Posts Tagged ‘post a day’

30 Apr

My brain is fried

Posted by Dayle Lynne in Blogging. Tagged: , , .

I was trying to write a well-organized blog post about some of my thoughts and theories about Doctor Who, but nothing came out quite right. I considered writing a few other things, but I didn’t even manage to get out of the “thinking about it” stage with those.

I’ve been a bit overloaded with work for the past couple of weeks and I finally caught up this morning. I think I just don’t feel like thinking right now. So this is pretty much the extent of my blog post tonight. A few words thrown on to the page to meet this whole blog every day thing. I’ll try harder tomorrow. Promise.

***Side note – this post marks 4 complete months of blogging every day . . . only 8 more to go . . . I’m a third of the way there!***

4 Apr

What’s the point?

Posted by Dayle Lynne in Blogging. Tagged: , , , .

What's the pointI’m beginning to question this whole blog-every-day thing. I’m 3 months in to my 1-year goal and I’m feeling a bit burnt out. I don’t want to post a bunch of drivel. I don’t want this blog to pile up with written excrement. And I just don’t always feel like writing anything at all.

Sometimes the days and weeks are long and the idea of stringing together a coherent thought, much less something thought-provoking and meaningful, is enough make me long for cold pillows and warm blankets. Sometimes I’ve spent so much time online working (and yeah, putzing around) that I just want to slam the laptop closed and walk away. Sometimes no matter how many words I put on a page, nothing seems to come out properly and I question my abilities as a writer.

Sometimes I just don’t want to write. I don’t want to blog. And really, what’s the big deal if I don’t? The world won’t crumble to pieces if I skip a day blogging. Hell, I doubt many (anyone?) would notice. So what’s the purpose of this everyday blogging goal?

The more I think about it, the answer’s pretty simple – the more I write . . . well, the more I write. The fact that I’m blurting out this random nothingness right now means that I had to actually sit in front of my computer screen and open up a Word doc. When it’s finished, I’ll save it in the April 2013 folder, which is pretty damn close to my poetry folder and my short story folder and my novel folder. And going through this whole process makes me more likely to open up one of those folders and start working.

I first started this blog just over two years ago because I was really starting to focus on a freelance career, but I had few samples under my belt. It had been years since I had written regularly and I thought this would help. And it has . . . in more ways than I had intended.

I’ve come to love the blogging world. I love the interaction . . . the ability to connect with people on such a personal level in a way that’s (mostly) comfortable for me and my whole social anxiety thing. I love the community. I’ve met some truly amazing people all because of blogging.

Blogging has also awakened every part of my writing spirit, which has lain dormant for so long. Just the act of writing, of blogging, makes me want to write more. Whether I’m blogging about my family or about important political issues or books and movies or just answering silly meme questions, it keeps me constantly thinking about words . . . and this act of blogging is going to help me stop half-assing it through my books . . . to actually finish one or two or all three of them . . . I’ve even started looking at publishers for one that is almost complete.

So even though tonight is one of those times I would rather close the laptop and walk away, I decided to blog anyway. I used to be forced to write several times a day . . . and then I would go home and write some more because once I start, I feel the need to keep going.

Maybe it’s not imperative that I skip zero days of blogging over the course of a year, but it’s an exercise in dedication, in building a habit . . . some kind of routine and commitment . . . and while sometimes what I write will be drivel, it will also be a step towards something better.

Photo Credit

1 Jan

I’m gonna write dammit!

Posted by Dayle Lynne in Blogging, Other, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , .

Just writeI never really liked the whole New Year’s resolution thing. We all set goals for ourselves throughout the year. We achieve some and fail miserably at others, but we continue to set goals in an effort to better ourselves. So what’s the purpose of choosing a date solely because it’s the first of a new year? It’s a silly little play into mob mentality. And I’ve never had much interest in being a part of the mob.

However, I am a self-described obsessive compulsive, especially when it comes to any kind of record keeping. So, when I decided to make a commitment to write on a daily basis, I chose the first of the year as the start date for a 1-year blogging goal . . . because it’s neat and organized and I love neat and organized (so long as it doesn’t apply to the state of my house or my hair).

I’ve gone through several periods of my life when I’ve stopped writing. Sometimes it lasted for a few months, but more often than not, it lasted for a few years. In high school, I was forced to write on a daily basis. In addition to the usual English class, I had three writing classes every day. And then I would go home and write in journal . . . if not daily, pretty damn close to it.

When I graduated from high school, I started to flake out on my writing. The rate of my journal writing and poetry writing dropped significantly and after a while, I just stopped all together. Every so many years, I’d get a rush of inspiration that would last several days or weeks or sometimes even months. And then, inevitably, I’d flake out again.

Sometimes it’s pure laziness. I’m overworked and tired and just don’t feel like producing any coherent thoughts on paper or screen. Sometimes it’s because of depression and anxiety. The words that want to come out of my fingertips are often the most difficult ones to see in print. Sometimes I just struggle to find my muse. She hides at times or my vision becomes cloudy and I can’t find her.

Over the past couple of years, my flaking out has become much less frequent. All of the reasons and excuses put aside, the infrequency of my flaking out has been simply because I’ve sat down at the computer, opened up a Word doc, and just allowed my fingers to dance across the keys. I just write. I stop worrying about perfection and just write. I stop worrying about coherency and just write. I stop worrying about the pain of reading the words that bleed my memories into black and white and just write. I stop searching for my muse and simply allow her to find her way through my veins and I just write.

And that’s all I’m going to do. I’ll forget the excuses and the reasons, as legitimate as they might be. The only way to make it happen is to put my fingers on the keys (or a pen in my hand, though I seem to have much more success with fingers on keys) and just write.

I’m gonna write dammit . . . because I can, because I must, because I know I’m better when I do.

1 Oct

Saturday Sharing: Raising talkers, dog camps, parenting poems, and more

Posted by Dayle Lynne in Blogging, Saturday Sharing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Pagan Book Reviews discusses Secrets of the Lost Symbol, which is described as “an answer to Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol”.

Jennifer at Retrograde Learning writes about the importance of raising your kids to be readers and talkers.

Throughout Banned Books Week, Caroline at Children’s Books and More has been discussing various banned books. She also highlighted Place I Never Meant to Be, a collection of short stories written by censored writers.

Sandy at Cat Trees and Pet Supplies recently discovered dog camps – places for you to go on vacation with your canine buddy!

Have you ever had a pleasurable experience at the dentist? Alexandra at talleygilly has . . . and those experiences have led to a life lesson.

Samantha at What Little Things tells us exactly why we should visit Huancayo, Peru.

Shawna from I am that shares two contrasting poems of parenting.

Do you fit in? Paula at The Geeky Shopaholic doesn’t and she tells us why in this post.

Jared from Lick the Fridge explains that you should not do what he’s about to try to do – write a post a day for the month of October.

Need a few heartwarming life lessons? Check out The Real Sharon’s post about five very important ones.

Babette, The Passionate Librarian tells us how not to teach children to read – with boring, “bad” books.

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