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