Being Busy
We are all busy. We all have lives to live and jobs to go to and responsibilities to tend to. When we get that spark, that idea that we can no longer contain and just have to write, it is easy to do inventory on our lives and think, how am I going to bring this story to life? With what time? With whose energy?
I know I’ve struggled with this. I still do, in fact. I was supposed to write and post this blog last week. And yet, here I am. Just now writing and posting it. So, it happens with all of us. Now obviously creating a schedule is going to be super personal, but here are some things that have helped me in the past.
· Keep a notebook near as much as possible. When I’m writing on a story I seem to be always thinking and imagining scenes for it. New parts and certain lines of conversation comes to me. Having a notebook around, I can write it down immediately instead of expecting myself to just remember when I get to that part. Because when will I get to that part?
· Taking advantage of your Notes app is good for this too. As well as a good alternative for if you work outside the home and can’t always have a notebook on you at work. Plus, you can back it up.
· Speaking of phones, make a voice note! You can transcribe it later.
· Make your goals manageable and realistic. If you haven’t written in years or ever on a consistent basis, then giving yourself the goal to write 5-10 thousand words a day isn’t realistic. Start with something small and easily consumable. This can be as small as ten minutes a day for a week. And even if you exceed that every day, great! That is the point. Then the next week increase it by five to ten minutes.
· Write when you can. This may not be every day. It may not be every week. If you can only write when you’re in the bathroom, fine! Write in the bathroom! Sometimes life is like that. And it is okay.
· Write it all down. You won’t remember. You will not remember. You. WILL. NOT. REMEMBER. Write it down. Record it. Sort it out later.
We are busier. But we also have access to things that we didn’t in the past as well. Let’s take advantage. Even a little progress leads to great results.
What are some ways you incorporate writing into your busy life?
Until next time, happy writing and reading!
August Recap
Okay, so as I was looking through my planner, I realized that I may have missed up my months for my recap. The reason that I say this is because I didn’t record reading through Break My Fall but I did for August. Not that it matters, the work is the work. But if there’s some repetition, I’ll correct myself.
I worked on Arranged. I did a little bit of writing and some research for something new that I thought could potentially happen.
I continued with my read through of Break My Fall which I said I did in July but I’m not actually sure. When I’m doing a read through, I try to complete at least one chapter before I go to a different task or become distracted by something else.
I still have not started any of the last phases for Flight of Hope. And I think I also realized that I will not be having a fall release as I originally hoped. There is a huge part of me that is bummed by this decision – yes, I know it’s mine. But I also want to do this right and to make the launch/release as successful as possible. And I think waiting will definitely do that.
I signed up for a publishing course that gives the ins and outs of successful self-publishing. I went through the first module but I’ve paused for the time being because I have some things to complete in my business and I want this publishing information to be fresh in my mind. And I want to be able to see the relevancy of what I’m learning in real time, if that makes sense.
I didn’t post any blogs in August – part of the reason there are two recaps this month. So I just pushed the blog content to September though I did still post weekly prompts and did trope Tuesday on Instagram.
August was a random month for me. I’m an educator and start classes soon and I think that has been weighing heavy on my mind and brings on a lot of stress. I will be busier in September but my plan is to have a plan that I can stick to and look at every week to decide what I need to do each day. I’ve been busy before and still made writing work. I just have to get back into the habit. That’s really all I have for now.
Until next time, happy writing and reading!
July Recap
As far as writing goes, I didn’t do a lot of it. But again, progress not perfection.
I need to have Flight of Hope go through a final edit before I really dive into everything else with publishing it. I haven’t begun to research book covers, artists/designers, formatting or anything like that. Once I do begin, I may realize I need to push my publishing date back but again, won’t know until I get there.
I didn’t work on Arranged. But I did continue my read through of Break My Fall. School starts back up next month so my work schedule (daytime job) is going to be slightly busier so I’m still unsure if I’ll have both drafts complete by the end of the year.
I kept up with my blog posts. I also started an author Instagram. A lot of my author work for the month was actually with “behind the scenes”. Not as interesting as it sounds, honestly. I started my Instagram and had to figure out how to have things push to my author Facebook page. I’m still posting weekly prompts and every Tuesday I post a romance trope on my Instagram to talk about. I actually really love trope Tuesday. Discussion is light but I’m hoping it will increase. I’ve thought about cross posting it to the blog, but for now, it’ll just live on Instagram. It was a different month but still productive.
Until next time, happy writing and reading!
40 before 40
I few years ago, I was scrolling through Tumblr and came across this post of this girl’s goals. It was twenty-five things she wanted to do before she turned 25. Or maybe it was 21 before 21, I can’t remember. But I thought this was such an interesting concept for goals. Some of her goals were big, others small but all seemed to be achievable.
So, as I continued to think about this, I decided to adopt this for myself and do a 35 before 35. Most of mine were big and outrageous. If you don’t know me, do not be shocked by this. If you do know me, do not be shocked by this! There were a few smaller goals like learn to swim, eat at a restaurant with a Michelin star and finish a certain novel – we’re not going to talk about said novel, okay?! But others required a lot more out of me than I could give for where I was at that point in my life. There were a few travel goals – visit Italy, somewhere in Africa, Thailand. Actually, there were a lot of travel goals. Too many for someone who wasn’t being paid a livable wage. And someone who, you know, doesn’t have a passport. Anyway, I barely achieved any of those thirty-five things. I did take swim lessons and while I can save myself, I definitely can’t save anyone else. And saving myself – aka how to float –was pretty much the only thing I learned during those lessons. (Remind me to do a blog post on my ridiculous and slightly embarrassing experience of those swim lessons.) I attended a march because taking an active role in dismantling systems is important to me and my work and my life. I worked on my relationship with God. I continue to do the work of being a good ally and becoming a better one. I worked on being present and in the moment. I worked on saying no more because it’s a complete sentence. I didn’t master it but I said it more.
So, with 35 a couple of years in my rearview, I’ve decided to do another round with 40 before 40. Now I will say that I came up with this list at the end of 2019/beginning of 2020. I’d just had a kid, and while I had a few things to catch up on, I was focused and motivated. What I had not anticipated was a global pandemic. With certain travels being restricted and just the personal decision not to especially with a baby, some of my travel goals might not be achieved. I’m okay with that. With concerts being the way they are, those have obviously been put on hold until things get right. But even after, the point is that I’m much more intentional with my time, money and energy. I don’t need to knock out all 40, but I need to be well lived in these next few years. And that is my ultimate goal and these are some of the things I want to knock out to show just that.
I’m not going to list all forty but some of the things listed are the same from the previous list such as being present and saying no more and better allyship. Some are new such as learning to code and visiting 15 MLB stadiums and seeing Beyoncé in concert. I also have perfecting my signature dish, host a dinner party, become a butcher, start a garden. And there are still probably too many travel destinations on my list but oh well. A few countries I hope to hit on one trip via train.
Let me know if you set goals between birthdays or just yearly ones. Also let me know a few things on your list!
Until next time, happy reading and writing!
Authortube and Writing Background
So, this was supposed to be uploaded a long time ago. I’ve had so many issues with my computer and editing software so it’s a little rough. But I don’t mind that. I was going to write a bit about how I discovered “authortube” and some of my writing background, but decided to piece this together since I had everything already. This is not all of my writing background so I’ll definitely discuss more of it later as well. Enjoy! Until next time… happy reading and writing!
Pen Names
I can’t remember when I became aware of the concept of pen names. As a writer, it never occurred to me to consider it. As a reader, I just always assumed that it was said author’s given name. But now that I think about it, it was probably around middle school when we discussed Mark Twain. And even when I was younger and in school and I learned that an author had a “different” name, I just always assumed they legally changed it. Again, I have no clue why this was my thought process. It just was. So, when I got into my twenties and I started to discover that some of my favorite authors use pen names, I had a bit of confusion. “Why wouldn’t you want your name on your book?” Was always my thought. It wasn’t just an ownership thing, but a pride thing as well.
Now, there are a number of reasons why someone uses a pen name. They write in different genres and want to keep things separated. They want that anonymity. Living in the information and technology age that we do, this can be a bit harder but still doable nonetheless. Some need privacy from their creative life and their professional life in their real life. No matter the reason, it is all valid.
I used to be against pen names. This was like a five second period in my life. Honestly. It did not last long. I quickly saw the joy in it. I’ve had several pen names; most didn’t last too long. I used to write fan fiction under a pen name – real person fan fiction. When I first decided to use a pen name for my fan fiction, it was because I thought I’d keep my real identity anonymous. I was writing interracial fiction and didn’t want to be accused of self-inserting myself (I’m black, my guy is white and most of fandom is white). This lasted only a few months. There were several people who I met in real life because of this fandom and whom I still associate with to this day. And I’m actually quite pleased with these connections. I’m sure there are a few downsides to using a pen name. But that would probably be my number one is that you lose or miss out on the potential for real connections with other people (and I would consider this to be fandom specific, honestly). This obviously isn’t a hard or fast rule. It is all about what you want to achieve. I have found that the closer to my actual name my pen name is the easier time I have with connecting with people and sticking with it. I am glad I chose to use a pen name. I will probably always do so.
June Recap
I’ve had my June recap scheduled for today for a few weeks now. Since I didn’t have a blog post last week, I thought about pushing it but decided not to. This is only once a month so it’s not that big of a deal.
I think, or hope, I had previously mentioned publishing Flight of Hope this year. And, as of right now, it is happening. I’m looking to the fall as a release day. I haven’t finalized the day. I have several steps to complete before I get there. But I have two major things to do before I can move forward and finalize the timeline. I’m excited!!!! (And scared!!!) And elated!!! (And scared!!!) And nervous!!! And, okay… scared! Ha! But I’m trying my best to use it as motivation instead of letting it become a block that stops me.
Work on Arranged is still coming. Came slower than I would have preferred but forward movement was made. I also started my read through of Break My Fall. I thought I’d have my rough draft of both of these novels completed before the end of the year, but I’m not sure about that anymore. Once I finish the read through and decide on next steps, I’ll know where my focus needs to go and which one to work to complete.
I did a fair amount of research as well. But other than that, it was a steady but productive month. July will be even better.
Until next time, happy writing and reading!
No Blog Today
I’ve got a sick kid on my hands so I’ve been unable to finish writing up my blog post that would go out today. No worries. I’ll be back next week. Thanks for your understanding.
Love and happy writing!
Book Boyfriends
I’m going to be super honest right now. As a long-time reader of romance books, I was never one to have book boyfriends. In fact, I thought the idea of such was somewhat… juvenile? Silly? Stupidforagrownwomantodoafterabookcharacter? So, I was judgmental. I was a yum yucker. I was a literary killjoy. That was who I was. I own it. But, thankfully, with some personal growth and maturing of my own I realized that even if something wasn’t for me, didn’t mean it wasn’t for someone else or make said thing invalid. And it’s all okay. But even after I shed my judgmental clothing, book boyfriends still weren’t my thing. But I appreciated the concept a lot more than I had earlier in my life. It just wasn’t for me. I *personally* was not meant to experience such a thing.
Until one day… I read a book… and I experienced such a thing…
And WOW.
Mind blown.
I figured out I was a woman who could have a book boyfriend. And this discovery opened something up inside of me. If I could have one book boyfriend, could I have two? Or five? Or seven? An infinite number? Could I? I could! And I would! But because I am a grown woman, these book boyfriends would not be based on potential, but only who they were and the true joy they brought to my the heroine’s life.
As I sat and thought about what exactly I liked about these men…er, characters. It was something actually quite simple. They were “normal”. They had regular jobs. They were hardworking. They loved their family and actually valued these relationships and maintaining them. They were intentional and compassionate. They were understandably flawed but were working on their shit. And listen, don’t get me wrong. I love a secret billionaire or an unknown prince just as much as the next person. When it comes to my book boyfriends though, my suspension of belief is limited. I can suspend belief for a great many things when it comes to writing and the liberties writers take. Just not with my book boyfriends.
So, tell me, do you have book boyfriends? If so, who are they?! (I can’t promise I won’t try to steal them though.) Have you always had them or did a writer and their writing of a character change your mind?
Until next time, happy writing and reading!
May Recap
May was a good month for me. This is the first month that I’ve looked back on and I’ve felt like “yes, this is forward movement”. And I absolutely believe that a big part of this was my mindset shift. Progress not perfection. I might just make that my motto for the remainder of the year, ha!
I’m still working on Arranged. I feel like I’m on the chapter that never ends. It’s not a long chapter, but I feel like I’ve been working on it for weeks. It is conversation heavy and I don’t normally feel like this is something I struggle with, but I did have moments of making the transitions feel smooth. And sometimes when I wrote, it was just a couple of sentences. And that is okay! Again, trying to extend myself grace. I’m getting there. I also had to do some brainstorming on a couple of parts before I could move forward. They were little parts. But sometimes these little things help with the foundation of the story so I gave them the attention and respect I thought they deserved.
The month was also a research heavy month for me. I have about four or five new topics to research for various stories. Two of my most heavily researched items were active shooters and violence against abortion clinics. This is actually some pretty interesting information. And considering how many shootings happen in the US and how frequently, relevant information too. Anyway, I went down somewhat of a rabbit hole and starting watching how these things are portrayed in the media and kind of the pop culture aspects of it. So good. Usually, researching is not my favorite thing. But I actually found these two subjects super fascinating.
And the biggest thing I did this month… LAUNCHED MY AUTHOR WEBSITE!!! YAY!!! In April, I set it up and there were a few things I struggled with, honestly. But I guess the few weeks away helped because when I came back, I had fresh eyes and so much made sense to me. I don’t know but it did. I am getting my bearings and I’m unsure how often I’ll post, at least once a week. But I will figure out what works for me and do that. Of that, I am confident.
Until next time, happy writing and reading!
Monthly Recaps
Before I started this blog, I had a Youtube channel. Actually, I still have a Youtube channel. But I’ve been having issues with my editing software and my computer running slow so I haven’t really been able to post as I had planned at the beginning of the year. But as part of my effort to be engaging and accountable, I wanted to do monthly recaps of my goals. I could just let these sit in my folder, but I actually want them to live here on the blog with the other months as well. But instead of making multiple posts of months past, I decided to just make one post for the months I missed. I don’t actually think I wrote anything for January. I think that was just a video. I don’t feel the need to transcribe it and post it so I’ll just leave you with February through April for now. Next week I’ll post May’s recap. So, basically, one post a month will be my recap of the previous month and how I did toward my goals. Engagement and accountability. Plus, I really want y’all on this journey with me! Thanks for coming along. Recaps below…
February Recap
So, I think I had predicted that February would be busy with work. And it was. But not as bad as I thought but it was a tough month for me creatively. I’m not even sure why. I had two weeks of little to no productivity. Well, little not no. And I had a week and a half of good productivity. While I did do things every week, they were things that lead to my yearly goals vs. my weekly goals. So, I’m trying to remember the big picture and not ignore the small steps.
So, I didn’t hit my two thousand words a week any week and that’s okay… kinda. But I did write and do some brainstorming on my works in progress. And I thought I found the argument for one of my stories that I was sure I lost but I didn’t. It is, sadly, still gone. One of the big things I needed to do for February was read through Flight of Hope again with the added parts. But I didn’t. And mainly because I couldn’t decide if my strong feelings were going to overshadow any truth that may have come to me. So now I’m on a search for a couple of new beta readers. I also came up with a couple of more new story ideas because I’m definitely short on those (NOT). But one involves several siblings and their different businesses and a couple are family-owned businesses.
March Recap
So, this is the end of the first quarter of the year and I’m thinking I may need to rethink my yearly goals. Mainly my goal to write two thousand words a week. I thought I’d be able to hit it weekly no matter how busy I was with my day job. And it shouldn’t be a big task but it has been. And with that, I am unsure if I will be able to complete the two works in progress. Writing is just coming slower than I thought even though March was busy for me with classes. The month was not a complete bust despite my word count. Again, I moved things forward, progressed. So that I’m happy about. I did work on Arranged. I figured out I can’t restart Break My Fall until I do a read through of what I have so far. It’s currently at around 60k so it’ll also give me the ability to close any gaps that I felt and rework any of the plot that I need to. And the biggest thing from the month is that I began to plot and outline a new story idea. It will contain siblings who are in family business together. Right now, I have it at eight (8) siblings. HA! But I will probably trim that down considerably. Or maybe not. Let’s see what this muse is going to do.
April Recap
Last month, as I was thinking about my progress, I thought I would need to reevaluate my goals. As of right now, they are still the same. I didn’t change any. I’ll reevaluate again at the end of the second quarter. But on the first week of April, I put down a sticker in my planner. It said “progress over perfection”. I clearly needed that reminded. I think it is so easy to get caught up in perfection or having everything exactly right that we ignore progress. Or at least I know it is easy for me to do that. I’m trying to walk more in this thought of progress over perfection and I’m learning to give myself grace as well. I want to make actual progress instead of just the appearance of progress.
In some research that I was doing during the month, I came across some articles about imprints and authors starting their own. This is so intriguing to me! Several authors have started their own imprint and released their books through their own imprint. There is a big part of me that really likes this idea. My own imprint. My imprint printing my books. Wow. I can see it now! I haven’t fully decided whether to go that route yet. But I’m keeping it in the back of my head.
I am still actively working/writing on Arranged. I came up with another important plot point for the story as well. I think previously I expressed some concern about the novel being shorter for the genre for what I have plotted right now, and that is still true. I think this will definitely help plus it’s relevant. I don’t want to come up with ideas just for the sake of ideas. I also think the more I get into this, the more the characters will reveal themselves to me and it’ll naturally flesh itself out in some parts. That is usually how it works for me, thankfully. I, also, completed some much-needed research for my main male character. I still have a bit more to do but I’m not sure what will serve me now and what won’t. I think I’ll figure that out once he’s introduced into the story and their relationship starts to develop. I don’t mind stopping for research because there’s usually not a major plot point resting on my research.
I really have to start the Break My Fall read through so I can get back to work on that. It is still around 60k words. I haven’t decided if I want to pursue traditional publishing with this or self-publishing. If I go the self-publishing route, I would like for it to be released next year. So, I have a lot of work to do on it.
I did some brainstorming on my eight siblings’ story, but nothing too much to report right now. I’ll plot and outline as things come to me, but I probably won’t start this story until next year. I’m excited for it but there are other priorities and I am okay with that.
Also, I set up this here lovely website! Yay!
Until next time, happy writing and reading!
Writing prompts purpose
At the end of last year when I was deciding on what the main purposes of my vlog and blog would be, I knew that it was going to be all about connection and connecting with people. Whether those people were fellow authors, other writers, readers or just someone curious, I wanted ways to be able to connect with them. One way I thought would be good is to do writing prompts and journal prompts.
Now I will admit, I found it super easy to come up with daily writing prompts. I found it a bit tougher to come up with daily journaling prompts. I think I came up with about six months’ worth of journaling prompts. Now, personally I don’t journal so maybe that was why it was harder for me to do. I haven’t completely given up on this but for now I’m going to stick to writing prompts. And listen. These writing prompts can be used as a journaling prompt too. Perhaps to journal about a memory or something.
But no matter what type of writer you consider yourself to be, even if you don’t consider yourself a writer, I hope you find some inspiration with these. So, I guess my goal is to also get you writing more too.
If you do use one of the prompts, let me know in the comments. Or if you’re comfortable, post what you wrote or tag me somewhere. I’d love to read it!
2021 Author/Writing Goals
Every year when I decide on my goals, I always put several on there regarding my writing. This year is no different. But what I realized is that while my intentions were good, I wasn’t actually picking goals for the sake of actually being intentional, to make progress. They were goals for the sake of goals. So, this year I made my goals small and achievable for what is going on in my life. So, my goals are:
· Write 2000 words a week
· Publish Flight of Hope
· Finish Break My Fall
· Finish Arranged
To be fully transparent, publish Flight of Hope has been on my goals list for several years now. But this year I am doing it even if I have to do it myself. Which, to be perfectly honest, it’s really looking that way. And that is okay! I’m excited for this journey and for it to be out into the world.
Introduction
Hey! I am Rebekah. I am an author, writer and educator. I am currently an unpublished author but I’m actively working to change that. These days, I write mostly romance. I have one completed novel, Flight of Hope and two works in progress. I have written stories since I was a child – yes, I’m one of those people! And the passion and creativity never left me.
I am also an active reader, mostly listening to books these days because life is sometimes too busy to sit down with a book but I can’t get enough of being immersed in a world someone else created.
My current job keeps me busy teaching violence prevention to adolescents, teens and young adults.
My goal with this blog is to keep you all updated on my writing and publishing journey. But another thing that I desire is to create connections here. There are so many blogs out there that it can feel like screaming into an abyss so I hope as I “talk” and update you all, that you would engage me and talk back. I look forward to getting to know you all on this journey.
Love and light,
Rebekah