meme seems to go viral. 

But that doesn’t mean that the cyberactivism is working. 

Where does it fall short?

There are several places where the meme falls short. 

The first and most glaring is the vagueness of the post. If you aren’t fortunate enough to be included by one of your facebook friends in the message detailing the trend, you as a user have no idea what’s going on.

If you’re not the gender that gets breast cancer, then you are even more out of the loop. That’s the first place where the meme falls short. It leaves out more users than it includes, and because it’s so vague, it doesn’t include a call to action. Therefore, people think they’re engaging in cyberactivism by simply clicking the like button, but are really not. 

Another place where the meme falls short is not including men. By only including women, and turning the meme into something sexual, especially with the “where you put your purse” addition a few years ago and the phrasing of “I like it behind the couch”etc, the meme misses the other half of the people who can be affected by breast cancer. 

Yes, men can get breast cancer too! By not including men, and opening the conversation to men, it’s like erasing the fact that men can also get breast cancer (and are not routinely screened, which is another issue entirely). 

While the meme is doing it’s best to build activism and help bring awareness to breast cancer, it tragically falls short. 

So where does that leave us?

How to Truly Increase Awareness

The breast cancer meme is a good start. Posting a fruit, or where you put your purse, or the length of your hair, or the color of your bra is a helpful start. It’s a conversation starter and builds interest. However, to build more engagement and actually engage in cyberactivism, there needs to be more. Including more ways to include men. 

Sure, the inital post can be vague. Post a fruit name or a color. But then, do more. Add a post after with a call to action. “Hey, if you liked this post, it was for breast cancer! You can donate to the cause, and learn more at (Insert link here).” That would truly build awareness and hopefully increase donations. 

So Now What?

As we reach the end of September and the beginning of October, by all means, post the memes, but also consider donating in other ways. Build awareness on social media, donate to breast cancer awareness, ThinkPink or whatever, donate to Susan G. Komen (Which has its own issues which we can explore another day). 

As for today? Go to Breastcancer.org and make sure your donation for breast cancer is going somewhere worthy. 

September Results and October Goals

As we approach the changing of the seasons and turn inward, I wanted to start wrapping up projects and get ready to start new projects down the road.

Here’s how I did in September:

September Results

NYC Midnight’s Flash Fiction Contest Round Two

First of all, let me say that I really enjoyed this round of the flash fiction contest. The feedback I got wasn’t absolutely terrible from round one and I feel like I was able to take the feedback and apply it to round two. For round two, my genre was horror, one I have been itching to write and submit something in for quite a while. The story was one of my best so far. I am so excited for the judges to read it and give feedback. Writing for the Flash Fiction contest again this year has renewed my enjoyment in writing. I’m so glad I was able to write something I can be proud of.

Finish More Projects

Surprisingly, I finished something in September. For the longest time I didn’t expect it because the month only got crazier as it went on. I finished another fanfiction piece on the 29th (Nothing like a close deadline to inspire a procrastinator!). Thankfully, I finally finished a lingering project and I feel so much better for it.

Finish Reading a Book

As far as reading one book this month goes, I didn’t finish a novel like I wanted, but I did read a total of five Shakespeare plays for my Shakespeare class. I’m counting that as an accomplishment, even if it didn’t appear as I would have liked it to appear. Shakespeare is still reading, and it is still fiction, even if it isn’t always enjoyable for me.

Word Count: 16,215

In other news, in the month of September, I was able to read three Shakespeare plays, edit six sections of my novel, and post several chapters up of my now finished Fanfiction projects. Not too bad, if I do say so myself.

October Goals

Instawrimo/Inktober

As it just so happens, this year both Instawrimo and Inktober are in the same month. While I am not sure I’ll be able to do both, I am certainly going to try. I really enjoyed Instawrimo when I did it a few years ago, and Inktober is always fun, even though I am not the best artist. Still, everything is practice. It might be fun to do something new this year.

NaNoWriMo Preparation

Finally at the end of last month, I got an idea for my NaNoWriMo 2021 Novel. I played around with a few ideas, and then in the car on the way to work, my mind went: Write a sequel. Needless to say, I have a decent amount of planning to do on a sequel I had no idea would exist last week.

Finish an Original Novel

I have goals to achieve and one of them includes finished novels. During the month of October, I really want to finish an original novel that’s been in my to do list for over a year now. I’m about two thirds of the way through and I’m hoping I can get through the last third in October.

January Results and February Goals

January is now gone (and has been for a few days), and February is in full swing! I made a few writing goals last month, and there are always more goals to come! Here’s how I did in January:

January Results

Write at least 500 words a day:

As hard as I tried to write 500 words a day, it just simply didn’t happen. There were several days where 500 words was just too difficult with work and training. I got the second dose of the COVID vaccine and it knocked me out for at least a week. There were also other days where I got over 1000 without any issue. I did write quite a lot this month, but there were several days where I had zero days on more projects than days I did write. In the upcoming months, I would like to work on finding a balance that works best for me.

Start Edits on another book:

Official edits weren’t started, but notes and outlines and organization happened, so I am officially counting that as a win. I’m ready to get down to editing now that I know what I need to fix and where I need to go.

Round one of the NYC Midnight Short Story Contest:

Despite getting a genre for round one that I was apprehensive about and honestly quite scared to write during these volatile times (political satire), I wrote my short story and submitted it, even though I knew it wasn’t perfect. I’m definitely counting that as a win and growth on my part.

Word Count: 19,076

February Goals

Finish the NaNoWrimo Novel from 2020

I had planned to finish the NaNo novel by the end of January, but it is unfortunately going to be extended into February. There’s still a little novel left to write, but I’m getting quite a bit closer to the end.

Start Official Edits on BOOK A

BOOK A is now outlined and notated and ready to go through another round of edits. I’m hoping to get the final edits done by April of this year so I can start querying.

Continue to Work on open Projects

I still have several open projects open either from last year or a few years ago. I’m hoping to finish at least one of them, if not multiple by the time February is over. February is the shortest month of the year, but I’m hoping I can still be productive and make big changes over the next few weeks.

Wish me luck!

What are some of your goals in the upcoming months?

August Results and September Goals

August is now behind us and September has only just begun. I’m very pleased to say August was a very productive month for me and I can only hope the productivity continues well into September and the rest of the year.

August Results

Finish edits on book one.

I’m very pleased to say I finished the first round of edits five full days ahead of time.

Flash Fiction Contest

Round Two is now completed and submitted. Round One results have been received. There will be more on all of this later, so stay tuned!

Read at least one book

I read one book for sure, and started a few more. I really had fun reading published fiction again and plan to make it a habit. Stay tuned, there may be a few book reviews coming up.

More Blogging

Stay tuned for more fun posts coming up!

Total Words: 27,457

September Goals

Reach the 50% mark in Ghost House Heart

I’ve been working on this novel since March or April, but it’s been on the back burner with edits and everything else going on. I’m hoping to make some progress and get to the 50% mark (or more) so I can finish in October.

Instawrimo

It is now September, which means it is officially NaNoWriMo prep season. Usually, instawrimo is a whole month long, but thanks to COVID, nothing is the same this year, but Instawrimo will be a few weeks instead of a month. I’m still participating as the ML for my region.

Read at least one book

I’m really getting into reading novels again and one a month is relatively manageable.

Possibly “Go” to a Writing Conference

I say “go” because like everything else this year, COVID has struck again. The writing conference will be over zoom and while I was excited to go when it was in person, I’m not sure I want to sit in a zoom meeting for three to four days. I’m debating if I want to go or not.

Writer Life Lesson #26: Start Something New

A lot of the time, as writers, we work on pieces for long periods of time. Novels, short stories, even poems can take years and years to come to completion. Sometimes, we tend to get stuck in the middle and think there is no way out, especially since middles are characteristically the hardest to write since they have to connect the beginning and the end.

Usually, when I start writing a piece, I have a vague idea of where I want it to start and a vague idea of how I want it to end, but the middle is the unknown territory where I mostly let my characters surprise me. This works sometimes, but a lot of the time I get distracted and stuck and have trouble continuing with that piece.

That brings me to Writer Life Lesson #26: Start Something New. 

Working on one piece at a time works for some people, but I find that I get tunnel vision and I get bored and feel like I’m a failure at life because I’m not having these big 5K writing days or I’m not making story progress like I want. Recently, I got a bit of inspiration and started a few new pieces because I just couldn’t wait.

The results were astounding.

To start something new and feel that new spark of a new piece was amazing. It helped me to give the current novel I’m working on a bit of space and let me relax in my wishes for that novel. When I returned to it recently, I was able to get a lot of writing done and get through a good bit of the plot and find a bit of a direction again.

I’m still in the middle and trying to work my way to the end, but if I get stuck, I know I can go work on something else for a while, fiddle around with a new set of characters and a plot and make the words come without pressure again.

If you’re stuck on your current piece and it’s driving you crazy, try starting something new, even if it’s just a short poem or an idea. It will help get those ideas flowing again and reduce the need for perfection in your first draft.

What I Learned Doing a 30 Day Challenge on Instagram

The internet is full of people and ideas and social media platforms. There are hundreds and hundreds of posting challenges happening at any time.

In September, I participated in Instawrimo. Instawrimo is a thirty day posting challenge on Instagram for getting prepared for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

Here’s what I learned over the last 30 days.

1. Be Prepared

This may seem obvious, but if I hadn’t been prepared with some ideas before the challenge started, there would be some days that didn’t get done. For most days, I had at least a general plan, but sometimes it ended up not working out.

There were some days that I had no plan at all and got to fly by the seat of my pants to post anything.

Some days, the plan changed entirely, but it all worked out. I was able to post all 30 days on time.

2. Formatting is Huge

Because the challenge is on Instagram, and they are mainly photo based, the size of the photos played a huge part in what I could post and what I couldn’t. Thanks to Google, I have every single photo I have ever taken or downloaded since about 2014. Some of them, transfering over several devices, or due to the sheer download size, wouldn’t fit in the instagram design effectively. I had to use several back ups when the picture was too big, or it didn’t post correctly.

3. Flexibility Can Save the Day

The prompt list was very open, with several days of the prompts being interpreted different by different users. There were days that I looked at the prompts and had a brief panic and had to think outside the box. I will admit, there are several days that I waited until later in the afternoon and looked up what others had done first.

4. A Healthy Dose of Fear Helps

Before I started this challenge, I probably posted original content on my instagram like once in a blue moon. The last post before the 30 day challenge was from February of 2018. I was terrified nearly every day before I posted, some days more than others, but I did it anyway. It was a huge confidence boost to just post and then to have people respond was even better.

5. Continuous Posting (the right way) Helps You Get Seen.

I have to say, what I most enjoyed about this challenge is that it was only once a day for 30 days. It was an easy 10 to 20 minutes a day for one post, but by the end of the month, I had 30 new posts and a lot more content than I had before. It helped me get more followers, helped me make new connections and even better, there was no spamming involved.

The Bottom Line:

Participating in a 30 day challenge was fun and informative and I’m looking forward to continuing to post and continue to build my social media presence.

If you’re interested in what I posted for the prompts, you can find the first one here.

#3: No More Staples

For nearly two weeks, the shiny metal staples shone like a beacon on her forehead.

For nearly two weeks, all everyone ever saw was the staples. How she had gotten the staples wasn’t important, but she wouldn’t tell anyone either way.

After she got them removed, the white clear strips were put in their place until they fell off on their own. She tore that safety measure from her skin.

She needed to see her scars. She needed to see her strength.

#1: Unopened

Of the several things that lay strewn under the Christmas tree the week after the holiday, the most inconspicuous was the small cardboard box.

“I know we’re over,” he had said way back in the summer when she had ended their relationship, “But I found this and it reminded me of you.”

For months, she had held onto it. Set it on her shelf and admired the festive paper, letting the curiosity eat at her, and the regret of her decisions.

It was the first present she put under the tree as soon as it was up. The small box had been tormenting her for months with its unknown contents and she swore she would open it as soon as she could, even if it was just a reminder of what she used to be, but wasn’t anymore.

When Christmas morning did arrive, the tree was so laden with presents that the small box was nearly forgotten until she began cleaning up the wrapping paper from all of the other gifts.

Christmas morning, she had gotten as far as tearing off the festive wrapping paper before the fear froze her. What if whatever the box contained changed everything?

She stared at it, under the tree for the entire week, the fear enough to eat her from the inside out. As it got closer to the new year, she told herself she would open it on New Year’s Eve and decide if it was something she wanted to keep in the new year or chuck away with the old, but as New Year’s Eve arrived she found herself pulled away to a New Year’s Party.

New Year’s Day, when she awoke, it was still under the tree.

She looked at the tree, slowly starting to dry out, and the other boxes that she had left in the rush of plans after Christmas and grabbed a trash bag. A new year meant it was time to move on.

The next hour or so, she spent breaking down boxes and crumpling up wrapping paper and tape. For the first time in a week she picked up the small cardboard box.

It was heavy in her hand for the size of the box and the memories she was sure it contained. She knew she could spend minutes, hours, days, weeks trying to figure out what was inside.

She already had.

Instead, she dropped it from her hand into the nearly full garbage bag.

Some things were better left unopened.

Trying Something New

As 2018 approaches, I’m going to be trying something new with this blog.

Lately, my writing has been lacking and I feel like these last few months I’ve just been on autopilot and not enjoying life.

For January, I’m going to try doing a blog post a day. If it works, great! I’ll continue it.

If it doesn’t work, well I tried.

I hope you all have a great new year and are looking forward to new content as much as I am.

2017 Goals

Hello everyone!

I know I have been absent for longer than I should have been, especially since I was trying to do a prompt daily, but here I am!

I know around this time of year a lot of people do their New Years Resolutions and Goals for change.

Yes, this is one of those posts. And I will do my best to not make it cliche or boring, but it’s bound to happen.

Without Further Ado: My goals for 2017

Write (Well Duh, Writer!)

  1. Write more original works: My goal this year is to play catch up with my current series. At this moment the series is bits and pieces and a ton of ideas. The only completed book or at least written book is the first one. The others are a few scenes or a section here and there, and by the end of this calendar year I would like the books I have stared to be more complete. 5 days a week will be original works.
  2. Write Fanfiction: Yes, Fanfiction. The type of writing that gets the writing snobs all up in a tizzy. “Those aren’t your characters, you can’t do that!” Or any of the other excuses aside, I did a lot of fanfiction writing in 2016 and I feel that it helped me expand on my original works. In an already established universe, I could test an idea and see how I wanted to try and write it.  Not only that, but I have somehow accrued a dedicated following on a few of the fanfictions that I have published. The weekends are for fanfiction.
  3. Blog: The writing schedule for this blog has been completely atrocious, and I do apologize for that. My goal for this year is to find a schedule that works and try to stick to it. Stay tuned for more details on that and the content to come.

Learn

  1. Bachelor’s Program: I will have had my RN license for 2 years in July and I’ve been working at my job for over a year now. It’s time to get in to a Bachelor’s program and continue my education.
  2. Languages and Skills: During the end of 2015 and throughout 2016 I tried to learn several languages. I ended up getting bored and forgetting about them for a while. I intend to at least learn somewhat fluently a language (Probably Spanish due to my profession and where I live) by the end of 2017

Health (Here are the cliches!)

  1. Strength: For years I have been a weakling, and I have tried in the past to gain arm strength, but push ups suck. I recently joined a gym and I intend to use it to full capacity to gain some muscle and strength. Strength would definitely help me at my job in an office and eventually when I move to a hospital job. The 600 pound patients won’t know what hit them!
  2. Body Confidence: Struggling with weight is a relatively new phenomenon for me. I’m guessing it’s because of all the sitting I do at my job and all of the delicious take out and Starbucks that I drink. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I had looked at old pictures and noticed how slim my face looked. When a patient asked me if I was pregnant I figured it was time to make some better choices and appreciate my body since it is the only one I have.

Those are my goals for 2017 and who knows what will happen in the next 12 months. Stick around and find out!

What are your goals for the new year?

 

Why Do I Stop Writing?

All things must come to an end. The day we live through must give way to a new one tomorrow, the weeks and months give way to New Years and decades. Even writing projects must end, some of them earlier than others. 

I have a lot of unfinished projects. Daily when I write, or think about writing, I open my program, or my notebook and scroll through and look at all the ideas I have started and never finished. 

Why did I stop writing them?

There are several reasons:

I Found a New/Better Idea:

Don’t ask me where all of my ideas come from, but occasionally I start them before I really flesh them out. Then a new idea comes around and I jump onto that one. 

I Don’t Know Where the Story is Going: 

Sometimes I “off-road” from my outline and then get stuck because I have no idea where the story is going after that. Sometimes I don’t even have an outline. Sometimes, I just don’t like the idea as much as I thought I would. 

The Writing Gets Too Hard:

There are certain topics and situations that are just hard for me to write. Certain emotions that I can’t fully express on the page, or certain situations that I have never been in and can’t accurately describe. So I stop to research and sometimes never return to it. 

Interruptions:

Sometimes, I just get interrupted and lose my flow in a piece and just never return to it. It happens and it’s depressing, but sometimes the writing mojo doesn’t come back. 

Thinking about all these reasons why I stop writing, I realized something. Those are all excuses why I stop writing. 

The real reason I stop writing is FEAR.

Fear that my idea isn’t good enough.

Fear that I will never find the right direction. 

Fear that I can’t do the hard writing, so I move to something easier. 

Fear that I will never be in that right writing mood, or that I will never be as excited as I was to write that first page. 

I am making the choice to stop letting the fear dictate what I start and finish. 




Writer Life Lessons #20: Save Your Research for the Second Draft

Imagine how much work we would all get done if we stopped to research every little thing in our writing to make sure it was factually accurate. I don’t know about you, but I would probably get no work done. I would be so into researching and making sure that every little detail was painstakingly accurate that I would never get any words on the page.

This is why you should Save Your Research for the Second Draft.

Let the first draft be what it wants to be. Finish a whole project and then do as much research as your heart desires. Get your ideas down and then find out if they are accurate. If you research after every scene, not only will you be burned out on research, but on writing as well. Writers need to write.

Sometimes in first drafts, we don’t always know exactly what we want to happen, so we just write something that resembles a plot and then hopefully edit the hell out of it later. If we as writers edit every little detail and research as we’re writing the first draft, we might not even use that research in later drafts and that was time we could have been using to write.

Don’t get me wrong, small bits of research, like how to spell or phrase things, is fine. As long as it is under 5-10 minutes (depending on your internet/data speed), then I think it’s fine. It’s when you get sucked into researching for an entire afternoon that it becomes a problem. So try and keep research to a minimum and writing to a maximum.

Happy Writing!

A Quick Note on Frustration

Happy Monday!

For some of us, Monday means going back to work, or school. For others, it means delving into personal work and projects. For me it means queuing up the blog for the week. What does this have to do with frustration?

Everything.

Last Friday, I decided to be proactive and write a little of a How To Tuesday to make it easier on myself over the weekend and today. I have around 2000 words all set up and ready to go, and just needed a few more paragraphs to finish.

Today, I go to my drafts, ready to pick up where I left off, everything looks good in the screen where all the drafts live, and then I open it. AND IT’S BLANK!

I was so frustrated that I had to write all of it again, pull the ideas back from what the original idea was and type angry and jaded. Instead of a long post, it only came out to be around 700 words (though you all might thank me for that).

I know frustration is a normal occurrence, and that it might just be a fluke on WordPress’ end, but still 2000 words and like 15 ideas just gone, off into space, never to be found in that exact order again. Frustration is putting it nicely.

So hopefully something can come from that frustration and the problem of words disappearing can be solved (By the way, not the first time this has happened).

Has this happened to anyone else? Have your drafts ever disappeared when you try and edit them?

Please let me know so we can fix this problem!