Two More Days

Have you ever seen the movie The Ring? Seven Days… This is how I’m saying the title of this post. Creepily and ominously…

NanoWrimo begins on Tuesday.

Just let that sink in for a moment…

I will say that I have been much more productive with my planning of the novel I am about to attempt to write than I was last year, but I haven’t gotten nearly as much work done on it as I would have liked. I figure some progress is better than none at all and I’m trying to keep in mind that whatever I write in this thirty day period will only be a first draft. There’s always room to improve.

Mostly I’m very excited! I’ve told people in my life that I am planning on working on a 50,000 word novel and everyone has been very supportive. A part of me wonders if they are being a bit patronizing, but even if they are, it’s no matter to me. I am going to try my best and get this novel written.

If you are planning on participating in this year’s NanoWrimo, I wish you luck! I hope everyone has a productive and happy Monday!

 

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Meet and Greet: 10/29/16

Meet and Greet Weekend is finally here! Come and discover some new blogs and share your links! 🎉🎈🎂🎁

Blogging Alias/ Pen Name

Is it weird that I blog under a made up name? (Sorry if this was a nasty shock to you… Alas, it’s the truth.) When I first started my blog I had debated on whether or not I would use my own name and decided it wasn’t the best idea. I made and deleted) a few different blogs before I made a commitment to Write On and those blogs were more a place for me to express my feelings. I was going through a bit of a hard time when I made these blogs and wasn’t able to find comfort in anything or anyone in my life so I turned to writing.

There aren’t very many people in my life that know about my blog, I talk about it a little bit with my Work Family, mostly to tell them when my number of followers is rising, but for the most part, I keep it pretty much to myself. It’s not that I am afraid someone I know in real life will find out about my blog and disapprove, because I could care less what the majority of these real life people think.

Honestly, I’m not sure why I blog under an alias other than sometimes it is easier for me to write honestly about the things I think and feel when I am able to separate myself from these things, when I am able to look at these things from another perspective, pretend for a moment that there are no consequences for my words. And posting under my pen name has so far allowed me to do this.

But when is the time to post under my real name? Do I have to do this? I was thinking about it today when I was thinking about things to posts on my Facebook page. Being that Facebook pages are public, everybody in the world will be able to see mine. And what will they think? Will it really matter to me? (The answer to that is not really 😄 alas it is still a passing question in my mind.)

I’m really just tossing around ideas in my head. Since I had decided to post more about all of the things in my life that contribute to my creativity I was wondering if it would come off sounding weird or strange that the life of Me is being portrayed by basically Me only with a fictitious name.

Honestly, I don’t care if it is weird. It’s just what was on my mind.

😄

💖 A. Kidd

Blog Redesign?

I was thinking about doing one. And by redesign, I mean more of content. While the primary purpose of my blog had been to help pull myself out of the creative rut I had found myself in, I realized that while I was trying to stick to all things and only things creative, that I was forgetting that the most important things that spark my creativity are the things that happen in my life every day- people, places, events, heck even spoken words, songs, poems, others’ blog posts, there is so much inspiration all around me and who knows what I might share that might inspire someone else? I feel as though I’ve been constricting myself by saying that I need to only post about writing-related things, because as an aspiring writer, everything in my life is writing-related.

I also feel as though I need to get out of the habit of blogging strictly on my phone and utilize my computer more often. Sure it’s slow as molasses, but seeing how I’m going to be participating in NanoWrimo (which starts in four (4!!!) days,) I need to create in a peaceful environment. Being that I use my phone for all of my WordPress blogging, I’m usually in the living room, with the t.v. on and children screaming in the background. My bedroom is a bit quieter and I think finding a time when all three of the Little People are in bed for me to sit in front of my screen would be beneficial for my writing.

I’m going to do this.

One of the things that has inspired this change of thinking on my part is when I reaized that there are so many things that make up our desire to be what we want- to be writers. Sure it might mostly be a passion to have our stories read by others, to have our words acknowledged, understood, accepted by people whom can relate, but I think a lot of it is also a desire to release the things that burn so brightly inside of us- the truths, the beauty, the lies, the stories, the experiences, the memories, the list goes on and on. And I haven’t really been able to do this because I’ve been trying to limit myself to just posting about writing. By trying to convince myself that writing is all that is important about me and that’s simply not true.

I had even went as far as to create a personal blog that I’ve been semi-consistent in blogging on, but there is so much to learn about me there, so much that I want to share with those who read about the writing side of my life. I want people to not only enjoy my writing and my writings about my writing process but to also enjoy tidbits about my life.

There are a few bloggers that I follow that I have noticed follow this pattern- they post some of their fiction and or poetry/prose, but also post about their lives as well and these are the blogs that I enjoy the most.

Anyways, I hope you’ll hang in there with me while I play with my blog for awhile here! I’m inspired and I’ve decided to run with it for a change. 🙂

Nano Poblano

 

This is a little gem that I was just alerted to by fellow blogger, Ra Avis! The Nano Poblano challenge is to blog every day in November. Sounds simple enough, right?

I’m excited but anxious… Blogging every day is not my strong point. If you’ve been following my blog for some time now, then you’ve noticed that for a very short period of time I was pretty consistent about posting every day. I had created a series (I’m not entirely sure that they could be considered a series because I didn’t blog about any one specific thing, didn’t really have a central theme other than that I was hoping the consistency would help spark the creativity) of posts that I titled “The Life of An Aspiring Writer” in which I more or less rambled about my day in the hopes that inspiration would strike me in the most simple of daily tasks, events, conversations.

I was pretty unsuccessful and gave up on my blog after having blogged consistently for a little over two months. I just felt as though my posts had nothing to do with my actual writing or writing process which was the whole point of creating my blog in the first place and so I abandoned not only the posts, but this blog as well.

But now here I am, back and ready for this challenge. I have no idea what I will write about. Thankfully, there aren’t any rules other than to blog every day. I think I can do that. And if you have been feeling as though you are stuck in a rut or have been searching for new blogs, maybe you would be interested in embarking in this month-long blogging journey as well!

Here’s the url and I hope you will check it out!

https://cheerpeppers.wordpress.com/

Sharing Is Caring

I spoke a little bit in my last post about creating a Facebook page and getting your writing and your thoughts out into the world, but I thought it would also be worth sharing a bit about, well, sharing. 😄

While you’re doing the most you can to share your words with people whom may want to hear them, may relate them, might truly need to hear them, the same is true about the blogs that you follow. Have you ever read another blogger’s post and thought to yourself, “Wow… This is me in a nutshell!” 😮

I know I have!

It makes me happy to read words that I can relate to, that I draw emotions and memories from. It makes me feel excited to want to read more about what a blogger is posting, find out what will happen next in the sequence of events. I find myself wondering if the blogger’s experience will end much the same way as my own did. And if their experience is not one that I have been through myself, I wonder what exactly I would’ve done had I been faced with the same situation and circumstances.

And if another blogger’s words hit close to home with you, I can guarantee you that there are others out there who will feel the same way as you do!

Have you ever read a post by one of your favorite bloggers and thought to yourself, “Why does this sound familiar…” and then you suddenly realize, “Ah! It’s because So-and-so whose blog I also follow is going through something similar!”

Wouldn’t it be lovely if you mentioned to either one of those bloggers, “Hey Friend, I read an interesting blog post today that you might be interested in!” 😊 It’s always a great thing to help people connect, to help people find a common ground.

Naturally, it may be good practice to make sure it’s okay with the Original Poster that you reblog or share a link to their post. I think most bloggers are pretty open to having their work shared. And I know that speaking for myself it’s flattering, if not a bit bewildering. 😄

The main point is, in the words of the Wonderful Drake from Dream Big, Dream Often, “Sharing is Caring!” 😄

Videos for the Facebook Page/ Because It Matters

I was thinking tonight that I might make some and then that horrible little doubtful voice inside me said, “What would be the purpose? You’re not published, you don’t have thousands of followers, your blog isn’t anything worth making videos about. Your words don’t matter.”

And honestly, this doesn’t bother me.

I think all bloggers should have a Facebook page and should post the heck out of their writings, post videos about the random thoughts in their heads, connect with their readers and with potential readers regularly. And even if your videos and/or your page never get above a few likes, keep posting those videos and snippets/links to your blog posts! Post the heck out of them!

Why?

Because what if, just what if your words end up meaning something to someone who has not yet discovered your WordPress blog?

What if your words provide courage, inspiration, motivation, and comfort to someone out there who doesn’t know how to find you?

I have a Twitter account under my writing name as well that I honestly don’t update all that often but I’m constantly searching for ways to connect with other writters/bloggers on a slightly more personal basis because the truth is, everyone’s stories matter to me.

YOUR story matters to me.

The things you’ve been through, the things you’ve seen in life. Your travels, your accomplishments, your hopes and dreams- I care about them. I know I don’t know any of you on a personal basis and I may not always leave comments on your posts, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not reading them. This doesn’t mean that I’m not rooting for your personal success, no matter how large or how small those might be.

I absolutely adore the quirks of several bloggers. The way their words flow on the “paper”, the way their minds interpret the world around them. I am in complete awe of so many of you.

And I bet there are others who would feel the same way if they could find your words. I’m not telling you to go and make a Facebook page for your blog. You may not be quite ready to do that yet. What I’m saying is don’t be afraid to share your beauty with as many people as you can reach. The world needs more beauty.

Your beauty and your words matter.

💖 Angelica

Facebook Page

Hey all! I hope everyone has had a wonderful day! I just wanted to take a moment to share my Facebook page that I’ve recently created simply because my brain creates in snippets I think and I enjoy sharing those snippets. 😄 I hope everyone is doing well!

https://m.facebook.com/angelicakidd1/

If We Were Having Coffee 10/23/16

Good morning lovely bloggers! I hope everyone slept well and is well on their way to having a wonderful end to their weekend! I’m currently freezing in my bed and I think the air conditioner is running but I’m too cold to get up and turn it off… 😨❄️☃️ I’m also too cold to get up and get a pot of coffee started but hopefully the Mister will be awake in the next thirty minutes and will start the coffee for us…

If we were having coffee I would tell you that the Mister’s parents are currently out of town right now on a mini vacation and the Mister and I went out to their home last night to feed their dogs and their herd of goats. My shoes are sitting outside my front door right now, the soles caked in goat poo… Unless someone has stolen them, which would just be gross… The Mister’s parents have about twenty goats (they’re pretty small goats) and two of them had special feeding instructions. That was a lot of fun trying to figure out which two these were… Somehow my nine year old daughter knew right away exactly which one was which… Just call her the Goat Whisperer I guess… 😄

The Parents’ dogs were also extremely happy to see us! The poor things, they probably have no idea what’s going on. 😞 I hated the look on the biggest dog’s face as we were pulling away… I wish we could’ve brought them both home with us. 😞

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I’m excited about NanoWrimo (which I’m sure you’ve already noticed if you’ve read my recent posts) but I’m also a bit anxious… I didn’t do so well last year and I really want to make progress this year! I’ve  been trying to write down all of the ideas that pop through my head in my trusty notebook, no matter how ridiculous they sound. I think I’ve been productive so far!

If we were having coffee I would most likely ask you if you could explain prose to me and give me some examples. I’ve decided I want to try my hand at it but what Google brings up is just confusing to me… I need it explained in extremely simple terms…

And that’s about all I’ve got for now! I hope everyone is warmer right now than I am and that you have a wonderful end to your weekend! I’m going to continue today to catch up on posts and hopefully get some more planning done on my novel!

Until next time, stay caffeinated!

 

Some of My Favorite Blogs!

I love how Drake from Dream Big, Dream Often hosts the weekly Meet and Greet! It’s such a wonderful way to network your blog and meet some really great people! But I’ve noticed that some of my favorite blogs/bloggers don’t participate in this, and that’s okay, but I love their writing and want to share their pages. So here they are in no particular order:

A Journal For Damned Lovers– Heartfelt words written by the talented and recently published S.K. Nicholas. He writes the most beautiful things that leave my heart aching for various reasons. I would very much feel honored to spend even a brief passing moment of my existence in his presence. I wonder if that’s weird… Honestly, I do not care if it is.

Shawn Writes Stuff– Wonderful fictional pieces as well as every day anecdotes from a witty man! Shawn gives me hope as an aspiring  writer. He posts quite frequently and his consistency is admirable! (To me at least.) He’s like a well of creativity that never runs dry!

adamdixonfiction– Adam writes, as his site suggests, fiction. And it’s some really great stuff as well! I love how his writing has a way of keeping me on the edge, wanting to see what happens next. I’m convinced that once he starts publishing he’ll make it onto a bestseller list easily.

My Journey Into Darkness– It’s so strange sometimes to read the words of someone else and realize that you aren’t alone in the way you feel, the things you’ve been through and Laurel’s blog does this for me. She is so very honest about her life and her family! And the memories she conjures up! It impresses me every time I read a piece about her past! If you’ve ever dealt with an unfaithful partner you will find in her blog that you are not alone! A wonderful bonus is her stories of when she was an EMT which I quite enjoy! 😊

What Sandra Thinks– Last but not least, Mrs. Sandra. Wow, can this woman ever write! She has a way with words that even when not written in poetic form, comes off very poetic anyways! She writes about love and passion and desire in such a way that leaves my soul aching for the very things she describes. Somehow, her words give me hope for a chance at true love. Maybe it’s not completely hopeless for me is how I feel once I’ve finished each of her posts. Not to mention she writes some pretty steamy stuff that sometimes gives me some extra zest in my intimacy…

And those are some of my favorites! Call it my “Top Five” in no particular order as I mentioned before. I do hope that if you haven’t already checked out these simply marvelous blogs yet, you will now!

Also, drop me a line either via email or in the comments and let me know who your favorite bloggers are! I’m always happy to discover new and wonderful writing!

angelicakidd1@gmail.com