Hey, young writers! A quick update for ya’ll about what I’ve been doing this January:

• Art-ing: Working on my drawing skillz/how to draw magical people and animals/how to draw my characters/how to draw eyes cuz I’m SUPER bad at those. 😛 Also, I’ve been working on making a field guide for all the magical plants, creatures, and artifacts that are used in my fantasy fiction series. (LOVED using my PRISMA coloring pencils and brush markers along with some specialty metallic markers btw.)
• Brainstorming for old and new stories.
• BIBLE JOURNALING.
• Writing for my Pride & Prejudice based story. I’ve been trying to write 500 words a day, and my goal is to be done by May 31st. I’m up to about 15,000 now, and I managed to write 849 words yesterday! #writingwin
• LOTS of random sketchiez…

And I think that’s it. School’s started again *not-so-silent sobbing* so I’ve been trying to juggle my crazy school schedule along with writing and my other responsibilities. #icantadultrightnow 😛 Thanks to a weekly schedule (something else I did this month), I’ve been doing pretty well with staying on the adult train, at least for now (I mean, it’s only the third week of the semester). 😛 To help keep me on track with my writing, I’ve been making myself get up an hour earlier than I usually do for school (which means 7 FREAKING A.M.). After my devotional time, I set my timer, and write for 30 minutes. Not only does this allow me to make consistent progress through my story outline, but I feel so much more productive when I write in the morning and therefore, happy, which makes the rest of my day pretty swell; just a little fyi if you want to try getting up early too. I’m definitely NOT a morning person, but after a few days, I’m already starting to get used to it. Hopefully, if you decide to try this early bird routine out with me, you’ll grow to love it as well.

Much love and writing progress,

YW

*creepy, over-the-top, infomercial spokesperson voice*

Hi! Are you constantly having to use different journals for different things? Are you plagued by poly-journalism? Are you forever having to lug around millions upon millions of journals with you wherever you go? Wish there was an easier way to organize and keep track of your writing/daily crud? Well, luckily, there is! Thanks to…the EVERYTHING JOURNAL! The Everything Journal is SUPER easy to set up, as easy as 1, 2, 3! (4, 5, 6…)

• Step 1: Pick the perfect journal. Now, there are many things to consider when picking the perfect journal such as…size, color, texture, and design. These things may not seem important, but you would be amazed at how the aesthetic of a journal can either discourage or encourage a person to write in it. Also, you’ll be more likely to use your journal if it is able to fit into you bag, purse, backpacks, etc, but don’t pick one that’s too small; you won’t want to use it and it won’t be able to meet your needs. Finally, make sure the pages are durable enough to stand up to constant wear and tear, this includes the medium you chose to write with.

• Step 2: Pick the perfect writing utensil. I personally prefer the no-bleed Sharpie pens, ball-point pens, and/or erasable gel pens. Whatever type of medium you chose, make sure it doesn’t smear, bleed, or dry out. Also, it would be a good idea to pick a utensil that can easily fit inside your journal for when you’re on the go. It doesn’t matter what color (I’m a fan of plain, old black), as long as you like it.

• Step 3: STICKERS!!! Lots and lots of them! The smaller the better since these are how you will categorize your entries within your Everything Journal. (I usually put them on the upper right-hand corner right by the date, but you can put them wherever.) Craft stores like Michael’s and A.C. Moore have a really great selection; big packs, low prices. They are my go-to when it comes to my sticker stash. 😉
• Step 4:  Make a Sticker Guide. This is the key by which you will create categories for all the different things you are likely to write about in your journal. Above is a picture of one of my Sticker Guides from my 3rd Everything Journal so you can see some of the categories I’ve create. Feel free to organize this whichever way works best for you. As a fun little tidbit, I like to pick stickers that remind me of each category, and I often dedicate stickers to different story projects.
• Step 5: Write down EVERYTHING in your journal and “stickerize” it as you go. I usually go a few weeks before stickerizing, since it allows me to leave the stickers at home.
• Step 6: Finally, once you’ve completely finished your journal, go through and decide what needs to be transferred (either to your computer or somewhere else) and what doesn’t. Use a red pen to check off the entries you’ve sorted through/don’t need to transfer, and above all, WRITE THE DATE FOR EVERYTHING!! I can’t tell you how amazing it feels to be able to see my writing progress throughout these last months, and how frustrating it feels when I don’t write the date down and therefore unable to remember when I wrote something down. 😛

*back to creepy infomercial voice*

And there you have it! The Everything Journal is an easy, cheap, fun, and wonderfully creative way to keep all your notes in one place as well as track your story progress(es), and for those of you who have trouble keeping a diary (LIKE ME), think of this journal as a writing diary. You may not write about your day, but you’ll be able to see how you spent it, which I think is pretty darn cool. 🙂

Much love and writing progress,

YW

Hey, hey!

First off, let me say, HAPPY NEW YEAR YA’LL!!! *woot woot* #2017 #alreadymesseduponwritingthecorrectyearinmynotebook 😛

Secondly, I just wanted to take a brief minute to update you guys on what I’ve been up to for the past few weeks. Let’s see. Well, I’ve been doing a lot of…

• Art-ing: Specifically drawing cartoon characters, fashion, and scenes from one of my new stories. Mediums: colored-pencils (LOVE), Sharpie no-bleed art pens (LOVE, LOVE), crayons (don’t judge me), pencil, and gel pens. Also, I’ve been doing some Bible Journaling and Scripture Memorization stuff.
• Organizing & File Rearranging: When am I not doing this? 😉 Anyway, this was a huge blessing for me to able to cross off my to-do list since I’m on break and want to have everything in its proper place before I have to go back to school. School = no free time, so this was a #writingwin #bindersareeverything #finallyorganizedmyartsupplies
• Story-Developing/Plotting for a new CCR I’m writing based on Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice!!! #imdead If you don’t know me very well, let me just say, I LOVE P&P, so I’m super jazzed to be working on this project. I even have the whole plot planned out already! (More details on that later…)
• Writing for said P&P project.
• Dream Journaling & Gratitude Journaling: *cue oohs and aahs* (More details to follow…)
• Experimenting with Movie Script Writing! (Again, more details to follow…)
• Reading. #YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I haven’t been able to do that in FOREVER.

Yea, and I think that’s it. Going forward into this new year, I’ve also thought a lot about how I want to grow in my writing/writing process. Here are some writing resolutions/goals I’ve made to help me become a better (and hopefully, more productive) writer:

1. Finish a draft for one of my stories. Any story will do. This will involve a healthy dose of self-discipline on my part in order to actually finish, but I’m starting to realize that self-discipline is something I’m largely in need of, in all aspects of my life.
2. Get over my writing inhibitions/severe case of “writer’s nerves”. What is “writer’s nerves”? Well, it’s basically the opposite of writer’s block. You have the ideas, but you’re afraid that once you sit down to actually write them all out, they will fall short of the expectations you’ve already concocted in your head. You’re afraid of falling short, that you won’t be able to do justice to what you’ve dreamt up in your mind, so you don’t write; you PROCASTINATE. This is not only frustrating, but fruitless, and can only be overcome when one lays down their desire to be perfect and embraces their imperfection, as I’m trying to do (and not just in my writing).
3. Find a balance between work and rest…and stick to it! I’m discovering that as much as I love writing, it’s work: physical, mental, and spiritual work. I used to come home from a long day of school and sought rest by working on my stories. The result was me becoming more tired and less productive. Why? Because writing isn’t resting. It truly is work. Fun work, but work nonetheless. Therefore, I feel that finding a balance between school, writing, and resting is essential in allowing me to have enough energy to do well not only in my schoolwork, but in my writing as well. With this new methodology, perhaps I will be able to finish a draft. #fingerscrossed 😛
4. Last, but not least: Get to know my characters better. Not sure how exactly I’m going to do this, but I’m looking forward to trying some new techniques.

Anyway, until next time, and keep your eyes out for some journaling tips later this month!

Love,

YW