Tag: inktober

September Results and October Goals

We’re in the slippery slide of the last part of the year. How are we already in October??? September felt like it just started yesterday, and yet here we are.

I had a lot of goals in September. Here’s how I did:

September Results

Write One Short Story

September was an awesome month for short stories. I didn’t finish the short story that I intended to finish, but I did write and submit my first piece of fiction for my Bachelor’s program in Creative Writing, and that just so happened to be a short story. I’m quite proud of it. I’m still working on the short story for August, but I’m making progress there too.

Continue Edits on Book One

I continued edits on book one and finished a chapter. While I still didn’t make as much progress as I would have liked, I did begin to set up a routine and find balance between writing and editing. I now have a routine and a daily writing/editing time and I’m making sure I do everything I can to keep it. Now, I just have to continue making as much progress as I can on my edits.

Instagram Writer Friends Challenge

September started with the best intentions. I posted for the first nine days of the Writer Friends Challenge and then life got in the way. I kept meaning to catch up on the days I missed, and then next thing I knew, September was over. I’m hoping next time I attempt I’ll have more success.

NYC Midnight’s Rhyming Story Challenge

The NYC Midnight Rhyming Story Challenge is still going. I thought it was only in September, but it ends today. Typical me, I have procrastinated on it all week and now the deadline is tomorrow. I’ll have to provide an update sometime in October.

In September, I also managed to finish two books and start a third. Strangely, even though I usually read fiction, I read two non-fiction/memoirs. I also started a new class and submitted my first creative work for my writing program and it felt so good. I also set up a routine for writing, to make it feel less hectic, so we’ll see how that goes for the end of the year.

Word Count: 20,187

October Goals

Inktober and Writetober

October is always busy for me. With Inktober and Writetober and Instawrimo going on all at the same time, it’s going to be a busy month posting to social media. I hope I can keep up along with everything else I’m working on this month. I’m not the best artist as far as drawing goes, but I like to give it a shot every year and have a little fun with it. Writetober is exciting because it’s fifty words or less, which makes it fun to tell a story in as few words as possible.

Finsh Ghost House Heart

I’ve been working on Ghost House Heart on and off since 2020. I have finally made some progress and I can see the end. I have two chapters left and I’m excited to finally say I finished the first draft. I’m ready to move on to something else, like the novel I plan to write in November for NaNoWriMo.

Continue Edits

I’m still working on edits, but now I have a routine and I know where I’m going with the edits. I’m hoping to make more progress before November rolls around and hopefully get through the halfway point.

Prepare for NaNoWriMo

November is fast approaching, whether I like it or not. This year, the past few months have flown by with school and work and everything else in between. I have a loose idea of what I’m writing, but it never helps to prepare sooner rather than later.

(Possible) NYC Midnight’s Flash Fiction Challenge Part Three

I’m still waiting on results from round two. Round three is not guaranteed yet, but I’m hoping I can participate this year. I really enjoy the challenges from NYC Midnight. For now, this is only a possible goal.

October is going to be busy for me! What are some of your goals?

October Results and November Goals

Another month has come and passed and more goals have been attempted and achieved. October has been fun and I am excited for all the progress I’ve made. Here’s how I did on my goals for October:

October Results

Instawrimo

Instawrimo went very well this year. It was wonderful to get reacquainted with instagram and do something out of the ordinary. I’m used to writing, and keeping to myself for the most part, but it was nice to expand my creative horizons and share more of myself with the world. You can see my progress in Instawrimo (here)

Inktober

Inktober was quite interesting this year. I doodled and created. As hectic as this month was, doodling was so calming, it made me want to continue and reduce my stress further. In the past few years I have played around with making a social media for my doodles, and so I finally did. You can see my progress from Inktober (here).

NaNoWriMo Preparation

Preparation for NaNoWriMo went rather well this year. I found which direction I wanted to go, and for a lot of the days it felt like something new came up and helped get the story into place. I am so excited to finally start writing something new in November. Hopefully this will be something I can finish in a relatively speedy manner.

Finish an Original Novel

I wrote quite a lot in October. I chugged away every day on my original novel that’s been patient while I shove it to the side to work on other things. While it wasn’t necessarily the writing progress I wanted, I still managed to make a lot of progress. Now I feel more confident in my ability to finish the novel (hopefully in December!). I have finally reached the fun part, just in time to put it away and start something new.

In October, I started a new instagram for my doodles. I also completed my Shakespeare class (Thank Goodness!) and started a new class in my Bachelor’s program. At my job, I have been given more responsibilities, which is nice, but also makes writing and creating harder some days. Still, my job makes me happier than I was at the previous place so I am in no way complaining.

In October, I also found out I placed second in the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Contest and the joy was such a relief after a difficult work week. Unfortunately, I did not get to compete in round 3 of the competition, but I will definitely take the win. There’s always next year!

Word Count: 11,347

November Goals

NaNoWriMo

This year for NaNoWriMo I am writing a sequel to a novel I finished in 2019. I loved writing the first book, but a lot of plot points got shoved into the last few chapters. I realized a sequel would be the perfect remedy, so that’s what I’m writing this year. You can see all the details I have so far (here).

Doodle More

Last Month, during Inktober, I really enjoyed doodling and making something with my hands. Writing is an interesting hobby because for most of the time it’s looking at a screen and typing but having nothing truly physical to show for it. There are times that I feel like I really want to make something with my hands, so I’m hoping doodling will cure that itch and help me to stress less.

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.

What I’ve Learned Participating in Inktober (Writer Edition)

For the first time this month, I’ve done something I have never done. I finished Inktober, but it was Inktober with a twist. In October, I participated in Inktober (Writer Edition). Fifty words of fiction daily.

I did it with a twist yet again, and added ink drawings as well.

Here’s what I learned:

Writing and Drawing are Separate Arts

I’ve been a writer for years, but art has never been my forte. I could look at the prompts each day and come up with an idea pretty quickly of what I wanted to write. Coming up with what I wanted to draw was completely different. Knowing I wasn’t the best at drawing, I knew I had to be careful in what I picked. The first few drawings were terrifying, but then I let go and started to have fun with them.

Stick Figures Can Save You

I am not a professional artist by a long shot. I have friends who can draw the most beautiful realistic images and it makes me so jealous. There were few pieces that I chose to draw that involved people, but when it did, I used stick figures. Why? Because I could, and most drawings from this month took ten minutes or less. I’m a busy person and would rather get the drawings done rather than perfect.

Focuses Can Change

The first few days, I was concerned about the drawings. I knew I had the words right in the prompts. I knew what I was going for, but drawing was a terrifying feat that I couldn’t even begin to fathom for the first week or so. About a week in, my focus changed to the words. The prompts, in my opinion, became more concept and less concrete so I had to think them through. Now that I made it to the end, I’m wondering when the prompt list will come out for next year.

Size Matters

In the past when I have attempted Inktober, I bought a new fresh sketchbook and told myself I would create these massive pieces of art with barely any time to spend that was needed on massively beautiful pieces of art. I would manage for a few weeks, or a couple of days, then just give up and tell myself “I’m definitely not an artist.”

This year, I went really simple. Two pieces of printer paper folded into 16 squares. 4 Pigma Micron pens in black, red, light blue and navy. One Paper-Mate 4 in 1 ballpoint pen in green only. With those simple supplies, I created masterpieces that were 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches.

Fifty Words Can Tell a Decent Story

I have to admit, I started Inktober (Writer Edition) a little before October. I wrote several pieces ahead of the days they were to be posted (but I did only do one ink drawing a day). When I first started, I was terrified. Fifty words only?! How can I tell a decent story with only fifty words?! Having done NaNoWriMo for the past ten years, I’ve been under the impression that more words is much better than less.

Inktober (Writer Edition) proved me wrong. And in a big way.

With only fifty words per prompt, it made me be creative. It made me get rid of filler words and repetitions and words that just didn’t fit. It made me a better writer in merely 31 days, simply because it became automatic after a while to go “This is much longer than fifty words”. I had to cut words and edit mercilessly to make it just 50 words. No more, no less.

This challenge was definitely fun, and I learned a lot. I can’t wait to participate again next year!

You can follow the saga of Inktober (Writer Edition) here

But now, we’re off to bigger things. November and NaNoWrimo.

Part One of Inktober

Part Two of Inktober (with a bonus drawing)

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.

September Results and October Plans

Here we are at the end of another month already.
September Results

September has been very interesting for writing. I haven’t really focused on all the projects I said I would be working on a few months ago, but sometimes that’s how it goes.

The Kiss: 23849

Inktober prep: 339

Blog: 1017

Total:

25205

Other things I’ve worked on that aren’t exactly writing, but are related.

Instawrimo Challenge: For the first time in a monthly challenge that isn’t NaNoWriMo, I finally managed to complete 30 days of posts over on Instagram. There will be a post on all of the fun I had with that later.

Attended a Writing Conference: At the end of September I was lucky enough to attend the Central Coast Writer’s Conference. Being the first conference I have ever been to, it was everything I hoped for and more. I would highly recommend if you are a writer and want to do something to kick your writing into gear, go to a conference near you. There is something just so inspiring about being there with other writers who have started out where I am now. Keep an eye out for several posts on that later in this upcoming month.
October Goals

There is still a part of me that can’t believe that October is already here. But it is here, and ever fleeting. Before we know it the year will be up. I have some goals to smash, so here they are.

Finish The Kiss: There is still about 30% left to write and my plan is to finish in October before I start a new project in November.

Inktober (Writer Edition): This will be the third year I attempt Inktober, but this year will be a little different. Thankfully (especially since I am not an artist) someone on instagram came up with a writing edition for Inktober. So I will be writing a 50 word story and posting a doodle (Because it’s a challenge, right?)

Edits: I’ve spent so long writing over these past few years that I have a huge backlog of things to edit. With this year’s project for NaNoWriMo being the mirror to the first book of my series, and so close to the end. It’s really time to start editing it and getting it out there for publication. I got so much inspiration from the writing conference and I’m feeding off of that to push myself forward to do things that will get my work out there and published.