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2023 Wrap-Up | Celebrating The Small Wins
And just like that, another year is in the books! 2023 was, well... it was something, all right. I haven't written extensively about this on the blog or posted much about it on social media, but I spent most of 2023 dealing with health issues carrying over from getting Covid-19 in late 2022, which took a significant toll on my writing (and life in general). When I shared my mid-year check-in back at the end of June, my lingering Long Covid symptoms had resulted in me throwing
Dec 31, 20235 min read
Redefining Success As A Writer
As December wanes, we're encouraged (and maybe even pressured) to check in with ourselves. Many of us are beginning to look back on our 2023 experiences; I'll be following suit with my own reflections in next week's post. While we're celebrating our victories, we cannot help but assess our losses. And with that, our sense of accomplishment can be marred by a peculiar feeling that we should have done more. An air of guilt or disappointment in ourselves because even if we did c
Dec 24, 20235 min read
4 Reasons Behind My Recent DNFs
One of the greatest hopes for any writer is that readers will not only pick up their book but see it through to its end. This doesn't always happen, however. We all have those stories we've DNFed or "Did Not Finish." Ones you go into assuming you would enjoy the time spent with it, only to decide it's not for you. A while back, I shared some of the common reasons that readers will DNF a book. That list was a little broad and based not just on my personal experiences, but thos
Dec 17, 20239 min read
NaNoWriMo 2023 Recap
National Novel Writing Month has come to an end. And I survived (just barely, it seems!). 2023 marked my first true NaNoWriMo experience. I did a NaNo-adjacent project about ten years ago that was essentially the by-then-discontinued Screnzy during November instead of its regular April but I've never participated in any official capacity. I held off on writing this recap for a smidge because I wanted to give myself a chance to recover from the hecticness of NaNoWriMo and atte
Dec 13, 202310 min read
5 Mistakes I Made With My First Novel
This weekend marks the FIFTH anniversary of my blog's launch! Before we get too far into things, I want to begin with a short thank you to long-time readers and newcomers alike. Whether you stop by every week or pop in occasionally, I am so incredibly appreciative of the time you spend with me and my ramblings. It's crazy to think I've been running the blog for half a decade now (half a DECADE???) . I'm struggling to wrap my head around it in all honesty, but I cannot wait to
Dec 10, 202315 min read
Miss Americana And The Guy On The Chiefs | Writing Real Folks Into Fiction
Even if you've been living under a rock for the past few months, you have likely heard about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's romance. But if you're not in the know, Travis is a tight end who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift is Taylor Swift, and the pair has been romantically linked since about September 2023. As I've mentioned in past posts, I don't consider myself a Swifite. I appreciate her as a songwriter and am in awe of her stage presence and the product
Dec 7, 202310 min read
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